I liked this one, but not as much as How to Fake It in Hollywood. The title alone obviously explains everything you need to know going in, and this is just a trope that is hit or miss for me. I enjoyed it, but there was just something missing. I can't pinpoint what it is at this moment, and maybe it's because I'm on a rom com hangover from some others I've just read. I still recommend it to anyone who enjoys rom-coms. I listened to this one on audio as I couldn't get into this one with the digital e-copy.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

this was super fun - i really enjoyed it! i liked both characters, liked how they actually seemed like enemies, loved the progress of their relationship. it's my first by this author, won't be my last!

Time, mystical time,
cutting me open, then healing me fine.

-invisible string by taylor swift

Wow. When I tell you I devoured this, I mean it. I forfeited a good night’s sleep to finish this book. My heart was ripped to shreds and then mended by the end of Lilah and Shane’s story. I lived for the tension that surrounded the first half of the book. I felt their yearning for each other through every word of the second half. Wilder chose her words perfectly when writing their love story.

Please drop everything you’re doing and read this masterpiece of a second-chance-romance with the feistiest of enemies-to-lovers.

I would steamroll anyone who tried to break Shane and Lilah apart.

HUGE thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

For years Lilah and Shane played love interests on the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, and the chemistry that made them so good together on screen, led to a very complicated relationship off screen. After 5 seasons of barely being able to work together, Lilah left the show but she’s back for the 9th and final season. Having to spend so much time together, they are forced to open up to each other and confront their messy past.

I love a good celebrity romance - and a second chance romance with all the angst and drama of a teen series was everything I could ask for. Ava Wilder has done it again with fun but messy characters (who recognize their messiness and are willing to work on it), a dash of humor, and the best banter. This was such a fun read and I can’t wait to see what Ava Wilder comes up with next!

Thank you to Random House Publishing - Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I had such high hopes for this book. I *really* wanted to love it, but to be honest, Lilah's character really frustrated me. She was *so* against a serious relationship with Shane, she kept sabotaging that and then BOOM, total switch and she's ready to be in a full blown, public relationship? How does this make sense?

There also seemed to be a lot of holes in the story, a lot of time gaps where the relationship seemed to progress, they seemed to mature, but that growth happened during the gaps. The two of them start therapy together, but they really only showed 1 or 2 sessions with the therapist. However, in the time gaps, they're showing growth that took place due to conversations with the therapist, but that conversation was never shown! So it just felt...a little abrupt.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I am so glad that I read it! While it may not have been my absolute favorite, I did enjoy the back and forth between the main characters. Second chance romances are severely underappreciated. The tension of if and when they will get back together was VERY strong, and tension in books between main characters is top tier. The biggest reason this was not a higher-ranked book for me was because it felt rushed at the end. I like to feel resolution at the end of my books, that the characters have settled any differences and made it to their HEA with some room to breathe, but I did not feel that with this one.

*I would say this is more of a 3.5 star read for me, but rounding up to 4 because 3 doesn't feel like enough.*

This was such a cute rom com 🥰 Two co-stars are reunited for the final season of the show that made them famous. They have quite a complex history. I loved this! Second chance romance and enemies to lovers are my favorite! This had many other tropes:

🤍forced proximity
🤍anxiety rep
🤍celebrity dating
🤍dual POV
🤍dual timeline
🤍secret dating
🤍slow burn

The humor and banter had me laughing out loud 😂 The angst and steam🥵
This was my first book by Ava Wilder and I can’t wait to read her other book and anything else she writes!!!

