Thank you Berkley, Bridgette Knightley, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy ahead of its publication, in exchange for an honest review!

This was my most anticipated read of 2025 and while I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read. Knightley’s charming writing, including her witty dialogue, was my favorite part of the story. I also greatly appreciated how this is a TRUE slow burn and that Aurrienne and Osric’s relationship really does evolve slowly throughout the novel. I loved seeing their two unique personalities interact and ultimately grow endeared go one another. It was a joy to read!

Unfortunately, I just wanted to feel more angst and yearning from this. The first 70% of the novel was entertaining but I didn’t feel the stakes were high enough until the last part of the story when more is revealed. There were a few moments that had me swooning feet but not as many as I would have hoped. I know this is a slow burn over two novels, but I wish this one had felt more complete. A huge part of the plot feels all but forgotten in the last part of the story.

Even though I was left wanting more, I will still be reading the next one because I really do enjoy the characters and their dynamic!

I am besotted. Thrown was I into the arms of this book, & I *screams into loudspeaker* DON’T! WANT! TO! BE! RETURNED! This story is a unicorn among romantasy: the utterly cheeky voice of the writing, the unique new fantasy world & magic system, & the slowburn that truly slowburns?? I COULD NOT ASK FOR MORE.

Our main characters are a match made in a hellish heaven, or possibly a heavenish hell (depending which of them you’d ask), & had me GIGGLING, CRYING & ROLLING ON THE FLOOR. Osric & Aurienne’s misadventures on the hunt for a mystical & unheard of cure will have you falling head over heels for them in the blink of an eye. I will be allowing them permanent residence in my brain, letting them banter on about full moons & which of them is the most annoying, & I would have it no other way.

This was a fantastic piece of work by Brigitte Knightly, & I cannot WAIT for more to come from this world & these two sweet idiots (said with the most love in my heart). Thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley & to Berkley for the eARC, it meant the literal world to me!

At first I felt like it didn’t have quite the same magic as the author’s Dramione fic, because you aren’t walking into a built in backstory.

But after a bit the Old English / steampunk vibes grew on me, and Knightley does sarcastic pining better than anyone else.

So I was loving it, only to have it end with a massive cliffhanger?‽ !! And then I realized it’s book 1 of a duology. Dang it.

This was so much fun!!! It was nearly 400 pages but I could've read even longer. Slow burn, humorous and so. much. fun! Thanks to Berkley (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers) and to the author!

Ohhhhh it burns!! The ending?? How am I to go on?? The tag “slow burn” really gets thrown around a lot, to the point where I’m hesitant to believe it anymore. This book gave me my faith back! I’ll probably go back and reread it shortly just to try and squeeze every last bit of the tension out!

I know that many may be familiar with Brigitte Knightley’s writing in the fanfic circles, but this was my first book, and I was really pleased. I will admit I had a hard time initially separating the characters from the fanfic work that this draws some inspiration from. They author has explicitly said that this is not a rewrite of their previous work, and that it is an entirely new story, so that helps set the record straight. Still, it took me a little while to not immediately picture a certain character in place of Aurienne. The writing style is unique, dry, and smart. It took me a little bit to get used to it but it ended up making me chuckle quite a bit!

Osric is such a charming himbo, truly I adore him. I really appreciated Aurienne’s character, it felt like a believable journey for her and her motivations felt authentic. Enemies-to-lovers is another overused tag, too quickly do characters set aside their “differences” in the face of love (lust). What makes this such a great slow burn is how it stays true to their character. It’s not so easy to entirely change your perspective on someone, and I really enjoyed the journey each character took individually.

I’m quite unwell with the thought of waiting for the next book, so I’m off to reread!

Full Review will be posted on Goodreads on 7/1/25

I really loved this story! While it’s a 384-page book, it felt a bit short to me—I think that’s just because I wanted more! The characters have great depth, and the relationship between the two main characters develops at a slow, steady pace. The world-building is fantastic and very original, adding so much charm to the story. The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy perfectly balances tension and chemistry, making the slow-burn romance even more satisfying. I can’t wait to see what other stories might unfold in this incredible world. The next book promises even more, and I’m excited to dive in! I hope that we see more, and more, and more of Brigitte Knightley. I love the banter, the writing style - ugh, everything!

