The book starts a little bit slow, but overall, it is a fun read. I enjoyed the overall plot, as well as the romance. I will definitely be reading more works by Constance Gillam!

The instalove/lust in this book didn't work for me. I don't mind the one-night stand trope or lust-after-first-date trope but being that it was the first chapter of the book, I would have liked more build-up of their relationship but it wasn't quite there.

One night that leads to a lot more.. Or in the case of our heroine what she thought was just going to be one night.
Rashida Howard did what was for her unthinkable. One night at a a hotel with a man she barely knew. Both characters were the type you would enjoy reading about. Both are fighters. Rashida is determined to help save her grandmother's community and Elliott is equally determined to find a solution for his father who wants property that just happens to be in that community .

I want to start by saying that I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying me with this ARC.

I didn't like this book very much. Even though it was a romance, I was much more invested in the plot of the housing situation than the actual romance.
I really disliked Elliott (the love interest) - it felt like the main reason he fell in love with Rashida was because of her looks. He was always thinking about her and her body and it just felt really gross and over-sexualised.
This quote is a good example of this: "my whole day is spent watching the clock until I can either hear your voice or see your face. Preferably the latter."
Like, I get that he wants to see her and be with her, but it just comes across as though he values her looks over anything else, and that is not cute or romantic at all.
Elliott was the worst part of the book, and it made me really angry how all he focused on about her was her looks and the sex they had.

Another very big red flag in this book was the continued use of "queer" as an adjective. The word queer is a SLUR, and only members of the LGBTQ+ community (like myself) should be using it. It was used multiple times to describe a strange feeling, and it made me very uncomfortable. It was not a pleasant reading experience.

The writing was fine, but there was nothing special about it - this is not a book I would read again or recommend to others.

Rashida was probably the only redeeming quality of this book. I think she deserved better.

I think the end redeemed it a little - he put in the work and showed that he cared about her, but there should've been more time to show the development between them, and a much longer epilogue.

The Hookup Dilemma starts off a little slow, but it's worth it to get to the end. Rashida and Elliot have an instant connection, but then discover they are on opposite sides of some development plans. Elliot is helping his father secure his new shopping complex and Rashida is determined to protect the neighborhood from gentrification. The best part for me is how they eventually found a solution that benefits most everyone, even though it was a very rocky road to get there.

Rashida's grammy and her grammy's friends were the perfect extra touch to the story. The added some flair (and shenanigans) and kept both Rashida and Elliot on their toes. A times both Rashida and Elliot frustrated the hell out of me, but it was worth it for them to get their payoff in the end.

To be completely honest, I did not fall in love with this book. I enjoyed the premise but Eliott Quinn quite frankly got on my nerves. The writing in this book was amazing and that's the only reason I kept going. I look forward to more from the author.

There is something about an illustrated book cover that draws me in. This one was no exception. I liked it, but felt like it could have had some more banter between the main characters. I didn't feel like their chemistry was real. Also the plot wasn't the greatest, but there were cute moments in this book. This is a cute read, but its not something that I would be re-reading.

This book was not for me. It had my interest for maybe the first 30% but after that it lost me. The plot focused way to much about the neighborhood being ruined and not about the characters. I felt like I did not know the main characters and we went from 0 to a 100 with their relationship. They went from friends to dating on one page and I could not see the chemistry. After a while I got bored and started skipping pages to get to the end. So I’m sad to say this was not for me

This was a fun romance book, I enjoyed it. The characters are strong and relatable.

Rashida is a food critic from a historic but slightly run down neighborhood where her grandmother and her friends still live. Elliott is an architect who’s father wants to build in the neighborhood, and Rashida is firmly opposed. When Rashida and Elliott first meet, they don’t talk about his job, their chemistry takes them away into bed. Can their relationship survive once they discover the truth?

The writing was good and the book was entertaining. I especially loved Rashida’s grandmother and her friends, what a fun set of characters! 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.

I liked the story being told from both points of view. I didn't feel like the characters had enough chemistry to warrant more than the one night stand. The ending felt too abrupt for the story & somewhat predictable. Some people may enjoy this but it wasn't really for me.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I thoroughly enjoyed the chemistry between Elliot and Rashida; but the show stoppers for me had to be the wild little old ladies of Milltown!

The book jumps right into the spice during the first chapter- which I wasn’t at all expecting! I liked Gillam’s balance of spice and storyline- it felt really well done and added to the overall plot rather than feeling forced. Wasn’t overtly spicy, seriously a perfect balance!

While you knew the break-up between Elliot and Rashida was inevitable due to Elliot’s involvement with his father’s company and Rashida’s goal to block the development in her grandmother’s neighborhood- it didn’t detract from the story. My only complaint is that the breakup and resolution came so late into the book that it felt slightly rushed.

