What a unique concept! I would actually love to work for H4H, I think. I have some revenge I'd like to exact on a few people......anyways. Back to the review. I really enjoyed Brinkley as a character. I thought her chemistry with Mark was really well written. and I enjoyed getting to know both of them.

Heartbreak for Hire was an interesting book for me. Honestly, I didn't love the story itself. There was a lot going on, a lot of moving parts that were bizarrely intertwined, and I didn't love the idea of the main business. That being said, I loved the two main characters and thought their banter was amazing. Even though I didn't love the book, I did find myself smiling and laughing throughout just because of the banter and back and forth jokes between the two main characters.
So overall, not my fave book, but maybe worth a read for a laugh.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 Q: what’s your current read? I’m about 44% into Roan Parrish’s Lights on Knockbridge Lane.

Sonia Hartl’s Heartbreak for Hire was an interesting read for me for lots of reasons, including the fact that there are things I really liked about it & some things that didn’t quite work for me.

It’s bold & wry & comes out swinging at cutthroat academia—there’s also some quality steam, a hot + nerdy professor hero, & a heroine who’s adept at disguises & has a few epiphanies about her life & the direction it’s going in.

Brinkley Saunders wants to own her own gallery where she can sell her artwork but in the meantime she’s helping pull off revenge schemes at Heartbreak for Hire. She targets Egos (men whose professional egos have gotten out of control & who have grossly wronged their female coworkers), although her judgmental, emotionally unavailable mom—chair of a psychology dept—thinks she’s an admin assistant.

Then Brinkley is hired to target professor Markus Cavanaugh but she’s won over by his conversation & against her better judgement they end up hooking up. Until she runs away, reminded of what her job is.

Later, he shows up at Heartbreak for Hire, one of its newest hires.

I love how HRH goes after so many important topics including verbal & emotional abuse, toxic masculinity in the workplace, parental disappointment, & damaging behaviors & culture in academia. Also on my Very Much Enjoyed List is how Brinkley is snarky & daring—except when it comes to her gallery & confrontation—& Markus eats it up.

But the book doesn’t have quite the emotional resonance I wanted in some moments & the reconciliation feels somewhat rushed (& also I was a little bothered by how some of it comes about.)

On the whole I really enjoyed this one & Hartl’s style & I’m excited to see what she writes next!

4 ⭐️. Release date: 07/27

[ID: a person wearing a white & blue linen dress holds a copy of the book next to a bed of colorful zinnias.]

I absolutely adored this book! I really liked Brinkley and thought it was great that she was doing what she could to pursue her dream of painting and opening a gallery and not living the life her mom or past friends thought she could do. Heartbreak For Hire was such a great idea for a company. 4 women who make sleezeball men pay for using women to get ahead really thrilled my little feminist heart! The secrecy and word of mouth reminded me of the movie Hitch. It's so creative and fun. And Mark, whew!! There are some very steamy parts in this book! And then I loved Winnie the cat, so hilarious! This book was such a fun read. I will be looking for more books by Sonia Hartl in the future!

This was such a refreshing, interesting romance. Featuring Brinkley, who after a bad break up, started working at a small company that specializes in taking down a variety of badly behaving men. She's well paid but not necessarily fulfilled when she falls for one of her marks... who then ends up back in her life in an unexpected way. There's a lot of humor in this in the over the top ways Brinkley's marks get taken down, and a good bit of heat in Brinkley and Mark's connection.

Brinkley is in the revenge business. Sometimes that means bringing injustice to light and righting wrongs. Sometimes, it's a little more murky.

When one of her cases goes sideways, her target ends up working for her as a trainee—the target who charmed her into letting her guard down, along with her panties. Yeah, that guy.

Then she learns he's interviewing for a professorship at the university where her mother teaches. As their lives get more entwined, she finds herself letting him past more and more of her barriers. But is he worthy of her trust?

I'm not a fan of revenge storylines, so I was happy to find that this book doesn't glamorize revenge. It does lead to some awkward and sometimes hilarious situations, though. There were several laugh-out-loud moments for me, and some frankly brilliant word play. Yet this book has more depth than most rom coms, as well as some steamy scenes. It's an insightful and entertaining novel.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This book was very readable. I even mostly enjoyed it. It is also pretty sexy. There is an oral sex scene in the early chapters. (FMC is the receiver).
Brinkley works at a service that specializes in revenge against men. Hired by others who have been wronged by them. I LOVE a good dunk on men. Even several dunks on them. But it got tiring quick. I think the "women scorned who hates men" trope/theme is tired and weak. I feel like we can do better as a genre. The saving grace was that Brinkley tires of it as well.
Brinkley and Mark have to work together so this becomes an enemies to lovers trope.

I read it about three weeks ago and I hardly remember any specifics of the book. The author did a good job with the secondary characters and piquing my interest for future stories.

