While I enjoyed the story for the most part, I was not a fan of Brinkley at all. She annoyed me and I found her full of holes. Additionally, sex scenes have their place in stories, but in this book, they felt way over the top and unnecessary, causing me to skip all the crude language.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a zany enemies-to-lovers romance that I read during shot-recovery some weeks back. (Catching up on reviews now, along with the other mountain of work I was too flattened to deal with.)

It's one of those books you just have to let the crazy premise stand. It's not meant to be a Slice of Real Life (if you want a slice of real life among the cheaters, scumbags, egomaniacs, and other bottom-feeders, go read some Lilian Hellman), so many of the characters are kind of one dimensional.

Given that, the hijinks frequently had me cackling, and the banter between Brinkley and Mark was a lot of fun. They had intense chemistry right off the bat, and when Mark is brought into the Heartbreakers (women who get revenge on 100% sleazoids who totally deserve it) in order to serve the same sauce to sleazoid women, the crazy really gets going.

It ends rather abruptly, but it was a fun ride while it lasted. Perfect for that period when my brain was barely able to cope.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: cheating (past relationship), gaslighting, sexism, family tensions

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f insta attraction
-work-place romance
-close-proximity
-so much sexual tension
-a very grumpy cat who likes sweaters
-definitely not a slow burn
-an elevator scene to make Grey's Anatomy proud
-a paint scene to make ACOTAR fans proud

This book grabbed me from the moment I started reading and never let me go. It was bonkers and fun. You have to kind of let go of reality and just have fun to read it. Brinkley rebounding from a terrible relationship now works for Heartbreak for Hire, a group of women who help other women get revenge on the terrible men in their lives. I loved all of the revenge schemes in the book, which is how she meets Mark. Their chemistry was instantaneous and phew not a slow burn my friends. They end up working together. While Brinkley is somewhat his supervisor, again you have to let go of reality because it's almost a social experiment and seems like her boss is more setting her up for a lesson, she has no power over him at all? Is more forced to hang out with him? Go with it.

This book was just fun. Brinkley meeting her goals all while trying not to fall for Mark and failing badly. Unable to fight the chemistry and his sexy sweater vests. Mark too was doing what he thought he should in his life instead of what would bring him joy. I really enjoyed the message of this book, about empowerment and bringing people up rather than bringing them down. There were surprises, a great group of friends who I honestly hope get their own books I'm so intrigued by the rest of the Heartbreakers, and just sweet Mark who like Brinkley wasn't perfect but fell hard that he even fell in love with her grumpy cat.

Things wrapped up quickly but honestly, I think it was more I just didn't want to leave these characters behind more than anything. A fun read that I could really see being on the screen.

Rating: 4.5
Steam: 3.5

This book is kinda enemies to lovers/rom com and it didn’t hit the high mark for me. I enjoyed a lot about this book and I read it fairly quickly, it didn’t have a lot of angst. Things were resolved. The ending satisfying. But so many things in the plot that I just shook my head at.
I’m glad for character growth. Even if it took the whole book.

This book has many parts to laugh out loud at, I also enjoyed the uniqueness of the story. Who doesn't want to get revenge on someone who has hurt them? The banter and chemistry between the main characters is fun! If romantic comedies is your genre, you will enjoy this book!

dnf @ 53%

i really wanted to like this but the plot was just too messy for me. i thought there was way too much going on, along with side plots that really didn’t seem to be adding to anything?? i also wasn’t very crazy about the main character, brinkley.

might give this another try in the future.

This book failed to execute an enemies to lovers story . II found the story lacking an ok read when you have nothing to do.

Great premise for a book, a service that offers a take down for the jerky guy in your office/life. I liked the plot and the characters, this is a great summer read! 4 stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The premise for this book really had a lot of potential but I think that it lacked in the execution. This book is about Brinkley, who works at a company called Heartbreak for Hire. She gets hired by women to humiliate men that have wronged these women. Everything changes for her when H4H starts to hire men, and one of those men just happens to be one of her former targets.

The beginning of the book was really good, it was engaging and interesting, but after a while, I just wasn’t as interested. I was not as invested in the characters and I think that the relationship between the main characters did not have as much development as I would have liked, it felt pretty insta-lovey, and I’m just not the biggest fan of insta-love.

