This is the third book by Birchall that I’ve read and I think it’s my favorite. There was plenty of humor with some mild spice. Harper, the main character drove me a little crazy but I loved her best friend. And I did enjoy seeing how Harper changed throughout the book.

Katy Birchall's books remain a delight. I really appreciate that she goes left where many other chick lit books go right; instead of creating avoidable crises time and again, Birchall tells a story with plenty of drama, but not moments where you want to throw the book across the room. At one point, early in the book, Harper, the editor of the celebrity beat for a newspaper's weekly magazine, mentions that she hasn't finished writing the Big Scoop that she had gotten--she's out for drinks and mentions she has another event that night before needing to finish she story. "Great," I thought. "She's going to miss her deadline and then her boss's worst instincts about her will be confirmed."

But no. The next chapter begins and we find out that the story came out and got a ton of traction and kudos. Harper's Inappropriate Boyfriend (who has started his own talent agency) also managed to not mess anything up for Harper, though I was sure he would.

Instead, Harper deals with the reappearance of Ryan in her life. The two were interns together 10+ years ago and have History; they spent the entire book bickering, but in a way that manages to be fun instead of annoying. Harper also has to deal with her unsupportive parents and boss. Harper is depicted as being a bit all-over-the-place and disorganized, but I love that she's nothing but excellent at her job. And Ryan is entirely supportive of her. I probably liked him more than her, honestly, but reading about her constantly losing things was stressful!

Overall, a really fun read and I can't wait for Birchall's next book. (It's not quite 5 stars for me, though I can't give a real reason for that.)

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press / St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

This one started off pretty strong for me. I really enjoyed that it was about a celebrity journalist — I found that aspect so interesting! I loved Harper’s passion for her job even though it didn’t live up to her family’s expectations.

🔹 second chance romance
🔹 enemies to lovers
🔹 workplace romance

I liked the bickering between the MCs at first, but Harper’s unnecessary grudge towards Ryan started getting a little old and the miscommunication was frustrating.

Rating 3.75/5 stars

I had such a good time reading The Last Word! This was my first read by Birchall and it didn't disappoint. Enemies to lovers and a little second chance romance all while Harper, our FMC, tries to navigate the ever-changing landscape of journalism and a tough relationship with her parents.

I absolutely adored Harper and Ryan! Harper was so relatable to me and I really enjoyed watching her grow through the novel.

The pacing and writing was fantastic. Once I got started, I couldn't stop. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read and I can't wait to dig into more of Katy Birchall's backlist!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC. All thoughts are wholly my own.

First, a big thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an e-arc to read & review.

My rating: 3.5 ⭐️/5

This is my first novel by author Katy Birchall, but it won’t be my last. The Last Word is an enemies to lovers, second chance workplace romance which are some of my absolute favorite tropes. At times I was annoyed by Harper and found her to be immature. Other times I found myself rooting for Harper to stand up for herself with her family & her boss.

This is a well written, quick, easy read that I would recommend to anyone who looking for a romance with realistic characters, believable conflicts, and a happy ending.

DNF @ 17%

Wasn't loving the writing style or the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an advance copy.

Rating: 3.5/5
Spice: 2/5
My thoughts:
This was my first book by Katy Birchall and it definitely did not disappoint. I did get major Hating Game vibes, although not so much Beach Read vibes as mentioned in the description of the book. I am a liiiiiittle biased that enemies-to-lovers is not always my favorite because I get SO frustrated with the MC's because they clearly like each other and why won't they just admit it already!!! I do love a good British Rom-Com and Birchall did not disappoint on that front. Overall, this book was witty, charming, binge-worthy and won't be my last Katy Birchall book I read! Be sure to check it out when it launched on 5/2/23.

All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

Give me all the enemies to lovers romances. The Last Word was funny, quirky, romantic, sweet, powerful, and beautiful all at once. I loved the slow burn of Harper and Ryan's relationship and then loved learning about their past at the same time. While at its core, The Last Word is a romance, the book tackles a lot of great subjects including women's equality in the workplace, family drama, careers, and more.

This was such a fun read, and I had a hard time putting it down. I was so sucked into the story and needed to know what happened. A fabulous ending too!

Read this one. It's fantastic.
Thank you, St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
4.5/5 stars

Truly wasn't a fan of this story. I found the characters to be quite immature and I was getting very bored with the back and forth bickering between the main characters. I found I really had to push myself to get through this one.

I really enjoyed this book! It had so many of my favourite things – second chance romance, workplace enemies to lovers, slow burn, he fell first, amazing banter & strong female friendships. I thought Harper was a wicked FMC! She was strong, smart & a rockstar journalist. I liked the then & now timelines & getting to see Harper & Ryan first meeting to then seeing each other again after 10 years. I laughed & I cried & I would definitely recommend this book!

If you're a fan of The Hating Game by Sally Thorne or Book Lovers by Emily Henry, I think you will enjoy this "magazine workplace, rivals with a history" novel. However, this book does lean easy on the spicy side overall and is more about the backstory and workplace in the beginning. About 2/3 of the way through, romance becomes the main focus.

Usually, I want straight-up romance in my books, but I thought the magazine atmosphere and Harper's job of interviewing celebrities were both very engaging and I found myself wanting to know about those things as equally as the romance. And the romance was very cute. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

Katy Birchall's The Last Word is a whole lot of fun!