This was so fun and funny, and overall a very well-written fantasy novel that does a pretty good job world-building. However - I think the glossary explaining the different Orders should be at the FRONT of the book, not at the back. I kept thinking I wanted one to refer to but obviously didn't know it was waiting for me at the end. I also think a bit more background on the characters would be nice, since you're very much thrown into a well-established world. I'm assuming more history will come in the next one, which I'm looking forward to!

I wish that the entire story of these characters had been one volume because I don't like cliffhangers like this book ended on, but otherwise lots of fun. The world building could be somewhat confusing, but the main characters' relationship is just lovely.

Uhhhh this book should be a standalone, not a duology. (Or maybe it could be a cute little trilogy moment)

Hella and I mean HELLA time wasted on running in circles and using 5-star Scrabble words to insult each other.

However, I also lol’ed multiple times. So idk you win some you lose some.

Be warned: BRUTAL ending that will have you begging for the next book ASAP.

Second warning: People are lauding this book for being “Dramione-coded.” Personally, I adored how NOT-fanfiction it felt. So be prepared to not see Harry Potter vibes whatsoever while you’re here.

Honestly this is more a fantasy adventure and less a romantasy but I’m kind of into it because of the aforementioned plethora of 5-star Scrabble words.

Thank you to Berkley (you have my heart) and NetGalley for an ARC!

I cannot express to you how much I enjoyed and cherished this reading experience. Knightley does a beautiful job balancing the witty banter, the hopeless characters who are so in love with each other it's not even funny, and making me feel so deeply for this story. I don't want to wait for book two, I want to read it right now! I need more Acts of Warranted Brutality.

This book is everything I want romantasy to be. It's everything I want from a book, all wrapped into one. It's got a really interesting magical world, sharp-witted characters, a slow burn enemies-to-lovers plot where they are ACTUALLY ENEMIES and it's ACTUALLY SLOWBURN. There's equal focus on the larger plots and the emotional journey for the characters, instead of the genre's tendency to focus on one over the other.

It's also so funny! The dialogue, the narration, everything is sharp and tongue-in-cheek in a way that is so entertaining to read, and it makes the book stick out. The writing style is going to stick with me for a very long time, and I think it will do the same to everyone else who reads this.

I can't recommend this highly enough. I will absolutely be pushing this book on just about anybody I can.

I LOVED this book. When I say I want enemies to lovers this is what I mean.

Oscra and Aurienne are in opposing orders and forced to work together. Knowing this is based off a dramione ff you can see those components while also feeling like you’re in a completely different world. Their story was so fun. It had me giggling and laughing out loud.

The magic system took me a little to understand. But this world, and being able to read on my kindle where I had access to a dictionary filter was helpful just due to a lot of words I had never seen before.

My biggest complain is that I now have to wait for book 2 but I willllll be rereading in the meantime

So so funny. This book is fantastic, romantic, hilarious and genuinely thrilling. I was so engrossed into this world and wanted more. This author has become an auto buy for me with this one. I cannot wait for the next book!!!

What a rollercoaster! This was one of my MOST anticipated books for the year, and I still cant believe I was approved to read it.

For starters I am a huge dramione fan, I think I started reading fanfic when I was 11 or 12 (yes, probably too young but back then I don't think it was quite as explicit - or maybe I just didnt find those stories) anyways, dramione is an OG ship for me, because we are talking back to about 2007. You can imagine then that when I found out that one of the best and most popular fic authors was being picked up, it was monumental news. And this book is soooo dramione coded. Even though Brigitte has written a different plot.

So onto this book. There are so many elements I loved, the slow slow burn between our two leads, the dual POV, the built in enemies-to-lovers dynamics. It all became very addicting. That being said, Brigitte has the most insane vocabulary. I have never really doubted mine, but this is the first time I have had to use the dictionary function on my kindle 😂😂 This is not for the faint of heart, and I think an audibook would be absolute gobbledygook for me because I cant imagine those words I was reading sound anything like their proper pronunciation. This may also be due to the medical language involved - I am an english lit grad, there was no bio classes past grade 12.