I did enjoy the shenanigans and I really was rooting for them at some points throughout the book. I really liked some of the more vulnerable moments between Mark and Brinkley and I thought that them working together was funny and entertaining. I think that some storylines were left a little open-ended and left me wanting a little more closure. Overall, I thought it was a fun and light read and I think that people who enjoy a kind of insta-love with a little bit of enemies to lovers will enjoy this book!

I’m not one to say no to an enemies-to-lovers office romance, but this one… this one was a little harder for me to enjoy than usual.

The idea that bad men need to be taken down a peg or two by avenging women-for-hire sounds like it could work as plausible storyline, but the actual execution left some to be desired. From the very onset it was clear the H4H boss Margo was gaslighting our lovely ladies, and that made my grind my teeth with every workplace interaction. Plus, Margo’s business structure was all very hetero? Are only men that are attracted to women out there doing bad things?

I should also mention that while Brinkley and Mark did end up sharing office space, the majority of their interactions did not in fact take place in an office context, so that trope description felt like a bit of a stretch.

There were a couple of lines that struck me as distasteful, including some offhand comments about the girls hoping Margo doesn’t start and “Abusers” division to pair with the existing Egos, Grifters, Cheaters, and Players division. It was a throwaway line that struck me in the wrong way. Add in Brinkley’s horrific relationship with her mother and by the time I got to the end of the book, it was clear our girl is a lot more forgiving than I would be. To anyone.

She and Mark did have a ridiculous amount of chemistry, and if the things above aren’t something that would bother you, this is decent contemporary romance. However, it does end pretty abruptly, so mentally prepare for curtains as soon as the grand romantic gesture (you knew there had to be a grand romantic gesture, right).

This was such a fun book to read! I found the premise to be interesting from the beginning and I loved it throughout the whole book. I loved that it gave me typical rom-com feels, but it still was not completely predictable. I read the whole book in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. Overall, it was such a good read and I highly recommend!

This one did not live up to the promise of the premise for me. A fascinating set up, but flat and convoluted in execution.

This book was so much fun! It has such a unique concept that grabbed and held my attention for the whole story. Heartbreak for Hire is a company that is women owned and operated and focuses on getting back at men who have broken women’s hearts, stolen from them or played them. The company has individual divisions run by each woman: players, workplace, cheaters, etc.

The story follows Brinkley as she does her job and how complicated it can been when she may or may not fall for someone. There’s office romance and some enemies to lovers in this one and we know I’m here for both of these tropes!

Honestly I LOVED the first 2/3rds of this book. It was interesting and fun and fast paced. The last third Brinkley becomes a bit unlikeable and you become frustrated with her and her love interest. Though I do like how the author wrapped this one up and I was satisfied by the ending.

I would recommend this for my romance lovers and those who are interested in this unique concept. It’s a fun ride and I read this one very quickly!

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery and Goodreads for my copies of this book!

2.5 stars, rounded up. I have a lot of thoughts about this story.

On the one hand, I will say that it was a quick and light read in that I read it in one sitting, and enjoyed the time I spent with it.

On the other hand, I felt like most of the characters were not as layered as actual people are and this left the novel feeling not as enjoyable because everyone was playing a part in some ways. The really cold and distant mom (though she has a reason she's that way, don't we all?) to the point of cruelty. The really nice man, Mark, Brinkley meets that starts changing everything and he is just so nice again and again (even though he messes up once.) The weird closed-off boss who's doing it all for your own good.... The other women who work with Brinkley were some of my favorites in the book. The side characters were fun, light, interesting and added the color the story enjoyed.

But the way women and men are treated like single dimensional beings in this story both makes it light and frustrating and frivolous. If you don't spend too much time on it, you can enjoy the story and see it as a journey Brinkley is experiencing during what's a low time in her life and how she's building it back up. But if it's hard to get past it, it will shadow too much of this story for you.

with gratitude to netgalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A cute rom-com that ultimately tells you to follow your dreams. A quick read with likeable characters and a few twists to keep you interested.

This contemporary enemies-to lovers rom-com is a quick read, but still managed to make me take a step back and think.

Brinkley’s dry sense of humor and wild antics make for some truly laugh-out loud moments, especially when she’s on assignment. That being said, this book also takes a hard look at some complex topics including the cut-throat world of academia and the moral implications of justice and revenge. It also examines self-worth, how to define success, and secrets.

