I really loved the idea of this one but it unfortunately wasn't for me.

It had some great potential with a really fun premise- author and publicist- but the romance never quite hit the mark and the conflict in Andie's life could have been solved if she was willing to communicate with literally anyone.

This one would be great for people who enjoy a setting heavily featuring books and the publishing world and want a glimpse into the life, and people who don't mind the miscommunication trope.

For me I spent the entire book begging Andie to have a single ounce of emotional maturity and couldn't relate to her at all.

2.5 stars rounded up

I enjoyed this, but I found myself wishing the story would pick up the pace and get to the good stuff a little faster. Andie, the main character, felt like she was going in circles—she’d get upset, call her best friend for advice, and then promptly ignore it to keep bottling up her feelings. It got a bit frustrating to watch her repeat the same patterns.

Jack, on the other hand, was a character I really wanted more of. From the start, he had all the potential to be a favorite, and I honestly wish we had gotten his POV. I would’ve loved to know what was going through his head when he realized Andie was his publicist—what a moment that must have been!

There’s a lot of focus on grief and unresolved emotions in this book, which felt repetitive at times. But the story itself kept me interested, especially when we got a glimpse into the past. Jack and Andie’s history wasn’t what I expected at all, and it added such an intriguing layer to the story.

And finally—thank GOD for that happy ending. It made the journey worth it!

Thank you to Netgalley & Bloomsbury ANZ for this ARC!

I was drawn to this book by the cover (love) & concept of the story - am a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope, however that’s where it ends for me. Though an enjoyable read, I wasn’t drawn to either of the characters and found Andie (FMC) to be quite infuriating at the beginning. As the story progresses, there’s some character growth but not enough to redeem her in my eyes.

Solid 3 star read!
It was great to be reading a book about books. Felt kinda Inception-y.
This one was so easy to read, incredibly slow burning and very light spice.

As mentioned above, I loved reading about people who love books, authors, publicists, PR events. Just made it feel targeted towards readers, which is always fun!

Thankyou to NetGalley for the review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Debut novel so went in with lowered expectations, but couldn’t connect to the main characters and found the FMC to be quite immature and a bit too self involved.
She seemed to have a lot of issues getting over the grief of her father’s passing, and struggled to see her mom had moved on.
There was a lot of drama and build up around what had happened between our MMC and FMC, i would’ve liked this to be revealed earlier, as in this case it didn’t keep me intrigued enough to want to continue reading to find out.
I wouldn’t consider this a romance book first and foremost, it seemed to be more about processing grief and the romance felt like an afterthought or as a side element.
Our MMC, Jack, didn’t seem like his character was fully thought out/structured and there didn’t seem to be enough history/connection between him and our FMC, Andie, either.
Not the most enjoyable book and this would be due to how it was marketed and the snippets I saw on Bookstagram. Had it been marketed differently, I would have had a different reading experience with the right expectations

A book about book people. Yes, please! I loved the bright cover which caught me right away.

I love when ex's collide years later in a professional capacity, and publisher's publicist / editor is a fun dynamic. There is a bit of an undercurrent of sadness, regret and grief - and that combined with having to heal their past makes for a interesting journey as they are forced together for work!

We've got a plethora of tropes here, and I loved the trip and forced proximity and second chances. And when characters annoy me at first but I end up loving them as they grow and we see underneath their defences. And when someone takes the shiz they are given because they know they screwed up its even better.

Guys I'm not a scrooge with the stars - If i loved it it gets a 5. And I loved it.

Can't wait to see what Bianca has in store for us next!

5 stars

Today i celebrate my birthday! (20.11.24)

Today, l celebrate with you this gorgeous debut novel. For all of us who are @tessabailyisananuthor & @emilyhenrywrites fans, then this is definitely the novel to read!

