I loved How to Fake it in Hollywood but this book fell short for me. I just couldn’t get over the beginning, the hate between the characters was too much for me and I had a hard time connecting with them, especially Lilah. I was hoping for at least some sparks but even in the chapters set in the past it fell flat for me. I pushed on for the HEA and I did enjoy that part, but not enough to make up for the slow beginning of this one unfortunately.

Ava Wilder's debut, How to Fake it in Hollywood, was one of the first ARCS I read and reviewed. So I was just thrilled to receive an ARC of her follow up, Will They or Won't They, which is out on June 27! Big thanks to Random House and NetGalley for gifting it!

This was EXTREMELY my shit. I LOVE a celeb romance. But I'm also vocal about how enemies to lovers isn't always for me because it is so difficult to do well. And yet it was SO well done here - the chemistry between Lilah and Shane crackled from the first page and I just could not put it down.

But let's back up and talk premise. Lilah and Shane were the stars of one of the hottest supernatural shows out there (gives me strong Vampire Diaries vibes) - yet they cannot stand each other. Lilah left the show a few years ago with her sights set on bigger and better things, but flamed out a bit. So she is back for the final season which means having to reunite with Shane - who she hasn't spoken to since she left the show.

Through flashbacks we learn exactly why these two don't get along. It becomes so hostile that their colleagues take notice and force them to couple therapy - where they have to really dig into the why, and how they can move forward.

This was so sexy and I loved these characters. I got VERY invested in Lilah and Shane - both their journey together but also each of them. They were nuanced and felt honest, authentic and raw.

What a perfect poolside read!

Will post this review on Goodreads, retail sites and my bookstagram @scottonreads

Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder is a terrific read that I spent a day reading and thoroughly enjoying.

Ms. Wilder's main characters, Lilah and Shane meet at an audition and are instantly attracted to each other and after reading together for the roles are cast as co-leads in a supernatural type show. After a months long co-workers with benefits type relationship, Lilah breaks it off with Shane and eventually leaves the show, much to Shane's surprise. They hate each other at this point and Lilah wants to try her hand at a major movie. She comes back to the show for its last season and that's where things pick up between them.

Shane and Lilah are written with both of them being witty and with a lot of chemistry between them. It's believable and despite misunderstandings that should have easily been resolved with a little communication, I believed the story line. (Something that isn't always the case)

This was a fun read and I immediately went and bought Ms. Wilder's other book because I enjoyed this one so much.

**This book was given to me by NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. **

Loved Will They or Won't They! It combines many of my favorite tropes - enemies to lovers, Hollywood romance, second chance romance - so successfully. I really enjoyed Ava Wilder's debut last year as well, and you can feel Wilder's growth in writing a second novel: the pacing, the turns in the relationship, the layered characterizations. Wilder's depictions of Hollywood and the dynamics and worries within it feel well researched and also genuine to the specific characters. Beyond this, though, the tension of Lilah and Shane's relationship was excellent. From actually selling the lovers to enemies to lovers trope - in their dialogue and in building it over several years - to their intense connection, with the tension stretched out until quite late in the book, Lilah and Shane have strong, jump-off-the-page chemistry. I also love how Wilder explores mental health in her books, providing a balance to the Hollywood glamour without going into the typical "dark side of Hollywood" stories.

I loved this book, just as I suspected I would after reading this author's debut last year. She writes a story in a way that draws you in from the first page and has you so invested in her characters that you're rooting for them to get their happily ever after, no matter what that might be.

I loved Lilah and Shane and only wanted them to find their happiness. This story takes place over a decade, with flashbacks that allow you to see how much they both grow as humans, as friends, as partners.

I will read every single thing Ava Wilder writes. I know exactly how her words will make me feel and I want more of that in my life.

Will They or Won’t They was a super cute enemies-to-lovers story. I basically read it in less than 24 hours because I couldn’t put it down. It seemed unbelievable that the main characters loved each other for over nine years without doing something about it, but Shane and Lilah were both young and famous so I guess they weren’t ready for a relationship. I highly recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read Will They or Won’t They.

First thought: Caution this book gives whiplash the love hate between Shane and Lilah is strong; but it’s also too good and you can’t put it down and want to read this over and over again.

This story is a dual timeline and POV. That follows the two main characters Shane and Lilah on a decade long journey of discovery, hate, growth and love.

For Shane it was love at first site when he locked eyes with her at the auditions for what would turn into the career of a lifetime. Shane came to LA with no goals of becoming an actor but he was discovered while he was waiting tables and thanks to his insta chemistry with Lilah he landed a role on his first try.