I can't wait for book two - because there will be a book two after that ending, and I hope that since the world and foundations are now set, that we can move on to the romance and mysteries that have been revealed.

"The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy" by Brigitte Knightley is an excellent debut novel. Our slow-burn/enemies-to-lovers girlies, this one is for you. The meticulous development of romantic tension was perfection. I loved the alternate English setting. There was plenty of twists that kept me immersed through the whole story. Thank you to NetGallery and Ace for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

If there’s one thing I’m certain of after reading The Assassin’s Cure (and it’s certainly not a cure for my feelings), it’s that this book is an absolute slow burn inferno wrapped in a cozy cloak of witty banter, science, and questionable medical practices. Let’s talk about the delightfully unlikely duo at the center of it all: Osric Mordaunt, an assassin, and Aurienne Fairhrim, a healer whose main passion in life is hating assassins and making sure they die (preferably on someone else’s watch).

The plot? Well, it starts like this: Osric gets gravely injured, and of course, the only healer who can fix him is Aurienne, a woman so committed to her science that she’d probably analyze your blood before saving your life. Sadly for both of them, they come from rival Orders, meaning this isn’t your typical “awkward first date” situation. No, no, this is more of a “bribe her to heal me while glaring at each other over a test tube” situation.

What ensues? A painfully slow (and equally delightful) enemies-to-lovers transformation, where both Osric and Aurienne spend approximately 99.9% of the time bickering, rolling their eyes, and ignoring the giant chemistry (literal and metaphorical) that’s brewing between them. If this book were a fire, it would be one of those tiny sparks you can barely see until, suddenly, BOOM! It’s a full-blown blaze of “I’ll never admit I like you, so let’s just keep kissing and stabbing each other emotionally.”

Let’s talk tropes, shall we? We have:

Enemies to lovers: Oh, it’s delicious. These two couldn’t be more antagonistic if they tried. But if you’ve ever wanted to see an assassin and a healer go from "I will absolutely kill you" to "maybe I’ll kiss you instead", you’re in for a treat.

He falls first, and harder: Classic. Osric may be an assassin, but he’s a murderous marshmallow when it comes to Aurienne. He falls harder for her than I fall for a warm cup of tea on a rainy day.

Evisceration as a love language: They verbally eviscerate each other with the finesse of... well, an assassin. But in that “I secretly admire everything you do, even if it drives me insane” kind of way.

The world-building? Deliciously intricate, with just the right amount of fantasy to make you wonder if you, too, could pull off a scientist-healer-meets-bloodthirsty-assassin love story in your next life. And did I mention the mysterious pox that haunts the pages like an evil plague fairy? It’s all very atmospheric—and not just in the "my clothes are on fire from all this sexual tension" way.

If you’ve ever thought, “I wish there was a book where I could read about a highly competent scientist begrudgingly helping a swoony assassin with feelings he doesn’t understand," then this book is your SOULMATE. But proceed with caution: you might find yourself feeling more chemistry than you expected and not just from the potions in the laboratory.

thank you netgalley for blessing me w an arc of this, one of my most anticipated reads of 2025!

as a fan of DMATMOOBIL(masterpiece), i had high hopes for this. i can imagine it would be extremely difficult to adapt something in this fashion, trying to create a balance between something so beloved but also having to change key parts. i’ve read similar published works that have missed the mark and lost the magic in that transition.

i am pleased to report that i absolutely ADORED this though. i think the author did an excellent job of creating something that felt both brand new (the plot, the magic world) and very loyal to the original work (the characters, the humour, the whimsy, THE SLOW BURN). familiar and new at the same time. the chemistry here is truly something else; i’ve never read such eloquent banter. i was laughing out loud on the subway reading this.

