I love books about books and this is a fun one. I loved the plethora of tropes that were all somehow pulled off in this whirlwind romance! A book to cozy up with.

This was quite a bit different than what I expected from the blurb and the vibe suggested by the cover. Snowed-in professional rivals sounded like something I would like, but this was not the fluffy romance I was expecting. This is a serious book with some poor plot choices that did not work for me at all.

The main characters are interesting and “real,” and I thought the narrators did a great job of conveying their respective POVs. I did think the narrator for Mia sounded more mature than 28. Overall I thought the narration was good quality, but it couldn’t make up for this mess of a story.

The romance really puzzled me. Both characters are keeping secrets that overwhelm their inner monologue and distract from seeing how these two were falling for each other. There were too many instances of a character intending to discuss or disclose something important only to be distracted by lust - this got really repetitive. The secrets are stretched out too much, all the way to the last chapter, and that made the book drag. And I didn’t feel the chemistry despite the supposed instant attraction between the characters. I thought Axel and Mia had more chemistry with their respective best friends than each other. I also thought it was an odd choice to have all the intimate moments off-page or fade-to-black, given the commentary throughout on how romance and erotica are misconstrued and disrespected.

There are some ethically dubious actions by both characters involving blurring professional and personal lines and disregarding conflicts. This was really uncomfortable to read and wasn’t fully acknowledged or resolved. I also didn’t enjoy all the details on the publishing industry; as a reader I actually don’t want to know how the sausage is made. It was distracting and a bit too meta. I almost felt like the story was written for others in publishing (writers, agents, editors) and not the average reader. And it didn’t reflect well on the industry; the takeaway seems to be that most genre books are a collection of formulaic elements shuffled around by authors and massaged into a final product by editors. Cynically, maybe that’s what best-seller writing is! But why would an author want to show us that. I love tropes as much as the next romance reader but I still want to feel like a book comes from the author’s heart and is not a manufactured “product.” A book about books that leaves me with that impression of the industry…not a good look.

The story included domestic violence subplot that had some questionable aspects and was not handled with the care I would like for such a sensitive topic. This subplot also veered too close to a redemptive storyline, which might be ok for some readers but didn’t work for me.

There were numerous references to other authors, books, tv, etc. - Gilmore Girls, Colleen Hoover, Bridgerton, too many others for me to recall - that were excessive enough to be weird and distracting, and also risk putting off a reader if they aren’t a fan of the referenced work. I think the author needs to let the story stand on its own without all these references to other works.

Overall, this was so different from the book description, and I think I probably would’ve passed on this if the blurb had described if differently. This may be of interest to readers who are looking for one or more of the following:
- a deep dive into publishing
- a story where the main characters are wrestling with some deep trauma
- a romance with lots of heat between the love interests but no on-page sex

This was definitely *not* a cute snowed-in romance. It was a stressful read without enough sweetness to balance it out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this audiobook.

This wasn't my favorite book to read. I struggled to get through the book, but it was such an interesting subject. I loved the premise, but it wasn't executed as well as I had hoped.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Did Not Finish follows an influential book reviewer Mia, and an established author Axel. Axel considers Mia to be his nemesis because she has a reputation to tank a book's sales performance by labeling the book a "DNF" in her review.

Axel hosts a writer's retreat in his home for 6 lucky writers who won a competition. Mia wants to leave reviewing behind and become a full-time writer and she was one of the winners for the retreat. She is a big fan of Axel, but unfortunately for her, Axel is not a big fan of Mia. He selected her so he can rip apart her writing as she has done to so many others. The only problem is her writing is actually good.

A freak snowstorm has the two stranded together and they both start to have feelings for each other. I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I was very surprised at how quickly they went from “enemies” to lovers. Of course, it was not that easy and they had some fun back and forth.

I really liked both Mia and Axel’s characters. Axel was definitely carrying a lot on his shoulders and seeing how he grows and learns to deal with his past was excellent character growth. I really like where they both are by the end.

This book is full of tropes and its lead characters are authors who love to call out different tropes as it happens and it was a welcomed sense of humor to make a little change to the overdone enemies to lovers.

This is a fast fun love story with some humor throughout. I would recommend this to just about anyone.

I love reading however, when an author throws in a mention of Colleen Hoover and continuously references Gilmore Girls through out the entire book I AM SOLD! Experienced author vs. reviewer/ new author stranded in a house together writing! YIKES! This book was fabulous from front to back. My first Nicola Marsh book and definitely won’t be my last.

I feel bad leaving a negative review given the subject matter, but at least I didn't DNF it. Did Not Finish really just didn't deliver. It tried to do way too much way too quickly. I accept that romances are fast paced, but there was just not enough time for any sort of development either for the characters, the romance, or the plot. Go read Book Lovers instead to get your publishing/writer romance fix. 2.5 stars.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC of Did Not Finish. The narrators did a fine job, but the audio sounded fuzzy and electronic. I've had this problem on Netgalley before so I assume it's not the audiobook's fault.

There is irony that I DNF'ed this one and that's the title's name.

