This book surpassed my expectations! It was funny, smart, and an immediate attention grabber. As someone who works remotely and lives in Slack for most of my work days, I especially loved the little snippets at the beginning of each chapter. I would read this book again and recommend it to all fans of romance, comedy, and smart writing.

SO CUTE. You know when you watch a romcom and you swoon when you're supposed to?
That was this book for me.
So. Many. Feels!
It felt fresher to me, like nothing groundbreaking, but still truly, truly solid.
I want to read more by her, and I hope she puts out a new book soon. I was OBSESSED with Nami!
Solid 4.7, rounded.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi follows Nami and her high school nemesis, Jae, and how they meet up again when he is about to buy her company.

The book definitely had some references to our modern day lives in the era of Amazon. It brought up some interesting social issues about the impact of companies on small businesses. Jae was such a fun character and that ramen scene made me cackle at midnight. This book has many positives, but I found the pacing to be too slow and the writing repetitive. We hear how important Nami’s company is to her at least every other page. Nothing truly meaningful happens between our two leads until almost 50% in the book, which made it difficult to root for them by the end.

Rating: 2.5 ⭐️ I think this book had a lot of potential, but needed more editing to create a more cohesive piece.

This was a fun read! I loved Nami and Jae, but I especially loved their family and friends.

This is my second book by this author and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first one.

This book is full of witty banter, which makes it lighthearted, quick and fun. The characters together are enjoyable to read, but individually I'm not crazy about them.

There were many things that Nami expected for her 30th birthday, but being single - having broken up with her cheating fiancee last year - and on the verge of losing her company are not on her list. To top it all off, her high school nemesis Jae Lee works for the big corporation looking to takeover her start-up.

"The Takeover" by Cara Tanamachi presents a lighthearted enemies-to-lovers workplace romance, starring Nami and Jae. Their explosive chemistry and witty banter, notably showcased in the iconic ramen scene, ensure an entertaining read. Immaculate supporting characters enhance the charm, while tech elements contribute depth, despite some readers finding specifics like NFTs unclear.

While successfully exploring romance tropes, the story isn't without its drawbacks, including rushed pacing and convenient conflict resolution. Nonetheless, it offers a refreshing departure from conventional romantic tropes, albeit with moments of predictability. With its flaws acknowledged, it still provides a quick and enjoyable read for fans of charming enemies-to-lovers narratives.

In "The Takeover" by Cara Tanamachi, readers are treated to a delightful enemies-to-lovers tale, featuring captivating banter and a memorable ramen scene. The chemistry between Nami and Jae is explosive, and the supporting characters are immaculately crafted, adding to the story's charm.

Despite the smooth unfolding of the plot and intriguing tech elements, some readers may find Nami's initial repetitiveness and the lack of spark in certain aspects distracting. Pacing issues towards the end impact the flow, yet the narrative maintains its appeal as a cute and fun romantic read, tracing Nami and Jae's journey from high school nemesis to potential soulmates.

Character-wise, Nami's growth brings depth, overcoming initial negativity that may deter some readers, while Jae's confident and charismatic portrayal makes him relatable. The execution of enemies-to-lovers and workplace romance tropes is commendable, even if there are occasional repetitive elements.

Highlighted by engaging banter and a memorable ramen scene, "The Takeover" by Cara Tanamachi offers an entertaining romantic read. The chemistry and banter between the characters shine, with the high school nemesis angle adding an intriguing layer.

Despite concerns about pacing, the novel provides an enjoyable narrative for those seeking a light-hearted story with a touch of workplace romance

I loved this fast paced quirky work place romance and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.This book follows Nami a young entrepreneur who is struggling after covid and is considering selling off her company. Out of the blue Nami receives a text from Jae her hold school nemesis leaving cryptic messages about seeing her soon. When Jae shows up as a representative for Rainforest the company that wants to buy out Toggle. Nami is floored and out right refuses to sale her company to him. During all of the offers going back and forth Jae and Nami reunite and maybe they weren’t such enemies after all.

