Did Not Finish was a fast-paced easy read that kept me engaged. A book reviewer whose dream is to be a published author wins a meet and greet/writing retreat with one of her favorite authors- who happens to be a reclusive grump with a big secret. I really enjoyed this sunshine/grump duo. Their interactions and witty banter had me laughing and I could not put this book down.

This is such a fun one for readers! As a reviewer myself, I loved a novel from the perspective of a reviewer meeting her favorite author. This was full of the best romance tropes! Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine and insta love. 

This story is fast paced and moves very quickly. I really liked the narration for this book as well. The narrators did a great job alternating between characters. 

I liked that it really showed the perspectives of both an author and reviewer. It was interesting to hear each side. 
I would definitely read more by this author.

All the tropes and all the fun. An enjoyable audiobook that makes you wonder if you chose the right career if this could be your life in the publishing industry.

Like the title of this book, I wish I did not finish. Not great story telling and I was very underwhelmed with the audio. Won’t be recommending this one

what a cute read!!
the thing I love about books surrounding writers is when they lean into talking about bookish things like tropes- and this book delivers.
Axel and Mia offer plenty of ups and downs, twists and turns, and romantic moments to keep me invested in continuing their story. the side characters were lovable and well thought out without being distracting from the main characters and their story and development
this was such a quick and easy read that offered plenty of intrigue that i just couldn't put it down.
i look forward to reading more from this author in the future 😀

Tropes:
-forced proximity (snowed in and alone together 😍)
-"rivals" to lovers
-grumpy/sunshine
-plenty of angst and miscommunication without giving the ick
-HEA guaranteed
-cute epilogue

TWs:
-character death (non main character)
-domestic abuse (non main character)
-long term illness (non main character)

I loved the premise of this book - a book reviewer who is known for her harsh reviews goes on a retreat with a reclusive author. I was really hopeful that this would be one of those books where the characters end up making each other the best versions of themselves. Unfortunately, that is not how this one turned out for me.

Everything that was said and everything that happened between Mia and Axel felt really forced and the dialogue didn't feel natural. Ironically, that forced feeling coupled with the fact that they'd known each other for like a couple days, really made this tough to finish the book.

However, unlike Mia, a book has to be REALLY bad for me to not finish it & even though I didn't care for this book that much, it wasn't bad enough for me to not finish it.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and Nicola Marsh for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The title was too true on this one, I struggled so hard not to DNF, "Did Not Finish". I made it through...barely.

It was just too instant love/lust for me. All of it felt rushed. The whole plot felt too farfetched for me and outlandish. I was disappointed because the description of the book sounded enjoyable, but the execution left much to be desired.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Mia Samson is a well-known book reviewer, one who has just given a DNF - did not finish- to a famous romance author. Secretly Mia is working on her first mystery novel, so when she gets accepted to a retreat workshop with her favorite mystery author it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Until she gets snowed in with just the author, Axel Low has it out for Mia. She DNF'd his latest romance novel published under a pseudonym.

This was a fun "snowed in" trope. Plenty of heat for a cozy winter read.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was the first I have read by Nicola Marsh. I loved the different tropes and even the mention of the different tropes. The ending didn't seem realistic to me that Axel and Mia would just jump into their relationship so quickly, hooking up is one thing but they full fledged skipped dating and went right to basically living together.

I have been listening to audiobooks on my commute to and from work, because I cannot handle anymore of the election coverage on NPR (my usual radio station) or political commercials (on my alternative music channel).

Did Not Finish was cute, but definitely had a predictable plot and ending. Which is okay with me - sometimes I want and enjoy the predictability of the romcom storyline.

While there was some steam, the smuttiest scenes were “fade to black.”

I loved the descriptions of Axel’s home are so cozy - I would love to find an actual resort or Airbnb like this to stay in, curl up by the fireplace.

As for the audio, the narrators weren’t my favorite. The book was narrated by Kendra Murray and Connor Brown. I found Murray to be slightly robotic in the beginning, but smoothed out (or maybe I got used to her voice?) by the middle of the book. Brown, on the other hand, was very difficult for me to understand, and sometimes I would miss entire words or phrases because I couldn’t make out what he said.

I really liked this cute trope full rom com that kept me flying through this story.This story followsMia a book reviewer and hopeful author after she won a writing retreat with one of her favorite authors Axel. Axel is a thriller author who writes under a pen name and keeps his identity a mystery. He has a writing conference to help with publicity for his new book. He knew Mia from a previous DNF review and plans on getting even when a surprise snowstorm strikes causing this forced proximity romance to commence or will a secret Axel is hiding bring this instalove romance to complete hault.


