Rating: 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The book started a little slow in the beginning, but I ended up really enjoying the last two thirds of the book. It had a lot of tropes that I adore: hate-to-love, second chance romance and opposites attract. Harper, the main character, had an interesting job as well. The author gave us a lot of information about her work as a celebrity writer and I found those parts to be intriguing.

There were two things that made me lower the rating though. Harper as a character irked me at times. I feel like there is a fine line with hate-to-love romances and in this case, the author went with writing Harper and Ryan’s arguments to be a little juvenile. They would sometimes fight over the dumbest things. While Ryan would try to compromise and reason with Harper, she would constantly let her pride get in the way. She also wouldn’t sometimes get tunnel vision and refuse to see things from his perspective. Another problem I had with the book was that the romance fell to the background at times. This comes down to personal preference though. I usually like having the romance plot at the forefront.

All in all, this was a fun read. If you like romances similar to The Hating Game, I would definitely consider checking this out.

I enjoyed about 75% of this book. I REALLY wanted the main male character to have a stronger backbone and it was distracting.

💙 The Last Word ARC Review 💙

Thank you so much to Katy Birchall @katybirchallauthor and St Martins Press @smpromance @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read and review this book!!

The Last Word is a contemporary second chance RomCom set in London. Harper is a celebrity journalist who has worked hard to build a trustworthy image with those she interviews. However, when she gets a new editor, she realizes they’ve worked together before. Ryan was an intern with her earlier in their careers, and they’ve never gotten along. But a workplace rivalry can lead to explosive chemistry…

I really enjoyed this book! Harper is an educated, well rounded character who is passionate about the work she does. Ryan is just a squishy cinnamon roll who needs all the love! This book was exactly what I love about second chance romances - right couple but wrong time initially. It was an absolute delight to read about Harper and Ryan coming together again

Overall this was an awesome 4 star read for me! I personally would have loved to see some chapters from Ryan’s PoV, but it was a great read regardless! This book had a few spicy scenes, but nothing super detailed - so two flames for spice

If you’re a fan of workplace rivalries, second chance romances, great banter and great characters, then this is absolutely the read for you!!

Review will be posted to Amazon upon publication

Romance Trope T R I F E C T A: enemies to lovers ❤️ second chance romance ❤️ and office romance! “The Last Word” by Katy Birchall is witty, hilarious and off the charts adorable!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Harper is a bad ass Celebrity Editor for a lifestyle magazine! She is known for being an honest journalist who has a knack for getting even the most tight lipped celebrities to open up to her 👄!!

When a nemesis from Harper’s past gets hired into her newsroom as an editor, her world gets turned up aside down! 10 years prior, Harper and Ryan were both interns at the same publication. Friendly competition later turned into fireworks … until Ryan betrayed her! How is she supposed to sit beside someone who is so infuriating, pompous and a thorn in her side?? Who will get The Last Word??

Read this if you enjoy:
🎙️Enemies to lovers
🎙️Office romances
🎙️Opposites attract
🎙️Second chance romances
🎙️Bicker & Banter

Thank you kindly to St Martin’s Press, Katy Birchall and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This cutie book releases on May 2, 2023!

This workplace enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers was a fun, well-paced book that had you rooting for Harper and Ryan.

Harper is a chaotic but dedicated workaholic. She finds order in chaos and treats those she writes newspaper articles about with respect. Ryan is orderly and wants to encourage change with the pieces he writes for a sister newspaper to Harper's. In what seems like a past life, these two held an internship together and only one of them gets the job at the end. This is a prominent point throughout their story together and through flashbacks we get to read what happens.

I really enjoyed the back and forth between Harper and Ryan. Harper's dedication to writing meaningful stories about the celebrities she interviews is a sticking point and something Ryan admires about her. The secondary characters also lend to more interaction between the pair and provide some comic relief.

This book surprised me in the best way! It’s been awhile since I read an enemies-to-lovers romance where the trope pitted the two MCs against each other for believable reasons. Harper and Ryan are the perfect foil to one another: they are both super stubborn, completely opposite in everything, except for the appreciation they have for journalism. Add to that a workplace romance, and this book delivered all the quippy banter and office tension I could want.
Harper is a bit of a mess in every way EXCEPT for her ability to connect with celebrities on a personal level. Ryan is the half-Swedish, shy, super organized gorgeous demigod who is replacing Harper’s office mate at the magazine where she works. The thing is, they’ve met ten years before, and it didn’t end well, setting off a competitive streak in each to be the best at their jobs. I love, love, loved the dialogue between Harper and Dan and even though it’s easy to see from the start how their arguments can fuel passion, it was so much fun listening to them. The dual timeline worked well to help capture the build up in tension between these two, from interns competing for a job to coworkers that have to get along. Harper is a complex character and it was so nice to see that she wasn’t just some ditzy celeb journo, but a girl who is really good at what she does despite her non traditional methods. And sweet, patient Ryan—I love it when a hero falls first and he balances Harper so well. Birchall’s side characters are written just as well as her MCs and Mimi and Isabella are a delight as much as Cosmo is an idiot and Harper’s parents are intense. I’ve yet to meet a book by Katie Birchall I did t like, and this one was no exception. I hope the Last Word makes it to everyone’s TBR.
Content warnings: parental gaslighting, cheating partner, lying, character giving birth on page, workplace belittling.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Word features, Harper, a top-notch celebrity reporter and Ryan, another writer who she hoped would stay in her past. This is a great enemies-to-lovers romance with a dual timeline that lets us see why Harper has to argue with everything Ryan says and fight for "the last word". I loved reading their tension at work in the midst of them obviously having some feelings for each other. Harper's boss, Cosmo, is a jerk and he adds some chaos and frustration to her job. Add in that her parents don't value what she does, but thankfully she has some very supportive friends and amazing networking skills. I enjoyed getting to see Harper successfully win over celebrities and getting a glimpse on why telling their stories is important to her. The last two books by Birchall that I've read have been more women's fiction, but The Last Word is clearly a romance story, which I loved!