I really loved the enemies to lovers romance on this one it was such a cute rom com that gave me hating game vibes. I really enjoyed the writing and the pacing kept me interested throughout. I hope to read more from this author in the future and would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review .

A huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this ARC!

I thought the romantic tension in this book was chef's kiss magnificent! It was fun and immature but sexy and unpredictable all at the same time. This is my second Tanamachi read, and her style is just right for me as a reader. She creates these confident female characters that elevate her tropes. Enemies to lovers here with a lighthearted feel. I really enjoyed it!

I loved the Takeover!! A great rival to lovers trope. I love the buildup of the relationship between Jae and Nami. Their banter and chemistry had me entertained from the beginning of the book.

3/5 ⭐️ Came here for the plot, stayed for the banter.

Summary
Nami's pride and joy, the tech company she helped to found, is about to lose funding. Nami’s old high school nemesis, Jae Lee, is planning a hostile take-over of her start-up. Both Nami and Jae are intelligent, fiercely competitive, and unwilling to compromise. You know what they say though, hate and love have one major thing in common - passion. In their fight to win, their competitiveness and passion takes them in a direction neither of them expected.

Thoughts
The hate-to-love trope will always be a fun one and this book has such good hate-flirting banter. I also like that you can see early on how their competitiveness that's always been directed at each other could have the potential to make them such a good team together.

I don't care much for the business side of this plot and all of the conflict around the integrity of the MMC's company, Rainforest, which is obviously Amazon. If you focus more on main characters' personality/banter, it's a good one. But overall, it's pretty average as far as romance novels go.

This review is posted on Goodreads, and Instagram (@_bookish.brittany)

I don't always enjoy the enemies to lovers trope, as the behavior that drives characters apart is so often contrived, but The Takeover was a joy to read. Nami and Jai are delightful and I was rooting for them the whole time.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

I love the premise of this story and it is such an intriguing plot line!

Due to time I will not be giving a full review here.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The main character Nami is sister to Sora from The Second You're Single. While Sora has found her HEA, Nami finds herself without a fiancé and her beloved tech company is in peril. To make things worse, her high school nemesis Jae Lee starts popping up in unexpected places.

I found both novels reflected the sisters' respective personalities well with the first book having more humor, which I missed in this book. However, I preferred Nami's novel. The relationship is better developed with Jae having a more integral role. Also, I can't help but enjoy a tale of enemies/rivals to lovers with (mostly) playful banter. Jae is, however, one of my most disliked male love interests...ever. His overly inflated ego was something I could not stand even as he redeemed himself toward the end. It was hard to let go of my first impressions of him.

I adored Nami's programming team. It would be awesome to work at a place where the people have fun working with each other and the boss genuinely cares about the employees. My favorite part of the book is the running joke with the office chair. I thought it was funny even if Dell did not.

Grab this one if you like office/workplace based books and enemies/rivals to lovers.

Enemies/ Rivals to lovers is my very favorite romance trope, the option for banter this provides is something Cara Tanamachi used expertly. This was so much fun to read !
This is a dual POV romance so both Nami and Jae get their perspective heard.
Nami is has the feeling her world is coming down around her. Her fiancé cheated on her RIGHT before their wedding, her tech company (which kind of feels like her baby) is going under, and she feels like her employees are her only friends, will she let them down? There’s a surprise birthday party (the big 3-0) where only relatives turn up, has she been working that much ? Add to that the pressures of trying to keep her overbearing mother happy and her feelings of getting too old (that is actually something I hate a bit as a 46yo, those 30yo characters in romance novels who feel like they are growing old …but I really truly loved this book overall, just a little aside 😉).
The weight of the world on her shoulders leads Nami to wish for a soulmate at said birthday party…
Only to have her high school nemesis Jae, reenter her life. But to turn things from awkward to really bad he is now vice president in charge of domestic acquisitions of the company coming after Nami’s tech company. On the plus side, he’s tall and hot and something about him drives her crazy in all the best, and worst, ways…
This was fun to read, light enough but with enough of a grip on harder topics to feel real and relatable. Was it a little unbelievable everything was sunshine and rainbows in the end ? Sure, but isn’t that why she read romance - this was entertaining and fun and I want to try some of the spicy ramen they were having !

