Member Reviews

Cute read with interesting and well developed characters. I enjoyed reading a lot, however this is a pretty forgettable read.

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Enemies to lovers/grumpy vs sunshine tropes, those are some of my favorites! Brynn and Sebastian will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Bethany Turner writes a story that makes you feel like you're right there in that tiny little town in the middle of the mountains. Kind of a Sweet Home Alabama vibe.

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Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other is another un-put-downable, highly entertaining story from the tremendously creative Bethany Turner. This author couldn’t write a boring, predictable book if she tried.

The basic premise is this: an on air morning tv host (Brynn) makes a huge mistake and denigrates her former hometown while the microphone is hot. In a bid to keep her job, she’s sent back home to make amends. But Adelaide Springs is the very last place Brynn ever wants to go. Ever.

Conversely, former award-winning, superstar reporter Sebastian is happy to live there in total anonymity, blending in as a rugged mountain man and working a plethora of odd jobs to fund his new life. That is, until he’s assigned the role of Brynn’s chauffeur while she’s back. Will he see straight through her charm offensive or will she figure out who he used to be?

This is another hilarious romp through the enemies to lovers rom com from one of the very best in the genre. Highly recommended for anyone who needs a smile on their face as our couple lurch from crisis to disaster, growing closer all the while.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are all my own.

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I received a complimentary copy from Thomas Nelson and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other is an enemies to lovers and grumpyxsunshine romance set in a small town. The book follows Brynn who is a morning show host who one day makes a comment that tarnishes her image . To redeem herself she has to make a public apology in her small town. While there she meets the brooding 'almost reclusive' journalist Sebastian.. The character dynamics were interesting however the book starts a bit on the slow side and thus it needs a little bit of grace. Once it starts being interesting it never lets go .I actually enjoyed what the author with the characters.

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Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This was a fun book with quirky, and endearing side characters! Though in the beginning, our heroine was hard to truly like. Thankfully, there is character growth, and our grumpy hero is really a cinnamon roll. Both of our main characters have a deeper backstory that gives you better insight into their character. I enjoyed the banter and the development between Brynn and Sebatian. I adored the full circle ending!

4 stars

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“If a classic country karaoke dork is lucky enough to find a woman who can look that cute and be that irresistible while singing that badly, he’d be a fool to let her get away.”

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner
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I loved this book! It was such a cute enemies to lovers. The characters were all amazing and I love Sebastian! This is definitely a cozy little romance and I enjoyed it so much! Definitely a book I’d read again. I loved the back and forth banter between Sebastian and Brynn. Even though I knew they were going to fall in love I got so excited when they did! Absolutely adorable.

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A small town vibes romance, I throughly enjoyed this read (even if I did not throughly enjoy Brynn at the beginning). Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner has a terrific plot and excellent character building. This is the perfect read for fans of Sarah Adams!

Meet Brynn. She hasn’t been home in years and isn’t too sure anyone will be there to welcome her. She has one chance to redeem herself, she just has to convince the town to forgive her. It sounds like a small thing, except she previously bashed her hometown in Colorado on-air… live.

Meet Sebastian. He has to act as chauffeur for this morning show host and is considering listening to this crazy idea she has… reviving a beloved traditional festival for the town. Will Brynn be able to recover her reputation, and will she ever say the right thing around Sebastian?!

The growth game is so strong in these characters, I was totally here for it. It was a great grumpy-sunshine clean romance with some enemies-to-lovers, you’re going to love this book. The romance is full of chemistry, banter, and it’s totally cute. I really enjoyed this lighthearted read and really think you will enjoy this too!

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I really enjoyed this book! The characters were endearing and the witty banter was well done. I thought Brynn's journey to figure out who she really is and what she really wants in life and Sebastian's work to overcome past traumatic events felt realistic and relatable. I will definitely be reading more books by Bethany Turner!

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This was a fun and quick read with one of my favourite tropes in it- enemies to lovers. While there were a few heavier topics touched on it in it, they were handled well and respectfully. I very much enjoyed the small town hijinks and loveable quirky side characters.