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for the digital ARC.

The Last Word is a delightful mashup of enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance, and opposites attract. Harper loves her job as celebrity editor at a magazine when the new features editor is announced - her kinda-sorta ex and current nemesis, Ryan. Is all fair in love and publishing?

Katy Birchall has done it again! The characters are dimensional and endearing, the humor is just right, and the chemistry crackles at a slow burn until it pops. I really enjoyed this story that encompassed growing up, moving on, dealing with family traumas, carving your own path, and finding your people. Highly recommend!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for gifting me with an ARC to review. I loved it!

This rivals-to-lovers romance is a fun read! I enjoyed the characters a lot, Although Harper seems to be a bit quick to jump to conclusions and think the worst of Ryan, she becomes more relatable as the story develops, and the emotional scars left by her cold, dismissive parents make her reactions understandable. The writing flows well, and the humor never goes over the top, a common failing in romantic comedies. The relationship between the two evolves into a tentative friendship and then into romance in a satisfying slow burn. Cosmo is an antagonist that's fun to hate, and the setting of an online magazine business adds interest to the story. Mimi is a good foil for Harper as a best friend, and Ryan's warm family relationships make a good contrast to Harper's difficult ones. Harper's struggles with misogyny in the workplace make her eventual discovery of her true calling a rewarding outcome. I highly recommend this one to women's fiction/romance readers!

It really took me a bit to get into this one, but once I did, I was hooked! Ryan and Harper are fantastic leads, and the supporting cast is truly one of the best. Truly enjoyable read.

Work-place romance/second chance/enemies to lovers all in one. This was described as The Hating Game meets Beach Read and while The Last Word is a more closed door version, it's an accurate description.

Starting out it was hard to connect with Harper and the descriptions of the journalism world but that was quickly overcome. She is a quirky, kind, hard-working character who puts her career first. Ryan is slightly awkward, nerdy, thoughtful, and Harper's biggest cheerleader. The banter/straight up arguments between Harper and Ryan were fun, but didn't really turn a corner until halfway through the book.

I wasn't a HUGE fan of the repeating drama/miscommunication as I feel with the growth Harper and Ryan showed throughout the novel they could have handled it and the aftermath better, although it did lead to some significant growth for Harper.

All in all a fun read, will read more by Katy Birchall in the future.
3.5 stars
0 spice

4 ⭐️

✨Quick synopsis: Harper Jenkins is the Celebrity Editor for a glossy weekend magazine and is known for getting tight-lipped A-Listers to open up during interviews. When her ex, Ryan, is hired to work alongside of her, Harper has to confront their past and the feelings she still has for him.

✨ My Thoughts: This a fun workplace romance full of banter and drama. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things Harper & Ryan said to each other. The characters are well developed, I enjoyed the growth of Harper and her work ethics, the London setting, and the busy journalism life that was tied in.

Read The Last Word if you like:
🌟 second chance romance
🌟 enemies to lovers
🌟 witty banter
🌟 opposites attract (He’s neat & quiet, She is messy and the life of the party)

Pub Date: May 2

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really enjoyable read. Harper was a very personable and charming main character. I loved how great she was at her job and how committed she was to telling people’s stories. Her messy slightly chaotic approach to time and order made the neat freak in me 😬 but she was funny and relatable enough to make me enjoy her and all her messiness.

I really liked her and Ryan and thought they had great chemistry. I love a slightly awkward male lead. I especially liked how much he respected and appreciated how good a writer and a journalist Harper was. It was good to see the build up of Harper and Ryan’s relationship in the past intermingled with their reconnection in the present. Some solid supporting characters as well throughout in Mimi, Shamari, Cosmo (urgh) and the terrible parents who helped bring life to Harper’s world (4 ⭐️).

The Hating Game meets Beach Read in Katy Birchall's enemies-to-lovers romcom The Last Word , about a young journalist who puts her career (and her heart) on the line when her former work nemesis is hired in her newsroom.

Harper Jenkins is at the top of her game. A brilliant, determined journalist with a well-known knack for getting tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up to her, Harper loves her job as Celebrity Editor at a newspaper’s glossy weekend magazine and has the best contacts in the business.

