I absolutely loved reading this book, it’s a perfect beach read or just want to get your mind of things read. I wish Heartbreak For Hire was a real life service!

Heartbreak for Hire is a delightful read. It's hilarious, quirky, fun, with a little bit of dark humor. I loved Brinkley. She was a slight train wreck, but aren't we all in some way? She felt real in her challenges with her mom and career and feeling stuck. I haven't gone that quickly from love to hate for a character as I did for Mark. The plot twists were perfect, and I was left until the very end wondering if it was all going to work out. Spoiler, it did. I really enjoyed everything about this, the pacing, the secondary characters, the style of humor, It was all good.

This book had flares of being enjoyable but I was really frustrated through a lot of it. I often didn’t get Brinkley’s motivations and there were some inconsistencies in the book.

I have to say this book is so different to what I expected it to be. I knew first hand that the main Character would fall for one of her client's targets, but I didn't expect that he would join that secret company. There is so much to love and dislike about this book but how it ended and how things progressed for Brinkley was everything I adore. I love her determination and her well to get to her dreams. I love that she finally got out of her 2 year job to pursue something she'd always wanted to pursue. I also love the family aspect of this book. The tension between her and her mother was... But I loved that at the end they got along and she supported and saw who Brinkley really was. I also enjoy seeing the love interest and how their relationship progressed. It might have been a insta love scene but they had a falling out and that falling out was what they needed to see each other's worth.

I am just beyond honored to get the chance to read this book, may it be late but at least I did!

I couldn’t get into this book.. the first chapter was a good hook but once I dove into the following chapters, the main character just fell flat for me and what was supposed to be funny, really wasn’t.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory

A great, fresh concept with wonderful chemistry. I loved Hartl's banter. A perfect rat for anyone looking for more workplace enemies to lovers.

Heartbreak For Hire
By Sonia Hartl

This was a cute romcom that is funny, exciting, unique ( a revenge for hire company), and of course a nice romance too.

The story is centered on Brinkley whom everyone thinks is an admin assistant who works for an insurance company - little do they know she actually works for a secret service company called Heartbreak for Hire - whose specialty is to provide revenge for victims of all sorts. Once she saves up, she plans on following her dreams of opening up an art gallery. Brinkley is working on a target named Mark who is unsuspectingly handsome and kind, and after almost falling for him, he ends up one of the new hires at Heartbreaks for Hire.

This is a great weekend escape read that I enjoyed!

This book was a solid 3 three stars for me until a scene in the ending that changed it all for me involving a cat. I can't put my exact finger on why this story felt a little lukewarm to me. Brinkley is pretty bitter about her break up from two years ago and uses that fire to invoke judgement and karma on very outrageous and well deserved men. Heartbreak for fire was interesting but it did skirt that line of being a little icky. Which is brought up in the book. The other women in the office also are scorned women who have inflicted revenge on countless of men for a price. There were many lessons that are learned here and I felt like dramatic twists kept being thrown at Brinkley with not much substance. I am hoping maybe there's more in the series where we can see her develop a little bit more. However, her hero was very fun, Mark is in academia but not the kind of academic you would expect. Their meet cute was pretty unique and how they handled it led into some frenemies territory that I greatly enjoyed. This was a fun rom com that had a lot of twists and turns and was a quick read.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into it. I tried several times, but the main character was too whiny and I really hated her job. I also didn't buy the chemistry between the two main leads, so it was impossible to root for it. Since I didn't finish it, I will not leave a review on Goodreads. Best of luck!

Heartbreak for Hire has a really unique yet bizarre premise: a company of women who are hired to exact revenge on men who have wronged women. It’s a little crazy to wrap your head around at first, but once you adequately suspend your disbelief it’s intriguing to see how such a company would operate and the moral/ethical questions it poses. The story follows protagonist Brinkley, secret artist and failed (at least in her mother’s eyes) academic who thinks she is healing her own heart through the work she is doing to take down men with “egos” for the company.

