I received an advanced audio copy of Did Not Finish by Nicola Marsh from the publisher Dreamscape media in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Mia is a book reviewer and is often called the career wrecker for her reviews and the dreaded ‘DNF’ rating, but what she wants to do more than anything is be a novelist, so when she’s given the opportunity to do a writer’s retreat with the famed author Axel Low, she jumps at it. Unfortunately what she doesn’t know is that she DNF’d one of Axel’s penname’s books. Then to make matters worse they are snowed in.

What I Loved: This book’s concept is really quite good. I get the original animosity of the concept and it is the perfect enemies to lover set up and snowed in.

What I Didn’t Like: Ultimately, the great premise was not delivered. It was fine as a little silly romance (perfectly okay), but it really wasn’t much special. The characters were not very well developed and I found them not to have a lot of chemistry. I also didn’t like the fact that the author was so worked up over a DNF. I think this book just could have been really great but was eh. The storyline was a bit exaggerated and could have been a bit more clear. I wanted more.

Who Should Read It: People looking for an easy quick romance.

Summary: A writer who received a bad review is snowed in with his reviewer.

Unfortunately, this story falls short for me, mainly due to the lack of character chemistry. It was a very quick, unbelievable progression from enemies to lovers, which felt farfetched. Axel and Mia's animosity fails to evolve into genuine chemistry, so the romance felt contrived.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review.

***2.5 ⭐️***

Did Not Finish (DNF) is what I should have done to this book.

This book reads like the plot line for The Writing Retreat (Julia Bartz) but with a romantic element.

Mia is a book reviewer and an aspiring author. She wins an opportunity to spend a week at her favorite author's house to gain valuable insight and feedback about her current writing project. Little did she realize that a blizzard was approaching...

Axel is a well-known and respected mystery writer, who is harboring a secret. When he agrees to some much-needed PR for his upcoming book and opens his house for a writer's conference, he invites Mia one day early from the rest of the group as payback for all the DNF reviews she has given various writers over the years. He needs to show her the error of her ways because his sister's well being depends on it.

A few flaws here: As stated above, this relies heavily on a previously better-written theme. Yes, there are uncontrolled variables (such as a snowstorm and being stranded), but the insta-infatuation turned insta-love was just... not good. Another flaw being that Axel tries to persuade Mia to choose between her ethics of being a reviewer (thereby jeopardizing her job and status in the book community) and being loyal to him and his current financial issues.

I should put in at least one redeeming factor about this book, and that is the audio book is just under 7 hours of investment... so, that's not too horrible...

As this review is for the audio book, the low score is basically for the narrators chosen to read this book. The FMC was read by Kendra Murray, who sounded like a flirty sorority girl. Her vocal inflections never changed, even swapping off other female dialogue parts. The MMC was read by Connor Brown, who sounded like a man on the prowl at all times, even when discussing emotional trauma. I wouldn't think that such little things, like inflections or intonations, would make a difference when listening to an audio book (as I don't think my own inner voice does that when I read), but listening to this audio book was just making me lean more towards doing what title is called.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Did Not Finish by Nicola Marsh was a good read. The narrators did a good job at bring the listener in and giving life to the characters.
Mia has been in the business of reviewing books for a long time. Her opinions are highly regarded and unfortunately she has destroyed a few careers along the way by remaining honest. In her free time, she has been writing a book. She wins the opportunity to do a week long writing camp with best selling author, Axel Lowe. Little does she know that Axel has a bone to pick with her. He arranges for her to come a day before everyone else but then they get snowed in. Fun twist on the enemies to lovers trope.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own. #NicolaMarsh #DidNotFinish #NetGalley #DreamscapeMedia

Mia is a popular book reviewer and her word holds a lot of weight in the industry. Axel is a famous author, but is a recluse who doesn't share much with the public. She's been invited to his week long writers retreat in Nebraska as she is hoping to get into publishing. When she arrives, she ends up snowed in with Axel and things get steamy and complicated.

I enjoyed the two narrators for the book, the voices were great and easy to listen to and held my attention. I think my biggest issue is one that Mia mentions over and over, which is that their relationship ends up hitting all the typical romance tropes, and it just kind of felt like the author was trying too hard to make sure they hit every one. The plot was okay, and I did enjoy it, but it was just over the top with the tropes it hit and really felt like it was a checklist and not a natural flow. I don't mind the back story for either character, though again that felt like it was a checklist of specific traits they needed to have. The best part was the cat. If you're looking for cute fluff then this works.

This was a sweet, short romance where a book reviewer works on her first book and signs up for a book retreat with her favorite author. She arrives early to the retreat only to be trapped in a blizzard with the author, who happens to be a very good-looking man. As their feelings develop, truths start to be revealed and could potentially ruin their budding love. It was fun to listen to the book reviewing aspect, and the narrator does a great job.

I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of this book and found a trope that I really enjoyed - being stranded! On top of the grumpy/sunshine and age gap, the forced proximity romance definitely gave me what I was looking for at the time of reading. I was fully immerse and listened to this audiobook in two sittings. As someone who has attempted to write a book at more that one point in her life, I know how amazing an opportunity like this would be, and it makes it even better it's with a hot author. It was nice to see the characters flaws, and read about their worries alongside their dreams. All in all, I enjoyed this one and would definitely pick it up for my shelves, as well as read other Marsh books!

