Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for an e-arc of this book!

The Launch Date is the debut novel from Annabelle Slator, and it had me hooked from the start! We meet Grace, who’s having the most terrible time, her boyfriend just dumped her, her boss is the worst, and nothing in her life feels like it’s going right. She’s stuck in a job that doesn’t spark joy… until a big promotion opportunity pops up. The only problem? She’s competing against her work nemesis, Eric Bancroft.

But here’s the twist, they weren’t always rivals. In fact, they used to be best work buddies (and maybe something more?). As they’re forced to team up for a major project, old sparks start flying, and let’s just say… enemies-to-lovers fans, you’re in for a treat.

I picked this book on a whim, not totally sure it was my thing but I ended up loving it. My heart broke for Grace with her awful ex and that terrible job, especially when you can tell she’s meant for so much more. And the chemistry between her and Eric? So good. At first, Grace’s grudge felt intense, but as little pieces of their past came to light, it was so easy to root for them. Plus, the fact that Eric had been quietly into her all along? 😍

This is such a sweet British romcom with all the cozy, heart-fluttery vibes. If you love a good workplace enemies-to-lovers story, definitely add this one to your TBR!

*Round up 3.5 stars* This book was fun! This charming and sharply written debut blends workplace rivalry, dating app antics, and slow-burn enemies to lovers, which is my absolute favorite trope! There is banter, tension, and a London backdrop that added to the charm. I also appreciated the subplots exploring ambition, self-worth, and vulnerability, especially from the female perspective.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Grace Hastings dream job at the popular “true love” dating app, Fate, has turned into a nightmare. Basically everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong. & to top it all off, her fiancé just ups and dumps her. (EEEEEESHHHHHH!)

Whenever the company's CEO approaches her with an opportunity that will get her a big promotion, she's ALL OVER IT! However...there's just a couple of catches...
1. She has to launch a brand-new app focusing on IRL dating and genuine connection...BUT
2. She must develop and test-drive a series of “first dates” with the other person gunning for the job: notorious socialite playboy and Grace’s biggest work rival, Eric Bancroft.
Sounds like a blast, RIGHT?!!?!
I absolutely loved the slow-burn dance between Grace and Eric. I used to hate slow burns, but done right, they are amazing!! The more time these two spend together, the more their boundaries soften. Grace starts to see that Eric, the man she thought was her #1 arch nemesis and also a huge womanizer, might not be the villain after all. (YAY, WE LOVE THIS!)

Tropes Included:
Friends to Rivals to Lovers ❌
Workplace Romance 👩🏽‍💻👨🏽‍💻
Forced Proximity ⁐
Slow Burn 🔥❤️‍🔥

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a copy of this digital ARC! All opinions are my own.

This story follows two rivals who are forced to work together in order to win a promotion. This was a great storyline. I enjoyed the overall plot and the entire concept, especially as I enjoyed The Hating Game. This book was fun, but I felt that the story started to drag a bit. It kind of got to a point where nothing was truly happening. The book still had a great story of the FMC growing after her breakup and finding love. This book is told from Grace’s pov.

Grace is the FMC who is dumped and wanted to be promoted. I enjoyed her story and seeing her grow. However, her growth was a bit slower than I liked. Then we have Eric, who is the playboy but a hard worker. I loved seeing him care for his sister and he also grew. There are side characters in this book but none who truly captured my full attention. I did like Grace’s friends who were very involved with the story. The romance was cute with enemies to lovers and workplace romance. However, I hated the third act breakup as I just finally wanted them to be together when there was so much chemistry between them.

The ending was great and overall it was a great story. I think it the pacing and conflicts went through faster, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. With the slow pacing, I would start losing focus especially as this is a romance novel. I still recommend checking it out especially because it is perfect for The Hating Game lovers.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

I really loved the author voice in this rivals-to-lovers romance. The tone is light and fun. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley, Avon & Harper Voyager, and Annabelle Slator for the advanced copy of The Launch Date!

This book was so fun to read. Coworkers turned crushes turned work rivals turned lovers was a wild journey and I loved it. I also loved the journey Grace took with her relationship with her boss, having so much confidence to stand up to your boss is encouraging.

The Launch Date is a delightful, funny, and heartwarming book about learning what you are worth after accepting so much less for so long. What a fun ride from start to finish! I was so charmed by Grace and her people pleasing tendencies, and I swooned for Eric's misunderstood playboy antics. Together, they made the perfect match. SWIPE RIGHT!!!!!

I found the beginning hard to get into - the author was chewing at the scenery and packing in unnecessary descriptions. After a minute I got more invested but ultimately I never felt that close to the characters. I found the fmc to be hypocritical, annoyingly dense and at some points selfish. She came around in the end but the annoying phase and the initial miscommunication trope lasted too long for my taste.

Going into this book I was excited but was unfortunately disappointed. The start of the story was entertaining and then the plot became weak. The writing stated to feel repetitive, the characters acted childish and showed zero character yet developed. I’m sad I didn’t enjoy it that muvh. Thank you to the publisher for the arc. The arc was provided in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read! Workplace, enemies to lovers charming romance set in the UK. The beginning was slow paced, so it took me a while to get into it, but it was a cute story. Want to read more from this author!

I love a rivals to lovers romcom and The Launch Date's premise of trying out potential new dates for the dating app they're developing was cute and well-executed. Fun date mishaps and a slow burn reveal of the history behind Grace and Eric's relationship.
Gave Hating Game vibes but better.

3.5/5

4 stars.

