Andie has just secured her dream job, senior publicists at one of the top publishing houses in New York City. Her first role in the new position, is accompanying best selling author, Jack Carlson on his book tour around Europe. In any other situation this would be an amazing opportunity, however Jack and Andy have a history, and not a good one.

As a reader we are aware that something extremely upsetting happened to Andy 5 years ago and that Jack was the cause of it, but we don’t actually find out what it is until 75% of the way through. I did find myself wishing that Jack’s character was a bit more developed and that he would stand up for himself more with Andy, whilst simultaneously hoping that whatever Jack did in the past wasn’t truly that bad.

Andy spends the duration of the novel coming to terms with her grief after the loss of her father, dealing with a new life in a new country and still suffering the inner turmoil of the events with Jack in the past. She is regularly on the brink of tears and is either heavily relying on or pushing away those close to her.

Jack constantly being cut off and seemingly terrified of Andie, made it a really odd dynamic. For these reasons, I wouldn’t really consider this book enemies to lovers, it’s more like 1 sees the other as an enemy and the other one is just placid and apologetic.

On the plus side, Bad Publicity is a visually stunning trip around Europe, which really set the scene with its descriptive details of dreamy book shops, and the chaos snd excitement of literary events.

🩷 Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam ✈️
“ yesterday they were just exes, today they’re an author and a publicist… On tour in Europe for a month… “

I went into big w today to find a few new releases and found a copy of bad publicity!
I was lucky enough to receive a digital arc of this book and have finished reading it this week, just in time for its release. If you’re into stories about fame, scandal, and the messy reality of public life, Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam is for you 📚This book follows Andie & Jack, who are former lovers from college and have to work together for a month on a trip, he’s incredibly hot and successful, she wants to keep her Newley landed dream job. it’s giving enemies to lovers with work place romance, it’s a slow burn rom com & we 🩷 that.

Bianca Gillam nails the complexity of how to incorporate a deep sence of grief and romance into one book which made it feel more relatable, Still, it doesn’t take away from how easy and fun this was to read, thank you @netgalley & @bloomsburypublishing for allowing me to read this beautiful story, 🩷

I enjoyed *Bad Publicity*. The book was engaging with its enemies-to-lovers storyline, and I was kept interested throughout the entire read. The story follows Jack and Andie, who are both involved in the literary industry—Jack as an author and Andie as a publicist. As a reader and lover of all things written and books, it was super interesting to get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in terms of creating, writing, and publishing books, as well as seeing what goes into making a book successful and popular.

In terms of the plot, the author has created a narrative that leaves the reader curious and determined to find out what happened between the two main characters. From the beginning of the novel, it's hinted that Jack and Andie have history—negative history, at that. This introduced a mysterious "What did he do?" thread for the reader to follow, which, in my opinion, made the book all the more exciting.

Speaking of the main characters, the author has done a fantastic job of crafting them. They face real-life complexities, making them relatable and easy to root for. The characters are also warm and easy to bond with. As their true personalities emerge throughout the storyline, it's hard not to fall in love with them and want to have them in your own friend circle.

Another aspect of the book I really enjoyed was the characters going on tour, taking us along to explore different locations. The author describes these locations in depth, creating vivid images in the reader's mind and making the reading experience feel like you're embarking on a fabulous journey of your own.

The author also weaves the realities of grief and grieving into the story. While this is an important part of the narrative, there are also plenty of moments of joy and humor. The topic of grief was handled with the utmost respect and dignity, really capturing the authentic and raw experience of losing a loved one.

Readers who are fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope will be impressed with this book, as well as fans of the second-chance and slow-burn romance tropes.


Thank you to Netgallery for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

It was slow to start so I found it hard to pick it back up whenever I put it down and didn’t quite love the main character. However, I did get more invested as it went on and enjoyed it as a story of greif rather than a romance.

4.25⭐️!

This was so much more than a romance book 🥹. It talked about grief and the impact that it can have on your life even years later.

I did find Andie a bit annoying / childish at times, but as I got further into the book and understood her past and the way she was handling things and why she was acting the way she was, I feel like I really understood her. Her character growth was really good😭. This book made me tear up a few times.

In terms of the romance itself, I really liked it! It wasn’t a super heavy part of the plot, which allowed it to be quite a good slow burn. I found both characters really funny when they were with each other which I always enjoy in a romance 💖.

I love books about books. I loved how this was about a publicist and an author going on a book tour. From New York to London to Paris and Dublin, it was a great insight into the life of a publicist and the hectic schedules of book tours.

This book was a lot about grief and unresolved issues from the past. I would have liked to feel more of a connection between the two characters, I just didn’t feel the chemistry that much.

