Spoiler-free review
The Last Word by Katy Birchall was such a cute read! The characters were so refreshing and not obnoxiously quirky at all. I couldn't help but root for Harper on her journalist adventures. Ryan was so loving and sweet, I wish more book guys were like him. Definitely a "he falls first" and "second chance" romance, which are kind of my favorite. They had me giggling and rolling around with their cute moments. I was in a tiny reading slump but I think I'm cured. This was my first book from Katy Birchall and I will definitely be checking out her other books!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Griffin for the advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Another fab book from Katy Birchall! The Last Word is part romance, part women’s fiction and we’re treated to the crème de la crème of tropes: enemies to lovers, workplace, and second chance!

I don’t always love second-chance romance because I usually feel so sad about the initial breakup! Thankfully, Harper and Ryan’s relationship was really well done and they were able to grow up a bit in their time apart.

If you’ve yet to experience a Birchall book I like to think of her writing as similar to Sophie Kinsella, but a bit more sophisticated. There is romance, but the heart of the story is really about Harper and her job and relationships. If I had been expecting an in-your-face love story I might have been disappointed but I was craving exactly what I got!

Read this if you’re in the mood for:
💕A London setting
💕An imperfect heroine who is a bit messy but so lovable and very good at her job
💕Fab side characters
💕Fantastic banter
💕A grumpy uptight hero who has got it bad

PUB DATE: May 2nd
Thank you to St Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for this review.

Thank you NetGalley, Katy Birchall and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Last Word. This is my personal review.
I like romance books that are the enemy to lovers but for me to really get into the story I have to like the characters and Harper and Ryan were not very likable. They just did not mesh together for me to see them being a couple for very long. It kept me reading but I just did not like them enough to care what happens with them.

No thank you to any politically driven undertones. I read to escape and this felt like I was reading someone’s opinion.

The Last Word is Katy Birchalls’ latest novel and it was absolutely fantastic!

This story immediately drew me in with the main character, Harper who is a successful celebrity journalist and the funny situations she finds herself in when her boss hires Ryan, a man she’s used to intern with a decade ago that she had a brief but significant past with. Although Harper’s incessant need to always have “the last word” tended to irk me after a while, her loving heart was shown throughout the story that you can’t help but love her.

This book is one for all romance readers because it has lightheartedness when you need it, to more emotional and deep at the perfect times.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Harper and Ryan <3

Loved the plot and the characters. Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite tropes. If you enjoyed The Hating Game you would really like this book!

Thank you to @netgalley, St. Martin’s Griffin and Katy Birchall for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Available May 2!

3.5/5 - This was a cute comfort read that I really enjoyed! It’s an enemies-to-lovers / workplace romance that has a fun cast of characters, punchy dialogue and a stress free storyline.

Harper Jenkins is the celebrity editor of a newspaper’s weekend magazine and is GREAT at her job. She is honest and comforting and has a knack for getting celebrities to open up to her. She’s also a workaholic and a total mess - she pretty much thrives in hectic chaos. You know from the start that she was burned by love early on and despite rooting for a happy ending for others, she refuses to imagine or pursue one for herself. When her ex-flame and rival, reporter Ryan Jansson, gets moved to her magazine, she is PISSED and they relentlessly butt heads. That is, until the truth is revealed, and Harper is forced to rethink everything she assumed was true.

This reminded me of The Hating Game in a lot of ways - which I liked, but had the same critique about - the back-and-forth banter was a little childish. I also didn’t think the “rift” between Harper and Ryan was that big of a deal, but can understand how their younger selves would have felt that way. Overall this was fun and entertaining, with little surprises but lots of laughs.

This is reminiscent of The Hating Game and Just My Type. However it wasn't as endearing as the other two for me. The bickering came off as petty and annoying most of the time. I found the main character, Harper, to have a tough personality to root for and found her quite annoying.

Rating: 3.75
Laughing: 2

I found The Last Word a bit slow, but really enjoyable. Enemies to Lovers is always challenging because I often find the conflict that makes them ‘enemies’ is a bit childish. In this case, I enjoyed their conflict, but wish Harper would have been a bit more mature and moved past it more quickly. I thought the third-act conflict was well done, and pretty relatable, which I don’t believe usually. I didn’t mind this conflict in the book, it felt right.

I really liked Ryan and found him to be endearing. There are some similarities here with The Hating Game, where ‘he falls first,’ and it’s pretty sweet.

I liked the premise of this story; I liked all of the trips and travel that happened in the book; it was just not a full four stars for me because I wish the pacing was faster.

This book had a really slow start for me and it made it hard to get through the book. I also was expecting more of a rom com from it with the way it was advertised.

Thank you @smpromance @netgalley for a copy of this book.

This is a second chance about Harper and Ryan both journalist that becomes co-workers 11 years later. I enjoyed the dual timeline and the opposites attract between them. This is a slow burn and lots of bickering between the two. At parts, I was a bit annoyed at Harper how she treats Ryan at the office. Ryan was so quietly attentive to Harper's needs that you just want to shake her and wake up to him. Overall, a fun romance.

This one was cute. It started off really slowly but I do like enemies to lovers! One of my favourite tropes. It not my favourite by the author as it just felt a little predictable.