It's
European Adventure to the most romantic destinations,
Forced proximity,
Enemies to lovers,
Second chance romance,
Whitty banter,
Heartwarming moments,
A pure rom - com,
Slow burn romance,
Emotional depth,
Grief and loss - so well written and with care,
Swoonworthy,
Co - worker romance,
Chemistry,
Healing journey,
Going to keep you on the edge of your seat,
Tension,
Friendship,
Love,
Complicated pasts,
Resilience,
Strength,
Forgiveness,
Career goals,
& so much more.

All my favorite troupes in one. All the feels! X

Yesterday they were just my exes. Today they are a writer and a publicist. On tour in Europe. For a month.

When Andie lands her dream job as a senior book publicist, shes ready to take the world of New York publishing by storm.

Until her first day, when she discovers that here biggest author is Jack Carlson - the same Jack who ruined her life in University. Who she hasn't spoken to in 5 years. Who is not only still infuriatingly hot but incredibly successful, & whose campaign she definitely can not mess up if she wants to keep her job.

To make matters worse, the central part of this career-defining campaign is a book tour. For a month, Andie will have to travel across Europe with the man who, if she were being totally honest, she'd like to hit with her car..

But she will not lose this opportunity, especially not because of him. One month on tour with Jack Carlson, visiting some of the most romantic spots in Europe. Deep breath . She can do this.

Bad Publicity is an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, slow burn, second chance romance set in the publishing world. Andie and Jack are former lovers, now forced to work together, her as his new book publicist.

The tension between the two characters and their journey back to one another is heartwarming, and is filled with all the elements you need in a romance novel. They have a complicated past, but it’s Andies journey to healing that is the crux of the story.

It’s engaging, heartwarming and an easy read.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this earc and physical arc from the Bloomsbury Book Lovers Night!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨

Bad Publicity is a super easy book to read, although does dive deep into difficult themes such as grief and mental health. But Bianca was able to write it in such a digestible way and was able to weave it throughout the story.

Andie (publicist) and Jack (author) knew each other from University where she was really betrayed by him and it cut off their romance before it started. Bad Publicity starts out when Andie starts a new job and her first client is Jack! And he’s going on a book tour! It’s been 5 years since they’re falling out and since her dad passed away. Andie struggles with her relationship with her mum and navigating grieving her dad, being there for her best friend and having conflicting feelings about Jack while trying to be a professional.

While this is a romance book, I would almost say that while the relationship between Andie and Jack was the plot (although there wasn’t that much romance), most of her inner dialogue was about her dad and not knowing how to navigate grief. My main takeaway from this was how Andie learned to navigate all the difficult parts of her life in a healthy way once she was able to.

If grief is not a trigger for you, I would recommend this as there are a lot of cute moments and the concept of the forced proximity second chance romance is always going to bring the vibes!

Such a cute read and was such a great pick me up when I needed it. I enjoyed the entirety of this book despite the few lower star reviews I've seen. Loved the relationship development between FMC and MMC and really enjoyed the plot. It was wonderfully written.

Yesterday they were just exes. Today they’re a writer and a publicist... on tour in Europe... for a month.

Bianca Gillam's debut offers a captivating enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance that’s packed with tension and heart. Andie, a determined book publicist, is forced to work with her ex, Jack Carlson, on a month-long book tour across Europe. As they navigate romantic cities and unresolved feelings, the chemistry and angst between them are palpable, making each interaction intense and relatable.

Andie’s denial and lingering anger add depth, while Gillam weaves in humor and emotional moments that keep the story engaging. With its European backdrop and gradual revelations about their past, this is a great pick for anyone who loves a romance built on second chances and slow-burn tension.

let’s just say it was an easy 3-star read. It had potential but didn’t fully hit the mark for me. The plot was a bit all over the place at times, and the characters didn’t *quite* connect the way I’d hoped. But here’s the thing—it was still a fun, light read, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need.

If you’re into drama-filled office romances and love a dash of scandal, this one might be for you. For me, though, it was a cute distraction but didn’t leave me desperate for more.