the fantasy world created here was very charming. there is a hierarchy/description of the different orders that I think would’ve been beneficial to read before diving in (it’s found at the end), but I was still able to enjoy and understand without having seen it til after i already finished. I am also glad for the dictionary feature on my kobo though as there were so many Smart and British words in here (i love to learn).

i think this story really hits its stride in the last 100 pages. electric!!!! my only complaint is that i must wait for # 2. i fear i already need to reread this. what a fun ride, truly. i can’t wait to see more from this author.

it’s so exciting that this will get to be enjoyed by a wider audience. it’s the dramione renaissance baby and we’re just living in it

I enjoyed the banter between Aurienne and Osric immensely, and I know that the major conflicts will be resolved in the next book in the duology. However, I couldn't help but feel like the slow burn in this book was a bit too slow for me. I also felt like the story just stopped at the end, but there was still so much left to resolve. That being said, I am excited to read the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of this book! And it didn’t disappoint.

While this is a SLOW BURN, the characters definitely had growth throughout the story. Osric is an assassin - I would say morally grey but he’s mostly morally bad (in the best way), and yet somehow has the emotional capacity to rescue stray dogs and fall for a healer. Aurienne is a stubborn know-it-all that puts up walls to protect herself, and of course their paths get intertwined and the slow burn ensues.

My first surprise was that this was so funny! The sarcastic and dry humor throughout would often make me laugh out loud. The banter was great. The writing style felt very similar to Encyclopedia of Faeries; technical, fantastical, whimsy, etc, but on the darker side.

I thought the plot of this was interesting and unique. It was a little slow to start, but once the characters began to open up, the story itself also flew by. Also, I’m obsessed with deofols! We love cute critters.

I am looking forward to seeing what the next book has in store!!

Did I drop literally everything else to read this highly anticipated book the moment it hit my eReader? And did it live up to my extremely high expectations? YES.

Here's the deal: this is a romance, and this is a fantasy. I don't mind calling it a romantasy. But it's important for romance readers to know that the fantasy is really pretty intense; and it's important for fantasy readers to know that the romance is the focus of the book. The fantasy drops you into the world building without a lot of assistance, which I personally love. It's historical fantasy that feels steampunky around the edges: there is electricity, "Lovelace" and "Curie" machines that are integrated with magic, medical research institutions that create vaccines (again with the help of magic), etc. No year is specified, and while large cities are identified (London, Dublin), there is no United Kingdom, just different regions that self-govern and magical guilds that exist alongside the formal governance structure. I mention this because it's important that if you pick this up, you'll need be comfortable with doing some of the world building work yourself.

On the romance front, this is a real enemies to lovers/slow burn romance. Healer Aurienne is bribed into treating assassin Osric. They're enemies in the sense that their magical orders and personal morals are diametrically opposed: she heals, he kills; she works for pennies, his focus is on making money. But, and this is really fun, this is not an opposites attract romance. No, their characters are really similar: Osric and Aurienne are both hyper competent, so confident in their skills that they're perceived as arrogant, share the same sense of humor, and are absolutely infuriated that they have to work together.

Some other things to mention: the prose is ornately witty, but the story has plenty of narrative heft. Really, this is a Wodehousian romantasy. Do note that Osric is an actual assassin, and engages with his profession and his colleagues on-page. (If lighthearted depictions of gore and torture aren't your thing, take especial note!! Knightley really emphasizes that Osric isn't an assassin with a heart of gold; rather, he'd totally off you if he thought he could get your actual gold heart out of your chest.) This is a suuuuper slow burn, AND it's the first in a duology. This means that it ends with pretty much every single plot point unresolved, including the romantic ones.

And, to address what might be the biggest question on your mind: no, this is not just a rework of Knightley's fanfic. There are some basic similarities in that Aurienne is a healer looking for the cure for a magical disease; said cure is related to regularly occurring natural phenomena. Osric and Aurienne meet for the first time in this book, and don't have a long-festering relationship based in hatred and competition, and as I mentioned earlier, Osric hasn't begun (or even thought of beginning) any kind of redemptive process.

Anyhow, I really loved this, and I can't believe I have to wait an undisclosed period of time to read the next book in the series.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.