Brynn, who feels she worked hard the past 10 years and paid her dues, is finally promoted to the coveted seat on the couch next to Mark on the morning news/entertainment program. As the show is wrapping up the first week, there is a malfunction and when it is thought the camera and sound is off, Brynn tells her co-host, Mark that she is from Adelaide Springs, a small mountain town in Colorado. She goes on to say about two hundred people live there with twelve brain cell and they are obsessed with colonial times. She goes on to say she got out at the very first chance and has never gone back. Brynn is horrified when realizing everything she said was broadcast across the nation, including to the residents of Adelaide Springs. Brynn is immediately removed from her position and a substitute is put in her place Rather than being fired, it was agreed she would go back to Adelaide Springs and apologize to the residents.
Brynn had a difficult childhood and when she left Adelaide Springs, it was to get away from her mother, who since had passed. When growing up, the community had rallied around her, showing her love, however, her caustic remarks and never coming back for twenty years, changed much of their feelings.
Sebastian Sudworth is assigned to chauffeur Brynn and the cameraman who accompanied her around town. Sebastian did not grow up there so did not know her previously. He also had been a well-known, award-winning news report who gave it all up for a quieter way of life. From the moment of her arrival, Brynn, and Sebastian clash.
This story has an interesting, and delightful cast of characters who worked their way into my heart from the very beginning. It is a heartwarming story of redemption and the beauty of renewing old friendships. The story provided many opportunities to stop reading for a moment and laugh-out-loud. When I turned the last page, I was disappointed it came to an end.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 3
Let me preface this by saying that I am new to NetGalley and am realizing that I should do a bit of Googling before requesting books in the future as the descriptions provided by the publishers are not adequate to describe the genre. Apparently, this is supposed to be a clean Christian romance. There was one reference to Catholicism, but beyond that I didn’t really get a religious vibe. This is fine for me since I don’t really read that genre, but for those familiar with this publisher or author, just know, this is not what I would categorize as Christian or religious fiction. It was clean. Almost too squeaky clean, as in the “romance” and attraction between the characters was so subtle and understated it felt like it came out of nowhere.

The POVs in the book were also a bit confusing at first. Brynn’s chapters were written in 1st person POV while Sebastian’s were in 3rd. For no apparent reason. Truth be told I would have much rather been inside Sebastian's head than Brynn’s. Through 60% of the book, Brynn is selfish, mean, judgmental, impatient, and snobby. Although we are told she is intelligent and capable, that didn’t come across at all in her actions or words. Then we are expected to forgive her, and believe every else she’s been horrible to also forgives her, just because she sheds a few tears and had a semi-horrible childhood? Didn’t work for me. She literally had to have another character tell her, “Maybe rather than trying to make it seem like you’re a good person, you could actually just … be one.”
The switch from “hate” to love felt forced and unbelievable. Why would Sebastian tell someone his deep dark secret that made him flee his life and career and he hasn’t talked about in 6 years after only knowing her for like 6 minutes. No. Not believable.
So as a romance, this did NOT work for me.
As others have pointed out, there were many, many unnecessary side tangents that slowed the pace. I felt like the author did some research on the town and then felt compelled to throw it all in here.
However, the side characters were lovable. I liked the small town and all it’s quirks. There were some funny parts. I liked Sebastian’s character. He had more depth and integrity in his little finger than Brynn in her whole “existence.” I was actually rooting for him and Andie or Laila over Brynn. This would have been a much better book with Brynn as a side character that is the catalyst for a small town coming together or something. Not as a main character with an underdeveloped redemption arc.
Maybe a younger demographic will be more forgiving, but I just couldn’t connect with her idiotic self-sabotage.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for providing this ARC copy to read and review. All the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading the book.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Brynn, after finally making her name in television and onto the morning tv show, Sunup's couch, an on air mishap leaves her running back to her hometown to fix her blunder and repair her sweet, small town image.

The only issue is, Brynn left her small town of Adelaide Springs, population less than a thousand, twenty years ago and has not kept in contact with any of her friends and townspeople. Not exactly leading the way to a happy reunion.

To make matters worse, she immedately gets on the wrong side of formerly famous, travel journalist, Sebastian, current city councilmen of Adelaide Springs, and vice versa.

And why is Sebastian hiding away in the small town, after leaving his promising journalism career?

Given some time at home, mending fences from her past, Sebastian and Brynn begin to realize they have more in common than they thought.

This was nearly a 5 star rating for me, but I will say it took me a bit to settle in at the beginning, and with the characters, especially Brynn.

