Wow this was so juicy and fun but also introspective and beautiful. I absolutely loved this one and I can't wait to get my hands on it when it is published.

I thought Heartbreak for Hire was going to be a workplace romance, and while it was that it was also so much more.

Brinkley has a unique job at Heartbreak for Hire, exacting revenge on those that have wronged others. This sounds like a cool idea, but it's not surprising that Brinkley after two years Brinkley is struggling with it. It's not fulfilling her and her last case felt off. Brinkley is also an artist. She has dreams of doing that for a living, but is definitely scared to take the leap.

Mark begins working at Heartbreak for Hire under unique circumstances, him and Brinkley have had a previous romantic encounter. There was so much banter between them, I loved it. Sometimes Mark drove me crazy, his constant discussion on loving teaching, but dissing being a middle school teacher drove me nuts.

Brinkley's mom was something else. It was no wonder why Brinkley had some issues!

Heartbreak for Hire was a wonderful read and definitely recommended!

I enjoyed this fun and flirty story. The characters were funny and had great chemistry. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

This is a Hate to Love Romance/Rom-Com. I have to say that I was super excited about this book, but then I was scared to pick it up. I am happy to say I really loved this book, and I could not put it down. This book had so many cute and funny moments in this book. I found myself laughing so many times during this book. I loved the two main characters in this book. I found this book to be unique and nothing like the other books I have read. The idea you can hire someone to put someone else in their place is also very unique. The two main characters in this book kept pushing each other away then they would pull each other in. They built up tension between each other the whole book, and they broke it with one big kind of steamy moment. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Gallery Books) or author (Sonia Hartl) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

4.5 ⭐️

Imagine a cash-only secret enterprise run by women targeting men who have done some form of malice toward other women? Whether it’s unfair treatment or cheating in a relationship, Brinkley and the ladies of Heartbreak for Hire are set out to take these male targets down a notch. Deflate their giant egos a smidge. It all goes south when Brinkley meets and falls for one of her targets, Mark. And, what’s this now? An all-female group has now hired male heartbreakers to join them?

Caught between getting by, playing safe and wanting love, fulfilling a lifelong art passion, I absolutely adored Brinkley and the person she shaped up to be throughout her story. And, I loved Mark! The perfect compliment, the encouragement and push she needed, but also the chemistry to fire up a lasting romance. The steam was well-placed, Brinkley’s thoughts and the dialogue between characters were well-narrated and well-done, too.

I recommend to fans of Kristin Rockaway’s How to Hack a Heartbreak, the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and those who love a pair of charismatic yet quirky leads.

This was a fun and sexy story.

I really enjoyed the meet-cute/build of the relationship between Brinkley and Mark. I liked how they supported each other’s passions and helped each other realized their dreams.

Overall, a quick read with an interesting premise. There were a few elements that just fell off and didn’t need to be included at all. But the core of the story evolved well.

{cw -gaslighting/emotional abuse (in both romantic relationship and by boss)}

I thought this book was so cheeky an funny.. I wasn’t expecting how graphic it would be which brought me down a star. It just wasn’t needed to help describe these characters progress through the books. Otherwise I thought it was great!

2.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

This unfortunatly just wasn't for me. The premise sounded interesting, however I did not like the execution . I can admit that this is all personal preference. Overall it just made me really uncomfortable. I just didn't like the characters, their decisions and what they were doing. The writing was good, so I will be checking out more from this author. As I stated my dislike had more to do with plot and characters rather than the writing. I would say if you are at all intruiged by the plot, give it a go. I can certainly see why people would really enjoy it.

Girlies, this... was not good. It's tough because I adoreddd the author's YA debut, then have actively disliked the next two books I've read from her. I have an ARC of her upcoming YA release, and I guess it'll let me know whether I need to continue with her books or not :(

The whole premise of the novel, which granted, I never read the synopsis because I foolishly allowed hype alone to drive my decisions, is a little absurd. There's this vigilante group of girls who get paid to "break men's hearts" but really all the main character, Brinkley, does is get a guy to be interested in her and then embarrass him. Some of these little meet-ups are so cringe - she dresses as a mermaid, a weird version of Dolly Parton, a Jersey Shore guidette... I just can't suspend my disbelief that much for a contemporary.

So she's hired to "break" this guy, she actually likes him, they almost hook up, then she runs away Cinderella style. Then somehow he starts working at Heartbreak for Hire along with three other men. There's a whole "feminist" subplot about how they didn't want to work with men and that's the whole reason they work at Heartbreak for Hire. Which, their job is already so weird, like cash-only and word-of-mouth only vibes, and their boss is so odd. She found all four of these girls broken, jumped on them while they're literally in the act of crying over their breakups, and made them each in charge of "breaking the hearts" of the kind of men that broke their hearts. It's a weird revenge porn type thing, and then she literally swore to them it would be women only, and then threatens to fire them for not being happy over men being brought in. It's just so ODD and stupid.