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Brynn Cornell is Sunup’s morning show host. She has been hyped as America’s sweetheart but she doesn’t feel very sunny at all. The network scripts are fake and so far from the truth, that she has a hard time keeping the fake smile plastered on her face.

<i>”For me, the last ten years have flown by,” I responded. Because that’s what the teleprompter told me to say. Never mind that I could have told stories for days about being passed over for the “fresh face” or “up-and-comer.” About the “good old boy” guys from the network’s club of safe, boring, demographic-approved men like Mark filling the rotating vacant seat on the couch while I kept working hard and paying my dues and smiling sweetly when network executives dangled the “your day is coming” carrot in front of me to keep me happy. </i>

<i>We laughed together in that way only two coworkers who barely know each other but are trying to convince America they are the nearest and dearest of friends can.</i>

When she lets her guard down for one moment and spouts how she truly feels about her home town, the mic was still on and the camera hadn’t switched to commercial, and Brynn has blown up the carefully created image America has of her. So she needs to travel home for some damage control, and meets Sebastian Sudworth, who was in hiding there himself but for reasons that aren’t disclosed at first. It turns out he used to be one of the most widely respected journalists of his time.

I had a bit of difficulty to get through the book because there is often information or background details that make you get distracted from the main story. For example, Sebastian was meeting an elderly man, Doc Atwater, whom he respects, but then you get almost two whole pages on Seb looking up to him as some sort of father figure, but not entirely because his dad was the biggest influence in his life, with the exception of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, but he means actually Robert Redford and Hoffman in their portrayals of the two men scooping the Watergate story in All the President’s Men, because… bla bla bla, but his dad’s influence on his life went even deeper, because bla bla bla. Another example: when the whole tv debacle is discussed in Adelaide Springs, time zones are discussed, you read about the 1960 presidential election and what that has to do with time zones, etc….
I personally like a bit more pace in my books. I like when the story is engaging and makes me having trouble putting it down. That sleeping disorder called reading. ;-)
And I wasn’t quite sold on Brynn and Seb haring each other and then in a matter of days, Seb was entrusting her with his biggest secret, which he hadn’t told anyone for over six years.
So unfortunately the book didn’t really speak to me, but I liked the whole ‘Morning Show’ storyline. And I LOVED the ending. I won’t spoil it, but it is not what you’d expect, and I like that very much!

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I absolutely adored this book! Brynn is a very relatable character and her enemies to lovers relationship with Sebastian was on point. Highly recommend.

Full review will be published on tracepreadsandrambles.com and featured on IG at @traceyreadsandrambles

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This was such a fun and compelling read. I love Bethany's voice -- as an author she's perfected the contemporary rom com, but what I appreciate is the way she layers in such heart. It would have been easy to leave this as a superficial gal-who-left-town-and-didn't-want-to-return v. the guy-who's-trying-to-hide-and-protect-the-town-that-adopted-him. Instead, the heroine and hero are rich, three dimensional people with reasons that motivate their actions. That carries through to the supporting characters, too. I read this at the same time I was reading another book that stayed on a surface level, so the contrast was so stark.

At the same time, don't think this isn't a fun read. There's all kinds of pop references and just plain fun zaniness. I really enjoyed the trip to Adelaide Springs and the sparring between Brynn and Sebastian -- all the way to the last page. Such a great romance. And one I highly recommend.

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A great read. Brynn and Sebastian meet when she is reluctantly back in her home town, needing to win them over but clashing with him in his role as mayor. An enemies to lovers story. I liked how it is told from both points of view.

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3 stars.

I think I started liking this book about halfway or two-thirds through! LOL! Turner definitely writes witty, snappy dialogue, and I enjoyed that a lot--but the MC (Brynn) was just not my cup of tea for a bulk of that initial portion of the book. Very negative compared to her on-screen persona, and quick to anger.

Sebastian, I thought, was a great foil to her, and I really enjoyed his story arc and just him as a character. Talk about a slow burn, in every respect, and getting the full story (no pun intended) on his past was powerful.

