Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder 🎬

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

Genre: RomCom
Tropes: “Enemies” to lovers, second chance romance, workplace romance
⚠️ TWs: Anxiety, mentioning of cheating, mentioning of drug use

📖 Read if you like 📖
📺 TV shows
✌🏼 Second chance romance
😈 “Enemies” to lovers
⏰ Right person, wrong time
🧠 Anxiety rep/therapy positive
💋 Workplace romance
🔥 Slow burn
✨ Celebrity romance
✡️ Jewish rep
📚 Flashback chapters

💭 Thoughts:
This one was a bit slower placed for me, but I loved Shane and Lilah’s characters! I would have preferred first person POV vs. third person, but the spicy scenes were perfection!! This author’s other book, How to Fake It in Hollywood, was one of my favorites last summer, and I highly recommend that one! Wilder writes more realistic romances, and I love that she doesn’t try to give a perfect family at the end in an epilogue like so many other authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine Publishing Group for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story had potential but lost steam for me halfway through. The plot was cool, considering actors always have complicated relationships. Shane messed up, but Lilah was the main source of conflict. Their animosity got a bit too much, making it hard for me to care.The overall plot fascinated me, drawing from the well-known complexities that arise when actors navigate intricate relationships behind the scenes.

I liked the peek into Hollywood and how they got counseling for their personal and relationship issues. It was just okay for me but I'm sure others will enjoy it!

I think that celebrity romances just might not be my thing. I wasn’t head over heels with the author’s first book, but wanted to give the second one a go too. Does she bring good tension and steam? Yes. However, I feel like in terms of relatability and really grasping on to characters, I was just disconnected. The tension between Lilah and Shane is what kept me going with this one but ultimately that was its only redeeming quality.

This book was an absolute delight! I read it almost entirely in one sitting. I loved the characters and the story. Thank you Net Galley for the arc!

Animosity, banter, desire, jealousy, tension, and yearning this book checks every single box. Ava Wilder delivers a rom-com with laugh-out one-liners and all the feels. Shane is one of my all time fav book boyfriends.

He falls first & harder
Therapy is sexy
Anxiety/panic attack rep
Lovers to enemies to lovers
Matching tattoos

4.5 stars rounded to 5

I adored How To Fake It in Hollywood and was excited to read Will They or Won't They. This book has my favorite tropes: second-chance romance and enemies-to-lovers. I loved both characters, Lilah and Shane, but found their animosity toward each other a little too much. I feel like some of it was unwarranted. I loved their scorching-hot chemistry and the emotional growth each of them had throughout the book. Will They or Won't They is a captivating romance novel, one of the best I've read so far this year.

Will they or won’t they? Only one way to tell…

How to Fake It in Hollywood was one of my absolute favorites books from last year so when I say I ran to request an early copy of this book… HTFIIH was all about the fake dating, WTOWT is all about second chances and hiding your feelings from your costar/nemesis after returning to the hit tv show that launched your careers for one final season. If they can survive seeing one another again, that is.

While it didn’t fully live up to my expectations set by HTFIIH, this is still a standout book. The emotional give-and-take between Lilah and Shane? Perfect. The banter? Top notch. The tension so thick you could cut it with a dull knife? No notes. All perfectly done.

I am always down for a Holllywood romance. Will They or Won't They by Ava Reid was just what I was looking for at the time: a romance with angst galore. I personally really second chance romances because it gives both characters time to grow on their own before finding each other again. In this one, it's particularly entertaining because the characters once loved each other and then hate each other before they fall in love again. It's just so juicy and addicting! Especially because they are both famous actors who haven't worked with each other in years and suddenly they are forced to be next to each other and act opposite each other again in a romantic capacity, something they don't think they can conjure up for each other at first. But of course, the story moves in the direction you yearn for as they spend more time together and untangle their broken pasts. All in all, this was a fun book and one that I finished pretty quickly. I recommend it if you love Hollywood romances.