Wow, I felt like this was sold as something very different than what it was. Neither character was likeable and the reason for the "enemies to lovers" (which wasn't really that even) didn't make any sense. For this being a bit of the behind the scenes to the industry, it doesn't match up with reality very well. It was serious and stifling and I couldn't finish it.

I liked the female narrator fine enough but I felt like the male narrator was a mumbler. It was really hard to understand him.

DNF around 25%. Casual readers might find the book more interesting than those immersed in the publishing industry. I prefer cute rom coms, and this was more serious than I expected based on the cover and description.

The enemies to lovers vibe didn’t work for me. Enemies to lovers requires witty banter, not characters vacillating between being rude and being nice. They have to OWN the dislike. It has to be real, and they can’t be afraid to show it. It would have helped if the author had been very clear from the beginning about WHY Axel resents Mia, and let him genuinely be a jerk about it. Instead, he constantly pulls his punches. As a result, I didn’t feel like the conflict was strong enough, or that anything was really at stake.

I liked the female narrator. The male narrator was a little garbled at 2x normal speed.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Stranded is such a fun trope and this was right up my alley. The whole title and premise of this was really cute, I absolutely adore bookish themed rom coms. Axel is broody and mysterious but a literal cinnamon roll. Mia's character was likable enough and not overly endearing, which I appreciated. I get tired of that with the romance genre, like okay...all the female characters don't have to be super clumsy, cutesy, endearing.

I enjoyed the overall vibes of this book and Axel's motivation as protective older brother was sweet. The self-awareness of tropes was fun since they were both writers. However, I wasn't really buying enemies to lovers here. He tried to be a jerk for all of 2.5 seconds before they were all google-eyed. Understandable for Mia since she was a super fan of his writing, but still too quick, in my humble opinion. Beyond that, the chemistry just felt forced. I really loved the concepts of this and it had so many things I liked, but at the end, all I could really say was meh. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

3.5 Stars.
This story was heavy on the bookish comments. Lots of mentioning of different tropes, publishing stuff, etc. It also has an enemies to lovers theme. The characters were interesting and the plot really had a lot going for it, but I just didn't love it.

I listened to the audio version and I hate to admit that the female narrator kind of blew it for me. She sounded a little over dramatic and I found it hard to take. I think I would have liked it better if I had read the book instead of listening to the audio.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

Did Not Finish had tons of tropes and was a bit over the top with the insta-love but it was a fast-paced, enjoyable listen. I did have a tricky time with the male narrator’s voice at my typical audiobook speed (2.0) but the female narrator was perfectly paced.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance audiobook arc for Nicola Marsh’s Did Not Finish. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. This book involves enemies being snowed in together. I enjoyed the author/critical reviewer want to be author romance. There is a side story about a loved one that will pull at you heart strings and honestly for me made the story. As well as some side characters I loved.

I really enjoyed the narrators in this one. They where a soothing to listen to and probably made the book more enjoyable than I would have like if I read this without the audiobook. I gave this book 3.5 stars (4 stars on this grid).

This book was not my favorite, not at all really. As far as I know this book doesn't give trigger warning so please at least read these before you read!!!

Domestic Violence (off page but talked about a lot, and with some detail)
Parental Abandonment (off page talked about)
Traumatic Brain Injury (off page talked about)
Sibling and parental loss (off page talked about)

I will try my best not to spoil anything but please be aware that my review my contain some spoilers or insinuations to spoilers.

In this book we follow Mia, who is a very blunt, and honest book reviewer for a newspaper. She is best known for her DNF reviews, that more or less ruin an author's career. Mia, however is an aspiring author herself, and is currently writing a thriller, and a romance (which gives very little to the plot considering how much it was referenced.) Mia enters into a weeklong writing getaway with one of her favorite authors, Axel and wins.

Axel is our second POV in this novel. He is a mysterious, super private thriller author with a weird connection to a romance author that Mia has previously ripped to shreds. Axel has a sister that he is very protective over, because she was a victim of DV, but in order to keep her safe nobody can know who he truly is. Axel needs his next book to go well, so he is influenced by his agent to host this get away, and give aspiring authors the chance to learn from him. Shortly after Mia arrives, a snow storm hits leaving the 2 of them stranded alone in his house.

Que, forced proximity, que enemy to lover, que really any and all troupes you can think of.

Now I think my biggest gripe about this book is Mia doesn't like this romance author Adele, because she feels there is to much smut and not enough plot, and the books are repetitive. That's kind of how I felt about this book, except that was no smut to redeem it. Almost instantly Mia and Axel are like "well we're stuck here might as well enjoy ourselves with a fling" and then it fades to black. Mia then talks about how amazing it was and that she wants more. If you're going to have the character enjoy it so much maybe give the reader a little bit more.

My other issue with this book is Mia knows that Axel is super private, and Axel shares littles things about his life because he likes Mia, and wants he to trust him. They agree it's a blizzard fling, so I don't know why Mia thinks Axel is going to tell her every deep dark secret he has. The secrets he keeps are pretty understandable when you consider the plot line this author is trying to create, but Mia acts like it's the end of the world. As soon as Axel is ready to admit he wants more then a fling with her, he tells her the secret.

