3+ stars

“'It is not my job to accommodate her kids.' The memory shot through me like a physical blow. He’d made his stance perfectly clear and I wouldn’t open myself up because of one kind look.”

On her first day back to work since her husband’s death, Julianna overhears Ben’s complaint to a mutual colleague - it’s the last thing she needs as she balances worries about her young daughters and concerns about proving herself in a new job she might be under qualified for.
We fast forward past 2 years of cat and mouse petty fighting between Julianna and Ben as they begin to settle into a more civilized relationship in the workplace and perhaps a more steamy relationship outside of the office.

Debut author Amy Buchanan takes great care with the single parent themes and albeit predictable, they add an authenticity to the novel. I felt there was 1 or 2 too many “oh, this is going to be the end of them” segments, as the final outcome was apparent. Clocking in at just over 10 hours on audio, some editing would have moved the plot forward in a more seamless manner without creating plot holes.

I rarely read romances but after taking a chance on a new Christina Lauren book last year I decided to give this a try. The workplace environment, along with a Boston interlude (loved) from the Orlando, Florida setting prompted me to pick this up.

Charlotte North’s narration was excellent, particularly in her range from young girl voices to mid 30s male and female characters. Spice meter was in the red zone with multiple scenes ramping up 1/3 of the way in, so be aware that if you normally skip through these types of scenes, you will be doing a lot of skimming.

After the death of her husband, Juliana launches herself back into the workforce. While most of her colleagues are understanding and accommodating as she adjusts her home/work balance, one of her coworkers, Ben, thinks she’s in way over her head. They end up paired together on a project after two years of somewhat silent loathing and have to find a way to move on past their rivalry.

Let’s Call a Truce is a stand-alone, workplace romance. The book does contain open-door content. TW/CW: The FMC is a widow so there is a lot of talk about her husband’s death. The author does well portraying both the grief from the point of a widow and the children. Grief and “moving on” are such an individual thing and I had no problem with the pace of the MCs relationship.

What a great debut novel! The author balances what can be a more difficult topic with progression of starting over. The storyline has a good mix of sweet and swoony moments and we see a lot of personal growth from both of the MCs.

Charlotte North does a wonderful job with the solo narration of the audiobook. She always does well keeping the different characters distinct enough and her male voices don't come across as forced.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked this book. I loved the different twists it took on the common romance novels. It was great to see a rom com about a single parent that is struggling with her ability to manage work life balance, her love life and her role as a parent. I found the FMC relatable and the story even brought unexpected tears to my eyes on several occasions. Definitely recommend!

I genuinely liked this rom-com. Typically the story is very blah, and you're only reading it for the spice, but this one actually had a story with some substance. I liked the single mom widow angle. I feel like that's not a typical character in the contemporary romance genre. The spice level was also good. I really, it was enjoyable if you like the genre.

I really enjoyed this one. I enjoyed the single parenting aspect, trying to move on after a spouse passes and learning what it means to forgive yourself. It was refreshing and fun and a great read.

Emotional. Great character development. Good narrator.. trigger warnings for death of a spouse, grief, and absentee parent.

First let me say that star ratings are not adequate for explaining all the complexities that go into an author writing a story. That being said, I had all different thoughts on Let’s Call a Truce, and will attempt to explain why.

Amy Buchanan can write. She has a knack for storytelling and I felt like Ben and Juliana were real people with real lives. This story is as much about living with grief as it is a love story and how it is possible to find romantic love after having it once before. Friends and family also play a big role in this story. Juliana is a widowed mom to two young girls and it really does take a village to help her navigate life post spouse. She has a great support group of friends, one who is best friends with her workplace nemesis, Ben Thomas. As they say, keep your friends close but your enemies closer. The initial spark between Ben and Juliana is doused quickly when Ben makes the CRITICAL mistake of judging Juliana’s work ethic as less than satisfactory BECAUSE she has kids. Note to all men—don’t do this! And here’s where the story jumps forward two years.

This one incident is used as the fuel to Juliana’s hate fire for Ben. Okay, I’m a mom, I get it, but instead of getting to know Ben, she just lets it keep festering. There are so many opportunities for Juliana to actually talk to Ben about this, but time and time again she chooses the stubborn, “he’s a terrible person” mantra which after several chances came off as immature to me. And that’s okay. Characters can be immature as long as they grow, but Juliana’s unwillingness to see Ben in any light other than work nemesis for SO LONG, almost made me DNF. I groaned aloud when once again, Juliana found fault with Ben because I just wanted her to give him a chance.

But do you know what made me come back? Ben. He is the best MMC and honestly, probably too good for Juliana. He really really wants her and pursues her, loves her kids (the miscommunication is finally fixed and there is a good grovel), and thinks she’s amazing at her job. To me, Ben never really misstepped; he was even very forgivable in the third act break up. In a way, he was the opposite of Juliana; he knows what he wants and he goes for it and his “rivalry” was more his way of dealing with Juliana’s childishness in a placating way.

