Netgalley Review:

This was great! I loved the premise, I loved the characters and the story kept me reading (past when I should have been sleeping). 4 stars and I will read more from this author!

Never be the same is a gem, I wasn’t sure at first but then I got really into it, the characters are relatable, the story is believable, I had a good time reading this story.

Couldn't get into this book unfortunately. I tried a few separate times, but it's not for me. It started slow and I didn't connect to the characters or plot.

I have enjoyed each MA Binfield book that I have read. I vibe with her stories and the type of drama that is created. In this story, we have a driver-for-now who is charged to chauffer a celebrity around for a couple of weeks. Bindfield does a good job of making you feel like they have fallen for each other in such a short timeframe.

SO SO
Casey is back in London but she’s not happy about it. She just wants to make some money to help her mom out of a bad situation and get back to Portland, away from all the painful memories she left behind. Her best friend hires her to drive the cast of a hit US series around to interviews etc. Olivia’s character is an outgoing, flirty and flashy, all the things she’s really not and it is starting to get old. When she meets Casey, they seem to hit it off but there are a lot of things keeping them apart. Can they find a way to common ground or will the things they have buried keep them apart???

This is a good, not great but a nice enough read.with a lot of angst and anticipation. Casey has a lot to heal from and it was good to see her finding her way back to peace. Olivia‘s got a lot of things going on in her life, not all of them leave her feeling good about herself. I liked watching her figure things out and discover what is important to her. As a couple they are sweet and seem to bring out the best in each other but there is so much standing in their way. This was a good way to spend a lazy day and get a dose of warm fuzzies.

I have wanted to read a book by Benfield ever since I heard her reading from one of her books. I was excited to get this book until I started reading it and realized it was so slow in the beginning that I stopped reading for a while. I picked it up later and continued reading and found that the book was very well written except it’s not my style as woman meets woman and they fall in love.
This book revolves around Olivia who is an out actress and Casey her driver the two have an instant connection but both have trust issues that seem insurmountable. Neither woman would be staying in the town forever as they are just “passerby‘s“. The book has such a long slow burn in it that I wished the two women would have just jumped in the bed for a one night stand and got it out of their system. It seem like the book had a lot of unnecessary trauma that dragged out the book longer. Another thing that had me concerned was the amount of time spent on secondary characters like Liam and Louise. While this was a good sub plot it was so unnecessary in the book really and as a result tended to drag the book out longer. As I said the book was very well written and for people who like a slow burn romance this is the perfect book for you.

I am always a sucker for a celebrity romance. I think it's one of my favorite types of romances to read. I think because it gives me a glimpse of what being famous would really be like and then adding being a lesbian/queer on top of it adds that flavor that I really like. Never Be the Same does not disappoint.

Casey and Olivia are an unlikely couple. Casey is the hired "help" and Olivia is the actress who is nothing like everyone thinks she is. These two have an instant attraction to one another and they both feel compelled to spend time with one another, but they have complications because of misunderstanding and also because of their experiences with past girlfriends. It really adds some depth to the story. Also because this romance takes place in a short amount of the time, the author must really build a compelling story to show how these two can really fall for one another. Sometimes it works out and other times I have seen it fail epically. Binfield has the touch needed to pull off this instant kind of love. I came away believing in the love at first site sort of love.

4 stars

This arc was provided by net galley and the publisher for an honest review.

I usually love lesbian romance, but this was not it. Honestly i could not get past the first 100 pages, however the pages that I did read were well written. It just was not something that I loved. The characters were fine. The plot was fine. everything was fine but not great. It also was not band though.

Olivia is the actress that has it all and Casey just needs a job so when Casey finds herself as Olivia's chauffeur it's truly a case of opposites attract and a formula that works so well in romance storylines. This book is a slow burn which I love. Olivia and Casey had great chemistry and their characters were realistically flawed. I particularly loved the sub characters and they play a prominent part in the book. The book is kind of long which draws out the angst but for me I would have liked it a bit shorter. This one is well worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

2/5 stars

I wanted to dnf this book at around 20%, but convinced myself to push through to the end and I wish I hadn’t. This story was unnecessarily long, and was a prolonged version of the miscommunication trope. The whole way through all the obstacles our characters face are because of them refusing to talk to each other. And at the beginning our MC was just mean and spiteful. It felt like the author was trying to force this opposites attract, enemies to lovers plot line but ended up just making it painful to read. The dialogue was unnecessarily long at times, as well.

