<b><i><u>please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers</b></i></u>
<i><u>I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. </i></u>
<b>HEA:</b> yes
<b>spice:</b> closed door fade-to-black
<b>TWs:</b> parental/societal pressure to get married and have babies … other than that I don’t recall anything TW/CW worthy in this book
<b>standalone:</b> yes
<b>final thoughts</b>: this book was cute and had a lot of great banter and tension. The characters were likable, and the storyline was fun to follow. I will admit that even though we don’t get the dual POV that I desperately CRAVE in a rivals/enemies-to-lovers (<i>and any romance to be honest…</i>), I felt more connected to the MMC than I did with the FMC. I didn’t <i>dislike</i> the FMC but I did find her unreasonable a lot of the time. She read to be younger than she was portrayed with her list of “must haves” and “deal breakers” but overall it was a quick and easy read

read this book if you love

🔀 opposites attract
🤐 miscommunication
🏝️ forced proximity (working together)
💓 slowburn
🤜 rivals-to-lovers
💼 workplace romance
💌 clean romance

I loved the premise of Dealbreakers. The enemies to lovers, workplace competition, and the forced proximity.
I enjoyed the banter between Marina and Lucas. And the forced dates for work made them spend time together and lower the animosity. I enjoyed the banter and thought the different dates were fun. I just did not connect to the main characters separately or as a couple. I thought the pacing was a little slow until the end where it seemed to wrap up quickly. I would recommend if the premise sounds like something you would enjoy or you’re looking for a quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Putnam Books for the watch.

The Hating Game, but make it How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. There were a few things I really enjoyed in this book, but they sort of make me a hypocrite when I try to put it together with what I didn't like.

I loved the idea of not trusting your first impressions, aka the app that the plot revolves around, but I also dislike that females constantly have to apologize for those first impressions. It halts the idea of growth and doesn't allow either party to move on. I think if the ending didn't revolve around that, the book could've been so much more than what it is.

I don't take comparing it to two of my absolute favorite rom coms lightly. I really enjoyed their dates, their minds, and honestly, the friendship they built together as well. I love that Marina isn't left to having only Lucas, but a group of friends that support her as well.

I really did love this story, and I absolutely want to search up more from this author.

There’s just something so refreshing about Lauren Forsythe’s books that make me glad I decided to pick one up. This rivals-to-lovers workplace romance was the perfect way to start a week. Marina Spicer thinks she knows what she wants in a future mate and has zero time to waste with the wrong men, so she creates the Dealbreakers app, where women can sound off on why their dates just didn’t meet their expectations. When her work puts Marina in competition with flirty Irish Lucas Kennedy for a job promotion, the two sparring adversaries find themselves having to do “research” on great dating locations. It isn’t long before the attraction between Marina and Lucas turns more NSFW, but can Marina ignore all of Lucas’s dealbreakers?
This was a perfect romcom. I found the dates Lucas and Marina went on highly entertaining and loved their banter that always bordered a little bit on the spicy side. This is a closed door romance where we learn about their escapades after the fact, but for someone who likes spice, this didn’t bother me in the least. Marina and Lucas have chemistry and Marina’s reasons for not wanting to actually date Lucas seemed very valid. I loved that Marina’s career was in a tech savvy market and thought the ideas behind her app were really interesting. But as we learn, there’s one thing that’s true about people: they lie and not everything you read on the Internet is the truth. This was such a thoughtful way to look at dating in the modern day and couple it with a workplace romance. Lucas won me over from the start with his accent and inability to tell Marina anything other than the truth about his feelings towards her. I’ve come to realize that Lauren Forsythe will consistently tell entertaining stories with heart that make you think about live in ways the genre hasn’t quite explored before. I received this book as an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This tumultuous romance by Lauren Forsythe will grab you, wrap you in, and won’t let you rest until and unless you’re finally done reading it because this for sure was unputdownable romance read for me.

Dealbreakers is an enemy to lovers story with also a coworker competition sprinkled in. I liked it and read it relatively quickly but it wasnt as engaging as I had hoped. It is a closed door romance but it heavy on the banter and innuendos. I enjoyed the banter a lot between the two characters and the situations they found themselves in on their fake dates was a lot of fun. I do think I liked her friends better than I liked the main character which does make it difficult to love the story and root for her as much. But it was enjoyable and an easy read.

💻 Dealbreakers 💻

“I’ll remember that joy for the rest of my life. And it was, what? Nothing. A moment, a breath.”

What a beautiful story of appreciating the small joys and living in the moment!

Marina has a plan. She wants the promotion, the flat, the marriage, the kids, the white picket fence. She’s just trying to find her partner. As a coder, she even designed an app you can add on to your dating apps to see reviews of the guys you are swiping on. Is smoking a dealbreaker for you? Find out before you even meet the guy if he’s going to be a non-starter. In all her carefully laid plans, enter Lucas. He’s charming (with the dealbreaker reviews to prove it), he has tattoos (dealbreaker), he doesn’t stick around. But he charms his way into Marina’s heart anyways.

