Fake relationship, cute dogs, enemies in college and an exquisite slow burn... my first Zoe forward of many that I plan to read in the future
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Amber is a badass veterinarian who is always ready for any emergency, even if she has to do it with the cameras of the reality show that is recorded in the clinic where she works
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Caught up in her job and taking care of her siblings, her world is disturbed when Ian Todd, the famous world-traveling exotic animal vet, arrives. Everyone can be impressed , everyone but Amber who knows Ian first hand and knows what he is capable of
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But the production of the program and the director of the clinic have other plans for them and soon they find themselves involved in having to pretend that they are dating
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A manipulative producer, competitive colleagues, a snobbish family, and a trio of close-knit siblings throw Amber and Ian into situations that lead them to give themselves another chance
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I really enjoyed this book, Amber is a very badass character, and Ian is the Playboy who after a bad situation is looking to focus on his career but could never forget the girl he let go
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I really liked the dialogues between this two and how they got to the good parts, the conflict third act of rupture was perfect as well as the ending
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Thanks to Zoe Forward and Xpresso Book Tours for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

I requested for this ARC on NetGalley on a whim because of the cute cover and the intriguing blurb! Safe to say I really enjoyed this one. Enemies to lovers will always remain one of my favourite tropes and this was just adorable. I especially enjoy stories where the FMC is grumpy and MMC is a sunshine character and to top it off, Doc Showmance has also got fake dating. So there were plenty of reasons to love the book! Ian was an absolute charmer and Amber was a total bad**s who perfectly fit together and I thoroughly enjoyed their banter! At times I did feel like something was missing but overall it’s a quick, cute romance that you simply can’t hate. If you love any of the tropes I mentioned or are an animal lover, give this book a read 💕

✔️ one bed trope
✔️ reverse grumpy x sunshine
✔️ enemies to lovers

This freaking book is so good! My first 5⭐️ read of the year!

Love this couple so much. Love the family dynamic of the female character. Not perfect but they are always there for each other. Love that Ian found someone a real “family”

This guy is so smitten that he has the “touch her and i’ll kill you” vibes.

Amber is on a reality show in the place Amber works. To increase the rating of the show, the producer came up with a plan and that is to pretend Ian and Amber are in a relationship. However, Ian and Amber had a misunderstanding that led them to enemies. She hated what happened when they were still in vet school.

Amber is such an independent, strong and very likable person! She is very passionate about her job.

If you like HOT doctors on TV try reading about HOT vets in a book about a TV show .. yeahh get the fan .🥵
This book has it ALL .
🌶️ Spice :✅
🤣 Banter : ✅
🐇Cute Pets with AMAZING insight on VETS :✅
🩺💋: Veterinarians with special interests in each other , but more importantly their patients / (SHOWMANCE)✅
👩🏻‍⚕️A BADa** Heroine :✅
🧑🏼‍⚕️🐒The Sexiest Vet Alive Award Winner & Exotic Animal VET As the Male MC : ✅
🤞🏻🫖Drama & Found Family: ✅
🫥A History Situation & A Revelation : ✅
🥰Swoonworthy stuff : ✅
🫀Enemies to Lovers :✅
📖Everything you’d want in a ROMANTIC COMEDY and it’s CHARACTERS & MORE! :✅
I literally didn’t want it to end . 🥹
-
“But I’m Better With You” - Amber

I was an advocate for them from the get go . The way things turned out was just too perfect to describe . The sarcasm , the fluff , the drama , the lack of bs .. just the whole book was written immaculately from beginning to end 💫. I’m excited to say this will definitely be on my mind for months after reading .. it’s that good 🫠. Such a privilege to have read this ARC . I can only hope that this review does the book justice . 🫶

~
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Tropes : Enemies to Lovers / Workplace Romance / Second Chance 💞
~

“Strange, isn’t it, how sometimes the catastrophes that shake up our lives end up taking us in a better direction?”

In this enemies-to-lovers veterinary Rom/Com, Dr. Ian Todd and Dr. Amber Hardin are old college enemies that somehow find themselves in the same veterinary office on a reality TV show. Amber, needing the money, agrees to fake a romance with her sexier than hell arch enemy. She will NOT fall for Ian during the shoot. She will NOT. Or will she..

Amber is as prickly as a cactus and an absolute pit bull. She is full of fire, is fiercely loyal, and is one hell of a Veterinarian. Easy on the eyes Ian is the sensitive one. The banter between these two is fire and I loved watching Ian break down her walls. There is some familial drama thrown in for good measure and quite a few heroic saves in the OR suite. This book is so cute and if you like animals (and I mean, who doesn’t?!) you will enjoy this one!