This book was funny, sexy, and sweet, and I devoured it in less than a day!

I found this book hilarious! There were definitely some awkward moments -- and I cringed appropriately -- but both Brinkley and Mark were witty and their banter was genuinely comical. I also especially loved Brinkley's cat, Winnie; she may even be my favorite character in the whole book.

I liked that this book wasn't just meet-cutes and steamy sex scenes -- though, neither was in short supply. There were some serious undertones throughout (gaslighting and emotional abuse, mysogyny, and toxic relationships in general) but they didn't overtake the book to the point where it became depressing, just enough for the characters to have some depth.

Speaking of characters, I think Margo was the most interesting character. I just kept wondering who had hurt her! She was clearly in need of therapy. For all of her talk about empowering women, she was basically doing some of the same things she claimed to be preventing or saving her staff from. She acted as if Brinkley and the other women working at H4H owed her their lives. On the flip side, I think Emma (and eventually Mark) was exactly the type of person Brinkley needed in her life, even if Brinkley didn't feel like she deserved it.

I'll admit that this is in many way a cheesy romance: undeniable chemistry, great sex on top of a budding meaningful relationship, a conflict (or two, or three) leading to a short falling out, and a nice convenient ending. HOWEVER, there were several times where I literally gasped at the turn of events; it was definitely a ride! Yes things work out at the end, but it wasn't easy for any of them.

Honestly the only thing I didn't like was that I felt the end was rather abrupt. I NEEDED an epilogue! My love for epilogues aside, I wanted a glimpse into their future lives. I know their plans, but I wanted to see it. How did they fare? What about Margo and H4H and the other men hired? What about Allie and Charlotte? And does Brinkley ever get to flaunt her happiness in Aiden's face?

I would love for this to be made into a movie. A tv series could work too, though obviously things would be much more drawn out that way whereas part of the appeal of this book (for me) is that it was quick and light. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes romantic comedies -- with a little raunchiness thrown in.

Is this book perhaps somewhat problematic? Yes. Does it require a large suspension of disbelief? Yes. Did I absolutely ADORE it and devour it all in one sitting anyway? Also yes! :)

I almost DNF'd Heartbreak for Hire in the first chapter, because the premise of Brinkley working as this undercover saboteur taking men whose egos are too big down a peg seemed weird and unbelievable and kind of gross. From chapter 1 I found myself wondering how her humiliating these men actually helps anyone... But I'm glad I stuck with it, because as soon as she meets Mark the chemistry is just *chef's kiss*.

This book explores misogyny, sexism, emotional abuse, and toxic relationships in really interesting ways. Brinkley's relationships with her ex (Aiden) and with her mother are clearly awful toxic relationships full of emotional abuse, manipulation, and gas-lighting, and it's interesting how Brinkley - even with her psychology background - struggled to identify when these things are happening to her. Less obvious - but not less insidious - is her relationship with her boss, Margo. I do wish her relationship with Margo had been addressed more in the book, because I feel like that's another toxic and abusive relationship that wasn't as clearly spelled out at Brinkley's history with her mom and Aiden.

I really loved Brinkley and Mark's chemistry, from their "meet cute" to when they're in a hate-to-love situation to when they have their inevitable third act "dark moment." The on-page sex scenes are hot, but a mild sort of hot, if that makes sense? I give it 3 out of 5 chili peppers, lol. Their banter is really cute, and they have some really hilarious rom-com moments as well as some deep conversations about their histories and their struggles.

Did I want to love this? Yes. Did I? Kind of.

Synopsis: Brinkley has spent her entire life being put down, and now she’s out to get revenge on any man who has ever hurt a woman. However, while working her lucrative job at Heartbreak for Hire, Brinkley realizes that maybe not everything is as it seems — and not all men are as terrible as her particular ex. But when her former target (and secret hook-up), Mark, becomes her coworker, she has to question what exactly she’s doing and whether she wants to continue with it… or is it time to give her bigger dreams a try? (TW: emotional abuse, gaslighting, brief mentions affairs and drug use)

I absolutely loved the idea of Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl. But the execution left me wanting. I was hoping for more emotional investment and revelation from the characters, and more moments of connection between Brinkley and Mark. I struggled to believe their statements of love when they continually and sometimes purposefully hurt the other without even an attempt to discuss their emotional sore spots.

(Spoiler!!) On one occasion, Mark kind of comes clean about his past but Brinkley’s similarly-timed confession left much to be desired and discussed. I don’t think you can willingly and happily enter a new relationship with discussing the abuses and violations enacted upon you during your last relationship. That conversation, at least as far as the reader is concerned, doesn’t really happen for Brinkley.

