ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

This is a lovely slow burn romance.

The MCs here are Davy, a lawyer on track for a name partnership at her firm, and Anna, an artist. The two meet as teenagers when their parents are in a relationship that results in a shared half-sister, Tally. They aren’t on good terms due to an event in the past and Davy only sees Tally once a year on her birthday. This year Tally is turning 14 and wants a big party and Davy is drawn back into the fold when she helps Anna arrange this.

This proves the jumping point for the main part of the story, a faux-mance where Anna, in need of a place to stay and access to private school for her son Louis, agrees to move in with Davy and act as her fiancée to help her win the partnership.

The two leads spend a lot of time together, and unpack the events of the past in a realistic way. They’re both lovely, although I admit to preferring, Davy, a loner, whose father is an asshat, and who finds an extended family through Tally and Anna. There’s also some additional secondary characters in the partners at Davy’s firm and their wives, and her assistant Halima, who along with Louis were my favourites.

<spoiler>I did think the side plot about Louis’ birth mother could have been left out, there was already a lot going on and it just felt like an unnecessary complication.I also kept expecting the other shoe to drop with their plan and was happily surprised when it didn’t. I did feel bad for Davy at the end though, she deserved better from her firm.</spoiler>

This is the definition of a slow burn, if you’re after fast moving romance or lots of sexy time, then this isn’t the book for you. But I prefer books where the leads take their time getting to know each other and this hit the spot nicely. I haven’t read Campbell before, but will look up her other books. 4 stars.

In 2007, Davy and Anna are forced together as their parents are in a relationship. After spending the summer together Anna expresses her attraction to one of the other girls in a play of Cats. However, Davy is attracted to Anna and at the end of summer, Davy's dad and Anna's mum announce that they are pregnant. And Anna and Davy shared a kiss.

15 years later, there it's clear that there is some animosity between the two of them, Davy hosts and helps plan their half-sister Tally's birthday party.

Due to a misinterpretation of the party, Davy's boss believes that Anna is Davy's fiancée, which leads to a chance to get ahead at work. Davy has to convince Anna to be her 'fiancée', and in doing so, Anna and her son Louis move into Davy's house to give him a better education to Louis.

Anna and Davy spend more time together and in turn, their attraction to one another grows. Will they give into their attraction to one another or will they part when the contract is over?

Thank you Nan for the opportunity of reading this ARC. This is a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I highly recommend it.

Don't forget to go to Nan's website to download the bonus Epilogue 😀

Star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice rating. 🔥🔥🔥

Great slow burn that starts with a great enemies to friends to lovers. Davy and Anna are ex-step siblings which made it a bit weird but only for a second. They have great banter and chemistry and they just click.

As teenagers they spent a summer together and sparks were already present then. Fast forward and the friendship they once had is non existant. The writer has a few flashbacks to explain what happened that summer and bits and pieces are revealed in the years they were apart.

I loved every second of it. Shoutout to Tally and Louis for being the coolest.

An ARC was provided to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

Would you pretend to have a fiancée in order to get ahead in your company? That is exactly what Davy plans on doing. A recently vacant partnership at her firm has opened up and she really wants it so she can make some positive changes.
In the meantime, she is trying to spend time with her half sister, Tally. However, when you spend 80+ hours at work in a week, it doesn't leave much time for anything else. To make it up to her, Davy throws her an over the top birthday party. Unfortunately, she has to invite Tally's half-sister, Anna, who she cannot stand.
Davy gets a congratulations from her boss on her recent engagement. She realizes that her boss saw her and Anna together at the party. Her boss seemed very happy at this "news". Davy gets an idea that if her boss is happy about this, she will try to get Anna on board and act like her fiancée.
I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly sweet, slow burn sapphic romance about indiviudal growth and family. Highly recommended for those who love a love story.

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

A very, veeery slow burn romance between Davy and Anna that centers around a fauxmance to make Davy partner in her law firm and family relationships with Davy trying to reconnect with her half-sister she hasn't been able to form a bond with due to her manipulative father.
I loved all the characters and the way Davy and Anna were slowy building up to opening themselves to eachother, it also followed Davys growth to realize what 's important to her in her life and what's she's willing to sacrifice for professional gain. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are okay with slowburn romances.

***Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books for the chance to read and review this book***

While perhaps not as poignant as her debut novel (which I heard just won a Lammy, congrats Nan) this is a well balanced story between fake dating, real feelings, and family reconnections. Oh and a slow burn with some definite spice!

One thing that Nan does very well in her books is the chemistry between the leads and this book did not disappoint. I look forward to reading Nan’s work for years to come! 4.25 stars

The No Kiss Contract by Nan Campbell centres around Davy Dugan, a young corporate lawyer who is excellent at her job. Her unforgiving work hours and commitment to her job leave little time for her half-sister, Tally. Tally’s other half-sister, Anna Resnick, is an artist and has been in her life since day one. Anna has little time for Davy and has her own assumptions about Davy’s life since they last saw each other as teenagers years ago, and the assumptions are not good. Davy vows to make amends to be more a part of Tally’s life, starting with her upcoming birthday party; for this Davy needs the help of Anna.