So, as par for the course in romance, she's attracted to him but doesn't like him, and is not very nice to him. Somehow they still "fall in love" very quickly just because they discuss their fears and insecurities and what not.

There's also a mommy issues and anti-academia subplot that is kind of just annoying, Brinkley and her mom literally exist to antagonize each other and it gets old quick.

Their sex scenes are just kind of peppered in, and often don't really fit with the ebb and flow of the relationship. The sex scenes aren't awful, but they have some wording I'm not obsessed with, including my personal least favorite: "I let out a noise that sounded a lot like that time I'd shut Winnie's tail in the bathroom door." DURING a sex scene this girl is going to compare the noises she's making to an injured cat??? And that's supposed to give us sexy vibes?

EVERYBODY in this book was straight. Even couples on the street are straight. Including the couple in the MIDDLE OF A PROPOSAL that she speaks to and says "get out now before he really hurts you" or something like that to? Like, that's not a quirky, love-jaded thing to do, that's just straight up being an asshole.

The book isn't entirely awful, the love interest is nice. I finished it. If I continue to think about what I didn't like about this book I'd have to bump it down to one star and I'm really not feeling that right now.

Heartbreak for Hire is an entertaining, enemies-to-lovers, rom-com that is a great beach read.

I found the plot very unique and entertaining. This enemies-to-lovers trope was like reading a mix of How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Charlie's Angels. I also found the relationship between Brinkley and Mark steamy and a couple you root. Their banter was excellent and following their journey was fun.

If you a looking for a quick, unique, funny rom-com, then Heartbreak for Hire is for you.

Thanks to Gallery Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was too cute! The premise was so unique and I found myself reaching for it any chance I got. The story was entertaining and I liked that it opened up when Brinkley was at a big cross-road in her life that we got to see through to the end. Her relationship with Mark was so fun to follow. It was a great enemies to lovers romance with a lot of laugh out loud moments of banter between them. And pretty steamy too! I definitely recommend this as your next romcom.

Ok so this took my expectations on quite the rollercoaster of ups and downs. I’m honestly not quite sure how to feel about it.

I enjoyed it for the most part — the connection between the love interests was steamy, the banter was great, I totally didn’t predict the big heartbreaking twist and women supporting women.
But I struggled with the how jaded the characters are and the how manipulative a couple of them are. Manipulation is a big part of the plot with the Heartbreakers but it’s not something I’m used to in such large quantities and I struggled with it in some parts. However, the character growth of a couple of these characters in particular and the closure they received really helped.

Overall it’s probably not a book I’ll reread but I do still recommend it to others looking for a unique read. Keep in mind that it does deal with a lot of toxic relationship issues that could either be triggering or cathartic when revenge is achieved.

This book will make you smile. It’s a quick read taking you through empathy, anger, frustration and understanding. It’s romance, relationships and processing feelings about the past.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for providing me access.

Heartbreak for Hire was a fun rom com that was mixed with both good and not so good parts. The characters were good, specifically Brinkley and Mark. Their personalities were the strong points of this novel. Side characters were forgettable or unfinished with murky motivations, like the boss that the author could never quite seem to nail down whether she was good or bad.

Plot, overall, was kind of meh. Parts of it worked, parts of it felt disjointed and rushed, like there was another story the author was trying to tell in the middle of the one she was already telling. But for the most part, it was serviceable and I enjoyed reading it for what it was.

If Charlie’s Angels were actually a breakup agency, you’ve already got a partial sense of Hartl’s charming, hilarious, and devastatingly hot adult romance debut. Brinkley Saunders is part of a company that offers a specialized service to jilted exes, unhappy professionals, or anyone with an ax to grind against someone who’s wronged them: revenge. It’s not a totally glamorous job, but it pays the bills, and it’s something to do while she works on nailing down her longtime dream of having her own art gallery where she can show off her paintings. Everything seems to be going to plan, until Brinkley’s boss decides that their heartbreak agency could use a little more male energy — and when Brinkley comes face-to-face with her new co-worker, she discovers that Mark is someone she was hired to carry out revenge against once upon a time. What’s more? She came way too close to breaking one of her major rules that night: Never sleep with a target. Turns out that Brinkley’s attraction to Mark has never really gone away, either, but beneath the playful banter and bickering, there’s a lot of trust that needs to be rebuilt between them on both an emotional and physical level. Hartl skillfully manages to merge a romance with a story of learning to love and prioritize one’s self, all while tackling relatable workplace issues head-on, and the end result is a rom-com that really needs the adaptation treatment ASAP.

Heartbreak for Hire delivers exactly what is promised: it's a fun, quick, enemies-to-lovers rom-com that is the perfect beach read. It never gets too deep, remaining mostly lighthearted throughout, with just a touch of 'real world drama' and feminist issues to make it seem relatable and to give the characters some depth. The romance between the main characters is fabulous, though all of the supporting characters are short changed, as they're set up for arcs that are never quite carried through the plot. However, I don't mind this-- more often than not, the side characters in books like this annoy me as they feel contrived, slow down the pacing, and take away time from the relationship I want to see, which is that of the main characters. The 'twist' is a bit silly, but overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. Do note: the sex scenes in this book are *STEAMY* and graphic, so if you're squeamish, this one might not be for you.

