4 ⭐️
1.5 🌶️
SLOOWWWW BURN (worth it!)

I really enjoyed this one by Annabelle Slator!!! I love an enemies to lovers book and this book did not disappoint. The relationship that formed was so believable and felt so real. And the chemistry between Grace and Eric- soooo good, I had butterflies! Also, a man that falls first is always going to be a top tier character in my book. Aside from the romance, the author did a great job creating the apps and the competition of the position they are both vying for.

I would recommend this one!!! Thanks NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC!

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 3.5/5, rounded up to 4 for NetGalley. Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was kind of disappointing for me, especially because I had such high hopes for it. The premise sounded like such a fun time and like it could set up some really funny moments. I just found this to be a bit lackluster for me.

Given the workplace environment of this book, I thought I would get some absolutely hilarious and fun moments of the two arguing at work or about work, but that didn't happen. Or it didn't happen enough. Do you know how much iconic sass and sarcasm you could have here? Missed opportunities.

In a book like this, the characters and their personalities really have to draw me in and make me think that the two will work out even when it doesn't seem possible at first, another missed opportunity here.

And I also found the beginning to be quite slow. I don't think that all the in-depth discussions on dating apps and how they work were entirely necessary, especially because everyone (the readers) know all about that. Online dating isn't a rarity or seen as such a weird thing anymore.

This book definitely picked up (plot and character-wise) at the very end, somewhere around the last quarter mark. But it shouldn't take me to nearly the end of the book for me to feel invested.

This is definitely not a terrible book by any means, but it didn't grab me. It didn't have that special something that you look for and crave in this kind of book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my review on TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) will be up at the end of the month with my monthly wrap-up.

I found the overall concept of *The Launch Date* really intriguing, especially the enemies/competitors to lovers dynamic. I always enjoy tension in romances, and this premise had a lot of potential. However, the chronic miscommunication between the characters really killed my interest in Grace and made me feel bad for Eric. Grace dragged him along throughout the story, often treating him harshly, and I just couldn’t understand why Eric stuck around when all she did was push him away only to pull him back. While I could sympathize with Eric’s perspective at the start, by the end, his patience with Grace seemed unrealistic given all they had been through.

The pacing also felt off, with the story being longer than it needed to be. A lot of dialogue was drawn out over multiple pages, with too much inner monologue and metaphors that didn’t add much to the story. Unfortunately, it didn’t fully deliver for me, and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re a fan of the miscommunication trope.

A cute workplace romance with a friends to rivals (to friends) to lovers trope reminiscent of The Hating Game. Grace and Eric have a lot of chemistry with some angst. Their relationship was a slow-burn romance. They challenged each other in their careers while also balancing their love lives. Their romance scenes were fun to read (and more open door than closed) and there were a lot of funny moments in their fake dates. And in the workplace, they really brought out the best in each other, and it was satisfying watching Grace stand up for herself. Eric is definitely the perfect book boyfriend: supportive, handsome, confident but also respectful. Something that bothered me was the epilogue - while I liked the ending, I felt like there were a lot of events career-wise that happened in between the last chapter and epilogue that were just unexplained.

This was overall a great debut novel from the author. The writing was engaging and easy to read and I truly enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

I cannot believe this is the author's debut novel! 😭

Time jumps don't normally hit for me, but the way that past scenes were sprinkled in right when I wanted to know what had happened in the past was perfect 👌. I love that Grace and Eric had such a rich history together and spanned the whole gamut of friends-to-enemies-to-lovers.

The Hating Game comparison is spot on - there is just a magnetic pull between the two characters that has you feeling the chemistry and tension throughout the entire book.

Angst level is pretty low - for some the stakes of competing for the same job might not be high enough but for me this is the perfect escapism romance.

Thank you to Netgalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC of this novel!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In this debut enemies to lovers, work place romance two coworkers vying for the same position are forced to work together on a brand new dating app in order to receive a promotion. They must develop and test drive a series of first dates to include in a brand new app that focuses on IRL dating and genuine connection. Too bad they also happen to be nemeses. What could possibly go wrong?

After being dumped by her boyfriend, Grace Hastings believes that the idea of finding a true love match is a pipe dream, which makes working on a dating app a challenge to say the least. She spends her days creating marketing plans for a concept she no longer believes in. To top it all off, she suffers from imposter syndrome. But that’s not going to stop her from getting a seat at the table. I really admired her resolve and work ethic. Her character arc is beautifully written. She starts off the novel unsure and afraid to assert herself with her boss, but by the end she discovers she has the power to go after her passions and stand up for herself.

Eric Bancroft comes from wealth and privilege. Never seen with the same woman twice, he is the ultimate playboy. He’s anxious to get the Head of Marketing Position for the new dating app, Ditto. But can his playboy charms get him the role? Eric can be an ass, but he’s a charming ass. Ms. Slayer does a great job of balancing that line. While there’s competition between the pair, there’s never any real animosity and that’s challenging to do with an enemies to lovers trope, but Ms. Slator navigates this beautifully. Ms. Slator hits all the right notes. It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel.

The chemistry between the two is off the charts and the witty banter helps give the novel the right pacing.
The pair grow closer as they continue to work together and they both let down their guards. We see the vulnerable, caring side that Eric hides behind his cavalier facade. I liked seeing them on their dates, which start off pretty disastrously. Between a sprained ankle and a minor stab wound, you’d think these two will kill each other by the end of this project, but in fact these moments help them to bond even more. Eric and Grace bring out the best in each other. He supports her passion project and encourages her to keep pursuing her idea for a new app. It gave me all the feels.

