"I might still be carrying around some baggage. But I want to work through all of it with you."

3.5 stars!

A smut heavy contemporary romance.

I quickly read through this romance, enjoying the quick pace and the fiery interactions between the main romantics leads. The beginning was a fun start and gave a strong impression to the reader of how the tone and flow of the story would be throughout.

The main characters were ones who's core decisions and gut-reactions were definitely led by the traumas of their past and their struggles to become something more than the gossip that surrounded them. The insight to the characters allowed the reader to understand the, sometimes, frustrating 'hiding away' and 'running away from problems' that I saw from the leads. However, the sexual attraction between the main leads were written well, and for readers looking for romance with explicit scenes this is the one for you.

The only aspect of the story that didn't work for me was the final arc of the story. The way events were approached and handled, for me as the reader, fell a bit flat. I feel like if it could have happened differently, that if pivotal topics would have come to a climax in less of a rushed feel, it would have been more satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for an eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

GAH the excitement I had going into this book was insane, after the first book of this series I fell in love with Shell Grove and these characters. I didn’t think it was going to be possible to like a couple from this series more than Mia and Aiden… but as far as I am concerned, MIA AND AIDEN WHO???? (Jk I still adore them)

The passion and arguing in this steamy enemies to lovers was through the ROOF. I kinda loved how you could totally tell the entire time that Ben was so far gone for Liv, even when they were arguing like crazy he was still just so enamored with her.

I was really happy that even though there was A LOT of heavy baggage Liv and Ben needed to work through it didn’t over shadow their story and romance in a negative way, we were able to have the problem fixing while being able to get to know and fall in love with Liv and Ben simultaneously. In my opinion it seems hard for a lot of authors to equally handle both, one usually tends to get more of a spotlight, so that was really well done.

This book is HOT HOT HOT, the chemistry and passion is so intense without it being over kill. Ben has set a new standard for dirt talk in my eyes, good god I need to find myself one of him ASAP.

I also totally didn’t expect to get all teary eyed towards the end a few times. So maybe do yourself a favor and have some tissues on hand??

Melanie Munton, you are a genius

3 stars

It was an ok read. I enjoyed most of the story and found some parts to be pretty funny, however I didn’t realize how much sexy/smut/spice (whatever you’d like to call it) that there’d be. I’m not a prude by any means I just want more substance to my reading. There is a major following for that though so I suspect a lot of people will enjoy this.

Spicy, very much like Tessa Bailey, but much less cringey dialogue. I'm going to grab the first book in the series and dive in asap! This was a lot of fun.

Overall I enjoyed this very steamy and sweet book. I liked the characters and how they interacted, and I love enemies to lovers. I didn't like the truth of what happened all those years ago with their parents. There were so many things wrong with that situation, and it took me out of the story. I would've just liked the story to be that they were nemeses for some silly reason that then fall in love. I would've rated this story higher if not for that. But definitely check this out if you're a fan of enemies to lovers and like spicy romance books!

Melanie Munton is a new-to-me author and I would not hesitate to pick up another book by her. There are definitely some less savory aspects of this book - a masseuse lusting for a client, two people who are step-brother and step-sister falling for each other (though they admittedly were not raised together or ever lived together), but I overall enjoyed the book. I love a good dirty-talking alpha male and Ben was definitely that. Olivia is a sex-positive heroine with sex-positive friends, and she is dedicated to her goals. I liked the development of their situationship, and Munton does a decent job layering their high school interactions into how they interact now. I did think Olivia's seemingly pretty easy acceptance of Ben's role in her father's departure from her life a bit unbelievable especially given that she has spent 12 years in complete estrangement from her father. There were some other inconsistencies that were a bit distracting (at one point Ben makes it sound like his back injury leaves him in pretty constant pain, yet he is somehow fighting, sheriffing, handymanning, sexing, etc. without issue) but I still found the book worth reading. I would definitely read Finn and Maggie's story, which I assume is coming up next. Solid 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are entirely my own.