Since this is a romance novel, it’s no surprise that Brinkley ends up in a tangled romantic situation with a former target turned coworker, who of course is deeply immersed in the academic life that she’s spent so many years running away from. Of course, Brinkley ends up having to train him at work, which leads to several high tension situations and your classic hate to love romance trope.

While Heartbreak for Hire was a quick read, it’s not one that I see sticking with me long term. There were a lot of characters brought up only to not have their stories run very deep, and I think there were several issues that needed to be explored more in depth (Brinkley and her mother’s relationship, Margo’s motivations, the relationship traumas that brought the other women to H4H as employees, etc.). Also, the amount of cringe-inducing bad luck Brinkley experienced was tiring after a while. I did think Mark, the love interest, was written well, but overall neither of the main characters are ones that significantly stand out in the sea of romance novels available today.

Overall: A very unique premise that could have used more exploration and more memorable characters. Overall it’s an OK read that is for sure fun and interesting, but isn’t a standout for me.

Brinkley works at a company called Heartbreak for Hire. Which is basically a company who helps others seek revenge. She realizes not every customer has the best of intentions and the revenge they are seeking isn’t valid. She develops feelings for Mark (a client target) after she meets him and the portrayal of him is completely inaccurate. This is a fun, steamy and very light novel. Some of the storyline wasn’t overly believable, but it was an easy read which kept my attention.

Thank you Netgalley, Gallery Books and Sonia Hartl for the copy of this novel,

Brinkley has been stuck in a rut ever since her terrible ex-boyfriend eviscerated her self worth, caused her to drop out of grad school, and then kicked her out of their shared apartment. So when she gets approached to take on a job getting revenge on these Grade-A asshole’s AND get paid, well it’s best kind of therapy. That is until her target seems like a genuinely nice guy, one that doesn’t fit the mould of the guys she is use to playing. She’s ready to forget all about the handsome nerdy professor, that is until he shows up at her work and she learns he is the newest member of Heartbreak For Hire. It’s not a question about if she can keep it professional, but rather does she want to?

This book went from “this has potential” to a snoozefest really quick.

Both Brinkley and Mark were boring, two dimensional characters. It was like the author wrote down 5 characteristics for both of them and then was like “that’s good enough 👌🏻”.

Brinkley: bad breakup with college boyfriend, doesn’t get along with mom, has a cat, wants to be an artist.

Mark: wears sweater vests.

Oh look! That’s 5 total characteristics when they’re combined together.

The Heartbreak For Hire element I wanted to be really interesting, but it kind of was one of the weak spots for the whole book. It was clearly a bit of a rip off from the iconic Will Smith movie “Hitch”. Except Brinkley’s boss Margo feels less like an empowering female figure, but more like a harem mother or brothel Madame.

Not even the hijinks from Brinkley’s job as a professional revenge artist could make this book more interesting.

I wanted it to work so bad, because it seemed like it could have been such a fun ride, but it was pretty snooze-worthy.

I listened to the audiobook version of Heartbreak for Hire, and I really enjoyed this. Brinkley is saving her money to open an art gallery after a bad break-up had her dropping out of grad school. Now, Brinkley works at Heartbreak for Hire - a secret service that provides revenge for jilted lovers. When she is hired to take down Mark and instead takes him home, she begins to question what, why, and who she’s working for - she’s always felt good about what she’s doing because the men were so bad. However, when her boss hires male Heartbreakers (Mark being one of them), Brinkley has to decide if the Heartbreaking business is for her.

I thought this was a super fun listen, and I really enjoyed it!The Heartbreak for Hire twist was super interesting. I also liked Brinkley and Mark’s rapport.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Gallery Books for my ARC!

Great rom/com! This is a very well written book, great characters...even the cat!

Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to red this advanced reader copy.

This is described as a “smart, sexy, and witty romantic comedy,” and I could not wrap my head around it. Intrigued by the premise, I believed how Brinkley got to where she was, but this did not feel like romantic comedy. Romance, yes…it follows the formula. But definitely not comedy.

