Brinkley left the world of academics behind after a grueling heartbreak that left her without her friends and becomes a heartbreak for hire. She takes jobs from scorned women and makes the men in their lives pay for their despicable behavior. One of her subjects, Mark an adjunct profession from another university, ends up being her match. She's instantly attracted to him and finds it hard to lie to him, which is breaking one of the rules in the club. Do not hook up with a subject! But when her boss decides to bring on men to the heartbreak team, Mark ends up being her partner and the tension can be cut with a knife. The attraction, the lies and deceit. Through their partnership they becomes friends and lovers and realize what they want to do outside the Heartbreak For Hire. But at a university event with her mother in attendance secrets are reveal and soon Brinkley doesn't know who she can trust anymore and leaves Mark, Heartbreak for Hire, and her mom behind to focus on her art. Can Brinkley open up a gallery for her art? Will she forgive Mark and her Mom for their lies?

I absolutely loved this book! It was exactly what I needed to get out of my book rut! I loved that it was set in Chicago where I live and could picture everywhere they were going etc. This book was packed full of feminism, steam and romance. Whats not to love? There was plenty of drama without it being too much and overall this was written so well! You need to read this book!

DNF at 39%. This one's not for me.

While the protagonists had some good chemistry, I don't care for the premise of Heartbreak for Hire.

Heartbreak for Hire, the business for which Brinkley, the female MC works, is in the revenge business. For a fee, it gives bad men the comeuppance they deserve. And the author makes clear that most of these guys are real jerks who take advantage of women financially or are abusive in the workplace. But I can't square a woman who humiliates people for a living with a heroine, even if she is the tiniest bit conflicted sometimes.

It's single POV and at 39% I hadn't gotten a real good sense of the male MC yet. The scenes that worked best for me were the couple that had both of them together outside of the office/work setting. But there'd really only been a couple of those by this point, so I wasn't invested in the two of them together.

I think, when I picked this one up, I hoped that it wasn't going to center as much on the business as it does, or that it would be somehow more cartoony. But I was holding this book at arms length pretty much the whole time.

It's just not for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m afraid of waking up one day and realizing no matter how far I run from my past, it will always define me. Trying to overcome it is still giving it control.

Brinkley Saunders was once a rising star in the academic world—just like her mom—when she left it all after a traumatizing heartbreak. Now she works secretly as a Heartbreak for Hire, a secret agency specializing in bestowing a little comeuppance on asshole men. Life is good, and Brinkley is working on saving up enough money for a down payment to open an art gallery, until she messes up and breaks rule #1: she almost sleeps with a target. Worse: her boss is hiring men for the first time, and her target is one of the hires. Brinkley and her coworkers aren’t sure what to do, but they do no one thing: the men need to go. Starting with Mark.

“You’re so pretty. Men love to take advantage of a pretty face, but you already know this…If you don’t learn how to exert power over men on a professional level, you will always be a silly, pretty little toy. This is making you stronger.”

Despite what might seem a low three-star rating, this was an enjoyable contemporary romance! Solid sexy sex scenes, a decent plot (I enjoyed the H4H aspect but wished some other aspects [Margo’s manipulation] were addressed further), a messy heroine who dresses her cat in sweaters because she’s (the cat) is a fashionista, and decent chemistry between lovers.

Brinkley’s navigation of her rocky relationship with her mother was something I greatly empathized with, and I also understood how she went from one emotionally abusive relationship to another (her ex to her boss), because it can be really hard to differentiate when bad interpersonal relationships are all you’ve ever known. You’ve been keyed to believing people even when they are gaslighting you, because that is what manipulation does. Which meant that Brinkley was even more prone to ricochet into rejection when the “twist” that threw her and Mark apart (you knew this had to be coming, it’s in like 98% of contemporary romances), even when that twist was contrived as hell.

Again, solid and entertaining throughout, although the geography of Chicago confused the hell out of me (Brinkley lives on Michigan Ave and works in I think downtown Chicago and her mom works in Northwestern, but she visits her mom for weekly lunch breaks like that’s just a quick trip on the L? That’s an hour train ride one way—Northwestern is in Evanston not Chicago).

So maybe a couple eyebrow raises at the geography and the weak half-breakup, and experience this novel as one of self-growth and learning to navigate hard relationships. Plus the backstabbing world of academia.

Years of playing the academic game had taught me some finite rules about human nature and self-proclaimed experts. Everyone in the room was afraid of being exposed as an imposter. The more vocal I became in my disdain, the more other critics would follow my opinion or risk the accusation of an unsophisticated palate.

I received this ARC for an honest review.

Heartbreak for Hire releases July 27, 2021, from Gallery Books.

I went into this book completely blind, and wow did I fall in love with the characters, and the premise of the novel. The main character, Brinkley, works for a secret undercover agency called Heartbreak for Hire, aka H4H, where her and three other women get paid to humiliate men that have hurt other women in one form or another. It's not that she necessarily respects this career line; however, her terrible break up left her romance-less, friendless, and career-less, so when Margo her current boss scoped her out for H4H, naturally it seemed like the right decision.

When Brinkley is hired to bring down a college professor, Mark, who allegedly stole the work of his female coworker to get ahead in his career, she finds herself conflicted with her own romantic interest in him. Things take a turn when Mark is hired on to H4H and he is partnered to work with Brinkley.

Mark and Brinkley have very much of a strong push and pull relationship until the very end of the book when they discover what they truly mean to each other and how they fit in each others' lives.

This book is not just about romance; however, It is about Brinkley and Mark both digging deep inside and learning that it is never too late to realize your ambitions and aspirations in life even in your mid thirties. It is about finding out what really matters to you and seeing what you are willing to sacrifice and give up for it. It is about learning to repair familial relationships and standing up on your own when that is not possible. It is about that bonds of friendship that we all rely so heavily on. And of course it will definitely provide the reader with plenty of steam and romance ;)

I really enjoyed this book and was impressed with how quickly I formed a connection with the characters. Would highly recommend!

First and foremost, thanks so much to NetGalley and Gallery Books for sending me an early copy of Heartbreak for Hire for review— all opinions are my own.

Okay, here we fucking go! I loved this book! The premise of it is quite silly, actually, but also kind of hilarious and wonderful.


Brinkley is a totally normal, mess of a twenty-something year-old living in Chicago. She eats like trash, she drinks too much, she dresses her cats in funky sweaters, and she also happens to break hearts for a living. Typical millennial woman, right? All of this fucking the man without fucking the men (literally) is fine until she meets Mark, a target that she actually doesn’t hate, and that kind of reminds her of the past and also her future? But, oh, no! Now he works with her?! What the fuck will happen?

Their relationship is funny and sardonic. The steamy scenes are STEAMY, and the goal of HBH doesn’t seem to be what Brinkley and squad originally thought. Check it out on July 27th when it hits the shelves!

I loved the whole story, in fact, I devoured it. Definitely a 5 star review for me. Read a more in-depth review on my blog.

Fun and unique story line but I was not a fan of the explicit nature of the book. I wanted to like it more but I just couldn’t!

This story was such a light and heartfelt romcom, despite the "heartbreaking" plot focus! I enjoyed how it touched on career/work issues as well, including themes of respect, cutthroat academia, prestige, and more. So many cute and fun moments that discussed how women can be mistreated in the workplace, as well as believable chemistry between the two leads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for a generous advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Witty dialogue, a strong heroine along with other strong and dynamic female side characters. The deception will keep you turning the pages.

Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl is a book that gave me such a boost after reading some heavier topics. And, it's not that this one is a fluffy read. It's just that the writing has a buoyancy to it as we read about Brinkley Saunders and the other ladies at Heartbreak for Hire, who exact revenge on the troublesome men who derail women at work, cheat, and behave badly in other ways.

All is going well doing this undercover work until a series of events leads Brinkley's boss to bring in male heartbreakers, and Brinkley happens to have a past with one. Nightmare.

This is a great book for fans of Hannah Orenstein and Sally Thorne.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for sharing this book with me. all thoughts are my own.

Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl is the perfect rom-com for jilted relationships. Brinkley works for H4H, an undercover company of five women who work to give men a taste of their own heartbreak. Brinkley specializes in taking down men with large egos, which is when she meets Mark. Mark is the first "target" Brinkley has had that she lowers her guard and divulges truths of herself. Brinkley is attracted to Mark and feels he doesn't fit the stereotype of the men she typically meets on the job. But, her goal is to make enough money at H4H to open her own art gallery, so she buries her feelings for him. That is, until, the owner of H4H thinks men would help build their business and Mark is a new hire Brinkley is charged to train.

