4.75/5 stars! This author's debut book was an amazing read for me, so I was really excited to get to read this one. The author brought back the co-star/Hollywood energy and I am HERE FOR IT!!!! This has second-chance romance, miscommunication, and enemies-to-lovers tropes. The chemistry was phenomenal and I was rooting for Lilah and Shane the entire book. Such a great read and I highly recommend it.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Ava Wilder’s sophomore is a must read for summer 2023 and perfect for of Abby Jimenz and Emily Henry.

Premise: Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy were co-stars on a hit paranormal TV show for five seasons. However, their complicated past has left them hating each other since season one despite their characters having chemistry on the screen. After leaving the show to pursue other paths, Lilah is back for much-hyped finale season that can be the boost she needs in her acting career. Can her and Shane get along this time after years of animosity ?!

Thoughts: I loved the writing style, the authenticity and depth of the characters, and how Ava took a trope that I often find hard to connect with and did it justice. I was inserted right into the celebrity world, which is always a fun escape from reality. The only think I wish there was more of was scenes from their “couples” counseling sessions, as they were some of my favorite.

What to expect:
-Just a hook up
-Second chance love
-Celebrity romance
-Jewish representation
-Flashbacks to past
-Slow burn
-Cameos from How to Fake it in Hollywood

Thank you Ballentine for the ARC! Pub date: 6/27/23

Well it’s 2:00 am in the morning so I think it goes without saying that I could not put this book down! In Will They or Won’t They, Wilder paints a realistic picture of Hollywood romances, and perfectly captures the tension and angst of second-chance romances - Shane’s yearning and Lilah’s impenetrable walls. This story was all at once heartbreaking, steamy, and hopeful. Perfect for all romance readers and anyone who wished for their favorite onscreen couples to get together in real life. Wilder is a must-buy author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book immediately intrigued me. The PROLOGUE brought the sexual tension & chemistry so I was excited. Here for the all celebrity romance book themes happening right now. Definitely check this one out!

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of Will They or Won’t They in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own and may not be reproduced.

I absolutely loved How to Fake it in Hollywood by Ava Wilder so I was so excited to get to read an advance copy of this one!

Who doesn’t love a good enemies-to-loves plotline!?!?!

Lilah & Shane play love interests in the tv show they both star in, but actually hate each other in real life. Now they are finally going to get together in the final season of the show after pining for each other the previous 8 seasons. But selling the believability to an audience may just cause Lilah & Shane to fall in love for real!

Lighthearted & a very realistic enemies-to-lovers story. Most are not very realistic.

Sharp, witty, funny and unputdownable!!! I loved Wilder’s sophomore novel!!!!

4.5 Stars – I highly recommend grabbing this one even if you didn’t like her first one!

3.5 Stars Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder is a great Hollywood-set enemies-to-lovers romance. Though technically, it's a coworkers-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers. Actors Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy have spent years playing characters in a "will they or won't they" romance on a hit paranormal TV show, that is until Lilah left the show after five seasons. After a major film flop, Lilah is back for the TV show's ninth and final season to try to salvage her career. Being back on set means facing her sworn enemy, her ex and costar, Shane. Forced to play nice for the sake of their post-show careers, Lilah and Shane are constantly thrown together both on-screen and off. Will they be able to move on after years of animosity or will they implode once again?

I loved the angst, the banter, and the pining between Lilah and Shane. I'm glad that Wilder didn't make the readers wait too long to piece together what happened in Lilah and Shane's past. The GAD-rep was also great and a realistic driving force for Lilah's actions made out of fear and anxiety. I wish we'd gotten more of a glimpse into their HEA after wrapping up the series, but overall it ended on a perfect note.

Listen. I knew I was going to love this book. Ava Wilder is so good! Her books feels so special. And this did not disappoint!

I have a feeling people are NOT going to like Lilah - I definitely didn’t. But I also had a feeling that whatever they go through is going to pay off so well. AND IT DID. It was such a slow burn but had such high intensity?? They had a lot of unresolved issues between them, but they seemingly didn’t want to move on? They also hated each other?? But they clearly cared for each other SO MUCH? They just didn’t know what to do with the mixture of emotions. And that combination made it so good!

The second Lilah starts getting openly vulnerable everything changed for me. She was so scared, not just of Shane, past and present, of SO MANY things. She never felt like she was enough, never thought Shane’s feelings could be genuine. And it’s painful to watch her working so hard to prove him wrong and fight him and be so mean. But she didn’t know how to act otherwise?? She didn’t know how to process her feelings?