There were so many memorable, funny moments throughout the story. Here are some of favorite quotes:

“It would be fitting to die here, like this: she died how she lived, trying so hard to get somewhere but not quite reaching the peak.”

“Well, I’ve never eaten dinner with someone who committed a knife crime against me, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“Sooo, what I’m hearing is . . . you think I’m pretty?” His smile flashes triumphantly in the warm, humming light. I raise my eyebrows and stare at him in carb-fuelled disbelief. “That’s the one thing you got from my speech?”

“You really think you’ve got my number, don’t you?” I smush my ruined vase back into a ball. “I do, actually. It’s saved in my phone under Spawn of Satan.”

I’m so excited to see what comes next from this author.

The past few months have been filled of debut author rom-coms for me, and I’m loving every minute of it! What a great debut novel from Annabelle Slator! “The Launch Date” was fun and witty, with equal parts swoon!

Grab this one if you love:
***Friends to enemies to lovers trope
***Workplace romance
***He falls first
***The build-up that delivers!
***The chemistry! The flirting!
***A yummy MMC

And the scene when it finally happens?!? Wooooweeee!

Definitely grab this is one when it hits bookshelves in February! I can’t wait to read what Annabelle writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley & Avon and Harper Voyager from the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

This was a cute, very modern slow burn love story involving online dating/dating apps. Grace was such a relatable character- we could've been friends IRL! I was rooting for her and Eric as well.

thank you to netgalley for the arc to read this book!

ੈ♡˳ rating: four of five stars

ੈ♡˳ thoughts:
this book was super cute! it was also very short, not novella short but definitely a one day read if you have the time. it only took me about 4 hours to read the entire thing and that's with a nap in between. the e-book was about 200 pages, so something short and sweet to take your mind off things. eric and grace, the two main characters, are coworkers turned friends turned enemies turned rivals turned friends turned lovers, and the author somehow managed to fit all of that into one very short book. they both work for opposite dating apps, i would say grace's is the equiv of hinge and eric the equiv of tinder but are coming together to make their own dating app.

2/5 on the spice, their is one open door scene but it's nothing to write home about.

ੈ♡˳ tropes
ꕥ enemies to lovers
ꕥ second chance
ꕥ workplace romance
ꕥ he falls first

ੈ♡˳ fave quotes
“ೃ⁀➷ no quotes because an arc is always subject to change!

◡̈ ◡̈ ◡̈

Okay so I am a huge fan of the Hating Game. So when a book promises to be like that I’m expecting lovely snarky banter between the two love interests. Where the lovely couple fall for each other in a beautiful way. This book though wasn’t it. The first few chapters were boring. Dating apps and fighting for a job was boring. I almost gave up. But I felt maybe it will get better. The story really picked up steam in the last 30% of the book. Which by the way was a long book. And the romance was a bit off for me from the beginning. The ending was unexpectedly odd. Overall, it was an okay romance book. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

If you're a fan of the Hating Game and love workplace frenemies romance, this is the book for you! It is a bit of a slow burn but you can't help but root for Grace and Eric the whole time. A quick and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was well written and had its cute moments, but on the whole was just a fine read for me. It felt like these characters could have been together in less than 100 pages if they just communicated and that trope doesn’t personally do it for me.

I enjoyed reading this book! The Launch Date is a cute and fun read. The book has a fair amount of similarity to The Hating Game, but it worked for me.

I can’t decide how I feel about this book. The first two chapters had me a bit bored.. there was a lot of talk about the apps the two characters worked for. Then it got better… and then I was bored again and by the time they got together I just wasn’t feeling it. It had all the tropes I love but I can’t put my finger on what just made me feel very meh about it all.

Oh boy! Two tropes that work like magnets and drew me right into this book: enemies to lovers and workplace romance! I dove in without a second thought, though at first, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the technical jargon—algorithms, marketing terms about dating apps—but thankfully, it only lasted for the first two chapters. Once the main plot kicked in, with two frenemies forced to work together, attend dates reluctantly, and compete for a management position while throwing insults and shooting each other laser-eye looks, the story became an addictive, unputdownable read!

I absolutely loved the slow-burn dance between Grace and Eric, their heated push-pull dynamic, and the palpable tension between them. They started off as friends, but after Eric did something unforgivable, their relationship turned into a six-month-long war of arch-nemeses. But when the CEO of their dating company offers a promotion that requires them to attend a series of dates together—hiking, cooking, pottery, and yoga classes—they're forced to call a truce. The more time they spend together, the more their boundaries soften. Grace begins to see that Eric, the man she thought was her biggest enemy and a supposed womanizer, might not be the villain after all. Beneath his privileged, arrogant exterior, she discovers a vulnerable and caring side, causing her to reconsider her harsh judgment. But as their bond grows, so do the stakes. Grace risks losing not just the promotion she’s worked so hard for, but also her heart. What if trusting him comes with a price she’s not prepared to pay, like it did with her ex? What if this isn't a game anymore and her feelings are getting dangerously real?

Overall, I’m rounding up my 4.5 stars to 5 for sizzling chemistry, a smart and stimulating plot, and an engaging debut with witty dialogue and a satisfying conclusion! I can’t wait to see what this author does next. This is a brilliant debut that you shouldn’t leave sitting on your TBR list—just read it!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this impressive debut's digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.