This was the perfect fast paced book for in between my more serious reads! I enjoyed how the story got right into it, without mindless chapters of endless prose, it kept my attention the entire time. I thought Ben and Olivia's connection was very believable and I was rooting for them the entire time, I liked that electric- can't keep our hands off each other - passion. I did think the "twist" at the end had a lot of lead up, for something that could have easily been resolved a decade prior, but I suppose that was kind of the entire point. All in all, the book was super fun to read, and at times I couldn't put it down, I will definitely be reading the first in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Melanie Munton for this e-ARC!

*Reviewed on NetGalley, but will post on Goodreads once published!

I have been having the absolute best luck with Netgalley books, I am finding so many new authors that I love.

Ben and Olivia HATE each other and when I started the book I understood why and wasn’t prepared for how they would get over the elephant in their relationship. Ben’s mother and Olivia’s father had an affair while they were both still married to Ben’s father and Olivia’s mother. That’s a pretty big reason to not be besties growing up and 12 years later when they come face to face again it’s clear they still don’t get along. They fight constantly, but slowly you start to see the real Ben and that he just wants to protect Olivia.

Throughout the entire book we know that Ben had a secret that will change how Olivia sees him, and I gotta say I was dreading when that secret would come out. Obviously nothing goes as planned so the truth comes out in a horrible fashion. However Ben and Olivia are great for each other. They know each other’s trauma, since they were so intertwined and I think that is what truly made them work. They knew the ugly and were able to see past it to what made each of them perfect for each other.

I absolutely loved this book and I look forward to going back and reading Reasons Why Not To Date Public Enemy CEO and can’t wait for the next book of Maggie and Fin!

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC!
Release Date: October 4, 2022
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥 Scene: bonfire (but all scenes were 🔥 and the mouth on Ben = perfect!)

The first line about her wanting to bite her clients ass was super cringy. I almost DNF'ed it at that point.

But I am glad I kept reading because I ended up really enjoying this book.

A lot of the times books with the rivals to lovers trope has an issue with pacing. But, I didn't feel that with this book. The pacing felt organic and moved at a belivable pace. I like that we got to see Olivia and Ben bicker, but we got to see more of their feelings early on and how conflicted they were with them.

I hated that part at the end when Oliva's dad was explaining what happened and told her that Ben basically orchestrated the events on that night. Yes his dad was an abuser and they needed to get out. But I wish it had played out more that he had done something and Ben called for help. It makes it really sketchy and disturbing that he would provoke his father to abuse him.

I really tried to get into this book. But I felt myself skipping some parts just to hurry and finish it. There were definitely some moments that I didn’t care for (wanting her massage client). Olivia wasn’t the most likable character, but I did sympathize with her at times. Ben seemed a little too aggressive. I do love an enemies to lovers trope though! Overall, not bad just not my favorite.


📘: Reasons Why Not To Date Your Nemesis by Melanie Munton
🗓 Pub Date: October 4, 2022

Thank you to NetGalley, Melanie Munton for this ARC.

*Reviewed on NetGalley. Will review on Goodreads and retail once published!

Whew, this book was a ride. First, I was confused for a bit at the beginning of each chapter - can they be named Ben/Olivia? I enjoyed the plot and the character development. I didn't read the first book so I'm likely behind on the main story from book 1 but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book. The one meh thing was how it felt like they were sorta related - I know they weren't but it was the whole 'your mom, my dad' thing that I had trouble looking past through the book. I'll set aside all believe-ability with them getting it on within the B&B - HAH! The book had a nice steaminess level and makes me want to go back and read the first book of the series.

DNF at 20%

I found this book poorly written, with terribly annoying and inconsistent characters. The dialogue is miserable, repetitive, and uninteresting. There is no chemistry between the protagonists (at least up to where I got in the story). Could not finish it (and, believe me, I tried!) and would not recommend it.

I have to say, I was immediately turned off by Olivia lusting after her massage client (which turned out to be Ben). It’s just too inappropriate for me. I always like a good enemies to lovers trope, so that part was enjoyable.