I loved this book it was cute funny and engaging and I flew through this. The characters were dynamic and engaging and so lovable. I really related with Axel and really was rooting for him. I did listen to the audio and that was the one downfall. I was not a huge fan of the narrators. I wish I would have read this one physically. I would like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

This was such a meta book, and I don't always love those, so this didn't totally work for me because of that. The book reviewer and author hooking up just felt too close to what could happen in real life, which felt creepy to me. The author did a great job pulling off the stranded trope, which I do love.

Heat Factor: fades to gray
Character Chemistry: Not sure we get enough push-pull when he hates her (but really not) and they hop into bed by 35%
Plot: Mia is a professional reviewer and aspiring writer who wins a spot at Axel’s writing workshop. Axel is furious with Mia for writing a mean review about his alter ego’s book because he needs the extra income stream. They get snowed in.
Overall: Their fight seemed a bit ridiculous when they were so ethically messy from, like, page one

My feelings here are mixed because, look, I didn’t like this romance. Mia is not great, and not in an unlikeable heroine way that makes her also kinda great. Axel is…not a whole lot better. I’m not convinced that the romance was developed much beyond “Ooo, I have pants feels for this person, and also their brain is sexy, too” → “Sex is a terrible idea, but I’m gonna do it anyway because it’s sooooo goooood” → “I’m in love now.” And, as a person who reads a TON of romance, I found the primary thread of Mia and Axel’s relationship to be…not particularly novel, either in its essentials or its execution. (I acknowledge this might not be a problem for people who read less than me.) And yay! This book includes one of my least favorite things: “I told him to leave, and he did, and now I’m really mad that he didn’t prove his feelings by coming after me.” Plus the super helpful best friend who says, “You chucklehead, you need to go after her!”

Also, I listened to the audiobook, and I’ll definitely acknowledge that the narrators can impact a read. In this case Kendra Murray and Connor Brown didn’t have any obnoxious habits or weird voices that can make an audiobook a struggle, but also I didn’t feel like their narration infused the prose with the kind of life than can make a book with passable prose sound amazing. I didn’t mind listening to it (and I have DNFed many an audiobook because of obnoxious narration), but I’m not going to rave to my audio-listening friends that it’s not to be missed.

That said, the meta components of this book are really interesting to think about. (At least I think so. Some people have Very Decided Opinions about what’s correct.) Mia is a professional reviewer who is also pursuing her passion for writing on the side. Axel is a famous suspense writer who has a super secret pen name under which he writes erotica. Neither of these things are particularly weird. Reviewers and avid readers often pivot to try writing…and it’s not like they stop reading or having opinions about books when they do. Authors have different interests and set up pseudonyms that they don’t make public sometimes for personal reasons and sometimes for reasons as simple as it will mess up “also read” algorithms.

That said, there’s probably a way that these two could manage to be ethically in the clear with all these criss-crossing fronts, but they fail so hard at it that it’s difficult to think of ways they might have done more. Except just totally abdicating responsibility for behaving ethically, I suppose…they did seem interested in at least the notion of being above board.

For example, Axel is angry at Mia for writing a DNF review of one of his secret erotica books. Bad reviews suck, and some reviewers are definitely more influential than others, but if Axel is targeting his books to a specific group of readers who are seeking the specific content he’s writing, then one review isn’t actually going to tank his pseudonym’s career. On top of that, there’s no way a trade reviewer is going to review an indie publication for her job. Him going out of his way to antagonize Mia over this review appalling. And to ask for her to reconsider her viewpoint and go easier next time is shady AF, although he doesn’t go so far as to tell her what to think or write. But still! But Mia’s not perfect here, either because she admits that part of her disdain for the pseudonym’s books is out of professional jealousy, which is understandable because reviews are subjective, but it’s not at all bad for someone to tell her that she might not be reviewing as objectively as she thinks she is.

Then there’s Mia, who has somehow existed in the publishing life cycle for years and doesn’t seem to understand that the fact that she’s a professional, paid reviewer AND a writer might cause problems for her. How exactly does she think she’s going to develop a professional mentor/mentee relationship with Axel and also critique his book without disclosing that she has a personal relationship with the author? Or that a bad review wouldn’t adversely impact her relationship with him? She wants to butter Axel up so she can maybe get recommended to his agent, who’s only accepting referrals from her current clients, and she blithely moseys along like she doesn’t have to change anything she’s doing or put up any ethical walls to ensure that she is actually treating each component of her life with professionalism. This lack of consideration for the lines Mia herself is criss-crossing with abandon gives her extremely wobbly legs to stand on when she gets (reasonably) mad at Axel after finding out his secret.

