first of all thank you to Hachette, Bridgette and Netgalley for giving me a digital ARC. I really really enjoyed this book!!! I’ve said it’s enemies to lovers however I’d say it’s more subtle? It’s very much slow burn which I was munching for like man the slight brush of hands and AH making me all giddy. Writing style wise - I’m not very smart when it comes to “big words” so I learnt a lot and I was glad I read it on my kindle because I would have been googling a lotttt but that’s just me personally with the writing style. I’m also one for the aesthetics and environment that plays a major part for me as I can picture these books in my brain like I’m playing a movie and the setting didn’t disappoint. I was so entranced in this world and this story, I wanted more as in I wanted the story to continue however the way it ended was really nice - I’m intrigued to see if there is going to be another book? I really truly enjoyed it. It’s so close to 5 stars but I think the flow of writing ever so slightly got confusing for me but that’s me personally!! I’m rating this one 4.5/5!

`✦ˑ ִֶ 𓂃⊹ 2.5 stars 🌟 1 spice 🌶

arc review 📖

જ⁀➴ 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
🩷 enemies to lovers
🪄 dramoine coded
🩷 forced proximity
🪄 whitty banter
🩷 slow burn
🪄 tough her and 💀
🩷 healer fmc x assassin mmc

I so badly wanted to love this book. Unfortunately it felt weak in the romance/chemistry, and the world was lacking.

I think the reason for this is because it was dramoine fan fiction converted into its own book, however, there was a lack of original world and lore construction. The only way to enter this storyline is with the presumption of J.K. Rowling's Potter-verse in mind, as well as the Draco and Hermione friction.

As an original piece of work, it requires more romantic tension and chemistry.

I was able to read it slowly, with many breaks, over several weeks 🤷‍♀️

────୨ৎ────

⋆˙⟡ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑐

Enjoyed the banter but found this could be quite repetitive, love the cover and loved the development of characters, particularly our morally grey Osric

4.5⭐️!

This book was SO FUN!! It was silly and goofy and funny and occasionally sweet and I had the best time reading it 🥹.

I was a bit intimidated at the start with the really long glossary of words but it didn’t end up being too overwhelming once I was a little bit through the book!

The best part of this book by far was the humour, it was so dumb and dry and silly and unserious but I genuinely laughed out loud so many times. I know it absolutely is not for everyone, but it hit for me 😌.

The plotline of this book was not super fast paced, it sort of slowly built throughout the book and by the end I was like okay I need book 2 to find out what’s going to happen in this world! 🩷

The romance was SLOW BURN, and I LOVE that!! The banter was so funny. I am a sucker for an opposites attract / hate to love trope and this was done so well 🤌🏻.

I definitely know this book will not be for everyone, if you don’t like the humour you probably won’t enjoy. I know some people found it a bit slow, so just be aware it’s not a super fast paced fantasy! It’s definitely more of a good vibes and good characters type book than heavily plot driven (in my opinion) 💫.

I feel like if you like the humour and vibe of Emily Wilde you’d like this!

Osric Mordaunt is an assassin with a fatal illness. Aurienne Fairhrim is the only healer that can help Osric, and while she initially refuses to help based on his line of work, when he offers a generous donation to her ward as payment, she cannot say no.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, many of them conflicted, so let’s start I guess.

I believe that this was originally a fanfiction about Draco and Hermione from Harry Potter that was later taken down and re-written as an original novel. I hate to say it, but I think it might’ve been better as a fanfiction. Admittedly I never read the fanfiction so I can’t say for certain but I have a strong suspicion.

Now, you might be wondering why I think it would’ve been better off. Let’s get into it.

I have no idea where this novel takes place. It’s England but also not because it’s been split into multiple Tiendoms (kingdoms) but France is still just France? There’s magic and gods but no explanation of any of the gods or any of the magic. Does everyone have magic? Are there some normal people who don’t have magic? There are Orders (groups dedicated to certain things, like healing (Aurienne) or assassins (Osric) but what about the people that don’t fit into an Order? What do they do? When does this take place? There are mentions of ruffles and high-necked shirts, and some houses don’t have electricity, however there are also intensely cook gadgets beyond what we have in our time sooo? Make that make sense. While there is an interesting world happening around these characters, there is no actual world building to explain any of it.

