"Let's Call a Truce" by Amy Buchanan - 3.5 Stars rounded to 4**
"Let's Call a Truce" is a thoughtful exploration of friendship, conflict, and the importance of reconciliation. Amy Buchanan's writing captures the nuances of relationships well, and her characters are relatable, dealing with real-life issues that many readers can identify with. The dialogue feels authentic, and there are some genuinely touching moments that highlight the complexities of human connections.
However, while the premise is promising, the overall execution feels a bit uneven. Some sections of the story drag on unnecessarily, which can detract from the emotional impact. Additionally, certain character arcs could have been more developed, leaving me wishing for deeper insights into their motivations and backgrounds.
Overall, "Let's Call a Truce" is a solid read that offers valuable lessons about understanding and forgiveness. It has its charm and moments of brilliance, but it also falls short in a few areas. If you're looking for a heartfelt story about mending relationships, this book is worth considering, even if it may not fully deliver on its potential.

This is a cute rom-com audiobook with great narrators that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have a thing about romance novels where the FMC doesn't have any female friends, so I loved that Juliana has a great network of girlfriends that she leans on and confides in. Juliana and her eventual love interest Ben, get off to a rocky start, and I thought it was fun that they kept up their animosity for a while, allowing their frustration (and chemistry) to grow. I found this t be a fun, lighthearted novel, that I definitely recommend!

I devoured this audio!! The banter between the two main characters was phenomenal. And the accurate things that can happened in real life made this book for me. I use to be a single mom and it was something I could relate to. Will definitely be telling everyone they should read this.

This audiobook has me locked-in since the beginning. I found myself laughing with the character and screaming at them for their choices. A story about lasting first impressions, grief, and balancing life as a single parent and working really created a complex and beautiful story. Although at some points I just got mad at the characters for some of the decisions they made, but at the end of the day, that’s life. And this book was a beautiful reflection of that.

Juliana was content staying home with her children but after her husband died, she had no choice but return to the workforce, after her husband Jason’s death. Being a stay-at-home mom has kept her out of the loop for the last seven years, things have changed, and she must catch up. When the school calls concerning one of her children, she has to cancel a meeting with sexy, hunk, Ben ThShe and Ben Thomas get off to a bad start when she overhears him making comments about her lack of experience as well as her role as mother. Let the feud begin! Juliana is angry and determined to put Ben in his place. The feud doesn’t last a few days, or a few weeks, after 2 years it has increased. After the two are forced to work on a project together they start to form a friendship and a relationship.
The sexual tension in this show was so thick you couldn’t cut it with a knife. Perhaps all that bickering was due to attraction. The two competitors share a best friend, Asia; she attempts to stay out of the fray but finds it is almost impossible. Once Juliana actually listens to Ben, she realizes there is more to the story than meets the eye.
The character: Juliana was overzealous when it came to Ben. Ben is very nice once you tear down the walls, he has built around him. Let’s Call A Truce is an enjoyable office romance read. The glitch in their relationship hits close to the ending. It could have been handled a bit better.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the review copy of this book. My reviews are always my opinion.

When widow Juliana returns to the workforce she immediately butts heads with grumpy co-worker Ben. Two years later, their feud is still going strong until they decide to call a truce.

This was a cute romcom. It has a great enemies to lovers plot. The tension between Juliana and Ben was amazing and everything you expect from workplace enemies to lovers. They are constantly being forced together at work and in life which only adds to that tension. Their relationship develops so well and you are really rooting for them the entire time. I loved the kids in this as well. They add depth to the story. And who doesn't love a single parent love story? There is also some good spice in this!
There was one storyline that did bother me at about 3/4 of the way through the story which knocked down my rating just a bit. I wanted to understand where Ben was coming from, but I found it really hard.
I loved the narration as well. Charlotte North does a great job with all of these characters.

All in all, a good enemies to lovers romance with a dash of spice.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

👩🏻‍💻 ᗰY TᕼOᑌGᕼTS: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

This is Amy’s first romance and it’s a hit! I really enjoyed this audiobook and the storyline is absolutely fantastic. The narrator did a great job portraying all the characters and I loved her voice and tone.

Oh Juliana and Ben! They have this super fun banter/teasing /flirting thing going on and I didn’t want to stop listening! I REALLY WISHED I could’ve had Ben’s side of the story, because I can just hear him suffering and me yelling in my head.. JUST TELL HER ALREADY! LoL I also love all the aide characters! Especially Asia who is every girl’s dream beat friend!