But I really enjoyed seeing Brynn come back to herself and less of the TV persona she so hard to build over the years.

I wanted to like this book and the blurb looked so appealing but I just couldn't get into it since the very first page tbh. There were so many unnecessarily long monologues and Brynn's attitude since the beginning bothered me a lot. Sebastian was more bearable as a character. I liked the enemies part but the lovers part came out of nowhere. I did not like the insta-love ngl. The pacing was extremely slow which made me constantly lose interest in the book. Just when the story picked up some place, the book neared it's end. While I liked the concept, the execution was sadly poor and this one was not for me.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

Yikes. This one needs to go back to the drawing board. Enemies to lovers is my favorite romance trope but this did not do it for me at all. Plot was thin and the characters were cringy.


* I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for my honest review*

Ooof. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this one.

I expected something cute, fun, and sassy. Whatever I read or attempted to read felt like a repressed Christian's version of 'romance'. There was no bite. The bickering / banter felt absolutely forced. The characters themselves also felt very thin - no depth. It was like someone could only see surface level and wrote them as they saw them not as they felt them to be.

I have read better enemies to lovers, and the plot itself sounded like it had the potential to be fun. But honestly, with this writing, no.

Within the first ten pages I was hooked! This adorable rom-com is addictive and I couldn’t put it down. The character development was really strong and I appreciate that as so few rom-come just breeze over the supporting cast. The pop culture references made this book super fun, but it isn’t too light and definitely has a lot of heart. I highly recommend giving this a read!

I really enjoyed this book. It was emotional at times. I shed a few tears. But I loved this story. Loved the small town. I hope there will be additional stories with these characters.

3.5 stars

How do I feel about this book? I'm not sure. In theory it should have been a five star read for me but I just didn't connect with it. I liked that the grumpy/sunshine trope seemed to include both our main characters depending on who they were with but I didn't get overly invested in our heroine.

I loved the epilogue, title and book cover. And I really liked the friends who'd been left behind. I would love if they got their own books.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Thomas Nelson.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner kept me on my toes. Bethany wove together a beautiful story that took me by surprise with the twists that came. I thought I had a pretty good understanding of where Brynn came from, but then an even deeper layer of Brynn’s character and history is revealed. Brynn and Sebastian rub one another the wrong way and seem to like the friction and bitterness. But once they set out to see each other without assumptions, a beautiful transformation takes place. Soon Brynn remembers an important lesson. “There would always be consequences for your actions…but the sooner you owned up to them the sooner you could start healing.” Once she remembers to live that out, her life shakes free and puts her on a path toward freedom and love. At the same time, Sebastian is pushed out of his comfort zone to confront his painful past. Ultimately, they both need each other more than they could have imagined. This is a book I highly recommend. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As a die-hard fan of enemies-to-lovers and grumpy-meets-sunshine tropes, I honestly wanted to enjoy this book. However, I was surprised to find that I disliked the "sunshine" character and empathized more with the grumpy one. The heroine was really annoying, and I kept waiting for her redemption and to see things from a different perspective instead of acting like a spoiled brat. Her character development felt a little slow to me. Additionally, the enemies-to-lovers trope that was emphasized in the title wasn't the main focus of the book. It could have been executed more effectively, but instead, as soon as the characters spent their first alone time together, they just started liking each other, which felt too instant. I had a hard time getting into the story in the first half while I kept disliking Brynn Cornell (our not-so-sunshine heroine). I pushed myself harder to keep going and not choose the DNF option. Thankfully, the second half was a sweeter, more engaging little town story that I easily got attached to the other characters.

Here's a summary of the plot:

Cornell is the "Elle Woods" of the morning show, with a "Ray of Sunshine" persona. However, one wrongful comment disparaging her hometown tarnishes the entire image she has built. Her only chance to salvage her reputation and win back her viewers is to return to the same place she left 20 years ago and film an apology video, winning the blessing of the people. Her path crosses with Sebastian Sudworth, a brooding, retired famous journalist who is working odd jobs to waste his potential, with a mysterious reason for leaving his life behind to make a fresh start in Adelaide Springs, Colorado. He becomes the private chauffeur of Brynn, but as you can imagine, he doesn't like her much. Brynn realizes she has to win over the entire town, including Sebastian, to achieve her goal and return to her old job. Maybe she can do more than win him over—she may also make him fall in love with her.

Overall, I enjoyed the second half more, but I couldn't connect with the heroine. At least Sebastian was a more likable and attachable character. That's why I decided to give it three stars. This is still a good choice for readers who enjoy sweet, small-town romances.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson-FICTION/Thomas Nelson for sharing this ARC copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book had it all for me and that was it. I had to read this to see what it was all about. I was not disappointed and enjoyed the content. Enjoyed this book. I want to find more of her books.