Thank you so much @netgalley @avawilderwrites and @randomhouse for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

EVERYTHING SAID ABOUT THIS BOOK IS TRUE: IT'S A PHENOMENAL READ!! and officially my favourite read of 2023 so far!

if you pick the book you are going to be in for a ride. lilah and shane spend their time giving each other a hard time, they can't stop bicker and being petty with one another. the tension that comes from the nature of their relationship makes sparkles and give us the most entertaining content ever, it also brings moment of emotions and confessions that got me shocked and gasping. and most importantly this book wouldn't be as fabulous as it is, if it wasn't for the writing. ava wilner's writing is a pure pleasure if you love poetic, emotional and well-thought writing.

i would recommend the book for everyone how is part of a tv show fandom (and especially the The Vampire Diaries one, bc there is a lot of similarities), if you like angsty workplace romance, emily henry with a more romcomy vibe, unresolved feelings in romantic stories!

this is a the easiest 5/5 i've gave this year

This book just didn't really work for me, because I simply just didn't care about the romance. I don't know. I didn't feel the chemistry. They did have great banter, but everything about their behaviour towards each other just SCREAMS that they will never work out in the long run, no matter how many times the author will they you how much is different now. I think a big reason for that is just the fact that the conflict that drove them apart in the first place is just incredibly stupid, and that they've hated each other for this long over THAT just makes me feel like there's no way they'll last. On top of that I also just think them being in love again, and getting over their fears of a relationship dissapearing just happened out of nowhere. It's not like there was no developement for the relationship, because there definetely was, but we went from like 10 to 100 in the flip of a page. It just didn't work for me. On top of that, I just thought this book was a bit boring. Besides the romance this did not have a lot going on, and therefore I ended up just being bored for the most part while reading this. So yeah, this book sounded right up my alley but sadly enough didn't end up working for me.

I was not familiar with Ava Wilder prior to this book, but this! Has completely changed my reading schedule for the better as I’m adding How to Fake It in Hollywood immediately. This was a slow burn book that was really making the slow burn work! And it being enemies to lovers!!!! Many times when you say enemies in a contemporary romance it really means rivals, but the term felt fitting here. Shane is kind of the perfect MMC? I really need some more heroes like him in the future because he was giving

Lilah and Shane are madly in love…only on screen. The stars of a beloved paranormal drama can’t stand each other in real life, so it’s a recipe for disaster when they reunite to film the show’s final season. Lilah left the show five seasons ago to try to make it as a big time movie star, and Shane can’t help but resent her for it. And their little tryst that lasted but one season of the show before it imploded certainly doesn’t make matters any better. With the world watching them and their careers after the show on the line, Lilah and Shane are forced to play nice. As the show forces them back together, Lilah and Shane become closer than ever and have to decide if they can make their relationship work this time.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the ARC! This was a cute celebrity romance book with a fun story and characters. It was definitely an enemies to lovers and forced proximity vibe with some good banter and spice. The storyline didn’t feel super original to me but I still enjoyed the characters and their backstory. Will They or Won’t They is available now! 3.5 stars rounded up

4 stars!

Ava Wilder's "Will They or Won't They" is a worthy follow-up to her fabulous first book "How to Fake It in Hollywood," which was one of my favorites from 2022. I don't think this is as profound, bitingly funny, or truth-telling as her first book, but there is still a lot to love in this second-chance, forced proximity, friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers romance.

Wilder's writing keeps you captivated and wanting more from every single page. The way she writes hooks readers with her characters, making us feel the love, anguish, tenderness, animosity, hatred, loathing, warmth, despair, and trepidation in their every action. Main characters Lilah and Shane are two actors who are on the same fan-favorite, long-running show, "Intangible." Their characters are deeply in love, but in reality, they *hate* each other with every fiber of their being and are being forced to not only interact with one another on a daily basis but also ACT with each other, too. They have to pretend to be in love, even though they despise one another. Lilah left the show to pursue other, better acting gigs, only to come crawling back to the show years later. How good is that premise?!

I typically hate the miscommunication trope, but I didn't mind it where Lilah and Shane were concerned. Something about their dynamic and their chemistry and their profession made me believe that a miscommunication would (and did) occur between the two of them. Wilder takes readers on a slooooooooooooooow-burning journey with Lilah and Shane... almost too slow, in my opinion, but their chemistry more than made up for the wait. The second Lilah and Shane met during an audition for "Intangible" eight years prior, sparks fly, and they begin a short-lived romance that ended badly. This sets the stage for their mutual hatred... and mutual pining!