This was such a fun romcom! I highly recommend the audiobook or book itself!

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸…
💙He falls first
💙Single Parent
💙Enemies to Lovers
💙Workplace romance
💙Slow Burn
💙Single POV
💙Mild Spice

I received an advance listening copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley, Amy Buchanan, and MacMillan Audio for the ARC audiobook.

Juliana, a widow and now single mom, lands a job after being a stay-at-home for a few years. She quickly realizes the challenges of being a single parent, raising 2 kiddos. She also quickly gains a workplace enemy, Ben. After two years, they call a truce for their mutual best friend. And it's the first of many truce's called.
What i loved about this book was some of the banter and the enemies to lovers trope. What i didn't love, was how much Juliana irritated me. She seemed a bit immature for an adult with 2 kids. Ben on the other hand, I enjoyed his character more. This book is only told in Juliana's perspective, and i think this book could've been next level if it had Ben's POV as well.
Overall, this was a decent read, and I'd probably read another book by this author soon. The story kept my interest the whole time and I loved the ending.

You should read this if you like ❤️:
-enemies to lovers
-single mom gets her groove back
-banter
-second chance love
-workplace romance
-loveable side characters

Warnings ⚠️ 
Not sure there's anything super triggering in this one. It's a pretty safe read for ME.

Work place enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, but this book was not it for me.

The FMC Julianna is immature and rude to the MMC for no reason outside of being petty which made her unlikable for me. She is also flip floppy. She hates him yet wants to date him? She tells him not to talk personal lives then is mad he didn’t tell her about his kid? Make it make sense.

This book would have benefited from being duel POV. Only having Julianna’s perspective made me feel like I was missing context.

I unfortunately have to dnf this at 38%. While I liked the narrator of the audiobook I couldn’t get past my disdain for the FMC to continue listening to it.

I've already read this book and left it a glowing review, but I wanted to listen to the audiobook as well, I think that says a lot; that I wanted to consume it in both ways. This book is absolutely incredible and my review of the physical arc goes into detail on that.

Formally stay-at-home mom Juliana has entered the workforce as a newly single mom. Ben thinks she is an inexperienced liability the company can’t afford. Personally I think he’s the liability, a liability to Juliana’s fragile heart.

The author got to my heart quickly with this single mom finding her own way story. I received an ARC audio copy and once I hit play I couldn’t stop! Ben made inappropriate comments on Juliana’s first day that started a feud he doesn’t even know he is a part of.

Who can resist the charm of workplace drama wrapped up in an enemies to lovers trope? This book releases in January it’s a cute must read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of Let's Call a Truce!

I really enjoyed this unique debut by Amy Buchanan! This story was fiction, but it felt SO REAL LIFE. I enjoyed both the eBook and the audio of this one, with Charlotte North at the helm, bringing Juliana to life... it's at least a solid 4-star read for me.

I loved this story about widow Juliana as she returns to the workforce after her husband's passing. Returning to work after being a stay-at-home mom was an adjustment, but she has dreams and wants to find that work-life balance we're all chasing. She's competent and smart, ready to take on the HR world. The only thing standing in her way? Her feud with Ben, a VP who brings out the worst in her.

A series of pranks, some bickering at the office, and then forced proximity for a project that could land her the promotion of her dreams forced Juliana to try on a truce with Ben. Which leads to realizing some things that weren't exactly what they seemed, on both sides of this feud.

I loved all the children in this story. They were so important to the growth of the main characters, as was the friend group that Ben and Juliana ended up having in common.

Read this if you low:
- love after loss
- enemies to lovers
- workplace romance
- forced proximity
- bickering & banter
- second chances
- later-in-life love
- messy family lives (real world)
- charming side characters/family/children

I'm very excited to see what comes next for Amy Buchanan! This one is out in January 2025!

“Let’s Call a Truce” by Amy Buchanan gets a three-star review from me.

The plot centers around coworkers dealing with old grudges, family relationships, and mutual attraction, which I thought had a lot of potential. The main characters are well-developed, and their interactions are sometimes touching and funny. The narrator did a good job bringing them to life, making the audiobook engaging in parts.

However, the steamy scenes felt awkward and forced. They didn’t fit with the overall tone of the story and seemed to interrupt the flow rather than enhance it. If the book had focused more on the family dynamics and less on the unnecessary explicit content, it could have been a much more enjoyable listen.

Overall, while the core story had promise and the narration was solid, the ill-fitting sexual content made it hard to fully enjoy the audiobook.