But when her awful boss hires talented reporter Ryan to be the new Features Editor, Harper is furious. Because the two have met a decade ago, they were interns at the same publication, where they fell into a whirlwind romance…until Ryan betrayed Harper, and they never spoke again.

Thrown together in a busy newsroom, their dynamic is a disaster from the start. They can’t agree on anything and bicker constantly―Ryan can’t bear how chaotic and messy Harper is; Harper finds Ryan’s condescending nature infuriating. They clash over who’s writing what article, and fight over who’s going to which event.

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. Long buried feelings start to resurface and, when they’re thrown together on a romantic press trip abroad, their chemistry comes to a head.

But all is fair in love and magazines, and with the news that layoffs across the department are imminent, Harper is left to who will get the last word?

Really enjoyed this story. Will recommend to others.

3.5/5 stars
0/5 spice (closed door)

Tropes:
Rivals to lovers
Grumpy/sunshine
Second chance
Forced proximity
Co-workers
He falls first
"It always been you" vibes
Single POV

This one was entertaining and had some fun banter. Ryan and Harper had the chemistry and the tension. I would have loved to read Ryan's POV, even for just one chapter. Those emotional moments would've just been *chefs kiss* if I could hear his inner thoughts. But it worked out in the way it was written.

I wasn't too happy about the way Harper reacted to the third act break up, but she made up for it and showed growth from her "failures." She really could have listened to Ryan more, but she had major trust issues. Ryan stayed true to his personality and didn't shy away from apologizing when he needed to. He was a classic grump but had those "special smiles" just for her...*swoon*

There was tension between Ryan and Harper, but because it was a closed door romance, you only read about the kissing. Would it have been great to get more spice? Yes... But that's my personal preference, and I still enjoyed this book without it.

Overall, I would recommend this book for fans of second chance romance and closed door romance.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Workplace prejudice, parental emotional abuse

The Last Word follows Harper, a journalist who works the celebrity beat at a magazine where her boss finds her trivial despite the work she brings in and the rave reviews on her interviews. She's always late, she may have forgotten a shoe, but she's high energy and cares a lot about what she does. Harper is happy to choose work over anything else, love included. Enter Ryan, another journalist who Harper knows from way back in her intern days who also happens to be the reason love is kind of dead in her eyes. They now have to work side by side (again) and sort through their troubled history which is hard to do because they can't seem to stop bickering!

I really liked Harper and Ryan, they had a good connection and great banter. Harper was a bit immature at times in her quest to get the last word, but I found that easily forgivable given her other personality traits. Ryan was your typical cinnamon roll - sweet and lovely on the inside, but a bit brusque on the outside. I enjoyed the two timelines the story followed and how the final conflict tied into their origin story, so to speak. If you like an office romance, you'll like this one!

Up until almost the 20% mark, there were barely any scenes between the main couple. The focus had been on Harper's job. I didn't like Harper. She was kind of a mess - always late to everything, losing things, disorganized. Ryan and Harper worked together for the same newspaper. The bickering went beyond what I think it should have between them. In scenes where Ryan was sweet to Harper or decisions were made by their boss, she often still thought he was out to get her. She was too harsh towards him and it was aggravating after a while. Some of his compliments she took as insults.

There weren't really any relationships I was interested in. Harper wasn't close to her family and her boyfriend through the first part of the book didn't treat her well.

I loved this book! My friend wrote me and asked me if I liked The Hating Game… when I told her I did, she said, read this… same zibes but better!

This story had me laughing, and I could not put it down! It was a very quick read because I was dying to know how it would end!

I received a digital copy of The Last Word via NetGalley to read and review.

I definitely got The Hating Game vibes while reading The Last Word BUT I will say I enjoyed The Last Word quite a bit more. This is enemies to lovers as well as second chance and I flew through the pages.

The Last Word by Katy Birchall
Pub Date: May 2, 2023 🗓️

I absolutely LOVED this book! This was my first book by Birchall and will not be my last! I felt such a strong connection to the main character, Harper, and just want to meet someone like her in real life, because I feel like she would be my best friend. The character development was so strong and I cannot recommend this book enough!

The description of this book compares it to The Hating Game and I feel like this is SPOT ON! I loved The Hating Game and I love The Last Word! I felt like I flew through this book because I could not stop reading it. Harper, the main character, is a journalist, who is well liked by all, except her boss. She does her job well, despite being messy and usually late. What I love about her character is that despite her flaws, she gets her work done and does it WELL. When she finds herself working at the same publication as Ryan, a co-worker/love interest from her past, she has to decide if she can trust him again after their past working relationships turned sour. I loved Ryan almost as much as I loved Harper.

I also loved the background related to Harper’s parents/sister. I felt like this added so much dimension to the story and felt it added so much!

Read The Last Word if you like:
💙Enemies to lovers
💙Second chance romance
💙Amazing character banter
💙Perfect supporting characters
💙A perfectly imperfect main character

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Katy Birchall, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Last Word!

Posted on Instagram on April 8, 2023 (Currently Reading): http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
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**Posted on Instagram (full review) on May 2, 2023: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
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**Posted on Amazon on May 2, 2023
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