Thank you to Netgalley, Xpresso Book Tours, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of Doc Showmance by Zoe Forward. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it without a doubt!
Amber is a dedicated, motivated, and caring ER vet, as well as the glue that keeps her foster family together. I loved the relationships the author was able to create between Amber and her two foster brothers/sister.
In comes Ian, the man Amber went to vet school with and loved to hate (but really more loved). I enjoyed the aspect of the reality tv show thrown in and the fact that the two main characters sometimes couldn’t understand if their feelings were real or being faked for the show.
I love a good grumpy/sunshine trope… and even more so this time since the grump was the female! Definitely read this book if you’re looking for some good banter/spice. Thank you again the NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity.

Ian and Amber were in veterinary school together. They did not get along well there. When Ian shows up at the practice where Amber works, irritation flies. With them both being Vet TV stars, it seems the producers brought Ian to Amber's show to improve ratings. They were hoping for a romance to spark interest from the public. What they did not expect is how much animosity the two have towards each other. Somehow, through this fake romance, reality blurs and Ian and Amber seem to grow feelings for each other.
Opinion
This book was fraught with tension and that made the book a perfect read. Between Amber and Ian's
love and hate, the book/story flew by. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and animals. I personally would love to see a sequel with maybe one of Amber's siblings. I definitely want to know how Ian's family felt about the ending of the book :)
If you have never read a book by Zoe Forward, brace yourself to be immersed in a fantastic story.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Zoe Forward for providing me with an ARC of this book.

This was such a nice, easy, fun read. Ambers family are super cute and I loved seeing the sibling interactions. Ian and Amber make an adorable couple and I loved their banter. The TV show element added to the drama, and as an animal lover, I was a huge fan of the vet/animal side. I also really liked that there were a few lovable side characters that we got to know but not too many to keep track of. I did find the ending felt a bit rushed, but I still very much enjoyed it.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Doc Showmance
Author: Zoe Forward
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4⭐️
Pub Date: January 2023

Synopsis: Amber is enjoying her ER vet residency in San Diego. Sure she has to spend time on camera for the clinic’s reality TV show, but at least she gets paid for it. She is able to take care of herself and her foster siblings. That is, until Ian, an old classmate from vet school shows up to be on the show. The producer makes Amber and Ian “fake” date to increase the shows rating, but their old feelings for each other may get in their way.

What I Thought: I thought this book was very cute! It has a little spice to it as well. I loved that Amber had a no bullshit attitude and didn’t care if others didn’t agree with her. I like the way she handled work interaction and put her patients first. I also loved the amount of times Amber states although her body isn’t perfect, she loves herself for who she is. The chemistry between Ian and Amber is something you pick up from the very beginning and will have you rooting for them the entire book.

Read if:
* You love enemies to lover stories
* You are a reality TV junkie
* You would literally fight anyone who stands in your way

Thank you NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this eARC!

Enemies to lovers romance! Set in sunny San Diego at an emergency veterinary clinic. Forced proximity via reality TV show taking place at the ER hospital.

What I liked!
- I really liked the animal/vet clinic aspect of the book. I think I may have liked the veterinary medicine more than I liked the romance.
- Grumpy girl/sunshine guy
What I didn’t like
- how many times Amber was described as short. I feel like that’s such a romance novel thing to do and I don’t like it.
- Ian said some dumb shit. Like he would tell Amber to “chill,” when she was upset. And when he said he “liked how she didn’t eat like other girls,….and wasn’t afraid to eat fried food.” Man shut up
There was also a couple plot holes (did Ian or Amber punch Brock?), and some general writing edits that needed to happen. I started skimming the last 40% of the book so 2 stars from me.

ARC courtesy of Netgalley, released on the 9th Jan (so TOMORROW!!)

I really enjoyed this romance novel! Amber & Ian both being vets added to the storyline as it is obvious that Zoe has a huge bank of knowledge around veterinary medicine and animals, but also made the romance that much more exciting. Both characters are very well rounded, I enjoyed both of their background stories and learning about the characters that surrounded them. The pets really worked for me, they were ADORABLE & the love story was very realistic.

4 stars because of the sexy stuff (not my cup of tea), and also I didn't LOVE the discourse around body type.

This was a fun book to read a vet reality TV show who doesn't love that animals are my favorite but the 2 of those characters were just great together and I loved watching them fall even if they didn't know it from the beginning and the drama was also fun

Thanks for the arc netgalley! Loved this book I mean it had my two fave tropes ever: fake dating and enemies to lovers with second chance thrown in to boot! Ian and Amber had fire chemistry it jumped off the page and I really love how even their break up was well written and didn't make me hate it like I always do reading them! Ian's parting words were SWOON!

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Forward for providing me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Doc Showmance had a lot of potential to be a really cute and fun rom-com, but it fell a little short. Overall it was still a light and fairly good read, but it didn't stick out to me.