The only reason I’m giving this book 2 stars is because the relationship was sweet sometimes despite being dragged out and there was some decent representation (2 lesbian main characters, bisexual side character, trans side character).

Slow to build trust is the underlying theme in this story of opposites attract.

An actress who has a very public breakup and fears losing herself as fans confuse her with her outrageous, promiscuous TV character.

An ex pat come home to resolve family drama, make some extra cash for family and, hopefully, avoid the woman who broke her heart.

It's amazing how much story, emotion is packed in to a story that is supposed to span just a few weeks.

A good weekend read.

Probably the best book I have read all year 5/5! I could not put it down honestly!

Casey and Olivia were spicy from the time they met it was immediate fireworks. I love the idea of them following in love in London, it's my last name so maybe I am a bit bias but London definitely gave Paris a run for it's money.

There was a theme of exposing people's privacy, that is just not talked about enough or the fact that people get on social media and bad mouth people without consent. I was very glad these situations were brought up as they are very real things that happens in society. Which brings me to Billie and Hannah, they were very unapologetic in how they behaved, I do not want to give anything away but they were not my favorite characters at all I did not like them one bit which I guess was the point.

Also I wish that everyone communicated better from Casey and Olivia, Liam with Louise, if everyone had been upfront things would have gone better for them in the beginning. They all figured that out a bit too late and it caused them unnecessary heartbreak.

Thanks to Netgalley I managed to read this book and I gotta say I just love a slowburn. These two couldn't be more different but their connection is instant and real. I enjoyed seeing them both be confused and try to be a better person to impress the other. Didn't always go as smoothly though which was an interesting read. I also really loved the side characters

This was really good I didn't even notice the number of pages it has. It's a bit longer than the usual length for romantic books I often read.

Casey and Olivia are two very lovable characters with realistic personal problems and believable responses. The push and pull was there but it wasn't infuriating because it is just something you know is understandable. Something people would definitely do in real life if faced with the same circumstances. The chemistry is there, they're sweet, and the tension was palpable. I liked the side characters as well and thought their own stories were cute.

I would give this 4.5 stars because it was good and enjoyable, but at times (more often than I'd like) it became very slow.

I requested an ARC on NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

“Never Be the Same” is MA Binfield’s opposites-attract celebrity romance. Casey Byrne is back in London after a year in Portland. She left London after an awful breakup and isn’t excited to be back. She came back to help out her mom, who has fallen on hard times. She takes a job driving around celebrities as a way to make extra money. Olivia Lang is the star of a popular LGBTQIA+ tv series. She’s in London for a couple of weeks to promote her show and film a few episodes. While neither is looking for love, they can’t seem to stay away from one another either.

Casey and Olivia have both been betrayed and hurt by their previous relationships and are carrying around a lot of baggage. Neither one is the type for a fling but they know there’s no future for a relationship. Not only do they live in different places but Casey is very much against the limelight and everything that comes with being with a celebrity.

I’ll admit, I truly liked this book. For whatever reason I really click with Binfield’s writing and have enjoyed everything I’ve read by her so far. I’m not saying this is perfect, it isn’t, but I still enjoyed it very much. I love how she writes her characters and how much depth and personality she gives them. This is just over 300 pages and for a romance, that’s a lot. The time span for “Never Be the Same” is just over two weeks so a lot happens in a short time span. Insta-love is never a favorite of mine but with the length worked here because while it was a short time span, it never felt like it was only two weeks.

There are a couple reasons why I’m not giving this 5 stars. Firstly, the miscommunication and assumptions Casey and Olivia make had me wanting to bang my head on the wall several times. Because of their trust issues they seemed to assume the worst or would jump to conclusions and it happened a lot, especially with Olivia. And I understood why it was happening but after a while it got tiresome and I was ready for them to learn and move on a lot sooner than they actually did. Another thing was the constant back and forth. I think a lot of the back and forth was a consequence of the miscommunication and again, I was ready for them to move on before they got the memo.

Casey and Olivia have a nice group of friends and I enjoyed their different dynamics. Liam and Louise are Olivia’s best friends and I liked what they brought to the story. They were quick to point out whenever Olivia was being stupid and with Casey’s best friend, David, they wouldn’t give them a free pass to be idiots.

I’m not sure this will be everyone’s cup of tea but if you like drama and the celebrity trope I think you’ll like this one.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think I like each new book by MA Binfield more than the last one. I’m always looking forward to reading her new release.