At the same time, I couldn’t put it down! I adore the characters individually, and I found their confusion about life choices alarmingly relatable. The sex scenes were steamy, and still quite romantic in their essence. Overall, this may be a case of: this book just wasn’t for me. Something about it didn’t work, but I have no doubt it’ll be a popular and fun summer read.

I can't remember the last time I read an entire book in one afternoon/evening but I did with Heartbreak for Hire. I really loved the premise of this book and it was a unique and interesting workplace rom-com. The banter and character interactions between Brinkley and Mark reminded me a lot of the dynamic between the main characters in The Hating Game. The constant bickering was hysterical! There were several times I had to stop reading because I laughed so hard at some of the one liners that were in this book. 10/10 for witty banter which is usually my favorite thing in books. If you tell me a book has witty banter I will automatically read it.

The only reason I wouldn't give this a full 5 stars was because a lot of the plot had your typical cliches that are commonly seen in other romance novels. You know what is going to happen because we have seen the same thing play out in other books. While there may be some cliches, but there are so many other deeper topics that are addressed in this book as well. The characters in this book deal with sexism, cheating, abandonment, social isolation, dysfunctional relationships with parents, self-doubt, etc. I wish these deeper topics had been explored more in depth. It would have really added a level of complexity to the story and the characters that I found was slightly missing in the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

Her college professor mother thinks that Brinkley works as an administrative assistant as an insurance agency, but she really works at Heartbreak for Hire. Her specialty is squashing men's egos that have stepped over or mistreated women. Brinkley thinks the academic Mark is different, but she has a job to do. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. I really enjoyed reading this book. There is humor, steam, and interesting characters. I love see her taking revenge on arrogant men. I really liked Brinkley and seeing how she struggled to follow her dreams. I also like seeing how Mark was struggling for his place in the world. Her psychotic cat Winnie added to the story. This is the first book that I have read by this author, but it won't be the last. This is a fun read.

Brinkley Saunders works at Heartbreak for Hire who helps with revenge. She works in the Ego department. But there are other girls that specialize in other types of guys Grifters, Cheaters etc. I think this is such a fun concept. I'm sure there has to be something like this in real life. Women can be just as bad as men in the lying cheating and backstabbing arenas but this company was created to help women, right.

One of Brinkley's jobs doesn't feel right but the guy definitely does. She never breaks the rules or gets personal which led her to making some mistakes since she's definitely interested in him. This brings Marc into HFH since she left something behind. 

He gets to see behind the veil but will he see that she wasn't on the job with him? Their chemistry is so steamy!!!

Oh man this would have been such a fun job in my twenties!! I would have loved to play the part to bring down jerks.

This book was so fun and it did end on a more healthy note, revenge is sweet but it's fleeting as they say. 

The banter between Brinkley and Marc was just perfect! They were so hilarious! 

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Steam:🔥🔥

Thank you gallery books and net galley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you so much @GalleryBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 27 July 2021)

SYNOPSIS | Heartbreak for Hire is an undercover company specialising in revenge on male co-workers, jilted lovers, frenemies & general creeps. Brinkley is one of four agents who is hired to reenact revenge, but from an outside perspective she is an administrative assistant at an insurance agency (much to her academic mothers distaste). Heartbreak for Hire begins to employ men & Brinkley questions the ethos of what she is doing, especially as her new coworker is a male she was previously paid to take down.

WHAT I LIKED:
- a unique romcom concept
- a couple of nice steamy scenes

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- there were too many side plots that it all kind of just got lost together
- I especially didn't feel like the mother / daughter relationship conflict plot had a satisfying conclusion
- Brinkley & Mark's romance was a bit too insta-lovey for me
- Brinkley's co-workers (especially her best friend Emma) didn't feel developed at all beyond their initial trauma for wanting to join the company

"Dealing with the male ego was a lot like painting." From the first sentence, I was anticipating what was to come. I love a good hook!
Brinkley tackles egos for a living, hired to humiliate or take down men who have taken advantage of women through various relationships. She's personally motivated by grudges she holds from her past. When her boss introduces men to the work environment, Brinkley and her counterparts aren't ready for the change, but maybe it's what they need to finally move on from their own heartaches.
I had high expectations heading into this read. I love the cover and summary so much. I think the storyline is fun and entertaining but rather abrupt in some aspects. The transitioning from calm to heated or a casual conversation to steam was like zero to sixty. I felt like I'd been leaning on a door eavesdropping only to have it flung open and leaving me to fall crashing to the floor. The resolution for misunderstandings was rather quick as well between characters.
Ultimately, it has a lot of great moments. I could see it being a five star read had those moments been more subtle. Brinkley's swings from hot to cold and back lacks a thread of believability for me.
Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

This is a new to me author, and I have to say I enjoyed this book very much. The story is pretty routine - main characters meet cute, can't resist one another then have a big disagreement that ruins everything - but there are inventive twists that make it new and fresh.