“Let’s Call a Truce” is a steamy, rivals-to-lovers workplace romance. Juliana is a stay at home mom who’s forced to go back to work after the death of her husband. Right away, she butts head with her coworker Ben. Eventually she catches feelings for him and, well… the story unfolds from there.

The banter, the spice, everything about this book was top tier! The narrator for the audiobook did a great job of encapsulating the characters personalities. I was surprised that this was Amy Buchanan’s debut as an author. It was very well written & I will definitely be keeping an eye out for her future releases.

Release date: January 14, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this advanced audiobook copy.

Juliana is back in the work force. Her husband passed away several months ago. She was a SAHM, but now has to go back to work. On her first day back, she clashes with her co-worker, Ben. For two years they trade barbs and avoid each other. But then they are assigned to a project and are forced to face the fact that they really don't hate each other at all.

I wasn't sure about this when it started out. But it did get better after the first few chapters. There were times when I was ready to strangle both characters, but overall big picture, I did enjoy this. I do have a feeling that I will forget it fairly quickly though.

Juliana's grief pops up, but not enough to make the book depressing.

The narration by Charlotte North was okay.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It had a great pace and I finished the audio in a day. Couldn’t put it down! It addressed real world experiences in fun ways. A strong fmc and dynamic Mmc! I also loved the supporting characters and found family. 🥰🥰 It gave all the feels. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, and I almost wrecked 😅 stay safe out there! But seriously give this book a chance 🥰

Juliana is the widowed mom of two young girls, forced back into the office to make ends meet and wondering how she’s going to juggle everything. Her worst fears are confirmed when she overhears Ben’s dismissive and rude comments about how she’ll be a liability to the company with her lack of experience and commitment to the job.

Juliana is no shrinking violet, and wastes no time telling Ben exactly what she thinks of him. So refreshing! I’m so sick of characters who would shrink away or decide to maintain so-called “professionalism” in that type of circumstance. So the hate and sniping are on. Yes! Forget about the fact that the chemistry is off the charts tension is unsustainable…

I’m going back and forth on this book. I LOVED the writing, the banter, the family love, and so much more. I did have a couple issues. The book dragged a bit; the characters faced the exact same situation over and over with minimal forward movement and it would be nice if that had been edited down. But my biggest problem is how Ben acted in the last third of the book, which left a sour taste in my mouth and made me root against a happily ever after. Juliana should have told him to go pound sand.

One other thing and a massive problem with Juliana’s late husband. What sole provider with financial means, a spouse, and two kids doesn’t get life insurance? Her husband had a good job to provide for his family, but left her in the lurch when he died with no life insurance money. People don’t think it’ll happen to them, but it does.

So 4-5 stars for the writing, banter and fun, 2-3 stars for the issues, and overall 3 stars.

Oh boy I really struggled with this book. There were a lot of things that worked for me. There was a very memorable desk scene so if you're in the mood for workplace shenanigans this could be the book for you. I also loved what a solid communicator Ben was. In a genre rife with miscommunication and immaturity Ben's directness was a breath of fresh air. I love a love interest who doesn't want to play games. Because I loved Ben so much it was very frustrating to watch Juliana respond to Ben putting himself out there with immaturity and conflicting signals. It's not a good sign when the recurring thought is "this love interest deserves better than the main character". The third act conflict also drove me up a wall. I will say I loved that the book was about single parents and I really enjoyed the way the author leaned into telling a story of characters who are a little bit older, have more life experience, and don't have perfect bodies. This genre needs more of that and I'm thrilled to see more books being published with older characters. My difficulty with this book really comes down to my struggle with Juliana. I'm looking forward to reading this author's next book though because I enjoyed many other aspects of this book and I think I'll have a much better time with different characters.
I will say that the narrator made my reading experience quite fun. It's single pov so we're in Juliana's head the whole time. The narrator really brought out all of the emotions she is processing. The audio experienced preserved some of the joy of reading a book that I otherwised struggled with which is quite a feat.

I really enjoyed this one! I love a good enemies to lovers and this took that trope for all it was worth. I thought it was sweet, spicy, and funny when it needed to be. It was also caring and mature which helped it feel more grounded than romcomish. It’s worthy a read (or listen) and I would definitely try more by this author!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I thought this book was everything I love in a romance. Some books have this perfect formula and this book is my favorite formula. I had banter, it had a beautiful backstory of both characters, it had realistic hardships. I really enjoyed this book!