This was a really cute book. Something I listened to while I was doing other work and it was enough to keep me invested enough to keep listening. It was missing something that would push it to five stars but a solid four stars from me!

Perfect ingredients for a cute romcom. Childhood friends to love hate enemies, Ivy’s brother’s best friend James is the best man at Luke’s wedding, Ivy just happens to be the Innkeeper and wedding planner for the big event. There is no way to avoid each other and everyone but James and Ivy seems to know they belong together. Throw in a bride Godzilla and you will be laughing your way through the ups and downs in the HEA of Ivy and James.
I throughly enjoyed the narration of this audiobook, they both did a wonderful job. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #TheNextWorstThing

This book combined two of my favorite tropes, brother's best friend and enemies to lovers. I didn't find a lot of comedy per say in this story, but the banter was still enjoyable. Not only were the main characters enjoyable, but the side characters were fun as well. I would love to see a second story about Daisy and Luke. Overall, an adorable read and I recommend this story to anyone looking for a fun feel good story.

The Next Worst Thing is a fun and lighthearted rivals (enemies seems too strong a word) to lovers romance. The story itself is fairly simple and makes for a quick read, and the characters are loveable though a bit bland. If you're a fan of spice, this book isn't for you, but I found it to be a nice read.

Ivy is set on reviving her family's legacy in their hotel. She's got plans, the responsibility, and her brother's wedding to really seal the deal... Until her brother's oldest friend takes over best man duties.
This story unfolded in a cute progression, slowly unraveling the stories of time, the baggage of life, and growing through problems. I liked that this book was a bit more wholesome which made it feel more well rounded.
The audiobook readers were great for this and fit the characters well.

#thenextworstthing #netgalley

The Next Worst Thing
Sara Woodley
Ivy Brooks is very happy running her family’s Inn. Her brother, Luke and his fiancé, Lenore, are planning to marry at the Inn and have left most of the details to Ivy. Luke’s best friend James Weston is the best man. James and Ivy have long been enemies however he finds himself attracted to Ivy and does everything he can to make the wedding easier on her. Ivy isn’t happy to see James at first, but he starts to grow on her and soon she finds herself drawn to him.
I liked Ivy even though she was her own worst enemy. James was a delightful character. Cam was a spoiled brat. Lenore was not nice. Luke tried very hard to please Lenore, but nothing would ever please her.
This is a sweet read, however, there were times when I lost patience with both James and Ivy. Ivy tried very hard to plan a beautiful wedding for her brother and his fiancé, but Lenore walked all over her. Ivy allowed both Cam and Lenore to walk all over her. As I said this was a sweet read, but it needed something more. The plot was predictable and lacked depth. It wasn’t a terrible read but could have used more development.

A fun frenemies rom com that is funny, sweet, heartbreaking and wrapped in a great happily ever after! The main characters at the center of this romance have been butting heads, pranking each other and battling it out since they were little kids, but as they say there is a fine line between love and hate especially when you realize you may not have ever actually hated each other! A wonderful setting in a great family-owned inn that is hosting a wedding that our frenemy couple is helping put together is wrought with issues that leads me to believe that there will be another book soon to keep us delightfully entertained! The narrators of the audio book did an outstanding job of bringing the characters to life and helping you truly feel their emotions thus bringing the book more fully to life! I absolutely can't wait to read or listen to more from this author!

Wedding planning, a family-owned Inn, and old frenemies made for a very cute rom-com novel.

The romance/spicy level was a slow burn and PG which worked for the novel but would love to have James intern or external dialogue show more sexual tension between him and Ivy!

The whole novel has loveable characters. Reminded me of the movie The Proposal with the seasoned-in-age local photographer.

Requested an early copy from Dreamscape Media. I picked Audiobook and didn't have any issues following the storyline. The narrators did a great job too. Cute, cozy, read!

This was just the audiobook I needed at the right time. A small town, long time enemies to lovers, sweet romance.

The narrator’s voices were just right for me. Ivy’s is cute, assertive, and funny. Jame’s voice is like candy to my ears with the English accent. I loved both characters the whole way and enjoyed the funny banter and tricky circumstances.

The town and Inn I would love to explore. The side characters are all people I would love to meet and hang out with. Other than the love interest of Ivy’s brother.

But a good story needs people we don’t quite like, right?

Highly recommend if you love rom-coms.

I loved this book so much! I'm definitely going to bed to order my own copy for my shelves. So cute and sweet. I didn't even realize until I wrote this that there was no spice.