For Lilah it was not love but definitely attraction, hot undeniable pull that made their interactions extreme. She discovered acting in childhood as it helped her cope with her anxiety, she did theater in hs and studied it at Juilliard in college. She worked her butt off to be discovered and to break into the industry.

After filming the pilot and having it picked up for the first season Shane and Lilah find themselves in a hotel bar after the launch party and can’t resist the pull between them any longer. They spend the first season filming in their blissful bubble hiding their relationship. After a drunken night they awaken with couple tattoos in the shape of ghosts on their hips and Lilah freaks out. Shane is in love and Lilah doesn’t want more more, so they end it.

The feud between the two begins and oh man it’s intense, passionate and burns hot. Tensions run high as they film 3 more seasons of the show. Lilah decided to break away and try out staring in a movie but it flops bad. A few years pass and she find herself back on the set with Shane making a comeback for the final season farewell of the series. Sparks continue to fly!

To find out what happens and if they continue as lovers, enemies, coworkers read this book when it launches on June 27th.

Angst fans, this one's for you!

This is one of those, everyone else knows the characters are in love with each other except the characters themselves. They fight their attraction, they fight each other with cutting remarks and pretending inattention, and ultimately they fight what has always felt easy and right because of perceived notions of what it might do to their careers.

It was a little slow in the beginning, setting the tone for their hate and the whys behind it, but it did pick up and then it became quite addictive. The sexual chemistry between Shane and Lilah was off the charts, like seriously palpable from the pages. Lilah wasn't the most likable character but the girl has a wall built a mile high around her and that wall remains intact for almost 2/3 of the story. Shane wears his heart on his sleeve, trying hard to be likable, a true people pleaser (so the opposite of Lilah,) but he was burned by Lilah's indifference so much he's turned to snark, insults, and digs to protect himself from the attraction his still feels towards her. It's a long, hard journey for these two but I have to believe once they get out of their own way, the payoff is the sweetest possible.

This is my first Ava Wilder book and I love a good Hollywood romance so it was a must-request on Netgalley.
Overall this book was just okay. It felt overly long and maybe that's because of the more telling of the story than showing with dialogue and actions.
I loved Shane (a lot!) and his patience and love for the heroine totally showed through this second chance, enemies to lovers, forced proximity romance. I didn't love Lilah all that much... she seemed to like being mean just to be mean though I enjoyed watching her learn her worth and how to really love. I think Shane had feelings for her from the very beginning but she made it hard to love her. I wish there was more conversations, more passion, more together time than what was in the book. It just felt like it needed more.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Is it a second chance romance if you only had a fling and really didn't like each other the first time around? Lilah and Shane starred together in a paranormal TV series where they're meant to be a couple- until she left for greener pastures. Or so she thought. The movie flopped and she's back, back with Shane and now the two of them have to face the fact that they had that fling. It's a dual POV, dual time line novel with Hollywood vibes and all the tropes. I did like however the sensitive portrayal of mental health challenges. Fans of How to Fake It in Hollywood should know that this isn't as deep but it's a lot of fun. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read for a lazy day that made me smile.

This book is second chance perfection—angsty and sexy, with a celebrity storyline that feels so realistic, it's like peeking behind the Hollywood curtain. I would read Ava Wilder's grocery list, but I'm grateful she gives us masterpieces like WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY.

Immediately add this to your TBR!! It comes out June 27th.

I am an absolute sucker for a second chance romance, that is dual timeline and dual POV. This is also a workplace romance, and lovers to enemies to lovers— and they’re both celebrities. Shane and Lilah are co-stars on an incredibly popular paranormal drama in which they are lovers on screen. Lilah ditched the show at the end of season 5 after their fling imploded, and is coming back to film season 9– the show’s finale. They are forced to work together again now under very different circumstances, and everything that comes along with the world watching.

Ava’s writing is absolutely incredible. She adds so much depth and background to each scene and character, I feel like we truly get to know both MC’s, their histories, their childhood, parent relationships— to get a fuller picture of who they are— fears, insecurities and all. These are details that are often left out of romance books in order for them to feel more lighthearted. I was sooo pleasantly surprised. Ava balances these characters feeling complex and real, while still also giving us chemistry, angst, and sexual tension that you expect in a romance. The book still left me feeling hopeful, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

I also love how the author touched on double standards for men and women in Hollywood and how it impacted their relationship.

This is one of my favorite of the 86 books I’ve read so far this year, and probably one of my top favorite romances ever.

