QOTD: Have you ever had surgery?
My A: Yes! I had my tonsils/adenoids out and oral surgery as a kid!
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A few months ago I read Laura Bradbury's Oxford Wild on KU and loved it, so when I saw Unlikely Match on NetGalley I had to snag it!
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This is a workplace romance where two completely opposite CEOS are forced to share an office while at the same time competing for a financial gift that would launch their businesses. While they started as enemies that QUICKLY turned into a friendship and then into so much more. While I guessed where the story was going, I still loved reading it play out.
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Chronic illnesses suck. Plain and simple. I really appreciated a MC that struggled with one being represented in what felt like a respectable and accurate way! I've never had liver disease so I can't completely speak for accuracy, but I feel like I've learned something from this! The book also tackles tough subjects like the foster system and parental favoritism.
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BLURB:
I’m Jules Kelly, a certified bohemian boss babe, whose hip tech company just won subsidized office space in the coolest co-working space in town. From a distance I seem poised to take over the world (or at least the travel industry), and I would be if it weren’t for two big complications:

1. A rare and seriously inconvenient disease is tanking my health by the day, and my only hope for a cure—a transplant—is moving further from my grasp.
2. A soulless database company is sharing my new office space, and its coldly gorgeous, judgmental, CEO is on a path to world dominance (at least in his mind).

Tom Davenport represents the very worst of bro culture in the start-up world. Naturally, we despise each other.

The thing is, as much as Tom's antagonism annoys me, he has an uncanny ability to conjure up my fighting spirit and vitality at a time when my illness is robbing me of both. I'm drawn to him in ways I can't (or would really rather not) understand.

A mysterious angel investor forces our companies to compete for a life-changing amount of money just when my relationship with Tom becomes infinitely more complicated. To make matters worse, things get cutthroat just as my time starts to run out.

Book received for free through NetGalley

I absolutely adored this book. I was caught by the first word and found it so hard to put down. It offered insight into the medical world, was based in a tech startup, and offered amazing characters. Thanks for the ride.

First I want to thank the author, Laura Bradbury, and her team for letting me read an ARC of this book through Netgalley.

I have never read a transplant romance before and I really enjoyed this. The characters, even the side characters, felt very nicely fleshed out and I appreciated how real their relationships felt. Her family felt a bit fantastical but just because their actions/reactions are outside the scope of my experience doesn’t mean it’s not real.

This book made me cry and giggle and smile and feel all the emotions. I liked the enemies to lovers-but they aren’t that straightforward-kind of situation and I loved the diversity, chronic illness rep, and conversations about PTSD/medical trauma/therapy.

I loved the connections and interactions with Brian as well.

Overall I really enjoyed this read and consumed it in just over a day.

An Unlikely Match by Laura Bradbury is an absolute gem! I loved this book so hard!!!!

Jules has a rare chronic illness, PSC, and she needs a liver transplant. I do not have PSC, my chronic illness is different. But I saw so many things about my struggles in this book. There were so many things that I said Yes! I know! Agreed! Chronic illness steals so many things. Friends disappear, you can't make plans, you have to save energy to do things. When people find out you are sick that's all they see. I feel so seen in these pages. This book is an absolute treasure!

I could talk forever and ever about this book. Jules is a woman CEO at a tech start up. When she meets Tom, the CEO of the other company in their co-working space, he is spouting tech bro misogynist garbage. Jules goes off on Tom and starts to feel a spark of life. And so begins their story.

To balance out the horror that is Jules' family, we get her found family. There are so many wonderful characters in this book, truly kind people. They bring so much love.

Also, pierogi!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First off thank you NetGalley and Laura for the ARC.
I really enjoyed h the is book. The enemies to lovers trope is one of my favourites and this did not disappoint.

Jules has a rare liver disease and is in need of a live donor. She isn’t having any luck, even her family won’t consider it. She keeps her illness secret from most of her coworkers, including Tom who is the CEO of the other startup company in her building. But when Jules and Tom spend the night together and she develops sepsis and ends up in hospital, the secret is out. Jules is so sick she needs a donor, like yesterday. Can she find one in time to save her life?