I loved the banter between Brinkley and Mark and Brinkley and her fellow H4H co-workers. There is more depth to this book than the average rom-com about being true to yourself and not following family expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I FLEW through this book. The concept of this book really intrigued me and I was sucked in from the first page. I liked the concept of the H4H business and loved the scenes from their missions and I really liked Brinkley as a character. Mark just seemed like such a nice and sweet guy and I loved learning more about his back story with his mom and sister. I just thought this was a fun book. Definitely some steamy scenes, but kind of less romance than anticipated definitely and emphasis on finding yourself and sticking up for what you want. Brinkley’s relationship with her mom was a little confusing at times, but I really liked the ending and thought it wrapped the book up well. Definitely a fun book for summer and just such a quick read with a very unique concept.

I LOVED this for many reasons:
- The overall storyline was very unique and led to a lot of fun antics while also touching on more serious topics.
- Chemistry between our MCs (Brinkley and Mark) was fantastic and they had such good banter all throughout the story - Mark definitely lit a spark within Brinkley and it was fun to watch their relationship develop from instant attraction to enemies to lovers.
- Underlying storyline between Brinkley and her mom added a lot of depth to the story that I appreciated and really had me feeling for Brinkley

Overall, I loved a lot about this and would definitely recommend if you're looking for a romcom with laugh-out-loud and swoon-worthy (and steamy!!) moments!

I honestly would love to get stories for the other girls who worked at Heartbreak For Hire with Brinkley -- Sonia Hartl... can we make this happen?!

Rating: 4.5 stars!

A new to me author. I found this book well done. I liked the plot and characters. I would recommend this author to others.

Enemies to lovers gets steamy in this one! Reeling from a bad breakup, Brinkley joins Heartbreak for Hire where she is in charge of putting jerks in their place for a price. Her latest target, Mark, has sparks flying until he shows up in the office as one of the new male heartbreakers.

I could not put this book down. The push and pull between Brinkley and Mark was so entertaining….and steamy! I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers and Heartbreak for Hire did not disappoint. Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the eARC in exchange for my review.

The premise is what first drew me to this book. Can you imagine being able to hire a company to let’s say, put an egotistical colleague or a cheating ex in their place? I mean, I know a couple of people who could be brought down a peg or two but I don’t know if I would go through such lengths to extract my own revenge.

Anyway, putting aside my moral compass, this was a pretty entertaining read. It had the perfect amount steam and laugh out loud moments. I felt like there was a bit of unnecessary drama and some things were overly exaggerated. I loved the banter between the protagonist and her mom. This sounds silly but I’ll point it out anyway. The main character’s name is Brinkley and her mother is suppose to be this super serious professor but yet she names her daughter Brinkley? No offense to any Brinkley’s out there.

I’m getting off course here. Alright, back to my review. Overall it’s a cute read.

This book was fun, flirty and different than other contemporary romance books I’ve read. I loved the dynamics between the two main characters, Brinkley and Mark, and the concept of hiring a service to put bad men in their place. I do feel like the ending was a bit rushed and wish there were a few more chapters to see how everything turned out as well as an epilogue! Overall, I flew through and really enjoyed this rom-com.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book was a lot of fun. The heartbreak for hire group had some crazy times. Our two main characters were opposites that just really worked together. There was a lot of closure at the end and a really sweet hea

Thank you to Net Galley, Gallery Books, and Sonja Hartl for the free copy of Heartbreak for Hire!

This was a great romcom, with a really unique premise. The story follows Brinkley and Mark at Heartbreak for Hire. A secret business! I loved the witty banter, and the romance was steamy🔥🔥🔥🔥!!!

Very cute! I would recommend this one if you enjoy steamy, open door romances with a fun premise!

This was a good story. I struggled to like the characters early on. I didn't like how quickly she threw away her resolve about doing her job just to sleep with a random guy. I got into a better rhythm with the book as I moved forward in it, and I ended up enjoying the story!

A great romcom that I flew through in about a day! This one had me instantly hooked with the whole concept of Heartbreak for Hire and watching our main character Brinkley struggle with her past and where she wants her future to go. I loved her and Mark, it was a lot of fun seeing everything play out. I also felt like the relationship with Brinkley and her mom was realistic and it was an interesting theme to read about throughout the entire book. I laughed a few times, and there were definitely some good steamy scenes. Overall I just really enjoyed it.

Bottom Line: Love this one, add it to your list if you love romcom. This one comes out July 27th!

** I received a copy of Heartbreak for Hire from NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are of my own.**