Overall, I liked the book, especially the banter between Brinkley and Mark. I appreciate how they’re able to call each other out on their BS. Also, their physical relationship is pretty steamy right from the start. I do wish that we’d gotten to know Emma and the other Heartbreakers a little better. They sort of just blurred into the background about hallway through.

I’m not sure if this is going to be a standalone or the beginning of a series, but I think it would be interesting to explore the other Heartbreakers and their stories.

A fresh, fun and incredibly steamy romance! Brinkley is a force to be reckoned with- an associate at the elusive Heartbreak for Hire, she works to bring justice by form of revenge on men who have wronged her clients in the workplace or romantically. Saving up for her own art gallery and spoiling her pet cat, she is determined to stay single and happy with her lifestyle. Until she meets a target that captures her eye and her heart like no one has before. Mark is an anthropology professor...and the latest hire at Heartbreak. Can the two work together with such unresolved passion? I enjoyed the themes of enemies to lover, female friendship, women empowerment and the steamy romance. Full of original characters and witty banter, this book was a delight to read. Several of Brinkley's take down schemes to put egotistical men in their place left me laughing out loud! I was left wanting more though and would have appreciated more of an origin backstory of Heartbreak and more romance between our two main characters. A very fun, very sexy romp!

Heartbreak for Hire is a classic Hate-to-Love romance about a girl who works for a company that specializes in revenge for woman who have been wronged by men in their lives. She meets a guy on one of her assignments and believes he isn't as bad as he was suppose to be. Later, She finds out he will be working with her after her boss hires male heartbreakers. They become close and it doesn't take long for feelings to form.
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For 3/4 of the book, I was prepared to give this book a five stars because it was so funny and romantic. I loved the banter between Mark and Brinkley and I thought their story was interesting. Mark is all about the academia life, while Brinkley dreams to open up an art gallery. Reading about their story was so much fun and the dynamic between the two is amazing!

I started to get annoyed with Brinkley near the end when she got so stubborn to the point I was screaming at the book. When Mark's secret was revealed, I was on board with the idea of Brinkley being a happy single woman at the end. Of course, this is a romance novel and his act at the end was very cute so he did redeem himself!

The reason I gave this book 4 stars was because I enjoyed the humor and the concept of heartbreakers was very cool, but the conflict and ending felt rushed. In my opinion, the real main character here is obviously Winnie. This cat ought to be my favorite character out of the whole book!

Thank you to Gallery Books (and NetGalley) for giving me a chance to read Heartbreak For Hire! I would also like to thank Sonia Hartl for writing this book and I can't wait for it to release! I definitely will be purchasing a physical copy of the book because I enjoyed it so much :)

A special thank you to Net Galley and Gallery Books for the advanced copy!

This is a perfect enemies-turned-lovers-story. Brinkley is a Chicagoan artist who was scorned by a cheating ex-boyfriend, a breakup that pushed her into working for Heartbreak for Hire: a company that specializes in making men pay for their mistakes. The agency helps clients seeking revenge on anything from cheating to backstabbing to workplace sabotage. But when Brinkley meets Mark, a target to be ruined, he helps her damaged heart start to fall back together.
I thought this one was going to be mega corny but it had a nice amount of romance, banter, and drama. It does have an aggressive amount of women versus men narratives which honestly became frustrating, both when navigating Brinkley and Mark’s relationship as well as her relationship with her family. But overall, it was a fun read.

Heartbreak for Hire is an enemies to lovers rom-com that is a quick afternoon read. The book has a unique premise, Brinkley is a professional “heartbreaker” who targets men known as "Egos," men who step over women to advance their careers. Brinkley was recruited by Margo after her own awful breakup with a Narrcistic man. Her experience in her relationship makes her uniquely qualified for her job, but this job is a way for her to save up for her dream of owning an art gallery. Everything is going well until one of her jobs goes awry and she finds herself attracted to one of her targets, Mark, and even worse Margo has decided to bring on male heartbreakers and has hired Mark. The rest of the book is Mark and Brinkley navigating their relationship as well as Brinkley coming to terms with her relationship with her mother.
I really enjoyed this book. It is a delightful rom-com with surprising depth. I laughed out loud multiple times during the book and I loved Brinkley's various adventures to bring down the "Egos" I read this book while I sat by the pool enjoying the sun and honestly it was the ideal situation.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley