I have to admit when I started reading this book I was hesitant about liking it. The premise centers around Genesis Gonzalez and her arch nemesis Will Kobayashi and their collaboration on a company wide music competition.

I thought the whole idea of having a company wide album production competition kind of weird(?). But, Anna Salcedo actually made it work. The two main characters have a love-hate relationship that the must overcome in order to win the competition and reach their dreams of making music.

The banter between the two was irresistible! And I absolutely loved Genesis, her sister, and her cousins relationship.

3.5 stars actually.
Enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance, and forced proximity together?! I'm in!
Okay... let me tell you the short synopsis:
The Unexpected Fall follows co-workers Genesis (absolutely in love with her name!) and Will. She hates Will, but after being paired up for work (forced proximity-my favorite!), their feelings change and take off.
I absolutely loved Genesis as a heroine and her POV was freaking amazing! (even tho I'm not a big fan of single POV).
And in my opinion word 'buttercup' was overused.
Overall Anna Salcedo did an amazing job with her first book!
E-ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

The Unexpected Fall brings a workplace romance to a new level.

Genesis dreams of being a music producer and finally gets a chance to make her dreams come true when the record label she works at, launches a competition for employees to create a song to be on an album. Too bad she gets paired up with her nemesis, Will.

I really like the story's setting and working at a record label is fresh, something I haven't read much. I love the course of the relationship between Will and Genesis. It's definitely a slow burn romance, and they didn't skip a single step..

Definitely read this if you like:
- Workplace romances
- Enemies to friends to lovers
- Guy falls first (and hard)
- Cinnamon roll men (love them)

If I'd name one thing I didn't like all that much was the pacing of the story. I love a good slow burn romance, but I think there were parts in the story that didn't really contribute to the love story of Genesis and Will.

A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review

Oh... my... gosh... I LOVED this, I couldn't get enough !!! Will and Genesis' banter throughout the first portion of the book was so amazing, it fit so perfectly but once they started being a team for the contest, he quite quickly became such a sweet man to her with the right amount of banter still. I loved seeing their relationship go from hate (although he truly never hated her) to love. It was so beautiful to see them mesh so perfectly into each others friend groups and families. I'm a sucker for a good hate to love workplace romance and this book did NOT disappoint!!

Mi è piaciuto tantissimo questo libro.
Lo consiglierei, non è la solita storia banale che spesso ci si aspetta quando si tratta di romance.
Vengono trattati temi importanti in una maniera scorrevolissima.
Per non parlare dei riferimenti alle diversità e particolarità degli aspetti culturali dei protagonisti, è sempre bello scoprire qualcosa in più.
Appunto sono dell'idea che questa storia non ti faccia solo divertire mentre la si legge ma sia anche un modo per imparare.
Ringrazio net galley per avermi fornito la possibilità di poterla leggere.

The Unexpected Fall – 4 stars ⭐️

I was lucky enough to receive this ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review!!

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Anna Salcedo. This book was giving major The Hating Game, Spanish Love Deception, and a little bit of Daisy Jones & The Six Vibes. If you enjoyed those books, you would LOVE this book. I Loved Genesis the main female character and really enjoyed the part where she was with her family and loved her bond with her cousin and younger sister. This book was Enemies to Friends – Friends to Lovers and it is a workplace romance all in one!

For this being Anna’s first novel, I will say that this was unexpected from her as I did not expect this book to be written as well as it was. I will look forward to seeing what else this author writes.

The only part I was not a fan of was the start with the enemies part. I feel like the hatred that Genesis and Will had against each other was a bit too much and too overbearing in a sense but that did dwindle down when they started to get to know each other. It was cute seeing Genesis and Will bond over their dreams and passion for music and I really liked that part seeing that I haven't read many books with music being involved!

The romance was extremely cute in this book, but I loved the friendships the most! Like I mentioned her sister Aleja and her cousin Yari, and the absolute cutest friendship with Cora. I really did enjoy this book and think that you should go ahead and grab this book if it sounds like something you would enjoy.

I will be posting a photo and review on my Bookstagram @readswithlily on the 15th of June and will be tagging Net Galley and Anna Salcedo. I will also be posting my Goodreads review on that day as well.

4.25 stars! Thank you NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

This was Anna Salcedo’s debut novel and it was a beautiful story! I absolutely loved Genesis and Will’s love story and how we saw their relationship blossom from coworker/enemies to friends to lovers. I love how their connection transformed through out the story!

