3.5/5 *
plot 3.5/5 | Characters 3.5/5 | romance 4/5 | smut 1/5

There is no DNF here! Very cute light rom com that feels very much like a Hallmark movie in the making. It was a fun and easy listen in which Nicola Marsh and her characters Axel and Mia explore many popular tropes in the romance genre- "enemies to lovers," forced proximity, Insta-love etc. I loved the dual POV in this book. Axel was by far my favourite. Yes he is damaged and there is definitely some PTSD but he is complex and sweet and he developed a lot during this book. Mia seemed a little flat of a character ( her only flaw is basically her "trust" issues because her mom is a hussy...which is mentioned WAY too many times)- other than that, she seems to be naturally perfect at everything she does. I found the glimpse into the world of writing/publishing and reviewing very interesting and it was an interesting contrast to see a hopeful author vs and established author.

*unpopular opinion section*sorry, not sorry* #MakingMiaProudForMyHonestOpinion*
There were a couple things in this book that just felt too cliche to me. The tropes were cute at the beginning but then it felt as if the author was trying to get every single on in this book. Also, I know is is marked as an "enemies to lovers" but is it really? The "enemies" component seems to last a whole 20 minutes. I also didn't love the insta-love. For two characters who seem pretty smart, felling in bed together and falling in insta-love...it was all just TOO fast. They just seemed to be willing to throw their careers away for a piece of booty?! hmmm... Considering Axel is an erotica author, this novel itself ranked pretty low on the smut scale. This book also seemed to kind of throw the entire erotica and romance genre under the bus. Mia seemed so ashamed to talk about writing a period romance and the book constantly talked about how erotica is basically a quick way to make a buck in this industry. I don't know if that is true or not, but I have read many erotica novels that are better written than other popular plain 'ol fiction novels. Lastly, my very least favorite part of this book * beware mild spoiler* Near the end, when Axel was planning a way to essentially "surprise" Mia and apologize (sort of at her place of work), felt a lot like what happened to his sister. Sure he wasn't physically abusive but Axel of all people should know first hand what surprising a person to apologize that may or may not want to see you, can have dire consequences. A little to stalkerish. I like this guy so much but come on, send a bloody email or call. It made me like him a little less. Not sure if this was intentional by Marsh, but it felt yucky.

*audiobook - 3.5/5
LOVED the male narrator (5/5), didn't love the female (2/5). Anyone that listens to audiobooks frequently, usually never listens to the book at 1X the speed. This book, if you turn it up to 1.25x (which felt like the right speed for this book), was perfect for the Male narration and bad for the female. Her voice often sounded like a computer and it slightly interfered with my overall enjoyment of the book.

Overall, it is still a very cute read. If you enjoy a literary themed romance, faux-enemies-to-lovers, instalove book with many Gilmore Girls references, this is the book for you.

ps. Love the fact the main characters aren't cat fans ( or not until the end). That was super original and appreciated. Nothing against cats or anything. It's just having the puuurfect feline companion would have been just another cliche romance novel element.

The audiobook that I enjoyed was an ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The hardest type of review to write- when the book was “meh”. I feel pretty ambivalent towards it.

The book is about a book critic and aspiring author, Mia, and best selling author, Axel. The story throws all the cliched tropes at you, in a deliberate way. The characters are aware that their “lives” are paralleling common tropes. Forced proximity, enemies to lovers, grumpy sunshine, etc… I wanted it to work, but it felt forced.

Ironically, I did contemplate DNFing it- for a reason Mia talks about when reading an ARC- I just wasn’t interested in the characters. But, since it is short, I persevered.

I am not familiar with Nicola Marsh’s books, but I knew she was not American. I assumed British; turns out she is Australian. Close enough. How did I know by simply reading? The book is set in the US- mostly in Nebraska, but also in NYC. Yet she used several words with different meaning (I can’t remember each, but “fringe” instead of “bangs” when describing hair was one.) I found this ironic due to the concept of the book. You’d think if they are literally talking about good editors, that a good editor would have caught these things.

I listened to the audio version. I do not recognize the narrators- Kendra Murray and Connor Brown. They were both pretty “meh” as well.

Overall, a book that tried to laugh at the publishing world fell victim to some of the most common pitfalls.

I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I almost DNF'd this book. It has a very slow start, some immature dialogue and the audio was a little rough to listen to ( I did speed the audio up to 1.75 and it was manageable.) But the story was very intriguing once it started going.

Mia - a famous book reviewers has a few secrets, she's not writing one book, but two. Mia is a super fangirl for Axel, and enters a contest to an authors retreat held by none other than her favorite author.

Axel - a recluse author allows his manager to talk him into doing an authors retreat for 7 days to help with the publicity of his new book. At this retreat Axel will be giving a handful of authors very intimate assistance with their own manuscripts. Axel comes across a book that Mia has written and while he finds it to be a nice working piece, he also has is own beef with Mia,
Axel, has asked Mia to show up the location a day before everyone else because he's got a few things to hash out with this make or break book reviewer.