As the story progresses and the party is in full swing, Davy’s neighbour concludes that Davy and Anna are a couple. Nothing can be further from the truth. However, this leads Davy to an idea that could work to her advantage.

This very slow burn, low angst, second chance, faux romance covers a full range of emotions. I thought this would be a fade to black, but this was not the case. I enjoyed getting to know the MC’s as they drew me into their world. Davy and Anna had chemistry from the start, and I enjoyed their repartee. The secondary characters added to the story, my favourite is little Louis who is so intelligent for his age.

I would recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

I really loved this story. I liked the MC and the back up characters. I loved that Davey learnt what was important for her and didn’t lose any of herself doing that

The No Kiss Contract, her second novel after a promising debut, confirms that Nan Campbell is an author to watch out for. If you’re into very slow burn, second-chance, and fauxmance, this is for you.

Fifteen years ago, Davy and Anna were each other’s first kiss but the circumstances in which they met and that led to said kiss are uncommon, to say the least. Davy’s father and Anna’s mother dated for a while and the two girls spent one precious summer together. What’s left today of these relationships is a teenager with an absent father, two half-sisters who can’t get along, loads of guilt and hurt feelings. Yet when, on her quest to become a name partner at her law firm, Davy needs to show she’s family-oriented, she talks Anna, in need of a new place for herself and her young son, into a pretend relationship that will bring all the feelings back to the surface.

First things first, there’s nothing awkward or unhealthy about Davy and Anna falling for each other. They’re not siblings, they weren’t raised together, they knew each other for a couple of months as teenagers and had no idea at the time that they would share a half-sister. They’re practically strangers who vaguely knew each other as kids.

One is lucky to have a fantastic mother, the other cursed with an unloving and manipulative father. The former is an artist and kinda broke, the other is an extremely wealthy lawyer, after following in the steps of the aforementioned father, in the hope that someday she’ll be worthy of his love. Davy’s wealth allows her to give Anna and her child whatever they need or want, but she never uses that power to control them (unlike her father). On the other hand, Anna knows what love is in a way Davy has never experienced, and she can help Davy both with her self-esteem and with her career moves. They each have something the other doesn’t and each use it to help the other, which nullifies what could have been a damaging imbalance between them.

Anna is a little too good to be true and so is her child but it didn’t bother me too much. There’s always a measure of suspension of disbelief in romance anyway and the story focuses on Davy’s character growth. Despite a slight slump halfway through, The No Kiss Contract is engaging and an enjoyable read. And if the ending feels a bit abrupt, there’s a free epilogue on the author’s website.

This is a story about attorney Davy Dugan who was sent to boarding school by her father as a young child since her mother died when she was 3. Davy has grown up alone without any family until she’s 17 and her father meets and marries Pam. Pam has a 17 year old daughter too named Anna. Davy and Anna spend the summer together and work on community playhouse scenic stage backdrops. Davy falls hard for Anna but keeps it a secret since Anna is fangirling all over the star actress of the play.

Pam gets pregnant with Davy’s dad and has a daughter, Tally. Shortly afterwards their marriage ends. Over the next 15 years Davy sees her dad and Talky only on Tally’s birthdays. And completely looses contact with Anna. Anna has built up a complex dislike for Davy blaming her for them losing contact.

Years later Davy wants back into her old family and decides to host a huge elaborate birthday party for Tally's 16th birthday at her new fancy home in the suburbs.

And at the party Davy and Anna share a dance and hidden feelings come back for both of them. At the same time Davy is trying to become a senior partner in her firm. Davy decides that to get this position other partners need to see her as a solid family person. So she purposes a faux wedding with Anna. Anna agrees only because she is being evicted from her apartment and needs a home and school for her autistic son.

I really enjoyed this book. The fauxmance was very well written and believable. Both MCs were well developed. The dialogue between them was funny at times and otherwise very serious.

Highly recommended for people who love a good fauxmance story.

ARC received from NetGalley for an honest and voluntary review.

I fell so in love with Anna and Davys story and this ticked all my boxes, fake dating, enemies to lovers and the juiciest slow burn i’ve read in a long time. i’d kill to read more of their life and the family they’re building absolutely loved!!

Davina Dugan, successful corporate attorney looking to be partner at her firm. Anna Resnick, artist and mother of Louis. Tally is sister to both women. Anna and Davy are not blood related since their mother and father married when they were teenagers. I really enjoyed the interaction among Anna, Davy, Tally and Louis. I thought the faux relationship/second chance romance was well done because self-talk told the reader that the women liked each other but the communication was lacking. All of the characters were likable except the dad, what a selfish jerk.

Second chance romances are probably my very favorite. That alone was enough for me to download The No Kiss Contract from NetGalley. The cover is fine and I'm not familiar with the author (at least I don't think I am) but I'm a devotee to the trope.

I was immediately drawn into the story and was glad that we got the pre-present timeline stuff all done early so we could have the entire rest of the book devoted to relationship stuff. Relationships between Davy and Tally, and Davy and Louis, and Davy and Anna. And a few other much more minor characters. Instead of feeling overwhelming, I felt very much connected to Davy. Anna was also an interesting character and I liked and cared about her but not nearly as much as I did with Davy.