Check this one out if you’re looking for:
💻 Woman in STEM (coding) FMC
💻 Workplace romance
💻 Rivals to FWB to lovers
💻 A story about finding out who you truly want to be and enjoying the journey to get here

This book was a little slow in the beginning. I loved the concept of an app that prevents you from going on a date with a red flag. But I'm not sure how I truly felt about the 2 workers going on dates because of there job. I think overall all the relationships or dates she went on made her come off as a mess. I hate that she wouldn't just go for her co-worker immediately when she knew she liked him and kept just fighting that. The ending was great and very unexpected.

I liked it but I didn't feel overly invested in the story or super connected to the characters. Overall though it was cute & funny but the pacing was off.

This was a cute fun read. I struggled with Marina a bit at the beginning, but liked that there was character growth throughout the book. The ending wrapped up a little quickly for me and was a bit abrupt, but otherwise the story was enjoyable. It’s a good book to pick up as a palate cleanser from other reads.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book!

While this was a cute read with an ending I really enjoyed, I found the female main character to be a little frustrating throughout the story. Although I completely understand her listening to the perspectives of other women on the app, I just think she relied on it way too much without actually paying attention to what was going on in front of her. I also found her entire job/work situation to be a little confusing? All in all, this was a cute and quick romcom, but not a new favorite of mine by any means unfortunately.

DNF @ 34%

In the words of our beloved Taylor Swift, "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me". Objectively, there isn't anything wrong with DEALBREAKERS. I was excited to read it based upon the promise of a workplace rivalry-turned-romance, especially after I loved Falon Ballard's JUST MY TYPE so much earlier this year. I started out via my NetGalley copy, and after publication day, I switched to audio. I honestly can't quite put my finger on exactly what didn't work for me, but I didn't want to do the Forsythe the injustice of a lower rating on Goodreads by pushing through just because I felt like I had to (I don't rate books that I DNF on Goodreads). I am incredibly grateful for the early copy, and I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking this up!

This is a cute workplace rivals to lovers romance. I enjoyed the foundation of this book. It reminded me of The Hating Game. The "dates" were a fun way for the couple to have an opportunity to thaw the animosity toward each other. I was pleased by the interactions between the characters and the fun dating ideas. I do wish it had been a bit more fast-paced but I feel that readers will enjoy it.

This was a cute story. I loved the little dates they went on, but it felt like them becoming a couple, the third act breakup, and the resolution all happened so fast, and the pacing for how everything happened was off.

Thank you, Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, for this eARC.

This is a fun enemies to lovers, workplace romance. Marina is a coder who’s so frustrated with the dating scene that she writes an app called Dealbreakers, where women can dish about their recent dates to inform other women. She’s been waiting for an overdue promotion until
Daniel arrives to get in her way.

Daniel is a content writer with great ideas. Their manager puts them on a story together testing out dating ideas. The “winner” gets the promotion.

They throw axes, take bartending and swing dance lessons and more. They bicker over whether the activity is date or group suitable, but as they go on these “dates” they start losing their animosity towards each other.

This was such a fun read, I loved the characters and the dating ideas are entertaining. 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

WOW WOW WOW! this book was so good and not expected. I loved everything about it and I read it within 24 hours! 5 starts all the way! Lucas is a perfect golden retriever cinnamon roll🥰

This was a cute and fun read (listen) and I was glad to have had the chance to receive an advanced copy from Netgalley, but time for away from me and I was then fortunate enough to get an audio copy after pub day and it was a really good time.

The narration was great and I loved the accents. Especially for Lucas. I love a good rivals to lovers story, and one that has a sort of fake dating twist is extra fun. They had great chemistry and cute banter. Their ‘dates’ were fun and silly and I loved them.

I’d definitely grab it if you want something funny and cute that will leave you smiling and feeling giddy.

Dealbreakers by Lauren Forsythe was a great romcom read! This was not only a great rom-com but a story of realizing sometimes what you plan is not always what’s best. Besides, what more could you want from a romance then a witty Irishman and fake dates! I definitely recommend this book.

At 30 and newly single, after her 15-year-long relationship ends, Marina knows her dealbreakers. No smokers, no tattoos, no swearing, someone who wants 2.5 kids, and a picket fence lifestyle. She's ready to settle down and is aggressively dating to find the one that meets every item on that list.

Lucas is everything that Marina doesn't want. Charming, slightly rakish, with tattoos, and a foul mouth. He never settles down in one place for long. Even worse, he's her professional nemesis (I, too, have a nemesis and I love that that language is used!).

When the two are sent on a series of fake dates with a major promotion at stake, Marina starts to realize that maybe those dealbreakers aren't dealbreakers at all when the man in front of her gives her butterflies. Lucas realizes that maybe being in the same place wouldn't be so bad if he gets to spend it with a woman who gives as good as she gets.

This is a sweet, closed-door romance with plenty of great tropes: enemies to friends to lovers, workplace, forced proximity, and sort of fake dating. Marina has an excellent set of friends who can push her on her hang-ups and who have interesting stories of their own. The banter between the two love interests is also well-done. The primary downside here is that the enmity between Marina and Lucas isn't well-developed, we're launched fully into their story with only brief mentions of that background. As a result, it's not particularly surprising that Lucas is really smitten with Marina and goes all out to charm himself into her life.

All told, if you don't mind closed-door romances, this is a good choice with a fun premise and plenty of enjoyable tropes.