This was just fine. Its sort of an unmemorable rom-com. I don't think there was anything really great or awful about it.

Thank you so much to net galley for sending me a copy of this book. I wasn’t super interested in this book but I would read more by this author.

There was a lot I liked about this book, and only a bit that I didn't. I like the romance genre, and I love books about books (and authors, and critics) so I was a sucker for a romance about an author and a critic who's also an aspiring author. In this case Axel is the author who's had a good deal of success in his career but who's been struggling recently. Mia is the critic known as the "career-wrecker", but she's also an aspiring author who's working on her first book. She's thrilled to win the opportunity to go to a weekend writing retreat at Axel's home in small-town Nebraska, hoping to find out whether she really has the talent to launch a writing career. This being a bit of a rom-com, their first meeting doesn't go well, and things go downhill from there until they find that they're snowed in and the other participants in the retreat aren't able to get there due to the weather. They are, of course, attracted to each other when they aren't busy being aggravated by each other. They both have secrets, and we learn Axel's secret gradually over the course of the book. And here's my little bone to pick - like the vast majority of romances, I sat there thinking "talk to him/talk to her!!!" Even an introvert myself can watch the drama unfold and think how much misunderstanding could be solve with a little communication. But alas, I suppose that's a lot like real life. Overall though, I liked this one and it was fun to watch so many tropes happening in one little book. I'll definitely be looking for more of Nicola Marsh's books.
Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

I think this book had potential but overall it missed the mark for me. I considered DNFing but the audiobook was short and and I was listening to it on a faster speed so I pushed through. This was marketed as enemies to lovers but I feel like they were barley enemies before they both started have feelings for each other. This was way to insta-lovey for me. They literally said I love you days after knowing each other barley have had any serious conversations and arguing multiple times. I think if this had been more drawn out it would have been a lot more enjoyable. Overall, this was a 2.75 for me.

just like the tile, I was not compelled to finish. I would pass it was super hard to get into and I put it down on chapter 5.

4 Stars

I really enjoyed this book, I love an enemies to lovers troupe. I enjoyed this audiobook. Some parts of the book felt a little rushed but I enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the ARC.

This book had some of my favorite things: forced proximity and main characters who are involved in the book world (a reviewer and author). The only things that took away from my personal experience is I feel the romantic transition happened too quickly (bordering insta-love) which is not typically a trope I go after. I think readers who don’t mind that, will enjoy this book.

I did not finish this one, which I know is ironic. Once I got my bearings, things felt a bit predictable and off-pace. This seems like it would be a quick, easy read for someone who enjoys the “stranded” trope!

Mia works as a book reviewer, earning her the nickname the career-killer. She secretly dreams of being an author in her own right and is beyond excited when she wins the opportunity to spend a week with her favorite author, Axel Lowe, critiquing her writing. Axel Lowe has an axe to grind with Mia, seeing all the careers she has ruined, so he invites her a day early to the writing retreat. When a blizzard blows in, the two find themselves trapped together for a week. Which will win out, Axel’s disdain or the chemistry they feel?

This really did not seem like an enemies-to-lovers story, given their immediate attraction to each other. This was a relatively short book, and there just wasn’t time to explore all of the tropes that were included. It was a cute story but nothing special. Mr. Darcy was the best part of the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

First and foremost, I absolutely loved the narrator who voiced Axel, he nailed the deep, raspy, and moody voice that I pictured Axel having.
Stranded alone with a man she just met (whom could change her career forever) Mia must fight her way through a blizzard, a novel, and a love interest. This cutesy sunshine/grumpy novel is a must read for any romance book-lover. Mia is a career-wrecking book reviewer with the power to change the thoughts on any book, however she is still wishing for a chance to write a book of her own. Axel is a reclusive author who no one knows. You couldn’t even find a picture of him online. So what happens when these two are stuck together in a blizzard? Absolute chaos… or love?

This was a quick, fun read. First of all, I love books that center around the literary world and tropes / bookish things are a part of the dialogue so I was hooked from the start. It also had so many things I enjoy in a book: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, small town Gilmore Girls vibes, dual POV. Plus, it was the perfect winter read since the main characters are stranded because of a blizzard!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC!

Did Not Finish was not the book for me. It kinda lost me after 30%. Maybe this will be good for others. I will not be posting my review to Goodreads.

This was a good audiobook!
It's a fairly short listen, 6 hours 40 minutes. I do think this was too short for the premise. Tbe two main characters had an instant dislike for each other, and I think this could have been extended further into the book. I love the enemies-to-lovers trope, and I feel like their relationship changed way too quickly and could have been explored more.
That said, I did really enjoy the book. The narrators were fantastic and I looked forward to listening whenever I could. I was completely engaged in the story and wondered how things would turn out.
The characters were layered, as their pasts were pivotal in their later behaviour, and I loved this part. It became more than 'just a romance' for me.