I had really high hopes when I found out about this book, What intrigued me was the fake dating trope and rivals to lovers aspect. Unfortunately, it felt as both of those tropes were vaguely there. There were also quite a few times it felt a little cringy. It felt like I was reading a TLC network vet show.

However that being said, there were parts about Amber character's I really enjoyed. She was a strong and bold female character! She was a good vet and an amazing sister. I think Amber's character by herself was interesting and fun to read, but when we got sucked into the romance, it felt like all the things that made Amber were the things that were used against her.

The romance fell flat for me. I was expecting this amazing banter especially for rivals to lovers, but it wasn't there. It felt like they went from "hating" each other to falling way too quickly. Now granted this book is on the shorter side, but the romance still progressed too rapidly.

Overall, I think this book was just okay. If you're looking for a light, simple, quick read then this book is for you. It's definitely not in the favorites for me. The writing was decent, but in the end, it felt a little all over the place.

Overall Rating: 4/5

"You don't think you can hurt me?"
"You'd need a hurt for it to hurt."
"That hurts, Amber. Seriously. I have a heart."
"It doesn't count if it's made of stone."
"It's made out of Play-doh. Give me more credit than that."


🐶𝗗𝗢𝗖 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 - 𝗕𝗬 𝗭𝗢𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗🐶
★𝗬𝗔/𝗡𝗔/𝗔 🅽🅰/🅰️
★𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 - 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙲𝙾𝙼 - 𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙾𝚁 - 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙲𝙴 𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴
★𝗣𝗢𝗩 𝙳𝙾𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙴-𝙿𝙾𝚅 - 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽 - 𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴
★𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦 𝙵𝙼𝙲 𝙸𝚂 𝚃𝙸𝙽𝚈 - 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙶𝚁𝚄𝙼𝙿𝚈/𝚂𝚄𝙽𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙴 - 𝙽𝙴𝙼𝙴𝚂𝙴𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙰 𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿 - 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙳-𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴𝚂 - 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙵𝚄𝙽𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙴𝚂 - 𝙰𝙽𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙻𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙴 - 𝙼𝙸𝚂𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂
★𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: 👥👥👥/5 (𝟸 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙸𝙰𝙽, 𝟷 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙰𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁)
★𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ✍🏼✍🏼/5
★𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧: 📜📜/5
★𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗦 & 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦:💀/5 (𝙿𝚄𝙱𝙻𝙸𝙲 𝙷𝚄𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙸𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 - 𝙴𝚇𝙿𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙸𝚃 𝚃𝙰𝙻𝙺 𝙾𝙵 𝙰𝙽𝙸𝙼𝙰𝙻 𝙻𝙾𝚂𝚂/𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳/𝚆𝙰𝚂𝚃𝙴/𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴𝚂/𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙽𝙳𝚂)
★𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: 🔥🔥/5
★𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🤐🤐/5 (𝙼𝙴𝙳𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻 𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙼𝚂 - 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝚅𝙰𝙶𝚄𝙴 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝚂𝙴𝚇)
★𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: 🌹🌹/5
★𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦-𝗧𝗢-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 🖤🖤/5
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

Two things I understood from this book are:
-I should definitely wait until I've reached a quarter of the book before parading around how good I find it;
-Amber Hardin is short.
Because she is. Very. And people don't waste any occasion to remind the reader of this.

Doc Showmance could have been a wonderful story and a funny rom-com, and mind it, it <i>almost</i> was.
I read a couple chapters of this ARC and thought "okay, I can see this going somewhere" and I was so pumped I couldn't stop reading and smiling, because Amber seemed like a cool lady who cares for her family, loves animals more than people and has a potty mouth, and nothing screams relatable more than this. But then, MMC made an apparition and everything that made her interesting and quirky, was used against her, and she turned into a rude monster who changed her mind about things every other second and was sulky like a little baby who didn't get the treat they wanted at the candy shop every time someone didn't agree with doing things her way.
Ian was only slightly better because there was not much to him to start.

One thing I must say in Amber's defense, though. She's a good doctor and would do anything for animals and has a great heart when it comes to her foster siblings.
Unfortunately, this is a rom-com, and while animals and families are mentioned and appreciated, romance should be the main character, and in this one, it's a very weak one.
The switch between enemies to lovers is so quick you don't feel it coming, and it loses 70% of its magic because you miss the best part of the internal struggle ETL romances come with.
Again, I feel like this was mainly Amber's fault, as she was the one whose messy emotions were a rollercoaster I would never want to ride on.

The writing was okay, but I found the dialogues a little forced; kinda interesting the reality show subplot, but I didn't care much about it, in the end.

<b>ACTUAL RATINGS 2,5/5</b>



<i>Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

"Doc Showmance" is a funny and cute romance, perfect for Fans of Ali Hazelwood!