At first I was a bit unsure as the sound of a transplant romance seemed a bit strange but as I read I found I could not put this book down! The characters were likeable, Tom, after a rocky first impression, grew on me and by the end I really liked him! Everyone wants a best friend like Alan, and Jules herself was a hard working independent woman, which I love!

This book was a really enjoyable rom-com and I am now interested in reading more by this author.

Interesting read with a fairly heavy premise despite the cute cover and fluffy blurb. It took me a while to warm up to Jules and Tom. I know he was awful during their first meeting but I did not love how she deliberately picked fights with him. They eventually grew on me and I liked how the relationship progressed. Also enjoyed Jules and Alan’s friendship. 3 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Laura Bradbury for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A transplant romance. Jules Kelly was diagnosed with PSC (Primary sclerosing cholangitis) and she's in desperate need of a living-donor for her liver. She's also the CEO of a start-up tech company. Then there's Tom Davenport, the CEO of another start-up tech company. They got off on a rough start, but despite that Jules felt more alive than ever.

I'm sure you can tell already from the 5 stars, but I absolutely love this book! Enemies-to-lovers and workplace romance?! Sign me up! I was so immersed in my reading that I didn't even realise it was midnight already. Despite the heavy topics, I could not put the book down. I loved both the main characters, Jules and Tom. Jules is a total badass and one of the strongest people out there! Aside from the main characters, the side characters, especially Alan, are absolutely amazing. Except Jules' "family", of course. Props to the author, Laura Bradbury, for writing something so personal. You did an amazing job with this book! The portrayal of how people living with a serious disease is just so realistic, it left me in tears.

Overall, this is an amazing book that you need to read ASAP!

FAV BOOK THIS YEAR!

Unlikely Match: A Transplant Romance
by Laura Bradbury
Laura Bradbury, Grape Books
Pub Date: May 26

UNLIKELY MATCH is a romance novel with heart and depth and the kind of authenticity that can only come from personal experience. Indeed, author/publisher Laura Bradbury has lived with chronic illness leading to a liver transplant. So when she writes about MC Jules Kelly, who is awaiting the same surgery, character development and narrative ring poignantly true.

Jules still manages to serve as CEO of a startup company that shares space with another startup run by Tom Davenport. They bump heads from the first day after Tom makes uncivil remarks that Jules overhears. She keeps her illness secret from everyone except a trusted few; Tom has secrets of his own. I marveled as they grew close, evolving from enemies to friends to tender lovers, endearing in their frailties and bravery.

And when Jules faces death if she doesn't get a transplant ASAP, the story grabs the heart and doesn't let go. I loved it so much that if family duties had permitted, I would have read it straight through again.

If you adore romantic fiction with characters so real you grow to care deeply about them, then you're a perfect match for UNLIKELY MATCH. Sequel, please!!!

Thanks to Laura Bradbury, Grape Books, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#UnlikelyMatch #LauraBradbury #GrapeBooks #NetGalley #chronicillnessfiction #livertransplantfiction #enemiestoloversromance #medicalfiction #bookstagramcommunity

Definitely more emotional than anything I've read from this author. It's was a very interesting book, nothing like I've read before.

Last night I finished this amazing book just in time to write a reviw for his book birthday.

Firts thing we have Jules, she's the CEO of her own company,she's outspoken,fierce and carign to the people she loves,on the outside she looks like the perfect girl with a boho style that loves hosting champagne parties to her employes just because she wants to. But thats just what people see on the surface, they don't know that behind closed doors she's battling a lifelong Illness and waiting fo a miracle to happen.
Then we have Tom a career focused guy with his own company that always wears the same clothes to work,he might look like a grumpy guy to the world, it migh seam that all his life is either black or white but he's hidding and carrying things from his past that make him the way he is.
Both characters are forced to share an office space, their 1st encounter was horrible which makes Jules believe he's like every other tech guy in the world anh him judging her as a "party girl".
It gave me life the way both werein denial of their chemestry, they banter and joke with eachother to the way they can't stop looking for the other when they're in the office and I believe the rest is history.
They can't be more opossite if they try, but I belive that's what make them so perfect to eachother.I love the grow of both personalities individually and togheter.
Another thing that conected with and love was that during Jules process she had amazing doctors that helped her, not just in the medical part but in listening to her feelings and all that. As a doctror I believe that a smile or an ear to really listen to your patients it's a huge part of their treatment.
I'm gonna finish saying that this book amazed me to the core, because the author wroted this story from her personal experience and thats was why the book is so well written, it really shows you the struggle of patients waiting for a transplant and perspective of things that happend during this book and i couldn't love it more.