And the way Shane cared SO MUCH. He was also scared don’t get me wrong, he couldn’t figure Lilah out, and he had such big feelings. He was SO SWEET. He acted just like Lilah did because why wouldn’t he? He did in fact hate her as much as she hated him? Right??

But like Lilah and Shane said, it was worth the wait. It was SO GOOD. It’s hard to put into words really? I just absolutely loved this book. They just actually loved each other so much??

Also the ending was absolutely PERFECT.

Thank you SO MUCH to Random House and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I will happily read any and everything Ava writes!

As soon as I started reading I knew I wouldn’t be able to put this book down. I loved the third person point of view that gave the reader insight of how both characters were feeling during the moment. Shane and Liliah’s characters were written so beautifully and the chemistry between the characters was unreal! There was times throughout were I’d find myself blushing, smiling, or giggling.. would 100% recommend this book to everyone especially if you’re a fan of slow burns.

Story started off really strong!! I think the 3/4 started to drag some, but then it ended with a bang. I really enjoyed the book, despite that brief ending lull. The characters were so beautiful and deeply connected with the reader. They were complicated and glamorous all in one. Great book!

4.5 stars. I think with this second book we can officially say that Ava Wilder is really, really good at writing Hollywood romances. There was a different vibe to this one than ‘How to Fake it in Hollywood’, but it was just as immersive into the scene that was set.

I’ve accepted, as a personal preference, second chance isn’t my favorite trope because I have a hard time with a large portion of the book being spent with a couple who once cared for or loved each other now actively hating or trying to hurt each other. The past falling out usually involves miscommunication, which is another tricky one for me. Here, as frustrating as it still is, it makes sense. Lilah and Shane were young and their lives had completely changed with the success of their show. Add in their own personal issues that needed to be realized and it was a recipe for failure. I did feel like some of the animosity in the early stages of their reunion as Lilah returned to the show came across as a bit immature for the adults they had become nearly a decade later, but maybe being thrown together regressed them both.

Once the tide started to turn, there were so many soft moments of growth and understanding between the two of them that I just loved. Lilah’s prickliness in her defense mechanisms made the scenes even sweeter whenever Shane would chip a little bit more away at her walls. The eventual surrender and finale were so well done, and it felt really true to their characters.

Ava Wilder is cemented as an auto-read author for me now and I’m excited for whatever she does next.

5⭐️ Ava Wilder is officially an auto-buy author for me! This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint - I loved this book so much. The way Ava is able to write complex characters is unmatched. I also love the way she writes celebrities. The enemies to lovers/second chance trope was SO well done, and believable. I am already missing Lilah and Shane and was so happy with their HEA. Pre-order this book!!

Well, I finished this book in one day. I couldn't put it down! It was such a perfect enemies-to-lovers, with characters that were so well developed and real. I love a Hollywood Romance, and Wilder does them so, so well. It's official, anything she writes is destined for a spot on my list of favorites.


*Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Short Synopsis:
Lilah and Shane are costars on a hit paranormal show. (And also, I really wish this show was real! 👻). Lilah leaves the show after season five, but returns for the final ninth season. And oh, they have a past. And now hate each other.

My Thoughts:
The tension y’all!! It’s phenomenal. Ava Wilder has a way of writing characters that even though their famous, Hollywood characters, they feel just so real and authentic. Lilah and Shane’s story was messy, and unsettling at times, but so, so beautiful. I just can’t gush about this enough. Go do yourself and favor and preorder it.

I started and finished this book in less than 12 hours. So that says something too.

Read if you like:
👻 Celebrity Romances
👻 How to Fake It In Hollywood
👻 Tension! Lots of tension.
👻 Enemies to lovers
👻 Good writing
👻 Great Books
👻 Knowing about the book I’ll be gushing about for the foreseeable future

If Ava Wilder decides to write into her 80s/90s, I will be over the moon because I know I will never get enough of her writing! WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY has everything I want in a romance with the perfect balance of humor, banter, tension, angst, love, swoon, charm and spice. And including some of my favorite tropes such as slowburn, second chance, lovers-enemies-lovers, and dual point of view.

I loved HOW TO FAKE IT IN HOLLYWOOD so much that I just knew WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY was going to be really good, but didn't not realize just HOW really good. It's remarkable how the author can take something so saturated and fabricated as Hollywood and pop culture into something so real, authentic, and refreshing. With the characters fully developed and complex in their own ways, the flow and pacing of the writing, and everything just so believable I was fully immersed into the world on every page.