I also think it is extremely unethical for her to even consider reviewing his books, after they had this amazing sex together. No matter how many times she says she's not bias, she is!!!

The plot line was almost there, and this could have been a really good book but it fell so flat to me. I'm honestly surprised that other people haven't had at least some of the same thoughts as me. Maybe I'm the one that's biased and I walked into this thinking it was something it wasn't but I really can't recommend to anyone other then someone looking for a short read. The length of this book is about the only thing I liked about it.

This book isn’t really a rom com which is what I originally . Mia writes reviews for books as a living and her reviews hold a lot of sway in the industry . Axel Lowe is a renowned reclusive writer and no one knows what he looks like .
Mia decides she wants to try to become a writer and apples to get a spot at his writer retreat . She gets a spot but she isn’t there for the reason she thinks .
He needs her to not write a scathing review on his next under his pen name for his romance books . He needs the money the books ear for the care of a family member
Others are also suppose to be at the retreat but there ends up being a storm and they are snowed in.
Axel and Mia are both closed off for different reasons and I liked seeing what made the characters the way they are .

I liked this book and the different voices for the audiobook but I’m not a fan of the insta love trope . It always seems to happen too quickly . Other than that I’d recommend .
Thank you NetGalley for giving me this arc and I’m reviewing voluntarily.

Honestly I requested this book from NetGalley based solely on the title. I mean - DNF?! That’s an amazing title for a book. Knowing it was a romance I had a good idea where this was going to go and I was right, but that didn’t take away from the joy of the story.

I got the audio version and I definitely enjoyed the narration. The voice differences made it clear who was speaking and when which isn’t always the case with a single narrator and I appreciate it when it comes up.

This is a sort of enemies to lovers romance. While the characters do dislike each other it really didn’t start that way. It was difficult all the way around with those two but it was really great and interesting to listen to the story unfold. I absolutely recommend this to lovers of lighthearted romance books. This hits many of the marks.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A review hoping to turn writer wins a contest to meet and work with one of her favorite writers. She comes to meet a grumpy writer who could care less about her writing or her for that matter. Cue the storm that prevents other contest winners from joining.

Overall, I thought this book was alright. There were definitely points that I wanted more and there were points that I wanted it to be sped up. But the story itself is nice and you do root for the characters to get together. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

This one was just okay. The characters were likable enough, but the story was predictable and repetitive. I think Axel might have told that story about his sister three times, and it’s not that long of a book. I wish there had been a bit more substance or mystery or something to liken it up.

This was a cute, slightly predictable, romance about two writers stranded in a home together during a snowstorm. Axel, an established writer, was convinced by his publicist to host a writers retreat for up-and-coming writers. Mia, a book reviewer, and aspiring writer, arrives a day before the others. As the snowstorm hits, Mia and Axel are stranded together. Axel has a secret and a personal reason why he invited Mia. There was written in dual point of views – Mia and Axel. I listened to the audiobook for this, and the narrators were fantastic. A quick read that kept me engaged but wasn’t a wow for me.

The title of this book was bold and slightly meta, since I contemplated DNF-ing this book when I was around a third of the way through. I also understand that this book is partly about how bad reviews can ruin an author's career, so I feel slightly bad giving this book a bad review, but part of this book is also partly about the importance of honesty.

Starting with the love between the main characters - this book is advertised as an enemies to lovers, but in reality, Mia and Axel only hate each other for about three seconds before it transitions into the trope of insta-love, which is a trope that I don't really care for. Most insta-love books have a problem of under-development in the characters' connections, and this book was no exception. They had known each other for around three days before both of them were already thinking that they loved each other, which is odd because both of them were also so incredibly suspicious of the other the entire time.

Something that I liked about this book was the emphasis on how romance novels should be taken just as seriously as other books, but sometimes, there was still a few jabs about tropes and erotica and romance as a genre, which felt so bizarre coming out of a romance book.

Speaking of romance books, I feel like this book was trying to do too much at once. It was trying to be a lighthearted romance book about two writers snowed in, but then randomly, the backstory of Axel's sister and stories about Mia's mom would just be thrown in, seemingly out of nowhere, which caused such a ridiculous tone shift that I sometimes had to rewind in the audiobook to see where it came from (the answer: nowhere).

I thought that the reveal of Adele was interesting - I predicted it, but it wasn't overly predictable, it was more just fun that I was able to put together clues and guess.

Overall, the concept of this book was much more interesting than the execution.

I received an audiobook arc of this novel.

Story: I think it meshed well to provide both sides of the story, from both the author that receives a bad review, and the reviewer who feels a duty to be honest. In my honest opinion, that was the highlight of the novel. I felt like the hatred of Mia lasted for all of 5 minutes, and then they were suddenly in love? Would have been more of a sell with a slower burn. That being said, each of the character's had some interesting skeletons in their closet, so that was ok.

Narration: I am familiar with the work of these narrators, and I don't know if they were the right choice for this novel. More specifically, Mia's narrator. I find her to be crisp, punctual, enunciates well, and yet, I did not feel a connection to the character and her manner of speaking. It was almost too professional to be Mia. It didn't feel as well connected when she was talking about things like being in love, or hating cats because of her mother, with such a voice.