The first reason I requested the book was the cover, because I am a big fan of ilustrated covers and the dog was just to adrorable to pass. And than I saw that it's a spicy rivals to lovers book with fake dating. I was completly sold when I read that it all plays on live tv.

I really liked that Amber is a tough and confidend main character who's not afraid to stand up for herself.

The book had a very nice pace but the end felt a bit rushed. I think I would have liked it even more if the book had one or two chapters more.

The whole story was really entertaining and I couldn't put the book down. It was really easy and fun to read.

The only thing that annoyed me was that the producer didn't care for anyhting than herself and that the series has enough interesting moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zoe Forward for this ARC! I really hope to read more of her works in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Forward for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was initially drawn to it thanks to the blurb, not having read a veterinary medicine based romcom before. I enjoyed Forward's style of writing from the word go, and a dual POV is always a win for me. This book is full of your favourite tropes of fake dating/second chance romance/enemies to lovers.
This ended up being a binge worthy read, reading the book within a single evening. I enjoyed how both characters were portrayed, and the TV show spin was a unique addition to a set of tropes that are really popular in the contemporary romance genre. They had chemistry and I thought the story built well, my only reservation is I felt the pace picked up a little too quick towards the end, and would have enjoyed it lasting a little longer, but it did not take away from the overall enjoyment of the story.
Forward is a new author to me, but I look forward to reading more from her in the future!

I received a copy of Doc Showmance via NetGalley to read and review.


Basis of the story: Ian and Amber went to vet school together. They had a falling out. Fast forward- Ian joins Amber’s vet reality show for a showmance.

The first 3/4 I really enjoyed. This isn’t an over-the-top romcom and had a nice pace. The last 1/4 though took a pretty sharp nosedive. The producer has Ian and Amber implying they are together for an episode or two then immediately talks about them breaking up. The whole thing felt very out of left field and felt like forced conflict to keep the story moving. I think it should’ve settled a little then bring in the breakup. The way it is now just seems too sudden and too forced almost like the quota on pages was hit so the book had to wrap ASAP.

There were a few other things that bugged me a little but not enough to hinder my enjoyment of Doc Showmance (minus my earlier rant about timing). I’m giving Doc Showmance 2.5 stars but rounding up to 3 stars.

A veterinarian enemies to lovers story who has to fake date while being on a reality TV show? Count me in! In all honesty, this book was good. There aren't nearly enough good vet-based romance stories available. So, thank god for this one.

They first met in college, but after what he did to her on Valentine's Day, Amber rapidly grew to despise him. He tried to apologize, but she was having none of it. When the reality TV show enters the picture, it throws everything off since they now have to collaborate.

Due to her passion for her work, Amber doesn't hesitate to express her opinions. She becomes a TV show fan favorite as a result of this. However, she firmly believes that Dr. Kovac is the actual reason people watch the show, not her. To protect her patients and ensure they receive the finest care possible, Amber is constantly going after Dr. Kovoc, so let's say he is incompetent.

Although Ian has appeared on television for a while, his agent's plans have caused him to appear on Amber's reality television program. Amber is baffled by this because Ian favors exotic animals. His television program revolves around a wildlife veterinarian, so she does not understand why he would go to a clinic where most patients are dogs and cats. Additionally, she just doesn't want him there.

They are forced to start a fake relationship to boost the reviews, much to their dismay. Amber doesn't really want to do it, but the money she would earn would be nice because her brother needs to pay $30,000 for a gambling debt and cannot obtain that amount of money promptly. She agrees to the fake dating after the show offers to pay her that sum up front, but she specifies that there will be no kissing involved.

Due to their dislike for one another, they initially chose to hang out after work without any cameras present to learn how to all accomplish this. As the story progresses, sentiments begin to arise genuinely, but they are both unwilling to acknowledge them, claiming that everything is only for the show and not real. They both understand that they are deceiving themselves, but they feel it would be better because Ian would be going soon if they didn't feel anything.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸💋

Amber is working her residency as a veterinarian in a busy ER vet hospital that makes extra money by hosting a tv show. Amber has been popular on the show for her no-nonsense say anything attitude. When the show decides to pull in outside talent by hiring popular wildlife vet Ian Todd, Amber is furious. She hasn't seen him since graduation from vet school where he became her nemesis after staging a humiliating prank. And now the show wants them to pretend a fake relationship. But she really needs the money and it's only for a few months, it can't be so bad, right?!
I loved this story! The behind the scenes while Amber cares for her patients both on and off camera was fascinating. I'm glad she was such a strong character not afraid to stand up for herself and her patients. Ian was the whole package... movie star good looks and a heart of gold, trying everything to get Amber to forgive him for his biggest mistake.
I'm so glad I was able to get an early copy of this book for review!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.