Thanks to the author and Net Galley for this amazing ARC in exchange of a honest review. I seriously can't wait for people to read this story.

Jules Kelly is living with PSC, a disease that can only be improved by receiving a liver transplant. While waiting for this miracle to be presented, she's fully focused on taking her company to the next level. What she didn't account for, is that she now has to share her workspace with another company, whose leader is Tom Davenport, a man that makes the first impression of being a misogynistic asshat. Through the trial and tribulations of tackling both work, illness and the possibility of love, Jules learns that from a messy declining life, perfect moments can be collected

a truly beautiful and authentic story that provoked the deepest emotions from within. a story about illness and love, written in the most spectacular and attention gripping way

the enemies portions of this romance doesn't hold back between Jules and Tom, and even though Tom doesn't make the best first impression, he does redeem himself in turning out to be quite the cinnamon bun hero

Unlikely Match was a difficult but inspiring story that had me tearing up multiple times. it sometimes got morbid which didn't bother me at all because it presented raw emotions, and showed how Jules is this calm and collected woman when her body is fastly deteriorating.
i loved how it also progressed with a non-linear relationship because both were still battling inner demons, but it also showed how complete opposites can work out in harmony

both the romance and medical aspects had my full attention. probably the first time that a medical journey had me so invested, and i'm happy to have gained the knowledge surrounding PSC (primary sclerosing cholangitis) that this story has told

trigger warnings for: medical trauma, PTSD, hospital scenes (on page), parental abandonment, foster care system (off page...mostly)

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

I absolutely LOVED this book. Who doesn't love an enemies to lovers trope?! I know I do.. but with this element, this book is SO much more.
Knowing the author is a live transplant recipient herself and realizing that the author is sharing and writing from experience, made this book just that much powerful.
The characters are real with personal and relatable stories, storyline is both original but genuine. It all just comes together and works perfectly.

This is my first encounter with Laura Bradbury, but certainly not my last.

I did not want to put this book down! Unlikely Match is such a lovely book, I can’t rave enough about it!

I always love a great romcom and this one had so much depth to it as well. The transplant storyline was written with so much respect & I just loved the main characters.

This is a must read!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's rare that I find a book that I absolutely love with my entire being, but Unlikely Match is one of those rare books!

I devoured it in one sitting, falling in love with the characters alongside them as they fell in love with one another.

For a book with such a serious undertones, Laura Bradbury was able to craft a lighthearted book filled with friendship, love, and creating your own family. Her first hand experience brought so much to the story that would never have been possible without her knowledge.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes an emotional romance with a bit of spice mixed in!

I was really excited to get approved for this book, as I'm always looking for romances with chronic illness/disability representation. I have an autoimmune disease, though nothing as serious and nearly terminal as what the main character has in this novel, but her experiences as a chronically ill person still really resonated with me. I know that the author is writing from her experience, which contributes to how authentic and thoughtful this portrayal is. Jules is a CEO of a start up and she's (mostly secretly) suffering from a serious autoimmune disease called PSC, which has send her into liver failure though she's only in her mid-twenties. She and her business partner are chosen for a year of subsidized workspace in a cool tech co-working space, but they have to share it with SiloBase, whose CEO Tom is intense and, upon their first meeting is a complete asshat (Jules' words, but also mine). There is definitely a romance here, but it's complicated, and that felt appropriate for the situation. So often in contemporary romances, the conflict that keeps the characters apart is something that could be solved by a simple conversation. Not so in this case - the stakes are much higher. Content warning for severe illness, organ transplant surgery, child neglect in the foster system (off page), and a truly awful family. Like, just the worst!