Their hatred did feel a little contrived in the beginning but that ended quickly as they spent more time together. It was nice how they bonded over music and they were able to grow and reach their dreams throughout the book!

Genesis was a very relatable character and I loved the diversity in this book! She had a great friendship with Cora and I really enjoyed the parts with Yari and Aleja.

Will had the cutest nickname for Genesis and I had a smile on my face as I was reading! Especially with his journals!!

I truly enjoyed this book!

This book reminds me of The Spanish Love Deception and The Hating Game but make it cuter, heartwarming and swoon-worthy!
I love how the slow pace builds up the chemistry, burn the tensed brigde between them to form a mutual friendship. But things already started heated up the moment they set eyes on each other, and they pretty much clashed every thing they met. And look at how improved their relationship after the partnership! I dont mind the similar vibes at all because the whole plot is the author's idea herself, and i like how she planned her story line and make it so interesting to read. Maybe i was in the mood for romance books, so i truly enjoyed this one. I like how this book mentioned a lot of sensitive issues like sexism, racism, etc which are important for people to acknowledge and take action when these happened. Overall, it was a cute read for me, mind you i finished this in one go!

I read someone saying that this book could be a baby of The Hating Game & The Spanish Love Deception, and I can confirm that it's true. Genesis works as a marketing assistant at a record firm. She dreams of producing an album of her own and when the opportunity strikes, she's ready to do anything to fulfill her dream by winning the competition that her company is offering. The only problem is that she has been partnered with her long time workplace nemesis and they don't see eye to eye. The characters were amazing, I loved Will & Genesis together! They were both smart, headstrong, resourceful and knew what they were doing. Their chemistry was palpable and the way they just eventually went from being enemies to friends to lovers was slow but natural, I really liked Genesis' progress. I also loved the side characters like Cora, Yari & Callum. I could stop smiling when they all got together in the end. I enjoyed the book and the writing but the last half felt a bit dragged tbh. The characters were really awesome but the story was cliche. Still, I never felt disengaged and enjoyed reading it!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me the ARC

What a breath of fresh air for the romance genre! I often find that the leads of a romance novel are flatly written and simply fill their place card trope, lacking the depth to be relatable or real. Genesis and Will were so compelling and interesting, both on their own and as a couple.

Such a quick read, wonderfully written and loads of fun!

This was a sweet read that had a bit of hate to love in it.

Genesis does all she can to avoid Will at all costs. She has been stuck in a job as an assistant for far too long and longs for the day when she can become a music producer instead of someone's assistant.

Finally her company hosts a contest where she might finally get her opportunity to move from assistant to music producer and she jumps at the chance only to find out that she has been paired with Will.

Forced to work together, these two find themselves starting to fall for each other. The chemistry and the banter was great!

I would recommend this book as it was a quick read and captivating.

Will (Hiraku) and Genesis were so cute!!

I loved the way this story explored trust and love, showing how important Genesis' own feelings about herself and a relationship developed throughout the book when she was spending time with WIll. I loved Will so much, but I did wish the miscommunication toward the end didn't happen. I do understand why it was part of the story because we see both of them realise what they really need from each other.

I loved the whole song-writing part of this book and how the music was something they bonded over, helping them find trust in each other.

I would give this book 2.5 out of stars. I liked the idea of the story and a new industry I didn’t k ow much about. I felt I didn’t k ow as much about the main characters as I needed to become fully invested in their stories. In particular, I felt like we didn’t get to know Will very much. I wanted to know why he had felt the way he had for the last two years. Just to know he felt that way didn’t feel very realistic. I’m also fine with dirty talk in a book but where it was placed in the story made it seem jolting and out of nowhere. Or those scenes weren’t timed in a realistic way. It felt like the author was told the book needed more spice and didn’t naturally evolve. I did like getting to know more side of the MC as the plot went on. I suppose I just needed. But more development of the characters. Why was there tension between Will and his dad? How did that get resolved?

Despite declaring that I don't like romance novels, I have had my fair share of reading them and I don’t know what for, but every time I find something in characters, plots, or backstories, it disappoints me a lot.
But this book, despite following a very widely written trope, was the least cliche office romance, enemies to lovers that I have read till now. And that would be my favorite thing about this book.

