Loved the steamy open-door romance scenes and I always love a good revenge story! Would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an e-galley of Heartbreak for Hire.

While I loved the premise of this book, I could not accept the behavior of some characters.
Brinkley works for Heartbreak for Hire (H4H) in the Ego Department. Her job is to literally deflate men's egos as retribution for how they had treated the females in their life. She was offered the job after a hard breakup that destroyed her self-confidence. On one of her assignments, Brinkley ends up making out with her target, rather than leaving him devastated. In a twist of fate, Mark ends up appearing in Brinkley's life in more ways than one.

However, Brinkley's boss was horrible. H4H was founded on being a female owned and run operation, with Margo promising to never hire men. With no notice to her employees, Margo employs 4 men to help run each department. As each of her female employees brings their concerns to Margo, she proceeds to gaslight them and completely invalidate their feelings and opinions.

I enjoyed this read! It was easy to follow, interesting enough to keep going, and I thought it was cute. It is not one of my favorite books of this genre, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Brinkley Saunders is out for vengeance against men who have wronged others. She's in the "ego" division of Heartbreak for Hire - an all female run agency that helps women take down men who cheat, men who lie, and men who are totally not worth your time (often in public and with many dramatics). Brinkley's the best at what she does, until one night she meets Mark. Mark was supposed to be a target for Brinkley, as she was hired to smash his ego. As with all enemies-to-lovers novels, this doesn't work out quite as planned.

I like the idea of Heartbreak for Hire as an agency, and it's one I haven't seen before. However, I ultimately felt like the book's main take away was that "men are bad until your one true love shows up," which I didn't love. Despite this, Brinkley's romance with Mark is realistic and supportive, and I liked how he helps her achieve her dream as a gallery owner. The steam here was also super fun. Overall, Brinkley was fairly compelling as a narrator, but I also wanted more when it came to her relationship with her friends and her past as an art student.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

✨R E V I E W✨

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗔 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗟

This was a fresh, fast-paced enemies to lovers romance trope that I really enjoyed! I was hooked with the secret company, “Heartbreak for Hire,” that are hired by other females to take down awful men throughout the city.

👍🏼: The story was funny, witty & very steamy with lots of drama woven in to keep the story going. There was lots of great banter between the characters which I always enjoy!

👎🏼: However, I felt there were a few storylines that were unfinished including with the boss of the company, Margo, & Brinkley’s mom who had shared some life changing news with her & then didn’t really revisit the situation 🤷🏼‍♀️

Overall, this was a quick enjoyable read & I recommend to other romance lovers looking for a fresh storyline! 💖

Thanks to @netgalley & @gallerybooks for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This one is out NOW!✨☺️

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was a fun premise and entertaining book.. but not a one I was absolutely dying to finish or one I couldn’t put down. I didn’t love Margo’s character. She was a bit manipulative, which was frustrating to me. I also felt like the “jobs” were so exaggerated I eyerolled a couple times. I did love the group of girls and their friendships, and how Brinkley and Mark had deeper conversations so it didn’t feel like Insta love or just lust. I’m pretty sure though this book confirmed for me I do not like a nerdy hero. If you do this one is a good one to try out!

Thank you @gallerybooks for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

What I Loved?
💔 Enemies to lovers / workplace romance. Enemies to lovers is the best trope and don’t argue me about that.
💔 The professional heartbreaker idea. This was a new concept for a book. Some girls taking back the power from men who broke their hearts. Loved it.
💔 Instant chemistry between Brinkley and Mark.
💔 Steam. I wasn’t expecting for this one to be steamy but it was just right.
💔 Grumpy cat. I giggled more than a few times while reading about that cat.

The premise sounded absolutely fantastic. Sadly, that was really the only fantastic thing about this book.

It was hard for me to even get into this book because I just did not care for Brinkley or Mark. Brinkley had a lot of woe-is-me energy, and Mark was generic to the point of blending in with the walls. There wasn't much I cared for in their romance, and the general vibe of the book was off-putting. There seemed to be life lessons in there somewhere, but I wasn't sure if they were life lessons that I really cared for.

Ultimately, I did not have a very enjoyable time reading this book, but it also wasn't that bad. Once again, I'll probably just forget about it in a day or two.

And I'm out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book.

Let me tell y’all how much I love the idea of “heartbreakers for hire.” Had your ideas taken by a male coworker? Been ghosted by a lover? Hire a heartbreaker who will put this man in his place. This idea is totally fun and I was along for the ride.
Our lead, Brinkley, is a professional heartbreaker who finds herself hooking on one of her targets - a big no-no. To add to the drama, Mark, the ex-target, ends up becoming her coworker. I loved the banter and the chemistry between our two leads. Will Brinkley play by the rules or will she break them? Aside from the romance, I really enjoyed Brinkley’s growth throughout the book, both personally and professionally. Also, as someone who works in higher ed, I liked the academic setting/subplot as well. I didn’t much care for the relationship between Brinkley and her mom, though.

I recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of:
-the workplace romance trope
-enemies-to-lovers
-open door romance
-self-discovery
-hot professors
-How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

TW: toxic relationships, emotional abuse, strained parent/child relationships

This is going to sound strange, but I think I would have preferred if Heartbreak for Hire if it hadn’t been a romance.
I liked the premise. It was very original, the idea of women getting even on behalf of other women. The relationships between these women were so interesting; there was friendship and manipulation. It was great seeing Brinkley making strides to get over her ex-boyfriend and realize her dream. I liked Brinkley, she was funny, and though she could do with a little more self-esteem, she was highly engaging.
The part I didn’t like was the romance. While I liked Mark, I just didn’t feel like he and Brinkley made sense. There was some serious insta-love going on here. I felt like they barely even met, and then they were confessing their love to each other. I would have liked a little more time spent on their relationship. I understood the attraction, but especially given Brinkley’s experience, I would have anticipated her to take it a little slower.
Overall I enjoyed this book, but I just didn’t love the romance aspect of it.

This was an unexpectedly fun read. I had no idea what it was about and was thrilled for it to take place in Chicago. I love a book location that I know well, makes me feel like I could be a friend of the characters involved.

Heartbreak for Hire centers around a business that helps women get revenge on men that have wronged them in the workplace, mostly. While that is a large part of the book, honestly, I feel like this is more concentrated on relationships and familial lies and pressure.

That's a terrible description, but I highly recommend this read. I hope this becomes a series, I'd love to know what happens to Emma, and also if Brinkley pursues a relationship with her father.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Brinkley Saunders tells everyone she works as an administrative assistant. But she really works at
Heartbreak for Hire, an undercover operation that specializes in a variety of revenge schemes for jilted lovers, annoyed coworkers, and more. She dropped out of grad school in the aftermath of a disastrous relationship--much to the despair of her mother--but the job helps Brinkley save for her dream of opening her own art gallery. However, when her boss Margo announces she's hiring male Heartbreakers for the first time, Brinkley starts questioning her purpose, especially when one of the new hires is a target she was paid to take down. Markus Cavanaugh is an adjunct anthropology professor at University of Chicago. He doesn't seem like the backstabbing academic she was told to go after... and as she gets to know Markus more and continues to question her role as a Heartbreaker, Brinkley realizes a lot of things aren't what they seem.

"I had my career, my cat, control. The Three C's of avoiding that hopeless cycle of loving someone who didn't love me back."

I feel awful, but this book just did not work for me at all. I almost didn't finish it, but I really try to complete all my ARCs. Ironically I hated most of it except the end, which was actually pretty good. But most of this one had me cringing. Brinkley's job is terrible and makes no sense--I couldn't even see how Heartbreakers and the division of "Egos, Players, Cheaters, and Grifters" would even possibly translate to the real world. Her boss is absolutely awful.

"If we trained men to break women's hearts, what did that say about our mission? What did that say about us?"

The book is filled with ridiculous contrived fights and plot-lines, and I didn't buy the relationship between her and Markus at all. They like each other, hate each other, rinse and repeat, with a bunch of silly "twists" thrown in over and over to keep them apart. Do something and stop whining (this applies equally to them both). I couldn't handle all the bad decisions. If there's going to be conflict, I want it to be realistic, and if there's going to be romance, I want to buy into the couple and feel a genuine affection toward them. But with everyone being so hateful to each other, an entire profession created toward tearing people down, and a bunch of random contrived obstacles thrown up to keep Markus and Brinkley apart... I just couldn't handle it.

A lot of other people enjoyed this one far more than me, so hopefully you will too.

Heartbreak for Hire is a workplace enemies-to-lovers romance -- between that and some good banter, it almost gave me The Hating Game vibes in places.

Brinkley works at the hush-hush Heartbreak for Hire, where she takes men with ego issues down a peg (after someone's been hurt enough to pull together the cash to hire H4H). Her H4H coworkers similarly go after players, cheaters, and grifters. One day Brinkley's hired to take down Mark, but he doesn't seem like he deserves it... or does he?

I liked seeing Brinkley both take satisfaction in excelling in her work and reconsider what exactly it is they're doing (and what long-term effects it might or might not have). And the sex scenes, though rare, were steam-y! But I felt like I never really got a grasp on Mark's personality, and the subplots either needed to be pared down or further fleshed out.

There were also some odd scenes involving alcohol. In the first, a man in a club pretty obviously tries to drug Brinkley. She tells him off, sees he's moved onto another woman, and swoops in to save that woman from him. But the guy is still in the club? It made no sense to me that she wouldn't just tell the bouncer and get the guy removed from the premises (and ideally, banned for life). It also threw me that, in the span of 320 pages, the main character (who's 27, not 21) got sick from drinking too much twice.