This aforementioned issue is one that I think would have been fine in the fanfiction as there is a pre-established world that the reader is familiar with and so the lack of world building is fine. However, as a stand-alone novel, it just doesn’t work.

Similarly, another issue I had was the writing style. There were two main issues here:

#1 it became apparent every twenty words or so that Ms Knightley got bored and decided to look random words up in a thesaurus and replace whatever she had written with the most complicated synonym she could find for not apparent reason. Yes, I know that it demonstrates Aurienne and Osric’s intelligence and the way their brains are matched, however some of the substitutions just did not word and it made reading this novel quite annoying. It just seem facetious and unnecessary.

#2 There were random capitalisations of words. Sometimes it made sense like when Osric was referring to Aurienne as his Means to an End. Other times it made no sense whatsoever, and just seemed like someone had gone through and said, ‘hmm there’s not enough capital letters on this page.’ I know that sounds bizarre but trust me, if you read this book you’ll know what I mean.

If you know me, you know I love a good sex scene, I love a bit of smut with my literature. But tell me why, this book had two masturbation scenes shoehorned into it? It just felt so jarring and out of left field of what had previously been a YA friendly novel. I genuinely don’t understand why there were two sex scenes other than them being a desperate attempt to say “look! They fancy each other!” I was believing the love story just fine before it happened and I continued to after. It just felt so random because sex had hardly been mentioned in the book before and it just felt like it had been shoehorned in so there was a bit of “spice”.

My final gripe is that there is a major plot introduced at the 70% (or so) mark. I don’t mind this plot in itself and the ways in which I can see is shaping out however my issue is that it just highlights how little happened before that point. Because once that plot point was introduced, I was interested and I wanted to read more but it was introduced too late for me to really get into it.

I know this book is the first in a duology but honestly I think it should have just been a single novel, there is not enough plot to justify splitting it over two books. And the ending! I fully turned the page expecting another chapter but no. It ends on a conversation of the Aurienne and Osric discussing what they’re going to do. It just felt so abrupt and there was no smooth exit out or wind down of this novel.

Okay. I know I’ve said a lot of negative things, but I did still enjoy this book. Will I ready the sequel? Hmmm probably. It engaged me it captured my attention and helped me escape reality which are some of the most important things I look for in books.

All that being said I give this 2.5/5.

If you love a good enemies-to-lovers romance with fantasy flair, Brigitte Knightley’s The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is worth your time. This one is a bickering, bantery slow-burn delight!

The story follows Osric Mordaunt, a brooding assassin in dire need of healing and Aurienne Fairhrim, a brilliant healer from a rival order. Sparks fly (and tempers too) when they're forced into an unlikely alliance to battle a mysterious illness threatening their world. Cue: sarcastic banter, bickering, intense stares, and tension.

What makes the book shine is the chemistry between Osric and Aurienne. It’s a well done slow build - think verbal sparring, reluctant admiration, and eventual emotional unraveling. The fantasy world is richly crafted, with a refreshing mix of magic and science that adds depth to the world and romance without overpowering it.

Knightley’s writing strikes a fun balance between heartfelt and humorous. The story leans heavily into trust, redemption, and learning to see past your prejudices - which feels pretty timeless.

Bottom line? It’s swoony, smart, and has just enough edge to keep you turning pages late into the night. If you're a sucker for stubborn characters falling hard despite themselves (aren’t we all?), you’ll fall for this one too.

Hilarious banter between the two main characters, comedic writing overall, loved the world building and am so excited for book two!

First and foremost the banter in this book was just perfection, this wasn’t everything like I thought it was going to be in the best possible way. The MC’s are polar opposites for good reason. Your standard type A and the bad boy with a semitrailer load of trauma.

