Queer Enemies-to-lovers… this book absolutely should have been a hit for me. But I found the MCs bland and just didn’t care about them. And because I didn’t care about the MCs, I didn’t really care about their friends or families either. There was a little tension of “will they/won’t they” (they obviously will), but as soon as that was resolved, the book was over for me… and then there was still half a book left where nothing really happened. I really wanted to like this one.

The biggest plus for this book was the spot-on ADHD representation. That felt authentic and lived and was probably the best part of this book. The biggest negative was that it didn’t really feel authentically queer. I don’t know much about this author, but it felt like this was not queer work written by a queer person, for a queer audience. It came across as another attempt at a MLM romance by a straight, cis, white woman. And if that’s incorrect, if the author IS a part of the queer community, it was a flaw in the writing. But, I’d like to see publishers do better for their queer audiences.

This is such a joy of a read! Dylan and Derek are both deeply loving, dedicated, and loyal people, and they show it in vastly different ways. I loved seeing them both overcome some initial first impressions and misconceptions to then fall so helplessly in love with one another. they show their love in such special ways: through patience, kindness, bantering, silliness, spiciness, and so much acceptance and understanding. their story is full of heartache tied to past traumas, hurts, and insecurities, which sits so easily beside their warm, kind, gentle hearts that deserve the deep, endless love they give each other.

I loved this story so much, thank you for the alc :)

This book was unbearable to get through. Between its cringy writing, annoying narration, and stereotypes of gay men, I would never read another book again if I had to finish this one. I’m sorry I gave it a chance and tried to push through, but life is short.

A cute and quirky set up to this MM romance. Dylan falls through the floor onto the bed of his downstairs neighbor Derek. Although the two have not previously gotten along, Dylan offers to repair the ceiling and damage himself. What follows is an enemies to lovers romance with a few spicy scenes.

Based off the initial scene of the MC falling through the ceiling into the neighbor’s bed, I thought this was going to be a cute and lighthearted romance. Instead, we moved pretty quickly out of enemies to lovers territory and into heavier topics. I appreciated some things about this, like the ADHD representation and conversations. Unfortunately, I had a few issues with the pacing in this one. I felt like there were chapters missing at times for how quickly things progressed. Overall, a fine read, just not one that I particularly cared about at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this one I was expecting a fun enemies to lovers vibe, but that is not what this book gave me. It was so confusing I couldn't get the POV's straight it was all so similar. The writing did not work for me, the dialogues did not flow very well, it just felt overall very awkward. This was not the book for me.

3.75 stars

Derek and Dylan are a super cute couple, and it is very easy to root for them in this charming romance.

Sometimes, love just literally lands in your lap, and in this case, it lands in a bed (though not through the usual channels). While these two dislike each other at first, their attraction to each other's hearts, minds, and, yes, bodies, grows throughout the novel.

The characterization and general relationship development between these characters is well devised, and I enjoyed that both have other interests and qualities besides each other. At times, their resolutions seem a bit simple (I would consider actual murder if I came home to a certain missing household member without a clear explanation and permission in advance, for example). Additionally, while some conversations seem particularly mindful and/or realistic (one character and their dad), others are extraneous and clunky (the cop scene. What?).

Overall, I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from this author.

This was a cute story and I liked the characters in it. However it felt a little chaotic and was confusing trying to keep track of them all and how they all connected. Also it seemed to have a lot of side stories going on and it was a bit much. When it was just focusing on Derek and Dylan it was really sweet between them and funny banter, caught myself laughing out loud a few times. Second half was definitely better than the first half.

I’m having a love hate moment here…

I am thankful to have gotten the audioARC for free from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio so I can leave my voluntary review.

As far as the narration with is my first task to review, it was good. The characters were well spoken and at a good rate.
I love the representation and the complex relationships too.

The issue I had was with its writing. It’s awkward and with it being recited it highlights it even more as nothing can be hidden.
The dialogue especially doesn’t flow and seem natural.

That being said, those looking for a MM romance this may be a good option for you. However if you don’t want to hear about sexual activity, this isn’t for you. The amount of times the word “blow job” was said was enough for a while for me.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

so i wanted to give this book another try with the audio this time to hopefully get a better experience but i think it ended up bumping it down a bit for me. i still think that the two MMCs having D names just really does a disservice to this book it still feels entirely too confusing to know who is doing or saying what. it still felt hard to get into, still cute, still fun banter but its just entirely too chaotic for my liking and even more so through the audio.

I was blown away by this book. Not only did this author do such a great job with the enemies to lovers trope, but even the little side plots going on had me totally hooked. Every character had a purpose, and I felt SO connected to these character's lives and emotions. Such a wonderful love story, and the spicy scenes were exactly what I needed/had in mind. The narrators did such a great job, too! I already knew I would like this book from the description, but I was not expecting to devour it so fast. I could read a whole series about these characters! 5/5!

This was a DNF for me. From the blurb, I expected an enemies to lovers rom-com with feuding neighbors, some home improvement, and a big dog. It quickly became apparent that there would be explorations of grief and financial distress, and that one main character bore a long-term grudge against the other. I'm happy to read a romantic novel with heavier themes, but for me there was too much dissonance between the goofy tone of the writing and the actual content. The main characters themselves, both of whose names confusingly started with D, were presented in dual POV, but it was sometimes difficult to tell the chapters apart. Too much was revealed in internal monologue during early chapters, before they spent much time together; I would have rather seen more backstory play out over time and ideally in conversation, or at least internally while they were in the same room. Overall, this one just wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley smp and MacMillan audio for the free ALC and ebook. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I really enjoyed this forced proximity, hate to love mm romance. It was alot steamier then I remember her debut. Great narration. Excited to see what the author releases next.

4.5/5☆