This was a good second chance lovers. I never really like Lilah. I wanted to. She just never did it for me. I really did end up liking them together tho. I did find the pacing a little weird. It wasn’t bad and I don’t know how else it could have been to get the story across but chapter one being when they met then the rest of the book 9 years later with random flashbacks … I never felt like I knew the cause or truly felt like their tension or break up was warranted.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Since I absolutely loved How to Fake It in Hollywood, I knew I had to read Ava Wilder's sophomore novel, and I had high expectations. Ava Wilder knocked it out of the park again! I've been sitting with my feelings about this book for a few days, and it's one of those books where I loved it so much that I get this itchy kind of feeling because I already finished the book but I wish it hadn't ended (and at the same time, what a beautiful, lovely, perfect HEA for Lilah and Shane *tearing up*). I've been rereading parts of the book, and it's somehow making me even more emotional than it did during my first read (at new parts!!! like I got teary-eyed and cried at certain parts on first read, and now I'm tearing up at other parts because I know how it plays out I guess? I'm so attached to these perfectly imperfect, deeply human characters that found their way together).

The premise of Will They or Won't They hooked me right away; Lilah and Shane hate each other, but the reason behind their animosity is revealed a little at a time as the story progresses. Told in dual timeline, starting with their first meeting at their audition for the roles they would become famous for, and in dual third person POV, it's clear right away that Lilah and Shane have chemistry, and I rooted for them from the beginning. Their frostiness and barbed words really hurt in that jump to the present, especially since they had such a cute meeting, and it makes for such good angst as you eagerly read on and learn what really went down between them.

Will They or Won't They beautifully captures the journey both Lilah and Shane go on in finding their way back to each other. At times, the hurt is so raw and real between them that you just want to wrap them both up in hugs and tell them it will be okay. Those flashbacks are honestly painful because you see how they end up hurting each other and wish they could've saved themselves that hurt, but Ava Wilder does such a good job of showing how they weren't mature enough yet and had jumped into a relationship without ever clearly defining it, without thinking through what being together would actually mean. In contrast, in the present, when at last they are ready to be together this time, they discuss all the important topics up front and have such a stable foundation, built on all the wisdom they've gained in the years since.

I love that Shane and Lilah go to couples counseling together (really smart for the studio to have forced them to do that haha), as Dr. Deena is such a good guide for them in helping to communicate and start the process of learning about each other again; their work in therapy sets the groundwork for them moving forward and eventually getting to some of the big hurts from their past, and by the time those are revealed, it's very clear the things they each notice and start to understand that allow them to come together again. It's hard to describe without spoiling how beautifully written their story is, and the angst actually serves a purpose and paints such realistic pictures of their thought processes and insecurities and worries. Lilah has generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and her struggles are so real; she's been to therapy and mentions going to therapy outside of their couples counseling (I love all the healthy mentions of therapy!). Shane is a people pleaser, insecure about his own abilities and the future of his career.

As they learn more about each other, Shane and Lilah realize what they had gotten wrong about each other in the past, the assumptions they'd made about the other person putting them in the worst light, as their animosity was only so strong because of how strongly they'd felt for each other before. Otherwise, as both Dr. Deena and Shane's brother Dean put it before, they wouldn't still care and be actively messing with each other now. Their attraction is also clearly there and has never faded, and there are several scenes with excellent sexual tension, both while they hate each other and after (that photo shoot is everything!!! them at Thanksgiving, them acting as their characters, etc. so much good stuff).

Shane and Lilah's journey bursts with emotions, tender and raw and aching, their intertwined lives full of heartbreaking and heartwarming moments. I absolutely adored getting to read about these two and going along for the ride. The celebrity romance and the specific concerns there, the acting and tidbits about the show (I would totally watch that show haha), all of it adds to what is a genuinely beautiful romance. Shane and Lilah's banter is always amazing, even when it was vicious, but even more so when they're being so darn precious and cute together. These two have found their place next to Grey and Ethan from HTFIIH in my heart (I honestly love them both so so much). You just can't help but be so proud of how much they grow and how far they've come (the number of times I highlighted things because I was like !!! look what they've learned and how they're reacting, how they're supporting each other now. *tearing up*).

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell/PRH for the ARC!

Wilder's last novel had me enthralled. So I couldn't wait to read her latest book. I was getting such X-Files fanfic of my dreams vibes but so much better. Somehow Wilder got into my brain and wrote this ultimate tale of love.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC of Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder.

It took me a little bit to get into this book because the beginning is filled with a lot of fighting and arguing, which I have a really hard time with (think, The Breakup movie). However, it definitely redeemed itself and developed into a book with thoughtful and full of depth characters - Lilah and Shane. You get to see their growth over a decade, which is always something I appreciate in a book. There are plenty of steamy scenes to keep it interesting in that department! Overall, it’s a perfect summer read that is light but will also tug at your heartstrings with the vulnerability that both characters display.