All of the characters are interesting, there's great banter and word-play, and the steamy scenes are super steamy without being gratuitous.

Definitely recommend!

Have you ever wanted to get back at a man that wronged you, personally or professionally? Well, this story centers around a young woman named Brinkley, who works for an all female company called H4H (Heartbreak for Hire) where the sole purpose is to get even with the men that have wronged the women clients in some way. Each of the four women in the company work a different "department" and perform cons to get even with their "targets." Brinkley is in charge of the Egos department and embarrassment was a popular tactic in this book. The story takes a closer look on Brinkley's life, the reasons why she joined H4H, and what she really wants, both personally and professionally.

I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely a rom-com with some steamy parts 🔥🔥🔥 and some parts where I chuckled at the banter. It was a quick read and kept me engaged, so I'd definitely recommend it if you're up for a romance!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC. Pub day is 27 July!

Brinkley is a woman scorned who now works for Heartbreak for Hire (H4H). She is paid to put men in their place and right some wrongs. Mark was one of her last jobs.

I love the uniqueness of the premise, and these two have great chemistry, but Brinkley is a hot mess. The more I liked Mark, the less I liked Brinkley. It's a darn shame we didn't get Mark's POV. After all that, I still liked this book, and I am glad I had a chance to read it.

Overall I enjoyed Heartbreak for Hire - it was a cute, sexy, quick romance read. The idea behind the company Heartbreak for Hire was intriguing and the characters seemed interesting although I would have loved to know more about the rest of the crew at H4H. I enjoyed the storyline of Brinkley and Mark as the main characters (and shoutout to the sexy academic vibe that was Mark) but did feel like there could have been more to the story. The ending seemed a bit rushed - hit with secrets that came to light and then quickly wrapped up. If you're looking for a quick read with a dash sexy romance - this might be the book for you.

Thank you to Gallery books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Heartbreak for Hire falls solidly in the middle of the pack for me. It's an interesting premise: a woman who works as a professional heartbreaker falls for one of the people she's been hired to take down. Because it turns out that not all the women who hire the company are doing it because they've actually been hurt, some just want to eliminate a rival. 


The chemistry between the two leads was great, both physical and interpersonal. I found their banter and bickering fun and genuinely wanted them to work it out.

This is a pretty standard contemporary romance, but a few things grated on me and I probably won't be seeking out more from the author. Whether this is my own baggage or something else, I'm not sure. I was unhappy with Brinkley's very privileged approach to opening an art gallery. She doesn't have any business experience, but that's not mentioned at all. Things like academic papers and opening a whole business happen at record speed, with seemingly no hassles like peer review or business filings. A character suddenly becomes a middle school teacher (what kind?) without having teaching certification or going through any hiring process. My teaching friends should be so lucky. I understand that romance novels are not reality and that a lot of things get glossed over, but there are other ways to handle them.

However, Brinkley's reason for joining Heartbreak for Hire and avenging women (for pay) made sense. Her ex was emotionally abusive and really awful, so when she caught him cheating she fell apart. HfH is how she rebuilt herself, but I was really glad that by the end she realized that dwelling in revenge and anger isn't a healthy long-term lifestyle. The situation with her ex also makes the conflict between Brinkley and Mark make more sense: he's an academic, her mom's an academic, her ex is an academic... The academics in her life have always chosen their careers over her and why should she expect different from him?

Mostly, I struggled with Brinkley's relationship with her mother. I have a similar parent and I haven't spoken to them in over a year because hey, 34 years is enough trying for me. Brinkley has chosen to get together/talk with her mother every week and fight for two hours instead. This is where I wonder, did I dislike this book because of my own crap or are all the things that irritated me actual flaws in the book?

But I don't feel like psychoanalyzing myself in a book review, so I'll leave it at this:


Heartbreak for Hire is a book that deals heavily with the cutthroat nature of academia, toxic family relationships, and the dangers of misandry, but it's peppered with enough romance and humor that I didn't stop reading it until the end.


Audio Notes: Shaina Summerville must be an alternate pseudonym for someone who narrates a lot of YA, because I spent the entire time in a state of "I know this voice..." That said, the narration detracted from the story and I won't be listening to another adult romance by this narrator. The voice she does for the male lead is this snotty condescending voice and I assumed it would get better after Brinkley decides she likes him, but it didn't. And oh no to the sex scenes. And one picky thing - Brinkley's boss is named Margo and her love interest is named Mark. I spent hours trying to figure out if Mark's name is Marco and why they were talking about Brinkley's latest assignment. I finished the book out of some sort of inertia, but I cannot recommend the audio.


***
Content Notes: alcohol, mention of fatal overdose (parent, past), drug-addicted parent, mentions of past drug use, strained parent relationship, emotionally abusive parent, sexual harassment, a couple of potentially dangerous situations with targets, gender essentialism, gendered language