Harper is an ethical celebrity journalist who knows how to get celebs to open up. Ryan is the new hire features editor. These two have a history, though. Years ago, as interns, they had a whirlwind romance until Ryan betrayed Harper. The two haven't spoken since. Now thrown together again, and in an environment where corporate layoffs and competitiveness looms, these opposites bicker with one another but find the old chemistry still exists.

I loved Birchall's The Wedding Season and couldn't wait to dive into this one! Enemies to lovers, opposites attract, office romance, this was a second-chance romance that did not disappoint! With their great chemistry, the bickering and banter between the two MCs is spot on and made me laugh. Harper is a relatably imperfect FMC with a heart of gold, and I just loved her. A vivid cast of supporting characters surrounds her and Ryan, their boss is awful, but many of the rest are lovable and bring comedic relief.

Birchall's writing style makes her books easy to binge. They read like a lighthearted cross between women's fiction and rom-com. This delves into multiple areas of Harper's life, and her character grows. The Last Word serves up some genuinely heartfelt moments, romantic tension, and humor. I enjoyed it so much and will gladly read anything Birchall writes!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review this ARC.

THE LAST WORD - KATY BIRCHALL
3.75⭐

PLOT -
Harper Jenkins is a celebrity editor working for a glossy weekend magazine with the best contacts in the business. Her awful boss hires Ryan as the new features editor. Harper hates the sight of Ryan after she felt betrayed by him 10 years ago. Now working together they Re constantly at war with how each person works but as they spend time together Harper realises may be she has misjudged Ryan they rekindle their romance but when one of them has a lay off will history repeat itself and this time who will have the final word?

MY THOUGHTS -
This is a work enemies to lovers , 2nd chance romance.
Harpers character, her personality was this chaotic messy person who would irritate many times ,was like this dog with a bone who went after what she wanted..and i appreciated how she worked for what she wanted to do and get it done was highly commendable.
Ryan didn't learn from his past mistake and was quite expected with the way the story was going in the climax so there was no surprise there.
Overall a cute one time read which fans of hating game will enjoy .
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed The Secret Bridesmaid and liked The Wedding Season so I was looking forward to The Last Word by Katy Burchall but it missed the mark for me.

I normally like enemies to lovers but I didn't love the banter between Harper and Ryan. It was weird to me that she kept it hidden that they knew each other from when they were interns. Overall it was a quick read but I just felt meh about the story and characters.

THE LAST WORD • Katy Birchall

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Considering how obsessed I was with The Secret Bridesmaid and The Wedding Season, I was thrilled to receive an eARC of Birchall’s upcoming release.

Abridged Synopsis: Harper Jenkins is a journalist with a knack for getting tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up to her. She loves her job working for a magazine as Celebrity Editor but when her boss hires Ryan to be the new Features Editor, Harper is furious. The two had met a decade earlier, back when they were interns at the same publication, where they fell into a whirlwind romance…until Ryan betrayed Harper, and they never spoke again. Yet as they’re forced to spend more and more time together, Harper realizes she may have misjudged Ryan and can’t help but feel a spark growing between them. But all is fair in love and magazines, and with the news that layoffs across the department are imminent, Harper is left to wonder who will get the last word?

I love Katy Birchall so naturally my expectations for this book were pretty high. And while the writing stayed strong, I could not get past the fact that this book was almost copy paste The Hating Game. And tbh? I found THG to be a bit more memorable. So is it a cute, well written romance book? Absolutely. But does it stand out from other books highlighting the same sort of troupes? Unfortunately not.

Not for me unfortunately. I kept falling asleep on how I’ve already read this story just with different characters.

I’m a fan of this author and have loved all her previous work. This book is a cookie cutter enemies to lovers. Completely unmemorable. There’s nothing to hate but nothing to rave about also.

The Last Word by Katy Birchall was a really fun romance that I enjoyed!

Harper and Ryan had a fun romance. I was cheering for them from the begin.

This was a slow burn romance that kept me flipping the pages.

If you like a fun romance with great characters, I highly recommend this book !

The Last Word is a second chance, enemies-to-lovers story. Harper and Ryan first meet as interns, both aiming for the same permanent job as journalists. Now it's years later, and he has started working as the same newspaper that she is.

Throughout, many of the other characters in the book refer to the obvious chemistry between Harper and Ryan. However, in reading it, their conversations typically came across more as bicker than banter. They exchanged a lot of angry, and almost childlike insults.

I appreciated that the flashback scenes between them were pretty short, and the book was more focused on the present. Overall, I was quite engaged in the story. I especially loved how it started and getting to see Harper as quite competent in her job. It feels like so many rom-coms begin by establishing that the female protagonist is at rock bottom. It's so refreshing to read about a woman excelling instead.

I do recommend strongly against reading the synopsis if you don't want spoilers. It gives away much of the third act. This was a fun and funny rom-com, cementing just how much I like Katy Birchall's writing style.

Thank you to SMP Romance and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

4.25 stars

After reading and highly enjoying Katy Birchall's last book, The Wedding Season, I was excited to get my hands on this newest one of hers. I quite enjoyed this meld of various tropes including workplace, second chance, and enemies to lovers all in one book. I didn't care for the reasons behind Harper and Ryan's first breakup, or the third act breakup either which is why I can't give this book 5 stars but it is a solid 4 star from me!