Ultimately, this book started off fairly promising but wasn't executed as well as I think it could have been.

Okay this was super adorable. I finished it in a day because I could not put it down! I loved both of the MCs, and I thought that the side characters and relationships were well fleshed out. Mark was super swoony and sweet, and I liked that Brinkley wasn't afraid to stick up for herself, while still showing her power through vulnerability. My only complaint is that it was ever so slightly rushed at the end, and I wished it had been about 50 pages longer!

i didn’t get a chance to read before pub date as i was sent it only a few days before. however i still wanted to leave some thoughts. it was fun and the sexy scenes were very good. i love a good elevator scene as well…..if you know what i mean

I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance, but this just wasn't it. None of "Heartbreak for Hire" made me feel good. The characters were manipulative and toxic and just not likeable. None of the relationships, romantic or otherwise, were healthy or positive. Brinkley's whole job was cutthroat and hypocritical. Just not fun and certainly not romantic.

Also, did Uber pay per mention?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a ARC for review.

ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʀᴜꜱᴛ ᴀ ᴛᴀʀɢᴇᴛ, ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ᴛᴀʀɢᴇᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ꜱʟᴇᴇᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ᴛᴀʀɢᴇᴛ.
 
I absolutely adored this book! Heartbreak for Higher is a wildly entertaining, enemies to lovers romance about overcoming your past. The company Heartbreak for Hire specializes in getting revenge on men who have wronged women. I think its a pretty cool, kinda badass concept if you look past how ethnically and morally wrong it is, but some men really do deserve it.

As she tries to take down her new assignment Mark she breaks one of the H4H rules; never sleep with a target. Okay they didn’t actually sleep together but they got dam close. But who can blame a girl Mark is a super hot and very charming professor and he’s definitely not as big of a jerk as the client made him out to be. After that night the goal is to never see Mark again but as fate (or romance books) would have it they are thrown together when Mark gets hired for the new division of Male heartbreakers. The chemistry between these two is off the charts steamy and I love their outrageous assignments.

I love the character development of Brinkley.
She’s not really living her life she’s going through the motions and has built up walls to protect herself. She’s an artist that’s too afraid to put a deposit down on a gallery or to show off her work. She has a pretty shitty relationship with her mom, which definitely plays a big part of where here insecurity come from. Mark has a complicated and dark past as well and he likes his job but he doesn’t love the cutthroat world of academia. They bring out the best in each other and push each other to pursue what they truly desire. The ending might be a little predictable but man am I a sucker for happy ending.

If you’re a fan of Christina Lauren and Abby Jimenez this smart, sexy, female forward, romantic comedy is a total must read!

Overall this was a pretty decent, quick romcom. Did I feel fully convinced of Brinkley and Mark's love? No, but I could definitely see them heading in that direction.

The sex scenes were quite steamy, which I am here for! The plot was intriguing, which is what originally drew me to this story. I thought the H4H concept with quite unique and I was interested in how that was run. There were a few side plots that didn't feel fully fleshed out, but I got enough of an answer to be satisfied.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a quick and fun romance, who enjoys a bit of steam in their sex scenes!

I think Netgalley did me dirty on this book. I’ve really prided myself on NOT getting behind on my request list and getting all my reviews done prior to pub day. I originally had the release date of Heartbreak For Hire in September, so imagine my surprise when I saw the book actually released in July. 😱 I bumped it up the list and finished this week to ensure I was able to provide feedback timely.

If you’ve been following me a while you’ll know it’s no surprise that Rom Coms have been my jam for almost all of pandemic times. Feels like forever. I’ve been obsessed with happy and fun books that don’t take themselves super seriously. Heartbreak for Hire fits the bill for sure. There are a lot of ridiculous scenarios that happen in the first half of the novel, things that sort of go over the line of comedy to be unrealistic, but I guess they call it fiction for a reason. If you can understand that and move past it, I think this book is really enjoyable.

Someone just recently mentioned they think I might be too nice to really roast a book, and you might be right. I will say this though: I think the end of this book, the climax and point of contention, the apology and the subsequent forgiveness, was too rushed. There was a lot of time spent on the first 50 % of the novel but not enough with tying up loose ends. I would have liked to see that developed more to round out the depth of the story.

TL; dr - fun, ridiculous, and overall enjoyable. If you like a romcom, check it out. Thank you to @gallery and @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly don’t know how to sum up my feelings about this one. On one hand, I really liked all of the characters, and I thought the romance was fun. On the other hand, the book seemed a little all over the place at times. The premise of the book was really fun, but I think the Heartbreak 4 Hire storyline was left on the back burner for the last half of the story. While I liked the two main characters, I think that Brinkley deserved better after Mark’s betrayal. I wouldn’t not recommend this book, but there are better romances out there.