I can see myself reading this one at least once a year. I had the same feeling reading The No Kiss Contract as I do when I read my favorite Susan X. Meagher books: completely invested in the story and relationships. The author faded away and I was left alone in the world of the characters, living their joys and hurts along with them.

Clearly I loved this book. My only complaint is the epilogue isn't included with the actual book. We have to go to the author's website and get it through Book Funnel. Who wants to get to the last chapter on their ereader and then have to download a file either to a mobile device or computer to finish what should have been included in the book? Not me. I still have to finish it. I read a couple pages on my phone and was frustrated by the inconvenience of it and put it away. If I'm reading a book, I want the whole book included. I enjoy when authors release a deleted scene or some bonus content on their websites or through a download service but to do that with the epilogue feels very wrong to me.

Anyway, even without the epilogue - which now I'm mad about after writing all of that - I still give the book a solid 5 stars.

Thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for adding a new "mental hug re-read" book to my list.

The No Kiss Contract was a fun quick lesbian romance. I enjoyed it and getting to know the characters and hearing about how different family dynamics can be. I hadn't ready a Nan Campbell title before, but will look for her works now.

3 stars. Davy Dugan wants to be named partner at her law firm and will do anything to get it. When she has a birthday party for Tally, her half sister, partners at her law firm mistake Tally's other half sister for her fiancé. Davy decides to go alone with it, as being more family oriented might help her win the position. Anna decides to go along with it on one condition, they do not kiss. They both have had crush on each other from when they are teenagers, can they continue to pretend.

This book was enjoyable but not super memorable. I thought it had a decent concept, but the end was just okay. I felt like a lot of it is was just leading up to the predictable ending. It was a nice quick read and I enjoyed the development with the characters. I did not like the plot of why they did not talk to each other for so long. I thought it good enough to recommend if you needed a book to read. It was not a book that I would say you must read.

𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀...

In my opinion, there are two different kinds of slowburn romances. One is when the characters keep going in circles and getting nowhere and two is when the characters progressively become closer albeit at a slow pace. I tend to get frustrated with the first kind so I'm glad this book is a slowburn of the second kind.

This book is a taboo romance but also not really. It's a grey area because Davy and Anna are cross-siblings, i.e. people who share half-siblings. So consider this a content warning. But if you're up for this, I would say that this is an enjoyable story that wasn't weird at all.

I thought it was a heartwarming piece that follows the lives of Davy and Anna, who met briefly in their teens for a summer when their parents got together but drifted apart after their parents split, leaving only a shared sibling, Tally, as their only connection to each other. Years later, after finally being able to distance herself from her father, Davy decides to put in more effort in her relationship with Tally, which by extension, also means meeting Anna more often and having to make an effort to repair their relationship.

What follows is a heartwarming journey of healing as Davy and Anna rekindle their friendship and romantic feelings for each other and they do it while in a fauxmance Davy initiates between them to help her mission to being name partner in her law firm. One of the things I appreciated was how likeable the characters were and that includes Anna's mother and son. I also thought Nan Campbell did an excellent job of weaving in Davy and Anna's individual struggles, making their journey all the more compelling.

Overall, a beautifully written romance novel on second chances and family.

Talk about a slow burn - this one was sloooooooooow but it was definitely worth the wait in the end.

Anna and Davy meet as teenagers when their lives intertwine due to the dating of their parents. Davy's dad is a horrible character and ends up severing their teenage friendship and impacting it well into adulthood. When they reconnect due to their half-sister years later, there is no love lost and here we begin the very, very slow burn romance between them.

I found this novel quite engaging throughout. I really enjoyed reading about their lives and certain aspects that they assist each other to deal with. It was a really sweet way to develop their relationship and romance.

I will say though that I felt like the novel ended abruptly and there was a slight loose end with Davy's dad and Louis' future. Maybe I'm coming from this due to feeling particularly attached to all three characters by the end of the novel, but I would've loved an epilogue to round out the story.

All in all though, a great second novel by Nan Campbell.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! The characters were engaging, there wasn't too much drama, the tension was perfect... I would definitely read other books by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I absolutely adored "The No Kiss Contract" by Nan Campbell! From the moment I started reading, I was hooked. The writing is witty, the characters are relatable, and the story is filled with delightful surprises.

The chemistry between MCs Davy and Anna is off the charts! The banter, the tension, and the slow-burn romance had me swooning. The no-kiss contract premise added an extra layer of intrigue to the story, making it even more captivating. I loved the relationships Davy finally had the chance to built with Pam, Anna, Louis, and Tally.

Nan Campbell's storytelling is flawless, weaving together humor, heart, and found family moments in a way that kept me turning the pages long into the night. I just couldn't get enough. "The No Kiss Contract" is a feel-good, sapphic romance that left me with a huge smile on my face. It's a must-read for anyone who loves a lighthearted, charming, and swoon-worthy second-chance romance. I highly recommend it, and I can't wait to read more from Nan Campbell!