Thanks to Netgalley, Random House + Ava for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Normally the hate to love trope is one of my favs but this one takes it a little too far. Shane and Lilah go a bit too far with their hatred which makes it hard to believe they can ever get past their differences. The story bounces around a lot between past, present and dual POV without it being clear dual POV. The transitions seemed a bit clunky and there were big gaps in time in the story where the two characters spent a lot of time apart instead of mending the broken relationship. The characters just seems too far apart for most of the story to ever believe they would be good together.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Dell for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
I'm definitely in the minority here, disliking this so much I didn't make it to 20%. I couldn't stand Lilah and the way she treated Shane. These characters are in their thirties?? Immature and unprofessional. No thanks.

I loved How to Fake it in Hollywood so I was so excited to get read Ava Wilder’s second book. It did not disappoint. The book is set around the last season of a ‘Supernatural’ like tv show with two leads who once upon a time had a thing before it imploded in a spectacular way. Like her debut novel, the two leads Shane and Lilah were imperfect, a little messy and complex. The story moves back and forth on the timeline of their relationship, and between the two leads, taking the reader through what went wrong and right in their past and how that impacts their tension filled reunion in the present.

The chemistry between them was excellent and despite how complicated and painful things got between them you did root for them to figure things out whether it was together or as individuals. Both Lilah and Shane had a lot of frustrating moments where it felt like they were getting in their own way but the author did a great job of showing that yearning, connection and love underlying all their hurt, anger and lashing out and the work they each had to do to get to an emotionally healthier place. Really engaging characters and a well written read. 4.5 ⭐️.

DNF.

I loved the premise of this book so much, and I will die for any enemies-to-lovers arc, but I just couldn't finish this book. I got halfway through and I never picked it up again. It felt like a chore to read. I usually empathize really well with characters but I just could not keep reading about Lilah's character. Shane was also not a male lead that I was rooting for, so this pairing was not the romance trope that I was looking for. I'm sure that this book is better for other readers, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending me an e-copy of this book for an honest review!

This is a romance 9 years in the making. But it's also a slow burn, which you tend to forget about because both characters are so crazy about each other. I really enjoyed Ava Wilder's sophomore novel. She tends to have Hollywood as a backdrop to her books and that always makes a difference, making BTS of Hollywood as a secondary character. The growth Shane and Ava have individually is beautiful to see. I love how there is so much representation of therapy, trauma and mental health. It isn't always done in a realistic and respectful manner and I really appreciate how it was done in this book. Really loved this book and looking forward to many people reading and loving it this summer. Everyone should be going out and getting a copy when it releases!

Thanks to NetGalley for ARC copy in exchange for an honest review, as always, all words are my own.

The perfect spicy summer read! It feels a bit like fan fiction for your favorite TV procedural co-stars (I alternated between seeing them as Buffy and Angel and the stars of Castle personally) but the tension building is absolutely masterful. The reader experiences every bit of anticipation and release with the characters. Loved it!

This is closer to a 3.5 This is my first time reading a book by this author. I'm so glad I continued with this book. I did struggle in the beginning because of the two main characters relationship from the start. I wondered how their hate for each other could turn into a second chance romance. Having the flash backs to the beginning of their relationship was helpful, and so was having both POVs. The story kept me interested in how they would rekindle their romance and I enjoyed the progression of the story. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

When you put together my two favorite things in the world—2nd chance romance and TV celebrities—I’m obviously going to like it…but this book went far beyond like. I am so crazy in love with this book!!! It’s a top read of the year for me.

Lilah and Shane are co-stars on a long running TV show and their story is told in dual timelines and dual POV as they go from lovers to enemies to lovers again. Shane is a golden retriever boy who grows up a lot and Lilah has to learn to manage her anxiety and relationship fears.

I devoured but also savored every single second! The romance, chemistry, emotion, passion, and pacing were all absolute perfection. I loved Ava Wilder’s writing in How to Fake it in Hollywood and thought this one was even better. She also writes the best endings ever!!

If you’re a TV person or a celeb watcher at all—but even if you’re not—you cannot miss this one.

Here’s my fancast plus the TV ships I couldn’t help thinking about as I read:
- Chris Evans as Shane (because every romance hero is a Chris)
- young Alicia Witt as Lilah because she’s a gorgeous redhead and a great actress
- Lucifer as Tangible (the show they’re on)
- Outlander for the photo shoot scene and the crazy shippers
- Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher (plus that older woman he dates ) as IRL Lilah and Shane

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.