I wish Wilder had added to the non-relationship drama a little bit more. What I loved about "How to Fake It in Hollywood" was the balance between romance and her exploration of the price of fame, including all of the darkness that comes with it. There is a little bit of that here, but I wanted it to go deeper. There is a decent exploration of Lilah's panic attacks and insecurities about aging as an actor, and Shane's nervousness about not being able to do anything as an actor except for "Intangible," but it feels more surface-level this time around. I think Ava Wilder got a lot of complaints about how her first book felt tonally disconnected, but I didn't think so. In fact, I appreciated the juxtaposition a helluva lot and wish she had gone further here, too. Also, completely off-topic, and it could just be because of a scene towards the end portion of the book, but something about this story reminded me a lot of Curtis Sittenfeld's "Romantic Comedy," which is a good thing because I loved that book. No spoilers, but I really liked the ending.

I found "Will They or Won't They" to be a cute, fun, banter-filled, authentic, quick read that I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ava Wilder, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. This post will contain spoilers at the bottom (I will clearly mark where they begin)

First of all, who did Ava Wilder sell her soul to to write like this???? I'm not normally a fan of 3rd person POV but Wilder's writing style is so incredible I can't be upset with her. I binge read this book in between shifts at work and considered quitting just so I wouldn't have interruptions. This book is so good that I'm going to get my physical copy ASAP and annotate it.

Onto the characters. I love the main characters. I love the secondary characters. Even the characters I hate I actually love because of how well written they are. Each character is so complex that it's hard to get them confused. Plus, they all have such depth to them that they feel three dimensional. If one of them walked off the page, I would not be surprised.

The main characters are Lilah and Shane and there are not enough words to describe how much I love them. Lilah is tough and headstrong, but has those emotionally vulnerable moments where you just want to wrap her in a blanket. Shane is the same way and gives me Gus Everrett vibes. Their relationship fits so well with their personalities and arcs.

I loved watching their relationship change. This is a lovers to hate to lovers story and it is executed perfectly. I understand why each side felt and acted the way they did. The progression felt natural and so understandable. They had to have tough conversations that made sense and fit with the timing of the novel.

I recommend this book to everyone, but especially Emily Henry readers. Will They or Won't They is filled with complex and emotional writing that sucks you in into you feel like you're in the room with the characters. I love this book with my whole heart. Goodreads will only let me give 5 stars but it deserves at least 6.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
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OH MY GOD!!! This book has everything: pining, tension, angst, spice, EVERYTHING.

Lilah and Shane had a secret romance the first season of their show, but broke it off and become big time enemies. Now it's years later and Lilah is returning to the show for one last season. Super dramatic and perfect.

There were so many moments that made me scream into a pillow: when Shane makes a joke and looks to Lilah first for her reaction; when they have to shoot a "nude" photoshoot together; when Shane learns she's leaving the show; when Shane defends her during an interview; when Lilah is a secret softie, when Lilah has a panic attack and Shane comforts her. I could go on forever.

Every scene with Lilah and Shane is perfect. It doesn't matter if they hate or love each other. I can't get over how well the characters work together on the page. Wilder needs to teach a class or something.

Please please please read this book. I already want to re-read it because I miss them so much and it's been a week since I read it.

I want to thank Netgalley for this arc that I received. I was so excited to read it and thought I would absolutely love it. However, it fell flat for me.

I think others would really like this book. It definitely felt as though I was watching a TV show of characters that pushed and pulled.

I thought the start of the book was just too slow. I read to 21% and that’s when it finally started to pick up for me. I then read to 40% and have decided to give up after not wanting to pick it up for weeks.

Maybe one day I will go back to this book, but for now…. I just can’t.

This isn’t to say that it’s a bad book by any means. I think there is definitely a right audience for this! Maybe it’s just not me or not at the right time. :)

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. I wanted to like this and was so excited to reach this story, but it just wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I LOVE enemies to lovers and slow burns, but with so much build up, history, and anticipation in this book, the execution fell flat for me.

I always love mental health representation in books, but Lilah’s anxiety felt skirted over an insignificant. As someone who suffers from GAD and panic disorder, I know how impactful this can be in daily life and wish it played a bigger part in this story.