Now - What I didn't really like about this story was - how Axel brought her in a day before everyone else to bash her, make her uncomfortable and essentially bully her while shes in the middle of nowhere with no way to remove herself from the retreat. However, her being there early was needed for them to end up stranded alone, forced proximity and all that fun stuff. Just wished it was written a little differently to make Axel not seem like such a jerk.

The story was great on both sides, Axel's story had a lot more depth to it but usually the grumpy half of the grumpy/sunshine trope does.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty great listen and I would listen to more from the author.

Did Not Finish by Nicola Marsh
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

This is such a fun, enjoyable book filled with ALLLLLL the tropes.
We have the big three:
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Grumpy/Sunshine

Plus plenty more fun moments that will leave you grinning.

Mia is a professional book reviewer known for her brutally honest reviews and for labeling books DNF if they do not live up to her expectations. But...she has a secret: She wants to be a writer. And she is hopeful readers won't be as brutal to her as she often is to other authors. After winning a spot on a professional writers retreat with Axel Low, one of her favorite true crime authors, she is thrust into the an unexpected plot of her own story.

Axel hates Mia before he even meets her and he is not afraid to tell her. When the two get stranded by a winter storm at Axel's mansion, they can either continue to fight or see if there is more to their story than the first page.

Did Not Finish will be released October 4th and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for sharing an arc with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

To Axel, a writer, Mia, the harsh book critic, is the dreaded enemy. But when they are stuck together because of a snow storm, the both discover that there is more to the other than what meets the eye and that you should never judge a book by it's cover.
I did not DNF this grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity, enemies to lovers romance! Told in dual POV (Axel and Mia), I loved the universe of reviewers/critics/writers, I was in my element. I also loved the Gilmore Girls references and moments. I loved what the French call the "mise en abyme" of the book within a book, the writer writing about being a writer, it was very well done. There was palpable chemistry between the two MCs, but they get together so quick (for enemies) that the tension is missing. This romance is a quick paced short read, very well written. I listened to the audio book, and the narration was great.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Loved this multiple tropes in one book! I really enjoyed both MC’s. Axel was so hard on himself, and the convo between he and his BF, as well as his sisters PCP turned things around for him. I loved that this book was related to ARC’s and reviews, as I am a HUGE NetGalley junkie! The ending was adorable. Will be buying this book, and mentioning it in my book club on Saturday. Shout out to Netgalley for allowing me to listen and review this amazing book!
5 STARS!

Unfortunately, this book was a definite DNF for me. I just couldn’t get through it. The whole fact that the heroine was conveniently a day early to the writer’s retreat and everyone else was planning to show up a day later was a little unbelievable. Then the H/h were stranded together in a blizzard. He didn’t like her for all of about two minutes before they were all of the sudden in bed together. I just couldn’t connect with either of the characters or the story for that matter. The audiobook narrators did a good job. Huge thank you to the audiobook publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

3.5 stars. This was a fun, quick read.

It felt like a hallmark movie with some nice mild spice, and I was into it. Cozy fall & winter vibes.

I enjoyed the bookish content (trope talk/ publishers/ writers/ etc)… and several fun Gilmore Girls fan moments.

I liked the MC’s back stories... they added depth to the story. Interesting side characters that I wish we saw more of!

For enemies to lovers, they were pretty quick to get together. So I was missing some of the tension I usually feel with this trope.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the chance to listen to the advance audiobook.

Great narration. I love dual voices for dual POVs.

This was a super cute (yet kinda speedy) representation of so many tropes: forced proximity, enemies to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, insta-love, etc… I really enjoyed getting to see behind the scenes of writers and big time reviewers. It wasn’t the most enthralling story and I’m not a fan of fade to black, but it was pretty good overall.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of Did Bit Finish by Nicola Marsh. This was a fun enemies to lovers romance. I enjoyed it very much. 4 stars

This was a cute rom-com that I would love to see made into a hallmark movie! The relationship was adorable and I couldn't get enough.

Cute story but I disliked the female protagonist. I understand that we are supposed to read her problems with relationships as a result of her relationship with her mother and her mothers mini boyfriends, but Mia comes across as a bit irrational and kind of annoying at times. The s a good choice for readers wishing to encounter a PG13 romance. A little steamy but not too much.

This was a tropetastic, fun, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, dual POV romance perfect for fans of Book lovers by Emily Henry. I loved how meta this book was with two writer characters. Axel is a best-selling author in a slump, and Mia is an aspiring author looking for help who wins a coveted spot in a writer's retreat that Axel is hosting. Mia is also a professional book reviewer who has not been very kind to Axel's last few books. Together these two has irresistible chemistry both on page and off. Great on audio and one of my new favorite books from Nicola Marsh. I loved how much of herself I could see in these characters!! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!