Everything was conventional according to its plot but it never once, as far as I remember, made me drop it out of cringes. The writing style was mature and quite refreshing and I loved how the climax was not some tragic backstories but their contemporary actions. The lack of tragic, sob stories made it unique in its league.

The characters, their actions, emotions, and subtle reactions to the things not going the way they wanted. And I liked the most about the characters in this book. Anna has done a spectacular book and will indeed look forward to reading her future books. I can’t talk about the predictable nature of the book, because all the romance novels are.

I loved that this book had a different spin — it wasn’t a typical storyline and I always love a good workplace drama. But I didn’t connect with Genesis. I found her to be unlikable and overly rude to Will. This book took me far longer to read because I just couldn’t get into the characters.

Honestly did not finished. It was slow and drawn out and did not grab my attention. Disappointed for sure.

This book was provided by Netgally and the author Anna Salcedo for an honest review. All of the thoughts and opinions are my own.

If I could give this book 10 stars I would.
Work rivals to lovers might just be my kink that I didn't know I had.
Uuuu the tension in this book will have you reaching for a cold glass of something because WOW(and it most certainly delivered in the spice department too)
It had me laughing at the fact that she couldn't see he was so VERY INTERESTED in her, crying at the sad parts and cheering for the eventual reconciliation.
All of the characters contributed to the story and felt necessary to it's progression.
Run don't walk and get this book when it comes out.
You will not regret it.

This in general just reminded me a little bit of the hating game and the Spanish love deception, which was a little disappointing seeing as I didn't love either of the aforementioned novels. It also reminds me of one other, enemies to lovers, work rivals book that I can't remember at the moment, but I know I liked it. I think it was a lot better than both of them though, and I really enjoyed it.
I think that Genesis was a wonderful character and I think Will is up there with some of my favourite book boys. Also the end of chapter 15 was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. As was the end of chapter 19. And honestly the end of every chapter.
4 stars overall, and go check it out!!!
I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Unexpected Fall by Anna Salcedo through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

4/5-

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Anna Salcedo! A good workplace, enemy-to-lovers with forced proximity, that looks like the first of a character series (I'm speaking this into existence; I loved all the secondary characters!) Maybe the 'stressor' to the enemies portion of their relationship was a bit obvious, but I really loved both of our MC's: Genesis and Will. They both are a first generation American (Genesis Dominican-America, and Will Japanese-American). Will was such an insta-love cinnamon roll, and his spice later in the book fully won me over. They may have been some obvious plot points that could have been more 'creative' but overall, I really enjoyed this book!

Spice: 2/5 - a handful of spicy scenes, mostly detailed 9but nothing kinky), and Will has some dirtier talk later in this book. But the first half of the book had me concerned it was going to be a clean romance, so I was delightfully surprised!

Brief Plot: Genesis has hated Will when they have had to interact together at work for the past two years. When they are assigned as a pair to get a chance to have their music produced/ published, they have to decide if they can work together combatively, or if their enemy ways were all wrong, and the hate is too close to romantic chemistry. I mean can you really write a love song together platonically?

Thank you NetGalley and Anna Salcedo (Sel Published) for the eARC of the Unexpected Fall by Anna Salcedo. This is my honest review!

3.5/5

Buttercup is the new Shortcake and Will Kobayashi, the new Aaron Blackford.

It was strange reading this book because I kept having flashbacks of The Hating Game and The Spanish Love Deception. If you put them both in a blender, I'm pretty sure you would end up with The Unexpected Fall by Anna Salcedo.

The Unexpected Fall is an enemies to somewhat friends to lovers workplace romance. This book is also delightfully diverse (Latinx and Asian rep), and it has the forced proximity trope (which I love).

It follows Genesis Gonzalez who works for a music label (Siren Music Records) and has always dreamed of producing music. However, she's been stuck in the assistant position for years now. When the company announces that there will be a competition where two employees will have the chance to be featured on the company's most expected album and sign a contract with a record label, Genesis decides to take a chance on her dream and enters the competition.
Unfortunately, she's paired with Will Kobayashi, a Finance Analyst for Siren Music Records, and the one person she can't stand.
Both of them have waited their whole life for this opportunity, but can they set their differences aside for the sake of this project? Can they work together as a team?

This story was unbelievably cute but I found the beginning to be very slow: some scenes weren't necessary and Will wasn't very likeable at first, especially when compared to Aaron Blackford (who's amazing).

All in all, this was an entertaining and addictive read and for a debut novel, I think it was pretty good.