Casey fled London for Portland after a very ugly breakup. She flies back a year later to help her mother with big boyfriend problems. To make some money while she’s away from her new job, Casey agrees to work as a driver to the stars of an American TV show shooting in London for a few weeks. Olivia is one of the actresses Casey finds herself driving around, and even though sparks of lust fly between the two women from the beginning, they rub each other the wrong way. Can an American TV star and her British driver find common ground and drive away together into the sunset?

Despite their obvious chemistry, Casey and Olivia are convinced they’re incompatible. On paper, they are. One is a TV star accustomed to fame and luxury, the other has been hurt by a wannabe YouTube influencer. They’re actually both rather shy and have both been betrayed by exes who used them.

I don’t mind instalust but instalove is a little harder to write convincingly. Binfield makes it work, however, by building the tension up slowly and steadily despite the story being told over a rather short period of time. There’s a completely opposite romance happening in the wings, between two best friends, and the two storylines contrast nicely.

It’s always entertaining to watch characters trying to resist mutual attraction, in particular when there’s an enemies-to-lovers arc. In this novel, “enemies” is too strong a word but the relationship gets off on the wrong foot and afterwards, the MCs take turns shying away from the attraction.

I also like the way the author takes tropes and turns them over. I’m tired of the miscommunication trope for example, but the way it’s used here, with the characters getting called out on it by their friends, makes it feel new.

There are a few editing issues, such as the same turn of phrase in close proximity. Nothing huge but enough for me to notice.

All in all, Never Be The Same is a not-too-angsty but not drama-free romance.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

This was such a wonderful read. The two leads, Olivia and Casey, had flaming hot chemistry, which built up so naturally. They were both relatable characters with complex pasts and insecurities, and the author had done a great job of making them overcome these. The supporting characters such as Louise, Liam and Casey's mum were also very well developed, and the London setting absolutely came alive. I was left longing for everything I loved about living in London before the pandemic, and craving steak pie! A great book.

I will probably ready any celebrity romance and decided to go for this one when available as an ARC. Olivia and Casey are very down to earth characters and the secondary ones brought joy to the story.
What is different in this story is that we don't really deal with Hollywood here and the main celebrity is able to get away of all the craziness involved.
It is a good book, but sometimes the story gets a bit slow.

I was really excited going into this read of "Never Be the Same" by MA Binfield and I was not disappointed. A lesbian celebrity romance? Count me in!

I'm always excited to see representation of LGBTQIA+ characters in romance and I think the author did a great job of creating complex and complete characters without making it just about being a lesbian or gay - it was about the full human experience - flawed, uncertain, and sometimes insecure. But also filled with friends, family, healing, laughter and happiness. Don't get me wrong, I love all kinds of stories but I did really enjoy the storyline and the varied characters that Binfield created and that kept me invested and hooked.

Our main heroines, Olivia and Casey, come from very different walks of life but are both recovering from betrayal and hurt from previous relationships. Trust does not come easy and though I understood that, I would still get a little miffed at the assumptions and lack of communication between the two of them. They came together with lots of baggage and had a lot to work through - within themselves and together - and I often found myself growling "Would you just say what you mean!? All this turmoil could be avoided and we could get to the kissing!!!" Clearly, I was invested!

Olivia comes from the glitz and glam of stardom, the feature character of a hit TV show. We find, though, that all the extra hubbub that comes with fame is really taking its toll on her. She loves the acting but not all the extra crazy that comes along with it.

Casey returns home to London to help her mom out and takes a job driving Olivia and the rest of the cast around for two weeks. Casey uses the job to avoid reliving the heartache and drama that made her escape London for the US just a year or so before. But what she finds is Olivia, a stunningly gorgeous actress who does not fit the stereotypical mold of a spoiled diva.

Over the next two weeks, the initial spark of attraction develops further and though they both know they're leaving, will be separated, they cannot deny the feelings they have for each other. Two weeks is an incredibly short amount of time (uhaul joke anyone?!) but also, given their level of attraction and spark, I understood that for this to have a chance, it needed to move fast. I bought it.

I will say that sometimes the story dragged a little... the pace could have been a little faster or the story a wee bit shorter. However, I still really enjoyed this book. I loved the backdrop of London, I enjoyed the secondary characters and I was happy to see how Olivia and Casey eventually found their way.

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Thank you Netgalley for this LGBTQI+ ARC. An enjoyable summer read, but at times the pace was slow and felt like almost too slow of a build.