Wowowow! This book has me crying at 2am!
In this book we follow Jules, a CEO of her own startup company, as she struggles an incurable and very rare disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). She meets Tom in the office space her startup is about to share with Tom’s startup. She overhears him talk very badly about her startup and that is when they become enemies. Tom is very serious and work driven while Jules is completely opposite. After a few accidental run-ins they start to develop a friendship but Jules chooses not to tell Tom about her PSC.

Now this book had me crying so much! Seeing how much Jules wanted to live but the only way that could happen was through a liver transplant. To see her body shutting down on her was heartbreaking! I laughed and cried and thought about my own life. This book had minimal but good spice!!! The love between these two characters was everything!

I need everyone to go read this book!!!

When I tell you I devoured this e-arc…I literally read it in a matter of hours! I got approved for this one quite a long time after I’d requested it so it was a very pleasant surprise to see it on my NetGalley shelf!

And the book itself was even more of a pleasant surprise. What I thought was going to be a typical romcom was anything but! Moving, emotional and covering the toughest parts of life that don’t often crop up in fiction, yet along romantic fiction.

The story of Jules and Tom or Thunder was so incredibly heartwarming. And the way their relationship changed and grew as Jules’ health ebbed and flowed was at times incredibly moving and at other times full of joy! I felt such resentment towards Jules’ family who were so awful towards her. But I completely adored Alan who was such a wonderful friend to Jules!

Aside from being a bookstagrammer, I am a medical student, and there is nothing more important than empathy and being able to put yourself in your patients’ shoes. It’s not an easy thing to do sometimes, especially when patients are going through something you have no experience of yourself. But the way Laura wrote about PSC, and used her own experience of the condition and transplant surgery within the book was incredible and gave real insight into what it is like living with an incurable disease and the journey of having transplant surgery.

Thank you Laura for sharing your own story and that of so many others through Jules and Tom’s journey! I’d really recommend this book, it’s different to other rom coms in such a lovely way and I’m so grateful to have revived an e-ARC of this one 💛

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I really enjoyed reading Unlikely Match! I was a little worried at first, because I really hated Tom after that first interaction, but fell in love with him by the end of it. The shift from enemies to lovers was gradual and not in your face, which is not an easy feat to accomplish! This book covered such serious topics, but did so in a way that didnt sugarcoat things, but also was not too graphic or brutal, which I very much appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Laura Bradbury for the e-ARC.

Thank you @LauraBradbury and @NetGalley for the ARC of Unlikely Match.

I absolutely devoured this book. It was on point as a rom-com and had wonderfully written subplots. The attention to detail of the character writing was flawless and the true acts of love and kindness were down right feel good moments!

If you enjoy rom-coms with depth and bumps along the way (and some spice) this book is for you!

Check the Trigger Warnings before reading this!

Characters: 3.5/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Steam: 🔥/5
Plot: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Favorite non-spoilery quote: “People judge fast, don’t they? Once they decide you are one thing, it’s almost impossible to change their minds, yet nobody can be defined by just one thing. Not ever.”
Unlikely Match is a self-described “transplant romance” that follows Jules and Tom, CEOs of their respective companies and enemies ever since said companies won office space in the same building. Jules is quite ill, however, and as her health condition worsens, her need for a liver transplant grows higher. Based on the title of this novel, I’m sure you can guess what happens next.
I’ll be honest - the first 5 or so chapters had me wanting to DNF this book. In the beginning, Tom is not just your typical endearing asshole MMC; he is a straight-up misogynist. Jules definitely tells him off, though. The first part of the book felt very slow, but it did improve enough for me to continue and enjoy the latter half of it.
I loved the relationship between Jules and Alan. It was written very well and their moments together were absolutely hilarious. As for Tom, once he got over his misogyny, he was actually an awesome love interest. He was cute, shy, and all-around lovable. His and Jules’s relationship progressed in a way that felt very natural and real.
Jules is a total badass. She literally created her own company, which is a challenge in itself, but this book proves that challenge was really nothing compared to other aspects of her life. As this was a romance novel, I knew she would get some semblance of a happy ending. The end of this book is so sweet, heartwarming, and poignant.
This book comes out on May 26th if you are interested! The issues I had with this book were mostly due to personal preference, so if you do want to read this book I highly suggest you do.