I found this book a little slow at starting and hard to get into. But once I did I enjoyed it. I felt it was a little repetitive in parts. It was a quick & easy book to read once you get to know the characters more.

This book was beautiful and emotional and heartbreaking and had such amazing tension and really good banter. The connection between the two main characters felt so real and not forced there was so much chemistry. As someone who has also lost a dad I do feel andies pain and it really sucks but I do love her healing journey as well

Not quite the four star maybe 3.75 to 3.8. Bad publicity is a fun read with forced proximity and friends to enemies to friends to lovers within a professional relationship along with second chance romance makes for an engaging story. I love when book and publishing world play a role in the love story, or maybe how it is interwoven in the story.

The book does not waste any time in setting up and throwing us in the middle of the things. Told from the POV of Andie, we get to know about Jack and her feelings towards him. I could not help myself but compare it to Emily Henry’s romance vibe since I very recently read Book Lovers set in a similar world. However it is good to see that Gillan does not fade to black with intimate portions.

The writing is good, fast paced and spends no time in getting into thick of things. It keeps you hooked without exaggerations and a will they-won’t they approach. The tension between the two is played well and is felt. Also so good to see how self aware the leading lady is but not without her blind spots.

However at times though you want to scream at Andie to get her head out of her own ass and face things. I am with her best friend on this one. She needed to face the things and have those deep dark conversations coz she’s a grown woman, but seems to be stuck on the high school teen tantrum stubborn ways not wanting to move on from things and running away from them. The book stays with this and revels in it a tad bit too long. Credit to the writing style that it doesn’t make it seem overdrawn.

The reveal of what Jack did, by the time we go into flashbacks and know what happened, as horrific as it was, it lost that steam and gut punch impact. It needed to be woven in a tad bit earlier while having those feelings played out later. Because from the start, Jack has been implied to have done something unthinkable that he is not forgiven, and is so long drawn, I had my feelings like that till after things were explained from both POVs. A bit of restructuring could have solved that coz Jack was hated since beginning and I was on that ride but it came across as rather harsh (coz words have power) and unforgivable thus making their re-reunion rather necessity of genre than an organic progression (which again was done brilliantly on how they warm up to each other but for a Pisces who can hold grudges, he needed to put in more work to prove things for what he did, but that might be a me problem ) .

It is the Promising Young Woman but where everything works out and people overcome and work through their traumas. It releases next year so don’t know how much would it change but a definite tbr to have on your list for next summer Romance

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury ANZ for the eARC in exchange for a review

Story had promise but felt it could have had some tighter editing. It was repetitive in parts and took quite a while to get to the backstory. There was good character growth and the flashback scenes filled in a lot of blanks.

Landing just under 3 stars (let’s say 2.75) for this one. The premise has me super interested as books about books are my favourite. Unfortunately I didn’t connect with the characters and I would’ve loved a bit more backstory into Jack and Andie - my favourite chapters were the flashbacks! I also found this a bit repetitive at times. That said, I did fly through it in one sitting so it is definitely an easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. They

Bad Publicity

Tropes:

Second Chance
Forced Proximity
Grief
Miscommunication (lack of communication)

I thought this story was well written, with slow and repetitive pacing but story wise I think it took too long to get to the reason why she hated Jack so much.

I found Andies character unlikeable and that was due to the lack of communication and her hatred of Jack - I think if we were given a bit more information earlier or even throughout the book I would have enjoyed it more instead of skipping a chunk in the middle.

I did like the authors weaving of grief and the past relationship and how the past experiences were so closely entwined, it affected her relationships with those close to her in the present. I thought this part was well written and understandable.

I received this ARC from Netgalley.

I found this really hard to get to into initially. It seemed like a really drawn out story before we got to where we were going. I think Andi and Jack were great characters but I found the friendship with her and Sara a bit overdone. I think there was good potential in this book and whilst I still enjoyed if I just found the themes were a bit mixed and not what I would typically want in a romance read