There were passing faith references to God, prayer, etc., but I would've enjoyed seeing more of this--partly because Thomas Nelson was the publisher, and partly because it would have made both Brynn's and Seb's story arcs more powerful. The book title indicates they hate each other (and they do, more or less, in the book), but their respective changes were a bit on a dime, and very self-focused at the root--no inner Holy Spirit conviction or faith element in that aspect, which I felt was a missed opportunity. And, as Gilmore Girls-esque as much of the pop-culture references were, a few felt a bit too close to the edge (i.e. swooning over Jennifer Aniston's "I am my own soulmate" from a while back).

So, it was an interesting way to while away the time, but I can't say I'd rush into a re-read. This book is more in line with Turner's Hadley Beckett's Next Dish than The Do-Over; I prefer _The Do-Over_, myself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Being from Colorado, I of course had to read this. I was not disappointed, and its tagline of being a mixture of Parks and Recreation and The Morning Show are entirely correct - its cute, snarky, romantic, and adorable. I loved walking alongside Brynn and Sebastian as they fell for each other. A wonderful four hours of very happy reading. Highly recommended!

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I wanted to love this one because the premise sounded so good. But after discovering that the heroine is a mean girl who's proud to be a mean girl and doesn't like her hometown. I knew I wasn't going to like the heroine or relate to her. So I held out hope that I would like the hero. No go he was almost as bad, I normally like the grumpy troupe but he took it to the extreme. It's safe to say that this author is not the author for me.

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This book, this book, this book.
This book hit the mark for me in some areas and completely missed it in others.

I think I liked it. But I also almost DNF'd it about 3 times. Maybe it just wasn't for me, but it might be for you!

Where It Hit the Mark:
Small Town Vibes
The Banter
Representation of Anxiety and PTSD (in the form of an adorable dog)

Where It Missed:
The redemption arc - it either felt like everyone forgave Brynn immediately or that the reconciliation took place off the page. Which really missed some character development for me.
Brynn& Sebastian go from straight up hating each other and intentionally irritating the other to...being in love. I just feel like they missed a few steps?
I wish there had been more about Brynn and Sebastians' back stories. I feel like we just grazed the surface and there was so much more.
I also did not understand why Brynn wanted to be on this other news program. She got to hang out with Keanu and interview Meryl on her third rate show - so why leave? If I've learned anything about morning TV (all of which I've learned from the movie Morning Glory), getting A-list stars on your show is how you know you've made it.

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Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner
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Brynn is the new darling of the morning talk show world. When she makes a mistake on air she is desperate to right it any way possible. Which means going back to her small home town and making nice. This puts her in close contact with Sebastian, who does not want her there.
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What I liked:
-I liked the friction between Brynn and Sebastian. Seeing from both of their perspectives was fun.
-I really liked seeing a little behind the scenes into the reporting world!
-Adelaide Springs was a cool little town and I loved all the characters there.
-This ended super sweet!
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed this, it was a fun and sassy romcom with a lot of heart.

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Loved it.

I requested this book on NetGalley after I read a few reviews and figured this would be the sort of book I'd like. I liked it even better than I thought.

Brynn ran away from her hometown and hasn't been back in twenty years. And even though the network has been marketing her as all-American small town girl, she has nothing nice to say about her hometown. Which she accidentally does live on television. There is nothing to it, she has to go back to Adelaide Springs and apologize to the people she inadvertently has insulted.

Sebastian is running away too, but he ended up in Adelaide Springs. Though he thinks it's a good idea that Brynn comes to town with a camera so the town can get some free advertising on national television, he certainly doesn't like being stuck with the woman for five days. He dislikes her from the moment she starts to speak to him.

Of course they'll warm up to each other, and I like the way that they did. And I liked the way Brynn got a renewed appreciation for the town and the people she had left behind.

It was a bit distracting that Brynn's chapters were told in first person and Sebastian's were told in third. It made it a bit hard to get close to Sebastian. But then, it was probably fitting for his character that you didn't get close to him.

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DNF AT 18%

I physically couldn’t push myself through this book any further.
The female main character was just very insufferable and annoying and I just really didn’t connect with her character.
The main male character was just very very boring and dull
I usually like to reach the 25% mark before DNFing but I didn’t see much more interesting happening in 7%.

So sorry I didn’t enjoy this one as this is the ARC I was looking forward to the most and was most excited for. But I guess not everything will be for everyone.

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