3.5

There were many things that Nami expected for her 30th birthday, but being single - having broken up with her cheating fiancee last year - and on the verge of losing her company are not on her list. To top it all off, her high school nemesis Jae Lee works for the big corporation looking to takeover her start-up.

Jae Lee has never met an opponent more cutthroat than Nami. He's looking forward to sparring with her over her company. He never backs down and never loses.

Sparks certainly fly when these two are together but instead of being in animosity, it's from attraction.

I have not read a really good enemies-to-lovers story in ages and The Takeover ticks all the boxes. It's so full of spark between Nami and Jae Lee. I think that Cara Tanamachi did a great job of balancing the history between Jae Lee and Nami with who they are as adults. Their competitiveness stems from high school and Nami being the "hall monitor" to Jae Lee's "valedictorian". He always thought she took rule following to the next level and he constantly beat her at various achievements so she always thought he got everything he wanted. If you look back at their history, you kind of see how they influenced the way they do things in their present jobs.

Clearly, nothing can compare tp these two being playing off of one another so as soon as they are together it's game on.

However, I think the whole idea of focusing on Nami and Jae Lee takes away the focus from Nami's start-up. I almost felt like it was glossed over a bit which is strange because it's the whole reason why these two are brought together in the first place. Clearly, there's a reason why Nami's start-up Toggle needs to be bought, there's a reason why a big company like Rainforest (I do like the cleverly masked references to real big corporations throughout) is circling like sharks but we don't really know the why of it all.

I just wish there was a little more balance between the personal and professional aspects of the story.

This was my first book by Cara Tanamachi, but I'm very interested in her previous book which features Nami's sister, Sora, whom we encounter in this book as well. There were many things that Nami expected for her 30th birthday, but being single - having broken up with her cheating fiancee last year - and on the verge of losing her company are not on her list. To top it all off, her high school nemesis Jae Lee works for the big corporation looking to takeover her start-up.

Jae Lee has never met an opponent more cutthroat than Nami. He's looking forward to sparring with her over her company. He never backs down and never loses.

Sparks certainly fly when these two are together but instead of being in animosity, it's from attraction.

I have not read a really good enemies-to-lovers story in ages and The Takeover ticks all the boxes. It's so full of spark between Nami and Jae Lee. I think that Cara Tanamachi did a great job of balancing the history between Jae Lee and Nami with who they are as adults. Their competitiveness stems from high school and Nami being the "hall monitor" to Jae Lee's "valedictorian". He always thought she took rule following to the next level and he constantly beat her at various achievements so she always thought he got everything he wanted. If you look back at their history, you kind of see how they influenced the way they do things in their present jobs.

Clearly, nothing can compare tp these two being playing off of one another so as soon as they are together it's game on.

However, I think the whole idea of focusing on Nami and Jae Lee takes away the focus from Nami's start-up. I almost felt like it was glossed over a bit which is strange because it's the whole reason why these two are brought together in the first place. Clearly, there's a reason why Nami's start-up Toggle needs to be bought, there's a reason why a big company like Rainforest (I do like the cleverly masked references to real big corporations throughout) is circling like sharks but we don't really know the why of it all.

I just wish there was a little more balance between the personal and professional aspects of the story.

This was my first book by Cara Tanamachi, but I'm very interested in her previous book which features Nami's sister, Sora, whom we encounter in this book as well.

I wasn't able to read this book because life has been extremely busy, so I will rate this 5 stars to compensate. The blurb looked very promising though, and I will read this when I get the chance and I will edit my review

I wanted to like this so bad but honestly it lost me so quickly. I couldn't stand the writing and the characters were so boring to me. I'm sorry.

This was such a cute, lighthearted book. Featuring the enemies to lovers trope. I just loved the banter between the two main characters. Overall a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC. And to RB Media for the ALC.

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.