I had a bit of a like/dislike tug of war with this book.

I suppose what I mean to say is that I didn't vibe with it as much as I'd hoped I would? I expected to love it given the revenge-doling, personal demon battling, hired female heartbreakers premise and the enemies-to-lovers carrot that was dangled in the summary, which is my usual brand of contemporary romance catnip, but I didn't. Unfortunately, I felt there was too much potential missed where further plot exploration and character depth were concerned for me to fully get there.

To start, I didn't care much for the men vs. women tribalist mentality that was touted throughout. Mostly because it didn't evolve or transform at all by the end of the novel.

Brinkley, as well as the other female employees at H4H, had all been victims of misogyny or mistreatment from men in some form or another prior to be hired by Margo, their boss, so they were hurting and angry. They were broken. Beaten down. Insecure. They were in need of confidence, of direction, of care from someone who understood what they had suffered. Their positions in the company effectively gave them the opportunity to enact revenge on men with similar traits (big egos, player tendencies, cheating problems, grifting issues etc.) as those who had damaged them in the past. I didn't mind that. I was on board with it at the beginning, thought it a unique tack to take.

However, that said, I'd expected or hoped that the girls' "heartbreaker" roles would've been portrayed more as a healing enterprise so that they could wrest back agency in their own lives. So they could heal and grow and move on from the betrayal they'd experienced at the hands of a few particular men. So they would eventually stop seeing them all - men, in the plural sense - as the enemy. I never got the sense that happened, though. There seemed to be no movement or development among the female heartbreakers to that end, which was disappointing. I consider that an oversight which could have been filled in better.

In addition to that, I wasn't satisfied with how the conflict wrapped up between Brinkley and her mother. It felt too neat and abrupt. Her mom was too overbearing and inserting of a personality for their dynamic to have such a smooth "accepting" 360 degree turn. I'd think there'd still be a lot of lingering resentment and cautiousness on Brinkley's part. Something that couldn't be erased with one talk. The big father reveal was a little melodramatic for my taste as well. Not at all realistic.

I also think Margo's sketchiness could've been drawn out more. As a boss as well as a character, she seemed to ebb into murky moral territory more often than not, which made her interesting. Difficult to pin down. It was never made clear to readers whether she was preying upon, manipulating, Brinkley and the other H4H girls' pain and indignities with men for her own financial benefit or not. She'd plucked them all out of the gutter at their weakest, at their most vulnerable, to give them this Heartbreak for Hire opportunity so the question becomes: did she do so because she wanted to help them? Or because she wanted to exploit them?

I would've welcomed further examination of that, for certain. I think it would've given both Margo's character and the overall plot more complexity.

Despite the fact I was left wanting in a lot ways, there were still things I enjoyed about the story. Mark and Brinkley had good banter and chemistry, for instance. I thought they shared a nice ratio of steamy to silly to serious scenes together. It wasn't difficult to invest in them as a couple as a result. I only wish things hadn't felt so rushed between them in spots. Definitely wouldn't classify them as enemies-to-lovers, either. They had more of an insta-interested dynamic infused with emotional reluctance to give them conflict.

The dialogue flowed well, too. There were also a couple "on the job" scenes that made me chuckle out loud because they were full of Dolly Parton hair-do, mermaid tail flopping, fake boob flying ridiculousness. My hat goes off to Brinkley's temperamental sweater-wearing cat more than anything, though. He was a hisser not a kisser!

A lot of my grievances with this book are subjective so don't let them turn you away. We all have different tastes or preferences as readers. It was an entertaining read - cute, humorous - just one that missed its mark in living up to expectations for me personally. And that's okay. It happens.

Even so, it won't deter me from checking out something else Hartl writes in the future. 2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel. I very much enjoyed Heartbreak for Hire from start to finish. We start off by meeting Brinkley who has just gone through a life altering breakup and decided to take a new position at H4H. Brinkley using her new job as an ego hearbreaker to cope with her feelings. Along the way Brinkley meets Mark and their unfortunate meeting turned coworkers takes them on a journey of opening up their true selves to one another. I really loved the way these two characters brought out the worst and best out of each other and how they dealt with a very unconventional meeting of both their worlds. Also my favorite part was how Brinkley and Mark would push one another to follow their true passion and take great risks along the way. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick but powerful romance.

I have learned recently that when someone says "oh that book is great! Just suspend reality for a little bit and enjoy it!" that book is not for me. I am just not a reality suspender. Thank you for approving this for me, but I am not going to finish it! It's a total case of It's not you, It's me.

This book is brilliant. I’m obsessed. Mark and Brinkley’s story is sexy and fun. I loved it. It was a great summer reading it’s like everything I loved about the Hating Game mixed with a fun twist.