The plot and the world building was just chefs kiss, my only gripe is I have to wait for the next book in the Dearly Abel other series. I’ve never read HP, so the fanfic was wasted on me. In saying that I’ve you’ve never been on that train you’ll still thoroughly enjoy this novel, the hype is real!

“I’m perfectly hinged,” said Mordaunt. “You, on the other hand, have got the survival instincts of a crumpet.”

In a lush fantasy world where science clashes with shadows, renowned healer and scholar Aurienne Fairhrim finds herself making an impossible bargain. Osric Mordaunt, a refined assassin from the rival Fyren Order, is gravely ill and only Aurienne’s expertise can save him. She wants nothing to do with the morally grey man responsible for bloodshed in the name of balance. But when he offers enough gold to fund her life saving research, she reluctantly agrees to treat him.

Forced into close quarters, Aurienne and Osric begin a reluctant partnership to cure his affliction and investigate the disturbing resurgence of a long-banished pox. Sparks fly, tempers flare, and their undeniable chemistry simmers beneath sharp words and stolen glances. As they navigate treacherous politics, scientific puzzles, and the weight of their pasts, denial gives way to desire and maybe something far more dangerous.

With rich worldbuilding and delicious slow-burn tension, this romantasy is perfect for fans of enemies to lovers, intellectual stand-offs, and emotional gut punches wrapped in elegant prose.

Firstly I want to thank the publisher for sending me an eARC of this book to review early.

Unfortunately, the book was not for me. I did try to give it a go however, this book was not the type of book I had initially thought it would be when I requested it.

There is nothing wrong with the writing, the author has a great craft. I am just not a Dramione fan and this book felt very similar to a book following that style and loose plot. It was very disappointing because I had been so excited for this one. As I request more books I am learning each time what books I tend to navigate towards more and this time I had made the error of choosing something that was unfortunately not my reading preference.

Again, I am so grateful for the opportunity and know that there is a huge fan base for this kind of story/plot and I am sure when it finds its readers it’s going to be a great success! Thank you, again.

I will not be reviewing on my instagram at this time as I do not want to hinder the book reaching those who will love it. I will however upload my Goodreads review in two weeks once release has settled and is truly finished.

The Irresistible Urge To Fall For Your Enemy
Brigitte Knightley

“I'm just going to die? What can I do?"
"Put your affairs in order," said Aurienne.
"Your bedside manner could use some work."

Oh boy, this wasn’t at all enjoyable for me. I found this a very confused storyline with little groundwork given to aid in context. The world building and magic system weren’t clearly explained, just numerous mentions of sicknesses.

"You're far more polite when you need something," said Aurienne.
"I know," said the deofol with more tooth-baring. "I'm manipulative like that."

I knew it was supposed to be Dramione coded plotline but even that, I didn’t really see. They are enemies to lovers and Aurienne is a good girl healer with morals and Osric is an assassin who’s broody. They are enemies in opposing orders, but that world building felt lacking in that we only learnt about those orders and just vague reference that there’s around 8 additional orders. That was as much as I can compare Dramione wise.

‘Aurienne, sick with convulsions of guilt, wished she could be as lackadaisical, but no - she was highly daisical.’

The banter and jokes weren’t good. The ongoing onion jokes weren’t funny and then it progresses to even more obscure and niche jokes like torn nipples. I don’t know. Finding a kitten was a highlight. But this whole book was a struggle to read for me.

‘The Haelan maxim was Harm to none, but private fantasies couldn't be policed, and Aurienne indulged in one involving the Fyren slipping and drowning, and thus putting an end to both of their miseries.
He was regrettably surefooted.’

This is released July 8th. Thank you Hachette for the arc.

"It's very vague. I'd rather tell you when I've got something tangible."

(Review posted on my Goodreads 7th July)

I was really looking forward to reading The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy but I put it in the DNF pile at 41%.