I enjoyed some of the buildup, but overall the immaturity of the characters didn’t sit well with me and made this difficult to get through at times. Thank you very much for the opportunity to reach this ARC!

Love, love, loved it. I am officially an Ava Wilder fan. I read "How to Fake it in Hollywood" last year and also thoroughly enjoyed it. So so happy to report that her sophomore novel delivered the same punch! Who would've thought I'd enjoy Hollywood/celebrity romances the way that I do?! Ava Wilder really knows how to reel you in!

This story follows Shane & Lilah, two co-stars who can't stand each other, as they shoot the final season of the hit show they were casted in that launched their careers years prior. It's a second chance romance/enemies to lovers rollercoaster of emotions kind of ride -- there is witty banter, there is pining, there is angst, there is chemistry that jumps right off the page. The characters were messy & flawed, but so is life. There were deeper themes touched upon as well such as the pressures of fame, mental health and anxiety representation.

Writing about romance between two celebrities feels like it should have a “Stars! They’re just like us!” Vibe to it, but I didn't quite get that energy from this story. Shane and Lilah felt pretty one dimensional and inaccessible for almost the entire book. Was that intended so that it was clear they were buttoned up in their relationship with one another until they finally decide to be honest with one another? And that was the point (TM) of their relationship struggles and why it went belly up the first time around ??? Who can say. I struggled to feel like Shane and Lilah had any skin in the game though, so for me personally this one just didn’t hit.

Ava Wilder does Hollywood in the best way! I had so much fun with the forced proximity because come one, I just wanted our MCs to get together! These flashbacks throughout the book were great and really allowed us to get to know the characters in a better way. I can’t wait for whatever Ava Wilder releases next!

DNF Details:

How far did I get? I did a lot of skimming, so tough to say!

Why did I stop? I can't even tell you how excited I was when I received an ARC for this one. I really enjoyed How to Fake It in Hollywood, and I was intrigued by the blurb. The writing is also very compelling, but I found this relationship to be SO very toxic. The multiple timelines showcase the complexity of their interactions and I liked the nuanced feel, but I struggled with the ways they'd hurt each other over the years. The heroine was not very likable, and the level of miscommunication frustrated me. So I found myself doing some skimming, and I ended up skipping ahead over all the parts that drove me crazy.

Was I enjoying it initially? Briefly, yes. I was immediately drawn in by the writing and the tension that was apparent from the start. I loved that these two had such an interesting history, and the premise is one that I have not seen before. So it felt fresh and different, with TONS of sexual tension. Unfortunately, once we got into the backstory, I knew that there was going to be trouble ahead - not just for this couple, but for me and the book.

Would I finish this? It's better for my mental health if I don't, honestly. It's the kind of book that draws me right in, but the relationship is so toxic that it leaves me in a reading slump for days or weeks afterwards. I would definitely read another book by the author, because How to Fake It in Hollywood was great, and my concerns about this had nothing to do with the writing itself.

Who would I recommend this to? Anyone who loves angsty second chance romances, the messier the better. Readers who enjoy drama and multiple timelines. The insight into the industry was also interesting and very timely, so that was cool too. But you've got to be okay with years of miscommunication and a couple who have been lashing out at each other.

This book was the perfect steamy lovers turned enemies turned back to lovers! I really enjoyed all the banter and the amazing tension that was between the two main characters Shane and Lilah. I didn’t want to put this book down! This book follows the two main leads of a hit show, Shane and Lilah, as they are forced to play along side each other once again after years of ignoring each other. I loved that the author doesn’t immediately tell you the reason that they hate each other but that throughout the book you get to see their relationship development both in the past and present until you better understand their reasoning for their “hatred” towards each other. The female main character, Lilah, was so open about her anxiety and rather than being ashamed of it she was so open and unapologetic about it and for someone with GAD that was so refreshing to see. I also like that Shane doesn’t have it all figured out and that his uncertainty for the future isn’t something that’s looked down upon by those around him. All in all It was the perfect summer read and I really enjoyed this story!