This book does have a pretty great ending, Juliana does grow and realize that she wasted a TON of time fighting with Ben, and I ultimately enjoyed the second half of the book. But if you’re inclined to dislike heroines who struggle with forgiveness, Let’s Call a Truce might put you a bit off. I will say that I would definitely read more from Buchanan. She knows what women want in a hero and can write a workplace romance sex scene, I just think rivals to lovers may have not been my favorite trope from her. I received an early copy. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook: I have heard Charlotte North narrate romance before and have enjoyed her. This was the first time I heard her “kid” voice which erred on the side of pitchy, but I thought she did a good job of narrating both Ben and Juliana’s voices. She understands pacing and I can definitely hear her in my head as these characters.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟.5
Steam: 🪭🪭
Narration: 📣📣📣📣

I ended up DNFing this at 51%.

I TRIED to push through this book. I really did. But my biggest issue all comes down to the main characters' relationship just really not doing it for me. It didn't seem to make sense and their interactions really were just a ton of back and forth over the same things. The lack of communication on both of their parts really made me just not want to see them ending up together. And at 51% it felt like we were being forced to try to believe that our female MC was feeling things for our male MC. Except to make it was really just giving that she was lusting for him and was not ready to move on from her husband or his death. It was very much feeling like lust and then us being told that the feelings were more, not being shown that they were.

If there's one thing that a romance novel HAS to have for me, it would be a relationship and characters I am rooting to end up together. This didn't have that and it left me VERY disappointed. Once I saw that I was only halfway through the book, I just knew that I wouldn't be able to finish it. therefore choosing to DNF it.

One of thing I love in romance books is messy characters, messy situations, messy relationships. We’re introduced to Juliana, a widowed mom of two children whose return to the workplace after years of being a stay-at-home mom goes mostly well… with exception of one coworker, Ben, who makes a snide comment about her struggle to balance motherhood and her career.

Fast forward two years and we get to see Juliana and Ben, whose relationship has developed into a full-blown, almost petty sort of feud. However, there’s no denying that there’s a different sort of tension there, and it comes to a head when they’re forced to work on a project together.

You’ll love this book if you love:

🩷 ORLANDO! There’s a very specific scene in this book that might seem insane to outsiders, but is 100% factual to anyone who went to elementary school here. IYKYK.

🩷 Blended families and conversations on the seemingly impossible (but very often necessary!) task of balancing a full-time career and motherhood.

🩷 Themes of grief, rebuilding life after tragedy, and stepping back into yourself.

🩷 Funny moments! Juliana and Ben’s banter is chef’s kiss and genuinely made me cackle.

🩷 Spice! It’s there and it’s hot, folks 🥵

Starting this year off right with an amazing debut novel from Amy Buchanan. Let's Call a Truce is the perfect *Single Mom*, *Enemies to Lovers*, *Steamy Office Romance*. Juliana is a widow returning to the workforce after several years of staying home to raise her children. Ben, a single dad, quickly becomes her office nemesis for the next few YEARS. Let me tell you how relieved I was when these two finally came together! Although the book spans several years, it was a fast paced read with plenty of banter to keep me intrigued. The characters and the plot are well developed.

Thank you to MacMillian Audio via NetGalley for the early copy copy of this audiobook. I really enjoy Charlotte North as a narrator. She has a strong talent to carry a romance novel as a solo narrator. As far as production goes- I enjoyed the audiobook preformance very much.

As for the story itself- This book is an enimies to lovers workplace romance. I will say, I do not typically enjoy fluffy rom-coms, but I requested this title because our FMC is a widow and I thought there would be more emotional grit to the story. I also really enjoy single parent romances. Unfortunately for me, there was not much emotional grit to this story. While our FMC does struggle with the idea of finding love after the loss of her husband, I did not feel her sadness was tangible enough for me.

For me personally I'm giving this a 3 star. I enjoyed it, but did not love it. Some people are going to love that this book is. bit more lighthearted than serious. That is actually a deterrant for me. I also get kind of annoyed when we have the same circular arguments over and over again and for a good 30% of this story it felt like the two main characters were hashing out the same things over and over again.

This was such a standout enemies to lovers office romance debut that sees two single parents forced to work together on a joint project where they quickly learn that while they got off to a terrible first start, they actually have more in common than either realized. I loved the messy family drama, the panic attack/anxiety rep, the chemistry between the leads (things get spicy y'all!) and highly recommend it for fans of books like Pick-up by Nora Dahlia. I definitely look forward to reading more by Amy Buchanan. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

This one started a bit slow for me, but I was completely invested in these characters and their future by the end! I will start by saying that the character development is so well done for the main characters (and most of the secondary characters as well, but a couple I wouldn't have minded to have been a little more fleshed out). Both Juliana and Ben have well developed backstories that are unique and carried throughout the book. Each of their children is also well developed, and it was fun to read all of these people and how they come together in the end. I thought the way Buchanan executed the relationship development was well done and realistic for the situation. This is a heart-warming romance with plenty of steamy elements that I highly recommend!