Thank you to Random House for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Will They or Won't They follows a pair of TV co-stars with a past, as they reunite for the show's final season. Considering they've kept secret their friends with benefits relationship from season one of the show, there is a lot of speculation about them as a couple, but there is also a lot of trauma for each.
I liked the dual timelines - current chapters mix with "before" ones to give the reader the couple's backstory a little bit at a time. This was fun but it definitely wasn't a light happy-go-lucky romcom. I recommend it, especially if you have time to sit with it at times like I did - I had to stop reading and take breaks to really enjoy it. It's available now!

A heartfelt thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

After an electrifying prologue, I was hooked. Shane and Lilah had obvious, sizzling chemistry from the start. I was immediately intrigued as to what happened in their past, why this was a “second chance” romance, what broke them apart. I made it through about 25% of the book before deciding it wasn’t for me. It is totally personal preference - but I just prefer a little less angst in my romance novels. After the Shane and Lilah’s initial parting after their couple’s tattoo and wrap party night of shame, I felt like the book was on an emotional path that I would rather not walk at this time.

The writing was engaging, the characters were authentic. I would absolutely be interested in trying another book from this author in the future.

Lilah and Shane met when they were auditioning for a paranormal television show. They spent years pining for each other onstage, until they had a huge falling out and Lilah left to become a movie star. The show has gone on, and four seasons have passed, when they ask Lilah to return for a final season. In order to return Lilah must face Shane, and everything that happened between them. While they smile for the camera, anger is brewing behind the scenes. Will they be able to set aside what happened and move on, or is the show destined to flop before it can even premier?

This book really lived up to the title. Most of the book was a cat and mouse story of Lilah and Shane. The pacing on this one was rather slow and really focused on character development. As a result, I felt for Lilah and her struggles and was really rooting for her. This is a second chance, enemies to lover’s romance told through dual timelines. I really enjoyed the flashes to the past but a few of them felt misplaced and that nothing really happened. I also loved how frustrating and flawed the characters were at times, it really made the book feel real. I loved the medium smut scenes; they were well written and realistic as well. This whole book was written in such a believable way, and I think a lot of people will enjoy how it is written. For me it was a solid read, and I would recommend it.

I'm in a second-chance romance mood lately, so I was excited to get my hands on Will They or Won't They. I've been thinking about why there are so many second-chance romances set in Hollywood, but I don't know the answer to that question.

I did feel invested in Shane and Lilah's story, but I felt like the writing was weird—so much of the story happens off the page/just in sweeping descriptions that it's hard to feel very connected to the story. It's happening from a distance, and I didn't love that. Still a good read, but I wanted it to be so much better.

Ava Wilder doesn't disappoint. THIS ONE WAS SOO GOOD!! It was an emotional roller coaster and I was hooked every step of the way! I read this as a part of an ARC and it was really good!

This book was perfectly executed enemies to lovers and second chance romance. At first I found both characters to be unlikeable but as you understand them as characters they grow on you.

I was unsure about the changing time frames in some chapters but it made sense to understand the story.

The angst in this book was so well written. You could feel the anger in the beginning, then the confusion during therapy and then becoming friends and then the longing during thanksgiving.

The author perfectly nailed the second chance romance and showed that to have another go at a relationship they would need to each have growth and then do something different because something didn’t work the first time.

This book was released last week, but I just finished the ARC, thanks to NetGallery!! “Will they or won’t they” is such a perfect title for this book and captures the whole plot and story. Lilah and Shane’s banter was super cute and I loved that mental health was incorporated and Shane’s character arc finished off really well based on what he learned! Overall, great story, but the ending was missing something for me.

4.5 Stars. Lilah and Shane have been co-stars of a hit CW-esque show for the past nine years. The only problem is they hate each other. They used to love each other but after their brief affair in season one ended they have been phoning it in on the show and avoiding each other. Now in the final season they are forced to come to terms with the past and their continued attraction to one another.

I loved Ava’s last book so I was really looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint. As someone who watched way too much CW in my teens and loves celebrity relationship drama this book really spoke to me. I really liked both Lilah and Shane. Both were complex and had very clear needs and motivations. I liked that the story was told out of order as it kept the pace moving. It was a book that i read slowly and savored. I will say that while I happy about the ending, it wasn’t as satisfying as I hoped it would be, but it’s hard to make a celebrity romance fully satisfying because there are so many external factors. I really hope we get more books from Ava.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.