This book was simply sweet!!!

I am fairly new to audiobooks. This was the first one I have listened to that had multiple narrators. I really enjoyed having more than one voice as I felt it helped progress the story. The only thing I wish was different was that they didn’t alternate narration based on the chapter. I would have loved to hear all the male voices done by the male narrator and the female voices done by the female narrator. It wouldn’t have taken me out of the story when they had to try and do accents.


As far as plot goes, I enjoyed this. This is a story I would be able to read or listen to with young and old alike. It offered the perfect balance of romance without venturing into the realm of erotica. This truly is a wholesome love story.

Tropes:
enemies-to-lovers
falling in love with brother’s best friend

Trigger Warning:
Deals with death
Failed wedding

Special thanks to NetGalley.com, Eleventh Avenue Publishing Inc., and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I. Want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. Cute romcom.if you love Hallmark type stories this is perfect for you.

This wasn't outwardly bad. It wasn't great. It was pretty boring, and the parts that weren't were just cliché.

This is a sweet small town romcom. The book is about Ivy who is in the middle of planning her brother Luke's wedding and trying to prove to her grandparents that she can run their small inn. Luke informs her that his best man and best friend James is arriving early to help with last minute wedding items. The problem is that Ivy and James do not like each other and have been feuding since high school. There was a single event that sent them on their current course.

This was a very sweet book, the characters were fun and I loved the small town Stars Hollow/Hallmark movie vibes. Ivy and James slipped into their old ways but eventually they really started to spend time together without their feud getting in the way. Spending more time with Ivy, James discovers that he has feelings for Ivy and probably always has. Ivy has more difficulty coming to terms with feelings for James and that results in a very awkward, yet fun to read, double date. You can tell Ivy and James really care for each other despite their misunderstandings. They support each other and challenge each other.

This book is a dual point of view story and the audio version also had two narrators. James' character is originally from England and the English accent of the male narrator was great to listen to. This is a closed door romance, so don't expect any steam.

Read this if you like:
*closed door romance
*dual point of view
*small town romance
*enemies to lovers
*brother's best friend

Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Sarah Jane Woodley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty good book but there were a few things I took issue with. First, the good stuff. I liked the characters and I always enjoy a good enemies to lovers. I thought the writing was good though I did get bored in a few places. The setting was fantastic. The narrators also did a really great job. On the flipside though I felt like the story line was so predictable that it might the ending boring. I also felt like I didn't get enough closure certain aspect (Can't say or it will give it away). The ending was a bit rushed and I really felt like there could have been a better way to wrap it up. Overall it was an okay, 3 star, read/listen for me.

Thanks to netgalley for an ALC.

Small town, brothers best friend/childhood enemies to lovers clean romance novel. Simple but fine. Unable to give higher score for character and plot development. Felt too surface level not giving me enough complexity regarding the change of feelings between the two main characters.

That being said, the book was dual narrated and both were exceptional!

This was just pure FUN in this enemies to lovers/brother's best friend story. Ivy and James have had a prank war going on since high school but with the wedding coming up they have called a truce, that is until one of them pranks the other first. Too bad the bride is the worst (why or why did her brother stick with her from high school). The snark and sass was priceless and watching Ivy and James find their way from misunderstanding to so much more. I cannot wait for book two. Definitely recommend this one!

Ivy has recently taken over the family inn. On her quest to make it on the wedding circuit, she volunteers to have her brother's wedding at the inn. When Luke's long time childhood friend, and Ivy's worst enemy, James, comes to town early for the wedding, things get weird. Ivy is perfectly content putting aside her hatred for James for Luke's sake, but as they spend more time together, is she putting her hatred aside for something else?

This book was such a fun, cute, light-hearted read. From the get-go you're rooting for James and Ivy. I love the small town dynamic and the "friends-since-childhood" friendships of Daisy, Luke, Ivy and James. I loved the dual POV/ narrators.

I definitely recommend listening to this audiobook if you're looking for a cute rom-com.

Thanks to Net Galley for letting me listen to the advanced audiobook version of The Next Worst Thing! All opinions are my own.

This is a fun enemies to lovers, brother's best friend story. It kept my attention the whole time. I enjoyed the characters and while the story is a common one it felt different. I would read more from this author.

I’m pretty sure the target audience for the book is preteens — while positioned as a romance, it felt young and immature, which is fine for what I suppose is the intended reader but left it dragging for me. Three stars to split the difference.