Juliana and Ben are workplace rivals whose lives continue to intersect outside work. Amy Buchanan masterfully builds their relationship slowly from enemies to lovers. I love that Juliana is a mom who always puts her kids first, and her decisions throughout the novel include them. Sometimes, the children and family seem to take a backseat in romance novels, but they are at the forefront of this one. It makes the characters more relatable and real, making it easy to fall for them and want them to be happy. I loved Amy Buchanan's writing style and can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

I really enjoy this book with a more mature FMC who lost her husband years prior to the main plot of the book. It had some of my favorite tropes (office romance, enemies to lovers, he falls first). I enjoyed the MMC especially since he knew they were going to be the real deal. It was also nice for the FMC to actually have a community/friends through work that supported each other. I binged this title, it was too good to put down.

🎧 Book Review 🎧 Is there life…and even love after loss? I have said it more times than I would care to admit how difficult and life changing grief is. Juliana is a young mom of two girls when she unexpectedly loses her husband and her whole life is upended. While she may think she is a hot mess express (though I have yet to find any mom with kids who does not feel that way), she is one impressive lady balancing it all. Amy Buchanan writes one strong yet relatable female lead who handles life almost seamlessly…there’s just one thorn in her side and his name is Ben. Her work life balance would be so much easier without his unwavering pesky attitude and apparent lack of support of her daughters but a new work project has them working closer than ever. And it seems all that tension was actually their chemistry that Juliana and Ben finally get to explore and it is one beautiful and exhilarating ride. Charlotte North does a phenomenal job breathing life into this book, creating an audiobook that covers the whole spectrum of emotions.

Thank you to the author and St Martin's for allowing me to read this one early through her traveling arc program!

Let’s Call a Truce is a workplace, rivals to lovers rom com featuring two broken but healing leads trying to do the best they can for their kids. It’s got all the hallmarks of a great workplace rivalry romcom — banter, tension, forced proximity — with all the heart of a single-parent romance — falling in love with their whole family, tenderly making sure the romance works for the kids, learning to open back up to love again. It’s also so funny, has a super swoony leading man, amazing female friendships, major girl boss moments, an inclusive workplace, and some business trips to Boston (lots of business happens if you know what I mean!).

Overall, I recommend this to all rom com lovers, but especially readers who liked The Hating Games and Sarah Adam’s The Match.

Narration Notes: The audiobook is performed by Charlotte North, who you may have heard from her narration of Tessa Bailey and Chloe Liese books. She's one of my favorites -- her voice is expressive and emotional enough to bring a story to life, but not so distinctive that every book feels like it's from the same POV. Nothing wildly unique about it, but a solid choice if you like audiobooks!

Let’s call a truce was an amazing book with such lovable characters. The chemistry between Ben and Juliana is to die for, both as a couple and as parents. The story is emotional and deals with loss of a spouse/parent. Coworker enemy to lovers, definitely a great read

This is a spicy, workplace enemies to lovers story with the added depth of grief over the unexpected death of the FMC’s husband from a debut author that I expect most readers will really enjoy.

Readers who loved The Hating Game style of workplace archenemies plus the challenges and emotions of grief from The Last Love Note will enjoy this blend. It definitely leans more rom-com than The Last Love Note, but features some similar themes through the FMC’s journey.

The fiery chemistry and banter was on point, but the ENEMIES of the enemies to lovers lasted a bit long for me. You all know I’m more of a friends to lovers girl at heart. EMOJI I also did not enjoy the third act conflict, but such is the nature of complicated fictional stories sometimes!

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed the performance. I’d recommend this format!

Perfect for you if you like:
Workplace archenemies
Bad first impression
Navigating grief and single motherhood
Fiery chemistry and banter
Spicy

Buchanen”s story is charming and delightful to listen to with Charlotte North as the narrator. She has a nice flow and easy pacing of the audio. Her performance for each female character is voiced well and I really felt the emotions especially seeing as the main female character, Juliana, goes through so many with all the conflicts she faces.

Also, I was very entertained when it came to all of the quick wit banter that went back and forth throughout the story. North is very good narrating both the sarcastic and teasing wit of both characters.

The only aspect of the narration that did not feel right was North’s narration of the main male character, Ben. Her narrative performance of the male voice does not really match Ben’s physical description or personality characteristics. I was looking for a deeper, teasing voice that did not really come though in the narration.

I recommend this audio. Since listening to other books narrated by Charlotte North, I know she is a very solid narrator and worth a try if you have never done so before. Happy listening!