AND THEN! Mia jumps into bed with Axel because he’s hot and she wants to without considering how that adds yet another layer to her already extremely gray tangle. For his part, Axel keeps telling himself he hates Mia, but he really doesn’t act like he hates Mia, so him jumping into bed with her without considering all angles is definitely ill advised but maybe less surprising. Things get really messy when Axel starts sticking up for his pseudonym after they have sex—because he finds Mia getting all hot and bothered reading the next ARC!—and Mia thinks he’s sleeping with the erotica author (to be fair, why would she ever think he is the erotica author?), which also makes her react emotionally in not great ways from her reviewer standpoint.

So, of course, things come to a head, and Axel tries to salvage the situation, but Mia has a personal backstory that makes it impossible for her to accept (which also was something I’ve read so many times that I was OVER IT before it even happened). And this might be a me problem, and I understand that part of a relationship includes that the parties need to trust one another and share intimate details, but I don’t think that it’s unreasonable for a person who has known his lover for less than a week to expose one of his most closely guarded secrets.

BUT! Thinking about the possible ways that Axel and Mia might have navigated the situation they found themselves in—because, as I said, the place they started from is totally normal and understandable—that was really interesting. I would say that a person who is not as involved in the book world as I am and who does not read as many books as I do would probably enjoy the romance and drama in this book. I, however, do live in the book world, and I read so many romance novels, that there were probably too many nitpicks on my end to fully enjoy the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Love, Love, loved this book! It's about an editor that's a writer in her spare time, who goes to a famous writer's house for a week, gets snowed in, writes her book, and falls in love. Of course, it doesn't go that smoothly, but as my grandma used to say, "Everything comes out in the wash."

This book was cute overall, though not necessarily my favorite. It leans so heavily into tropes that it felt a bit forced. Overall, a cute quick romance for book lovers though.

This one reminds me of Beauty and the Beast or By the Book. The characters follow the enemies-to-lovers/strangers-to-lovers tropes. It was a quick read.

I liked this book but I didn’t love it. It felt a little flat to me. I wanted to love it. It has so many of my favorite tropes but alas, I probably wouldn’t read it again.

Did Not Finish is about two authors and explore a number of tropes popular in many modern/contemporary romcoms.

Read if you like:
- Reading romcoms
- Books that reference the book community
- Books about authors
- Enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Slightly steamy stories

It centers around Axel and Mia. Axel is a famous thriller author whose books are no longer getting the best reviews. Mia is a professional book critic who wants to write her own books in multiple genres. They end up snowed in at his house and the sotry progresses quickly from there.

Although this book felt very rushed and insta-lovey, I really enjoyed it. It referenced many parts of the book community and focused on tropes found in romance and triller titles. The banter between the two leads made me laugh. The side-characters were supportive and did not take away from the main two characters.


The audiobook was well narrated and suited the story well.

I would recommend this book to avid book reads just for all the references.

Thank you to Net galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is Book 32 of 30 for September participating in the Bookopoly Readathon.

This story follows Mia a book reviewer who wants to become a writer and Axel a very popular author. But no one knows who he is. He keeps to himself. His publish talks him into doing a writers retreat.
Mia enters the contest and gets a spot and arrives a day earlier then anyone else. Mainly because Axel has a bone to pick with her. Not for the reviews she gives his books but for the reviews she gives for another who writes Spicy books that in her reviews she has DNF'd or reviewed them not in a good light. All she's trying to do is be honest to people that take her reviews to hear on what to read or not to read.

The only problem is his plan of telling her off falls apart with them being snowed in and no one else able to make it. This story is the trapped in troupe set in a Stars Hollow esq town. This turns into enemies to lovers FAST its story was cute but very insta love which I don't enjoy insta love stories.

Thank you NetGalley and this audio arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one has possibly every single romance trope in it. While they did try to make jokes about it, it was still a bit much for me. I think for the casual readers this book would be overwhelming with the inundation of tropes and ARCs. As someone who loves books and bookstagram, I understood the references but still found it to be a bit overwhelming. The concept was good and I enjoyed the characters, I just think it leaned into the bookish tropes a little too far.

This review has been added to Goodreads, Literal and Storygraph, as well as Barnes & Noble and Amazon. This will be posted to my instagram (@busywithmybooks_) within the week.

Thank you for allowing me to listen to this story!!