Annabelle Slator's "The Launch Date" is a workplace romance enemies-to-lovers story with lots of good banter, a solid slow-burning story, and excellent chemistry between the main characters. This is a cute book overall, though I did find the pacing to be a little too slow for my liking. The best parts of this story involve the "will they, won't they" between Grace and Eric, who may or may not return to one another as their rivalry as coworkers might lead them to becoming friends again... and possibly more! There is a lot of technical jargon going on here because of the nature of Grace and Eric's job (they work for a dating app, which is something that has bypassed me entirely), but I could get over that becaus the chemistry between them was so good. I can't wait to see what Annabelle Slator does next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Annabelle Slator, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I love the fake dating trope. It’s so much fin to read and this was even better because of the TENSION. It was so good it could cut glass.

What a wonderfully refreshing debut @annabelleslator wrote.

Two colleagues who apparently despise each other find themselves working together on a new project for the dating app company they work for. Grace and Eric have to come up and actually go on prospective date packages to sponsor on their dating app.

The slow burn in this novel is so delicious that I couldn't stop reading. We get to know more about both Grace and Eric. Eric is more than the womanizer most magazines claim he is. Grace is going through a bad breakup and she has to find her own voice in speaking up for herself. And most importantly, we get to find out why they became enemies, and if there was more to it than meets the eye.

Their chemistry is off the charts, the plot is stimulating and never boring. Eric's way of making feel the people he care about protected is too good to be true. Grace monologues in her anxiety riddled brain is so believable and understandable.

Thank you @NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this wonderful debut. All opinions are my own.

#arc #arcreader #arcreview #rcreviewer #thelaunchdate #annabelleslator #closeproximity #workplaceromance #hatetolovers #datingapp #contemporaryromance #singlepov #netgalley #officeromance #romcom #newadult #slowburn #spicy #readingchallenge2025

If you’re nostalgic for The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, I HIGHLY recommend that you pick up The Launch Date! What could be more entertaining to read than an “enemies to lovers” trope, where the main characters are working on a dating app?

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoy a rivals to lovers, workplace setup and The Launch Date delivered! This was a fun read and reminded me a lot of The Hating Game. The build up, slow burn between Grace and Eric was great. I struggled with Grace a little at first, but she grew on me, and Eric was swoonworthy. It was a little too heavy on the work details at times, but overall, I enjoyed this read a lot. Great debut!

The Launch Date was a very fun concept, I was really looking forward to the dating app twist on the workplace romance. So often this setting feels repetitive, and I do feel like The Launch Date successfully distinguished itself as something new! Unfortunately I do feel that the execution overall was a bit lackluster for me, and the conflict was not resolved fast enough to enjoy the romance.

First, the positives: I did love Annabelle Slator's writing voice and her style of storytelling. The mystery of what happened in the past, and knowing eventually my answers would come through a timeskip / flashback was largely what kept me reading. I love that we didn't have to sit through a large text block of the main character explaining her past, and instead got to witness it. A great tool utilized perfectly to keep us hooked and keep the story moving at a good pace! I loved Grace's roommates, most of the time I enjoyed them more than Grace herself, and I loved Eric and his sister.

Where I got stuck was there was when I realized there was too much workplace and not enough dates! The dates and how they would be rated and reviewed afterwards were 100% my favorite part. I loved the way the dates functioned for them the way they would any other couple - the learning and bonding and working as a team to conquer challenges, I loved every minute. However their effect didn't last - Grace in particular would shrug off her growing fondness. Grace forcing herself back into her rivalry mindset every single day that she went to work... it really became a chore, and less believable the longer she held onto her grudge. Sadly, the balance just wasn't right for me, and then the story overall began to drag the longer she insisted she hated him - enemies to lovers in a contemporary setting has many pitfalls and blind stubbornness truly is the biggest of them all.

I rated The Launch Date a 3/5. Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.75 stars

The Launch Date by Annabelle Slator was absolutely outstanding! The book follows Grace Hastings as she tries to get a work promotion while working under a terribly demanding direct supervisor who is punishing her for trying to move forward and having to partner up with her ex-friend and work rival (Eric). If that weren't enough her absolute garbage can of an ex-boyfriend is also reaching out to her, which only serves to distract her from her goals. Weirdly, the only person helping her focus on the work is Eric who is up for the same promotion. Together they are coming up with great ideas that are working together amazingly considering the incident that happened between them at the Christmas party. She insist that nothing is happening between them but isn't there?!

Ahhhh! I loved this book so much. I've been in a reading slump and decided to pick this book up and it was so freaking good. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I was literally running downstairs to update my husband on when the rivals were starting to become lovers. I haven't had this much fun with a book in a minute. I highly recommend this read as it was absolutely delightful. The one criticism that I do have is what happens during her promotion interview, I didn't like how that ended. Other than that, the book was absolutely perfect, that's why I rated it 4.75 stars out of 5.

Tropes: workplace, rivals to lovers, billionaire

Triggers: nepo baby, demanding boss, attempted DV, manipulative ex

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon, and Annabelle Slator for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

There's just something that I utterly love about rivals-to-lovers, the TENSION, the connection, the intense inner monologues; it's all just utterly beautiful. In a workplace romance? That's just extra delicious. The semi-forced fake dating with that level of tension was swoon-worthy, and the added drama of a meanie of a boss? Oh, I ate that up!

Grace was not my favorite character to start the book - she was an absolute doormat, and just seemed excessively whiny and I just don't usually find myself enjoying those types of characters. I didn't get annoyed though because only a few chapters in and it was already clear of how she was growing, and changing, and just really growing into her own. Eric did help, but I love that Grace really did it on her own, also.

I loved the tension and the banter and the spice was absolutely delicious! Such an absolutely fantastic debut from this novel and I cannot wait to see what she writes in the future!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Lots of great things happening in this book. I love a slow burn and this one heightens anticipation by making the reader wait, but the payoff is worth it. Love the interaction between the two main characters as well.