Margo hired Brinkley at Heartbreak for Hire (H4H) when Brinkley was at her lowest. She had changed her major from psych to art in grad school, been dumped by her egocentric boyfriend Aiden, ostracized by her psych major friends, and eventually dropped out before finishing her degree. So when Brinkley was at her most vulnerable, Margo hired and trained her to take down, vilify, embarrass, add another horrible action word, men who have wronged a woman. With four “heartbreakers” on staff (covering egos, players, cheaters, and grifters), Margo’s business plan was to play to the weaknesses of the men and to bring them down in grand style.

Here’s the issue, and precisely what set up the romance part of the book with Brinkley and Mark: what if the target was innocent and the woman paying H4H was just being vindictive? THAT was the problem I had with the whole concept. The heartbreakers basically ruined their targets, and that’s not something you can take back. An eye for an eye goes too far if the target actually is the victim.

Eventually, Margo hired four men as heartbreakers (Mark being one of them), for that exact reason…that it’s not always men who are the jerks in life. Sometimes women play the same games. But again, what if someone felt scorned and hired H4H to be vengeful as opposed to just a little petty. That’s what made all the characters so unlikeable, especially Margo, who was excruciatingly manipulative. In fact, she was probably the most toxic of them all because she kept reminding the women where they were when she found them and hand-picked them to join her.

“You’re so pretty. Men love to take advantage of a pretty face, but you already know this. Look at what Aiden did to you. 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. Don’t forget, unlike the other people who have let you down in the past, I’m always thinking of you.” Gaslight much?

When I think of rom-coms I’ve recently reviewed, To Sir With Love, Four Days of You and Me, Tweet Cute, Love Lettering stand out. Those were all genuine romantic comedies that I would recommend if you’re looking for a fun, well-written, light read. This book was vengeful and toxic and manipulative all rolled into one, and Emma, another H4H heartbreaker who is Brinkley’s best friend, was really the only character I liked. There also were side stories with Brinkley’s mom and Brinkley’s desire to open a gallery that resolved too easily and with an unbelievable cash windfall.

Finally, it felt like the author was trying a little too hard to add erotic love scenes. The flirting prior to the love scenes was more innocent than risqué. The sexual tension was more unspoken because we only have Brinkley’s point of view, so we don’t really know how Mark is feeling through the whole story. I’m not a prude by any means, but when the love/sex scenes came up, they felt almost out of place, like they didn’t quite fit with the rest of the book. This author previously focused on young adult fiction, and it looks like this is her first foray into adult fiction. Sorry, but it shows.

The only reason I gave it two stars (as opposed to one) is that there were some redeeming qualities in the relationship between Brinkley and Mark that I thought were sweet and well-done. It had potential. Unless you’re a diehard fan of Hartl’s previous books, I would say skip this one.

I had very high hopes for this novel. I love enemies to lovers romcoms. But something about this book didn’t work for me. I didn’t love her unusual job of trying to break men’s hearts for revenge hired by women who were scorned. It’s really far fetched and it just seems mean. I thought Brinkley was very immature and handled her job and mother all wrong. I did like her and mark together, but she immediately jumps to conclusions too much.

Thank you for the book.

This is a really cute, easy read rom-com that kind of came with a twist within the first quarter of the book, but it worked! I loved the concept of working through your issues by working closely with them - it kind of reminded me of a 'keep your enemies close' kind of trope. Overall, a really fun and easy read!

I really wanted to like this romcom more than I did. I think it was an excellent idea that really suffered from bad execution. Instead of being a powerful, feminist story about sex work (or sex adjacent work) it came out patronizing and elementary. The relationship's tension was poorly built and revolved around the steam more than the emotions. I think the author was trying to do too many things at once rather than focus her attention on the biggest and most impactful parts of the story. Unfortunately, two stars from me.

This romantic comedy had so much potential, but in the end it ended a little flat mostly due to pacing and the lack of real closure to some of the side plots, especially Brinkley's struggles with her mother. I was originally intrigued by the premise of two agents who work for a company that specializes on heartbreak and revenge, but I felt that some of the side plots distracted from what could have been a hilarious and witty story.