The issue with requesting a million books a year on NetGalley is that I often totally forget what drew me to a book in the first place. I request and read a ton of contemporary romance and rom com novels, and I was expecting this one to be a pretty standard example of those. The premise of this was pretty fresh, though, at least in my romance reading experience. Brinkley is employed as a heartbreaker - she works for a women-only firm that gets contracted by women who need to exact revenge on men in their lives. Usually this involves humiliation, taking them down a peg, or getting evidence that they know they screwed the firm's client over. They're not like contract killers or anything, but they are essentially paid con artists. Brinkley is responsible for the Egos department - dealing with men whose egos have harmed women personally or professionally. Her current mark is named Mark (yes, really), but the whole thing falls apart when she's super attracted to him (like, extremely attracted, almost having sex in the bar they're in). Completely flustered, she unwittingly drops her cheat sheet card about him as she's leaving his apartment, and he finds it and contacts her boss trying to figure out the whole situation. Her boss, who honestly seems pretty toxic, uses this opportunity to bring on male heartbreakers so they can expand their client base. This causes a major shake-up in the company, and Brinkley is put in the position of having to train Mark while still trying to navigate the intense attraction that they have. I just found this pretty fresh and interesting as a concept, and it was also very steamy, right out of the gate. Like so many romance novels, it wraps up a bit too quickly, but I would definitely read more from Sonia Hartl.

I'm kind of all over the place with this. It's a quick read, but while I find the whole vengeance-for-hire model intriguing, other than the satisfaction in collecting incriminating evidence for lawsuits (in the case of financial and intellectual property theft), it doesn't, as Brinkley realizes, allow one to reclaim one's self-esteem in the end. All it does is make you see the worst in everyone (not just her former boyfriend) and permanently bitter. Mark's addition to the Heartbreak-for-Hire team was a bit convoluted, but I bought his and Brinkley's chemistry. People so overcome with passion to be pretty much willing to get it on in public I'll never understand. And Brinkley receives so many blows from so many people in one night, in the last quarter of the book, that frankly I would've packed my bags, disconnected my phone number, and moved, apologies be damned.

Thank you to Gallery Books for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Heartbreak for Hire publishes on July 27th!

Brinkley Saunders is a heartbreaker - literally. She works for Heartbreak for Hire, a small, woman-only organization that gets revenge on behalf of their clients. But when her boss decides it's time to hire male heartbreakers, Brinkley's new heartbreak partner/adjunct professor Mark is one of her former targets - and worse, he always seems to have the upper hand.

I enjoy enemies to lovers romcoms, and this was an interesting premise! I certainly don't want to see vigilante justice in the real world - but in a book, I'm happy to read about drinks being thrown and predatory men being taken down a peg or two. I enjoyed Brinkley's disguises for her various targets - the scene with her homage to Dolly Parton cracked me up! And she dresses her cat in the latest fashions - gotta love a quirky main character! Mark and Brinkley had good banter, and I liked seeing them interact. The academic setting was also interesting - as a recovering academic, I totally related to the imposter syndrome and backstabbing in the ivory tower.

The steam level on this one is medium - there were some scenes I skimmed through, but they didn't seem overly graphic. If you like rom coms, I think this is a good one to pick up for summer!

This was a pretty enjoyable romance, though it definitely has some sad and tough themes (content warnings for abusive relationships and sexual harassment). It has a very readable quality to it that kept me engaged throughout the book. The pacing was well done overall. I also appreciated that this had humorous moments, as well as very satisfying ones where these jerks get what's coming to them.

I was definitely drawn in by the premise of this company, and I had fun exploring this idea! I really liked how this company allows Brinkley to work out her feelings and move on from her terrible ex and former friends. I found some of these situations to be relatable, so while this did make it hard for me to read at times, I completely understood where Brinkley was coming from.

I liked Brinkley overall! She seems spunky, though she certainly has to deal with overcoming the feeling that she's not good enough and must navigate some tough relationships. She does often have an immediate urge to give up, so this can be a bit overwhelming and frustrating at times. However, I felt very proud of her for her character arc. I can certainly respect that she doesn't want to deal with the cutthroat world of academia and wants to pursue her artistic ambitions.

In terms of the love interest, I definitely felt the chemistry there! He also has to deal with figuring out what he wants to do versus what he thinks is expected of him. The drama between them is tough, but I do feel like they can work past it. I also really liked Emma, Brinkley's friend and coworker. She's very supportive and also wants to pursue her own goals. In doing this, I think she really helps push Brinkley to pursue her goals as well. I have mixed feelings about Brinkley's boss Margo - she seems to be nice, but she can be manipulative. I felt similarly about Brinkley's mom since they have a tough relationship, but I did really like seeing them work things out and truly get to know each other more.

Overall, I had a really great time with this book and would certainly recommend it!

My video review can be seen on my booktube channel (around minutes 10:15-13:24 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXan-4t2zcI

Heartbreak for Hire is such a fun, sexy and charming read! This is the first book I've read from this author and now I'm a big fan. This book made me laugh and fall for Brinkley's crazy antics. And I loved her crazy, sweater-wearing cat, Winnie. It's steamy and addictive and had me reading nonstop!

LOVEEED this one. Such a cute & fresh premise. Sexy & steamy but very well-done. Loved the banter. Would recommend to rom-com fans.

I really enjoyed this book. Funny, interesting, hot, and definitely unique. Brinkley's job as a heartbreaker means she gets hired by women to get revenge on the men that wronged them. She's been good at it and successful, both in terms of the jobs and with keeping that part of her life separate. Until Mark shows up as a target, and then becomes her new coworker.
I loved Brinkley and Mark's banter, and how she tried to ignore how she was starting to feel. This is a great summer read.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: July 27, 2021

One of the best opening paragraphs I’ve read in a while. This starts fast and funny and I was hooked right away!

Boss relationship is abusive/psychologically manipulative. Focuses a bit too much on her past academia-tracked life and her mommy issues—it takes away from the current character development. Once you thoroughly explain a past trauma, you don’t need to keep bringing it up at length…the reader remembers. A bit predictable when it came to the mechanical bull scene, anyone paying attention knew what would happen.

This started spiraling at the halfway point when Brinkley’s self-sabotaging behavior just got to be too much. I found her whiny, annoying, and oddly stupid considering how educated she was. This book is honestly just weird. Her job is weird, her boss is weird, her relationship with her mother and how she speaks of it is weird, her obsession with cat clothing is weird, how she handles most of her relationships (friend and romantic) is weird. The elevator scene was so implausible I rolled my eyes.

The premise for this was exciting but the execution fell short.

Imagine if you could hire someone to embarrass or hurt the guy who broke your heart? That’s what Brinkley and her colleagues at Heartbreak for Hire do - they are a secret revenge service that aims to empower women. But when Brinkley’s boss decides to bring men to the team and one of those men is a man a former client hired Brinkley to get revenge on, she’s no longer as sure this business is doing the right thing. PLUS she finds him attractive, making it that much harder to do her job.

I loved the concept of this and the revenge for hire plot. It w3as definitely a unique story and it was fun to see where it went and what was happening with the business. The chemistry between Brinkley and Mark was intense and this one got very steamy very quickly. I also enjoyed the message about empowerment.

This is one book where the ebook worked for me better than the audiobook did. For some reason I really struggled with the audiobook and it didn’t hold my attention, but when I switched to the ebook it worked much better for me.

Thanks to Simon Audio, NetGalley, and Gallery books for the advanced copies of this book. The book will be released on July 27.

Revenge with a side of love

Brinkley and Mark meet under false pretenses but there’s an undeniable connection that becomes even more complicated when he shows up in both of her very separate worlds.

I’m not big on revenge plots, which is good because this book isn’t really a revenge plot but revenge is at the heart of what Brinkley does for H4H and what brings her and Mark together initially. So I struggled a bit with that whole aspect as well as what felt like a circle of manipulation all around.

BUT I did love Brinkley’s growth and Mark’s support of her dreams. I feel like she made Mark earn his spot in her life and I really appreciated that he was willing to do it. And they had some really great chemistry!

I’m interested to see what else Sonia Hartl gives us!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

Heartbreak for Hire was SO GOOD I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE IT. If you enjoy witty, contemporary rom-coms, you absolutely NEED to add this to your TBR! This book was just so fun and current and sassy while also being just the right amount of serious and I am just so enamored with it. Plus, the banter in this was *chef's kiss.*

HBH is a Meet Cute type of book. We meet jaded Brinkley who was mentally abused by her boyfriend for years and does not trust any man to save her soul, that is when she joins Heartbreak For Hire, a service where she humilates men in public. Things are going great for Brinkley until her boss announces she is hiring male Heartbreakers, the men walk in one by one, as the men walk in one of the men is a target Brinkley took down AND hooked up with. Will Brinkley take her guard down and take a second chance at love again?

You absolutely must read this book! It’s so terrific. I laughed so hard at many of the scenes that Brinkley gets herself into. The scene at the bar with certain parts flying, her answering the phone in such a way and it’s her mother—these are only two scenes that are rip roaring hilarious. To discover the rest you must read it. I love books that make me laugh out loud and snicker, this is one of those books. I loved the premise of what Brinkley does and she’s really good about the revenge business. But there is so much more to her and Mark. I’ll scatter no more seeds for readers to scoop up. Read the book!

After trying this one twice, I ended up DNFing it. I wasn’t a huge fan of the main characters and, once I realized how manipulative one of the characters was, just couldn’t continue reading. I think the premise of this book is definitely interesting, but the execution did not work at all for me. Others may enjoy the book though!

In the summer, I enjoy reading a quick and easy rom-com. Heartbreak for Hire seemed like it was going to tick all my requirements for a summer rom-com. But it fell short for me in a big way.

I hated how the characters came across on the page; I thought the switch from hate to love was a little too quick. The relationship felt more like instant love, which is fine on its own, but Heartbreak for Hire is marketed as a Haters to Lovers, and that takes development and work to get to a love relationship.

I wanted to like the premise of the company and how the women went after terrible men. This storyline could have been used to explore some heavier topics more lightly. Overall, I thought the book was too long, and I lost interest in the story.

Heartbreak for Hire is a contemporary romance about a twenty-something Chicago woman who professionally breaks hearts and/or humiliates men for the clients of the company she works for. But, when a client sends her after a man she could potentially fall for her life starts to unravel.

Brinkley never finished her masters program or started a career in academia that her mother could get behind. Instead she secretly works on the Heartbreakers For Hire team as a professional heartbreaker along with a group of specially recruited women who have been hurt, humiliated and taken advantage of by men. One of her assignments was to “meet cute” a gorgeous professor named Mark and hurt him professionally but instead she goes home with him and takes off mid-sexual encounter. A series of mishaps follow including Mark and several other men being added to the H4H team and the women being forced to train them.

There were a lot of stretches and coincidences in this novel that made it hard to believe. Even Brinkley said at one point “in a city of three million people...” and it got harder to suspend disbelief that everyone she encounters is connected to either her mother or Mark in some way. I also found her mother, her attitude toward her daughter and the entire academic setting at Northwestern a little over the top. The addition of Mark to the H4H team never really pans out and that whole storyline felt manufactured to create tension. I also thought the entire business model of H4H was a little unrealistic like a modern day Charlie’s Angels. I would also put this book in the category of spicy with the love scenes bordering on explicit along with some of the language that accompanied it. And although the physical relationship was there but I never felt the romantic connection between Brinkley and Mark.

Overall, this is a mildly amusing sexy romp. Some of the manufactured angst around Brinkley’s job and mother plus the coincidences around Mark and his own career felt a little convenient and took away from my enjoyment. I, personally enjoy a sweeter love story with more “closed door” type love scenes.

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yes!! Girl power hear us roar 😉
Loved the originality of this setting - Hire Heartbreakers to get revenge on that jerk. But when Brinkley’s boss decides to hire men for the opposite side of the business… in comes Brinkley’s last mark… How can her boss hire men?? How can jilted women possibly work with men? So the ladies agree to play the new employees and give them fake addresses to meet. Trouble is…Mark is a nice guy and Brinkley and he are really hitting it off.

Love the way the tables turn, the characters were drawn out so well and a unique storyline. Two thumbs up!

I went into this book totally blind, and boy, am I glad I did. This was such a cute and fun story with such an interesting premise. Brinkley was funny and smart and I loved her character. I would definitely recommend this book!

Included as a top pick in bimonthly July New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

I received an ARC of this novel from Gallery Books via Netgalley in exchange for my review. Heartbreak for Hire or H4H is a company designed to help women get revenge on men who have done them wrong. Brinkley started to work for H4H after she hired them to humiliate a past love who did her wrong. Is it her dream job? No. Does she feel a bit squeamish after she gets revenge for her clients? Yes. However Brinkley really has a gut check after she crosses the line with a client, Mark, who she was hired to humiliate. Brinkley decides to learn from her unprofessional behavior and move on-lesson learned. That would be possible if Mark hadn't just been hired as one of the first men to work at H4H. Sparks fly while Mark and Brinkley navigate their relationship-especially the past hurts they have survived and also their growing unease with their career paths. If you can get past the idea of dating revenge for hire-the banter and sparks between Brinkley and Mark is great and you will find yourself cheering them on to a positive, healthy relationship!