I was given an ARC of this story to read; but thoughts and opinions are all my own. Thank you to @netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the chance to read this title.

Rashida and Elliot meet at a bar and decide to hook up, not knowing they're on opposite sides of a very important situation. A story that is told from 2 different points of view, Rashida's goal is to keep the area that her grandmother lives in from being destroyed.

Although the book does a good job of highlighting gentrification, I felt the chemistry between the main characters was a little off and awkward. Although this story didn't really do it for me, I will read more books from this author.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This book was absolutely not for me, I don’t even know how to describe why - the pacing was off the conflict felt so heavy but also brushed over. The “hook up dilemma“ is a very misleading title (which isn’t the author’s fault)

I did not vibe or connect with these characters and I so desperately wanted to…I can’t believe Elliott took Rashida surprise camping (literally who does that)

Over all, I don’t feel like the characters were fully realized nor the conflict dealt with well.

Rashida a successful food critic trying to save her grandmothers neighborhood from new development. The gentrification of her neighborhood would cause property taxes to increase and the current residents to not be able to stay.
Rashida has a hot one night stand with a very attractive man which isn't either typical of them.
Only to find out he's the developer. His father's company won't budge on the use of the property.
The romance between the two gets stalled by things being omitted about this deal. They are so hot together and want to be together but their principles and the community decisions could keep them apart.
Once again I love the older ladies they are always the funniest characters and full of spunk.


Thank you entangled pub and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5

🌶🌶 / 5

The story follows Rashida, a food critic, and Elliot, an architect, who meet at a bar and have a what was supposed to be a one night stand. However, that doesn’t happen as they meet again when it turns out that the company that wants to build a shopping centre in Rashida’s grandmother’s neighbourhood is actually Elliot’s father’s company.

Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed this book. I really like the fact that it wasn’t insta-love, but you could actually see how the characters developed feelings for each other. Both Elliot and Rashida were likeable, so that’s another plus. However, at times the story felt monotonous and I found myself forgetting what I just read. Still - I will probably read some of the author’s other work.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful cover, the writer definitely has talent but this story just didn't click with me. I felt the characters lacked a little something special? They seemed very one dimensional. But, that isn't to say that you won't enjoy the story!

📖Summary: What do you get when the AMAZING one night stand you had, happens to be the son of the man trying to ruin your grandmother’s neighborhood? You get The Hookup Dilemma. Rashisha Howard has been fighting to get the Quinn Enterprise proposal denied. Elliott Quinn has been doing his best to keep his father’s company afloat while he’s out on medical leave. When the two meet at a bar, they get…physically acquainted with each other. How will they react when they find out they’re on two opposing sides of this battle?
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✨Rating & Review✨: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Who doesn’t love a one night stand turned love of your life? Rashida and Elliott really have to fight for their love in this romance novel. I will say, I’m sooo excited that Rashida stuck to her guns and stayed true to her mission of helping her grandmother. We all love love, but helping Granny comes first. I was honestly here more for the activism than the romance. But the romance was also very nice. Thank you @netgalley and @authorlady514 for giving me this opportunity to read and review this book. It was an absolute joy.

I really appreciate an insta-lust story and that is what you get here...and it is spicy. Our two characters, Rashida and Elliott, hookup one night and then find out they are on opposite sides of a gentrification project going on in Rashida's neighborhood. One would think that this would play out as a lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers story, but it's one sided, Rashida's side. Elliott spends the whole book being nice and trying to make everything work for everyone. I would have liked more tension between the two characters, but there is a lot of sweetness with Elliott that I really appreciated. I think if you like your romances spiked with social commentary then you will like this book.

This book just didn't really work for me. For starters it was a bit too long. I felt like this book dragged a little in some aspects and overall I think some scenes could have been cut out or some explenations weren't really needed. But my main problem with this book was the romance. It just didn't really seem well developed to me. The feelings just came a bit out of nowhere and I feel like most interactions between the two main characters were either about the community or was them constantly thinking about how they wanted to fuck the other and then fucking. Sexual attraction doesn't equal love, so if you want to convince me that two people are in love you're going to have to do more than just show their sexual attraction to each other. I also just didn't really get the conflict between them. It just didn't really seem like something that really should keep these two people apart if they truly loved each other as much as they claimed to. Then the third act conflict happened and I liked that even less. Again, it just didn't make much sense for these characters and it rested way too much on miscommunication for me to sympathise with it. So yeah, this book just wasn't really for me.

Definitely a cute and steamy read!

While I wasn't a fan of the instalove, I did enjoy the plot and loved the dynamics between Elliott and Rashida. I also loved the fact that it addressed a lot of bigger issues, like gentrification, and included diverse characters!