It was still a good story about love, grief and second chances.

Thank you @bloomsburypublishing and @netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley & Bloomsbury ANZ for this eARC!

I did quite enjoy this book. I found myself 50% in within the first few hours and struggled to stop reading. It is a classic enemies to lovers trope which i really love!! I thought that Andie working for a publisher & Jack being an author was a very cool concept for the book and I did enjoy that very much.

There was however A LOT of grief that the FMC was going through which unfortunately i didn’t love. I do think it was definitely more grief than romance. Throughout the whole book there is a hidden secret about Andie and Jack and their history together. It’s also the reason why Andie hates Jack. We didn’t find out this big secret until around 77% in which then kind of just EXPLODES.

Overall, I’d have to give this read 3 stars because while there was parts I did enjoy, there was also parts I didn’t.

I felt the pacing of this book was extremely rushed which made it hard to build up the tension between the characters and really capitalise on their forced proximity.

I also felt thrown into the book, without any warning about what was happening which made it hard to focus initially.

I did not finish this book because I couldn't get invested enough to keep reading.

I liked it, but I didn't love it.

Jack and Andie went to university together, and we are left with a vague, bad thing that happened, which we don't learn about until the last 25% of the story. This revelation left me craving more depth and complexity in the characters. I don't think the enemies-to-lovers trope works in the sense of a contemporary romance, but maybe that's just me, I personally found it lacking in execution.

On the positive side, I appreciated the book’s exploration of grief and the intricate dynamics within a long-term friendship. However, I believe that Jack’s character needed further development to make him feel more relatable and authentic. Unfortunately, this aspect of the story fell short of my expectations.

I received an ARC NetGalley from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review.

This is a darker take on a second-chance romance. The marketing of this book is quite confusing because the cover is giving rom-com, but the subject matter is sombre and there are little to no laugh-out-loud moments. We spend a lot of time with the FMC Andie processing her grief, which would fit better into the women's fiction genre (which I am a voracious reader of), but this subject matter doesn't land with the 370 word benchmark of a rom-com format.

The story would have benefited from some deeper fleshing out of the MMC, Jack. The reader does not know enough about him by the end to care about whether they end up together. I think this is where this story would have succeeded taking the women's fiction route and exploring more about Andie's personal development rather than hitting all the contemporary romance beats in 370 pages.

I think this book has been marketed with a heavy emphasis on the romance but I thought it focused more on the grief of Andy versus on the love story. I do think how the main character experiences grief and goes through the grief process is very well done. But unfortunately I found the pacing off this book to be a bit off putting. I felt this was a bit disjointed, even though I liked Jack and Andy I struggled to like them and feel invested in them and felt the ending lacked a sense of completeness

What a gorgeous cover! That and the concept of the story had me grabbing to read. It’s a forced proximity second chance romance and based around book tours around Europe. Yes please.

It’s an easy read with some fun banter and a bit of depth regarding relationships with parents and friends, and a lot about grief.

There were parts I really loved, however there were also bits I wasn’t a fan of. The big reveal about why she “hates” him was a bit of a letdown and I think if this had been introduced earlier on, and then more details drip fed into the story, I would have understood more what she was feeling. I ended up feeling like she was a tad self absorbed instead.

While it does have the promised happy ending, I also felt a bit ripped off that it ended so quickly on the romance side.

Still a decent read.

Liked certain parts,VERY CONVOLUTED, and childish. Also, I feel like this book couldn’t have been like 50 pages if everyone just sat down and talked to one another.
2.5

Bad Publicity - Review

3.5 Stars (rounded to 4)

What an easy and fun read! I absolutely smashed this book in one sitting.

This story follows Andie and Jack, who are former lovers with a deep rooted past. They re-connect through their professions and are forced to endure a long work commitment together. This elicits a number of mixed attractions, signals and a spectrum of emotions leading from hatred to pure lust.

This was a perfect slow burn. I mean the slow is BURNING. This can be a really frustrating trope in romance books, but Bianca wrote this one perfectly. By the end of the book, I was pining so bad for the two of them to be together, it wasn’t even funny!

Andie and Jack ended up being such a cute couple - despite trauma suffered between them. I like that even after all these years, the connection they initially felt was never lost. I think I would have liked a bit more of a connection/plot of the two of them once the trauma was resolved (as this was only announced 75% into the book of what the trauma actually was). It left me feeling like some parts of the story were unresolved?

The topic of grief was handled really well but sometimes I felt like that was the sole purpose of the book and not a romance novel. Overall, a sweet, cute, fun and enjoyable read!

Thankyou to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book !

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!