So Harper and Ryan have just become one of my favorite book couples! This book is very much an enemies-to-lovers workplace romance and the chemistry between the two main characters is present from the very beginning. Even their coworkers comment on the palpable romantic tension! While their coworkers think they just met, it turns out they hadn’t! I loved the slight twist of how they knew each other for 8 weeks, 10 years ago. The author was masterful in how she twined both timelines together in a way which only enhanced the story.
Harper has always been fiercely independent and unapologetic in her career. Ryan is quiet and sweet and very much a strong supporter of Harper. Ryan remains pretty consistent throughout the book while Harper has growth as she gets to actually know Ryan. While these two are complete opposites, I loved how their stories unfolded. Their banter and tension was top notch! I didn’t want to put this book down and it captured me from the very beginning! 4.75⭐️, 2🌶

This is my third book by Birchall and she is always very consistent with her books. I know I can go into her books and come away happy.
I do wish that the characters would have changed more throughout the book. I felt slightly frustrated that the characters reacted mostly in the same way two different times throughout the story. I feel like, even though you see the character growth after, I would have loved to see it during.
One of my favorite parts in Birchall’s books are the strong female relationships that she cultivates with the FMC and I loved those relationships in this book too!

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s and Griffin Books for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4.5/5 (rounded up to 5)

CW: death of a sibling from pediatric cancer (recounted), toxic parental relationship

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Harper Jenkins is making a name for herself at her job as a celebrity editor, getting even the most reclusive celebrities open up about their lives. But, when her favorite features editor leaves for another magazine and is replaced by her old rival from a previous publication, Ryan, Harper feels that it’s only going to get worse from here. Yet, after being forced to work together quite regularly, Harper realizes that there’s more to Ryan than what she originally thought all those years ago.

Personally, I enjoyed reading The Last Word. While it does open to a prologue that I feel didn’t need to be there, you’re instantly able to get into the plot in no time. I also really like Birchall’s writing style and how she was able to come up with interesting characters that give off just enough depth to make them relatable, especially for Harper and Ryan.

For those of you wondering if this is pretty much a British version of The Hating Game, you’re right but also wrong. Yes, there’s the snarkiness between Harper and Ryan that could be found in The Hating Game (and could be said for a lot of romances that use the enemies-to-lovers trope), but Birchall provides a more genuine connection between Harper and Ryan and their rivalry (and eventual relationship) mostly makes sense. For me, I’m not a fan of the trope being used on rivalries made up on the basis on dumb things. What you get in The Last Word is more of an actual rivalry between two up-and-coming journalists that leaves with a tender second chance romance in the making.

So, if you want a book that’s basically The Hating Game but British and has more depth or are looking for a second chance romance similar to The Make Up Test, I would definitely recommend reading The Last Word.

Thank you to NetGalley for the review copy. This is my first book by this author. I love a good workplace / enemies to lovers / second chance romance and this was a bit of all three.

Harper is a celebrity editor and has a talent for making celebrities and agents feel at ease and gets the amazing scoops. She loves her job but is under appreciated by her boss who she has to fight every step of the way to get her articles featured. I loved every minute of Harper hustling to get the scoop and her interactions with the celebrities were A plus in my book.

When Ryan joins the team, Harper is thrown into a spiral. When they first met years ago and were pitted against eachother for one full time position amidst a budding romance, heartbreak ensued. In their current jobs, they are butting heads and arguing over every little thing even thought sparks are flying.

I enjoyed the romance and the portions featuring their jobs and how well they worked together when they stopped fighting.

My only criticism is for someone so “top of her game” Harper is constantly late and scatter brained to an extreme degree and I feel like she was a bit immature with just how much bickering and bitterness she had towards Ryan.

All in all, it was a cute book and I think workplace romance fans are going to love it.

3.5 rounded up to 4. Katy Birchall is an excellent writer and her narration kept me engaged. The story is not new or innovative but it’s a cute standard rom com. I will definitely keep reading her books because the writing style is great.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Griffin for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

✨What to expect✨
•Co-workers
•Opposites attract
•Banter/tension
•Journalists
•Dual timelines

✨Thoughts ✨
This was such a cute one! I loved the celebrity journalist element. I also enjoyed the dual timelines going back and forth between present day & 10 years ago with Harper & Ryan. The banter back & forth between them was so funny. Also, the whole taxi scene and lead up to that was heartwarming & funny. While I did enjoy this for the most part, I had a love/hate relationship with Harper. She infuriated me a bit with how stubborn she was sometimes. I did love how she stood up for herself against her family, Cosmo, & Liam. I am here for the female empowerment of it all. I love that she was career driven and makes no apologies for it. I also found it a little hard to believe that Ryan & her would have a happily ever after. Just because they were such opposites & clearly drove each other crazy most of the time because of that. I still enjoyed & highly recommend this one.

Such a cute and lovely novel. The story was chaotic at times but that related well to the main character’s personality.

Harper is a top-tier celebrity reporter, able to get the scoop on all major celebrity developments with her charming personality and ability to put folks at ease. But neither her boss nor her parents take her career seriously, dismissing her work. Tired of dealing with her boss, Cosmo, she is even more frustrated when a new guy takes over as Features Editor at their magazine--it's none other than Ryan, a guy she competed with for a job ten years ago, in addition to spending a romantic weekend together. Now, a decade later, they're forced to work together and her hatred of him is stronger than ever. But there's a fine line between hate and love...

I am a huge Katy Birchall fan and this new book is no exception. Interestingly, her other, prior two books veered more women's fiction, where this book feels squarely romance to me. No complaints, there, though! I love anything Birchall writes. The chemistry between Ryan and Harper was off the charts, but my favorite part might be learning more about Harper's job and seeing how she snags the best pieces--you catch more flies with honey, and all.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10