I found the writing style took me a little bit to get used to initially but as I continued to read I was getting very confused with terms and unable to stay focused on the story. I felt there was a lot of dialogue back and forth and not as much world building as I was expecting. This book is one that I may come back to in the future, but for now it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Hachette Australia and The Bookish Type for gifting me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had the absolute best time reading this! This book had me smiling, laughing and giggling like a madman -no book has ever made me react out loud in public like this one.

Aurienne Fairhrim is a Haelan (healer) and Osric Mordaunt a Fyren (assassin-for-hire). Their respective orders do not get along and never interact with each other. However, Osric becomes injured and when the only person who has a shot at healing him is Aurienne... blackmail, threats, insults, murder and shenanigans ensue.

Osric is such an amusingly arrogant, self-absorbed character, living a conscience-free life as a murderer, whereas Aurienne is an intelligent, determined healer with a ‘harm-to-none' motto and a dry sense of humour. They are truly enemies and have real reasons why they loathe each other; I really appreciated that this book was not the usual trope of ‘they are enemies but are lusting after each other by chapter 5’. Aurienne and Osric clearly have nothing in common but as the story continues, their relationship grows into a reluctant partnership and forced tolerance. Their slow burn was truly a SLOW BURN. Neither of them even thought of the other as a possible love interest until the very end, and their hilarious dynamic was just so perfect.

It deserves to be said that their banter was some of the best and funniest I have ever read;, both Aurienne and Osric were mercilessly and unapologetically insulting each other in the most creative ways imaginable. It was truly the most entertaining aspect of this book and I hope the author had as much fun writing these witty quips as I had reading them!

It is very much a low-stakes cosy plot and felt more like a romantasy blended with a rom-com in the best way. There was no big evil villain to defeat, just the journey of Aurienne trying to heal Osric and figure out a cure for ailing children, whilst also coming up with razor-like insults. This was honestly so light and refreshing, and it seems like the plot will amp up in book 2.

The perfect book for a light-hearted, hilarious and fun read with some of the most entertaining characters you will ever meet.

I didn't want to put this book down! It's absolutely hilarious whilst still being incredibly clever and witty. The world building is fantastic. The slow burn and banter between Osric and Aurienne is next level. I found myself giggling out loud at some of the lines in this book. I loved how even the side characters have entire personalities displayed.

My one disappointment is not knowing this was a duology and now having to wait for book two to find out what's going to happen next!

The backstory is quite complicated and hard to get used to but once you understand it’s pretty enjoyable. Wouldn’t recommend for people who don’t like deep world building.

The Irresistable Urge to Fall for Your Enemy was a really fun read! The dynamic between Osric and Aurienne was very entertaining, it was romantasy but not in the typical way. The plot, magic, polotics and world building was all cleverly developed, and I enjoyed the playful writing and witty banter. I genuinley laughed out loud in moments. Can't wait to read book 2!

Thank you for this arc, it was an interesting read, it took a lot for me to understand the world and what was being built.

A true romantasy novel with hints of adventure, politics, and undeniable tension, this hilarious read follows a desperate assassin who bribes a highly esteemed healer from an opposing Order to attempt to heal his otherwise incurable predicament. The world building was unique and I was super entranced with the plot and the playful writing. I ADORED the witty banter and sharp insults that Osric and Aurienne threw at each other. They both had so much personality and I couldn’t keep it together whenever he attempted to charm her and undoubtedly failed. I loved how this duo progressed as the story unfolded. The writing truly was exquisite - not only was it entertaining, Knightley was able to blur the lines between a reluctant partnership to something unspoken beautifully and I didn’t want it to end.

“𝙃𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙩.”

This book was originally a Dramione fanfic (Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being In Love) and was rewritten beautifully! It wasn’t very similar to the fanfic and was definitely transformed into a world of its own. However I loved how Osric and Aurienne still very much reminded me of Draco and Hermione with their dynamic. The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy will seriously have you laughing and kicking your feet! This was probably the most fun I’ve had reading a book…

Tropes 🦢⚔️💞:
- enemies (opposing orders) to lovers
- the slowest of slow burns
- he falls first
- assassin x healer

This is such a wild blend of dirty jokes and intelligent, sophisticated wordplay. Expect Pratchett-esque multi-level puns, off-kilter toilet humour that somehow manages to feel cosy and uniquely British, and moments of knife-to-the-heart, transcendental romance. Every single line has been crafted to perfection—the cleverness of the prose is worthy of repeat reads. The worldbuilding is light but decisive and I never felt lost or like I was reading something that was missing a backdrop.