At times I found myself biting my lip, fanning my face, and wanting to squeal and giggle. Pretty sure my heart sped up every single time Shane said or did something. And I think the whole time I read this book, I held my breath (yes, I did read it in one sitting). Realizing now I'm so glad I didn't have anything else that needed my attention while reading because it certainly wouldn't have gotten it.

Shane and Lilah are both so lovable, relatable and beautifully flawed. I wanted to wrap their hearts in bubble wrap and at the same time tell them they need to get their stuff figured out so they can be together! I'm so grateful to have experienced Shane and Lilah's story, and will dream about this couple to tide me over until I can pre-order the author's next book.

Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Wow, Ava Wilder has done it again with another stunning romance novel. Perfectly angsty and heart-wrenchingly gorgeous, WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY is a delicious read from start to finish. I love Ava Wilder’s three-dimensional characters - they are so gritty and complex in the best of ways. If you are a fan of slowburn romances, I cannot recommend this novel enough.

YES this was SO good. lovers to enemies to lovers done exceedingly well. such a charming, delightful read about love, second chances, and forgiveness. an instant autobuy author.

Wow, Ava Wilder has done it again with another stunning romance novel. Perfectly angsty and heart-wrenchingly gorgeous, WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY is a delicious read from start to finish. I love Ava Wilder’s three-dimensional characters - they are so gritty and complex in the best of ways. If you are a fan of slowburn romances, I cannot recommend this novel enough.

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

CW: generalized anxiety disorder, panic attack (on-page), growing up with parents experiencing drug addiction (past), family tensions, brief mentions of dieting

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f second chance romance
-hollywood romance
-lovers to frenemies to pining idiots to lovers
-slooow burn
-sizzling chemistry
-hate how attracted to you I am
-this is just a hookup
-Jewish rep
-hand holding

I had been so hyped for this book and somehow it exceeded my expectations. Everything I adore about second chance romances this book exceeded at. The glimpses of their past, the understanding of why they broke up and the growth of the characters, and just the sexual chemistry of two people who know what it's like being together. Ava Wilder looks at tropes and then drops the mic expertly wielding them.

This book is very much about taking the leap of love, especially after being burned, whether by family or other aspects of your life. How much trust and just kind of blind faith, and how much you can get in your own way. Lilah and Shane had amazing chemistry, But after messily letting go of their hookup whoops they're stuck with each other costarring on the same show as love interests that the world is invested in them being together.

GAHHH Every moment of these two returning to eachother's lives. The clear sexual attraction that they were terrible at fighting, how they both roasted each other while also secretly looking out for each other. Every time they held hands I screamed, the tender way these two slowly opened up to each other and just made each other laugh. The 10 Things I Hate About You vibes (trust me you'll see it) and just the absolute angst of can we risk this again when it didn't work the first time, can I trust you with my heart.

Lilah and Shane were just perfect for each other. This is a love letter to everyone who shipped characters in a show, to some of the most iconic moments of costars who dated and broke up, and sweet and tender as these two finally admitted to themselves and each other their feelings.

A masterpiece.

Steam: 3.5

Lilah and Shane have a complicated history: they met at their audition for a paranormal TV series and sparks flew immediately. Fast forward to nine years later and Lilah’s returned to the show after a dramatic and unfriendly exit several seasons prior. She and Shane will do anything to make the other miserable, but that proves difficult as they’re put together again and again. It’s a great story that feels really immersed in Hollywood, without feeling out of touch with reality. One of my favorite unexpected elements to the story is the reverence paid to therapy-both characters have a lot to work on independently (and together if they’re going to make it through the final season)…

I loved How To Fake it in Hollywood, so I was excited to read Ava Wilder's newest book, Will They or Won't They. I'm pleased to report it lived up to my expectations! Lilah and Shane have a tumultuous history which they both felt was best left in the past... until they're forced together again (much to their dismay and the dismay of innocent bystanders). There is a lot of hurt, misunderstanding, and just overall poor timing to overcome if they hope to ever have a chance at being friends. They soon realize that they're more alike than they thought - both have insecurities and self-doubts they're desperately trying to hide from, they just protect themselves with different types of armor. Lilah is this tough, unshakeable force while Shane is a golden retriever people pleaser. Yet they somehow bring out the opposite in each other. Will They or Won't They is a story of forgiveness, taking chances, and vulnerability. It's about loving others for who they truly are and trusting them enough to let them see your ugly parts, too.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.