This book was so slow moving that I almost DNF, but I'm glad that I finished it. The second half of the book was much better, and I wish that it was consistent throughout the book. The first half of the book was so slow, and I felt like nothing happened. The characters didn't grow or change. All of a sudden toward the end of the book, Brynn and Sebastian just developed feelings for each other, seemingly out of nowhere. I don't think it's fair to call this an enemies to lovers story because I don't think that it was actually much of a romance story.

At 85%-90%, the story started to pickup steam, and then, it was just over. I wish that the characters had more time to grow and change together. There was too much time wasted on things that were unimportant, and I would have love more with Brynn and Sebastian together.

There were also some pretty heavy moments in the book too, and I think that they were handled well. I would have liked more with that part of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for an ARC of this book.

If you like enemies to lovers this is the book for you!

The first half of it was, in my opinion, a bit slow and boring, I had to start it again a couple of times, it just didn’t capture my interest.

The second half on the other hand was cute and funny, you get to know the characters better and everything works better together.

There are some parts where I really would have slapped Brynn (FMC), her attitude was really annoying, and I get it, it was the whole point of the book, but in some parts she acted so dumbly; like, your biggest concern is that everyone saw that you are a jerk, and you have to redeem yourself, but you keep acting like one… like, seriously?! And to change that someone has to explicitly say to you “stop being one”.

Apart from that, I really enjoyed the book, it’s cute, light, and there are some jokes that are really funny.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

I have a love hate relationship with this book. I like Sebastian, I like the writing, I loved the epilogue, and I loved a lot of the wittiness. However, I did not like Brynn and I don't think she earned any forgiveness, I also didn't like how any of our usual romcom tropes were used here. Brynn's character kept me from fully enjoying this as much as I wanted.

This book was very underwhelming for me. It was slow to start and I feel towards the end it was a little rush to wrap. I didn't care of Brynn character at all, Sebastians character was a little more tolerable. Honestly my favorite part of the book was the epilogue.

Thanks you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this e arc in exchange for a honest review.

Brynn Cornell is known as the Ray of Sunshine on the Sunup morning show, and has left her hometown of Adelaide Springs, Colorado far behind her. Until, that is, she's caught on a hot mic disparaging her hometown and the people who live there. Her only chance at salvaging her reputation and career seems to be returning to her hometown and the people she left without so much as a goodbye 20 years ago and filming her apology and, hopefully, their forgiveness. While there, she encounters Sebastian Sudworth, who has landed in Adelaide Springs from his own search for a fresh start. Will their fresh starts and second chances counter each other, or be just what they each need?

Normally, I love the enemies to lovers trope in romance, and the need for forgiveness and a second chance was such a great idea for this story. However, it felt like the switched flipped a bit too quickly and easily for Brynn. She didn't really work for any of the forgiveness, and she didn't seem to actually regret her actions, just that she got caught. There were a lot of avenues for side storylines that could have been developed, but there seemed to be an abundance of focus on Brynn's name change from B-R-E-N to B-R-Y-N-N, as if all of her life choices could be hinged on this spelling change.

I also missed some of this author's signature character banter from her previous works. Sebastian and Brynn could have been a fiery match, but it fell a little flat for me. I liked Seb, but found myself not really caring if Brynn found success.

I give this book 3 stars; I really liked the characters from Adelaide Springs, and just wish Brynn's transformation could have been a little more developed.


I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

A sweet , funny and tear-jerker book . Brynn is a cohost in a morning and she made an on-air mistake talking bad about her hometown of Adelaide Springs, Colorado . The only way to make everything better is for her to go back to her hometown and try to apologize . The person that is assinged to drive her around is Sebastian a man who was a famous reporter who has vanished from the media the last 6 six years . Now he lives in Adelaide Springs workings odd jobs and is in the town council . From the minute they meet they hate each other . She doesn't like the way he treats her and him is believing she is phonie . While spending time together they learn about each others pasts and they fell in love .
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own .

Bethany Turner has a new fan! I loved Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other (although I think the title could be a little less “wordy”). The quick wit and overall snarkiness between Sebastian and Brynn kept me invested until the very last page. If you’re looking to read a cute, innocent, feel good enemies to lovers book, then I recommend you read this one. I hope there is a sequel so I can continue following the love story of Brynn, Sebastian and the people of Adelaide Springs, CO.

This was a quick and easy read. Cute and heartwarming, but I didn’t connect with the characters very well.