I confess, I have not read any Dramione fanfic, but I am deeply grateful for its existence since it has given us this author!

I would read anything Brigitte Knightley writes, and I mean anything—a manual on how to operate a coffee machine, a recipe for chicken soup, dot points on a meeting about stationery supplies…
Book 2 cannot come soon enough!

Thanks to Hachette Australia & New Zealand and NetGalley for the ARC!

Edit: I also love a Bi 4 Bi pairing and this has that!

In a surprise to absolutely nobody who knows me, this book has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year. We, the dramione stans, have been waiting with baited breath since the day Brigitte Knightley announced her publishing deal.

Now, let me lay one of the pervasive misconceptions about this novel to rest. Is this a pull-to-publish of fanfiction? No. These are unique characters who stand on their own merits with utterly convincing strength. They inhabit a world Knightley has built with a great deal of thought and authenticity. This is, in summary, something delightfully new.

Osric is an ailing assassin with the kind of flouncy, self-absorbtion of Howl Pendragon coupled with an incredibly delicious competency for killing things. Aurienne is a haelen (healer) with little patience for flouncing and so much boss bitch energy that she intimidated me from several universes away.

When Osric finagles his way into becoming a patient of Aurienne's by nafarious means, she finagles (steamrolls) him right back into becoming a useful tool in her struggle against a suspiciously tricky disease decimating the young and poor.

As you might imagine, this makes for one of the most juicy enemies-to-lovers narratives I have ever read.

Alongside all of Irresistible Urge's strengths as a debut original novel, we are still treated to the same wit and humour that fans of Knightley's writing will be familiar with. The entire work was peppered with feet kickingly, snort laughingly hilarious moments, as well as the banteryist banter that ever did bant.

I fully embraced the two prissy, eminently lovable and intimidatingly competent blorbs that she has crafted in the form of Aurienne and Osric. Their chemistry is undeniable and masterfully written.

They inhabit a world that is compellingly realised, an amazingly engaging intersection between magic and science that never seems anachronistic and is only bizarre in the most deliberate and very best way.

I will be thinking about this book on my deathbed and I hope to be entombed with the multiple copies I have headed to me like some sort of derranged bibliophillic pharoah.

You should probably read this book *shrugs like she’s normal about it*

I have been so highly anticipating this book and I have so much to say about it. I want to start by saying that this book absolutely delivered on what I was expecting - mildly spicy entertainment. If you’re looking for a romantasy that’s a guaranteed enjoyable read that will have you super engaged and laughing out loud, look no further. I’d describe this not as a light read, but as something that you don’t need to think too much about and can really sink your teeth into (think premium escapism material.)

However, while I really enjoyed this book, there were a couple of things that stood out to me that I want to mention to you guys as potential readers. As I don’t have a large appetite for high fantasy this doesn’t bother me personally, but I did notice that Knightley leans very heavily on a glossary for her world building and I do think that the book would have benefited if some of this was done organically. Aditionally, this book is a super slow-burn, which isn’t an issue for me, but I do feel that the pacing was a little off, as feelings seem to develop a little randomly towards only the last 10%.

Despite these issues, I had to rate this one highly because I just really enjoyed it. I find it rare these days to find a book that I don’t want to put down and this is one of them. I’m looking forward to some more character and relationship development in the next book, as I feel that it’ll really make or break the duology as a whole.

Personally, I enjoyed Knightley’s witty and honestly a little unusal writing style, but I have heard a few people voice that they dislike it. I always love a fresh voice and style, and I can confidently say that I’ve never read something written quite like this book. In a world of oversaturated romantasies and romantic fantasies, I would recommend this book. Make sure to check TWs before reading. 4/5