Marked as DNF on 8/11/23 @ 16% | Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approval of this audiobook review copy. This free copy has not influenced my review in any way.

Whew, even this 16% was rough to get through for me. Brynn was highly unlikeable and the beginning just dragged and was uncomfortable. The whole time through Brynn's two chapters and POV, she's so incredibly negative and just immediately made me not want to root for her. She made a mistake and insulted her hometown quite rudely when she didn't know she was on air, but her whole inner monologue was about how she was made to be this ray of sunshine and that she wasn't. How she hated this and that. It wasn't a cute mistake that she had to fix and it was kind of painful to experience. I wanted someone to root for and she wasn't it. I also just really, really didn't care about seeing the news part of her story.

I made it through two chapters of Sebastian's POV too and he was just blah. I suppose he had more time to open up but I didn't want him to end up with Brynn so it made me not want to continue.

Where this book should have started, in my humble opinion, was after these four chapters had already happened. I would have much preferred for it to START with Brynn arriving back in hometown and either explaining to people what happened or reliving it in a flashback. There was a lot of time wasted on the set up and it was long and frustrating. Same with Sebastian's chapters... it was a lot of negativity and how the town is smaller, slow, the older generation getting curmudgeonly. Fighting the town council on bringing back a tradition. It was supposed to be cute but it was just kind of irritating. No one was endearing like the small town should be.

This was also pitched as grumpy x sunshine but it felt like grumpy x grumpy to me. I don't know who was supposed to be the sunshine. Brynn? She was so negative.

Audiobook Notes: This was also written in third person POV which I don't always love for romances. It was fine and I didn't notice it until we got to Sebastian's chapters, which was also narrated by the female narration (who just does the whole book). I've gotten spoiled with dual narrators for the two main characters in so many books. I just wished that was the case here so I could get a break from Brynn. I know authors don't always have that choice or budget, so that's nothing against the writing or the book, but it could have helped me take a break from the character I didn't like, but it was all in the same voice even when she wasn't in the book. If I had been liking Brynn, it probably wouldn't have been something I cared about as much.

In "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other," two seemingly mismatched individuals, Brynn and Sebastian, find themselves in a classic enemies-to-lovers scenario. Brynn, a once-beloved morning show host, faces a career crisis after an on-air accident exposes her hidden snarkiness. She's forced to return to her hometown, Adelaide Springs, Colorado, determined to rebuild her image. Sebastian, a former star reporter with his own troubled past, enters the scene as her "chauffeur".
The book effectively captures the picturesque Colorado mountains, offering readers descriptions of snow and crisp mountain air that enhance the story's ambience. Brynn and Sebastian's character development is a highlight, with their witty exchanges and evolving relationship providing an enjoyable and believable enemies-to-lovers narrative.
The secondary characters and themes of friendship and personal growth add depth to the plot, making it more than just a romance. The story culminates in a heartwarming and satisfying resolution that leaves readers with a sense of fulfilment.
The audiobook narration by Talon David adds a layer of depth to the characters, enhancing the overall experience. "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other" is a charming and light-hearted romantic read, perfect for those seeking a sweet love story with a touch of humour and a picturesque mountain setting. Highly recommended for an enjoyable escape.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson/Zondervan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other was such a great audiobook! I loved this enemies to lovers journalist set in a small mountain town! Stop reading and start listening because this is your next five star audiobook!

3.5 stars - it reminded me of a Hallmark bug city girl comes home for the holidays and eventually becomes a nice girl. I enjoyed all of the real world names and references that were used. I wish there was slightly more depth to the story.

Such a cute enemies to a lovers' story. I'll admit that at the beginning, Brynn drove me a little batty with her personality. The progression she makes and then the connection with Sebastian helped turn all that around. She showed so much growth.

The backstory, banter, and love connection was so good. Set in a small town, it all made for a great rom com.

The audio was also so great. Love the narrator and the way she portrayed the characters.

Thank you @netgalley @seebethanywrite & @thomasnelson for allowing me to read and listen and give my honest review.

When Brynn Cornell and Sebastian Sudworth first meet, it’s immediate dislike. Subsequent interactions do not improve. Brynn has come back to her hometown of Adelaide Springs, Colorado and must win over the entire town. Essentially her career depends on it. And it’s hard! Adelaide Springs is the place she’s run away from, and it’s the place Sebastian has run to. And somehow he’s managed to wrangle his way into the hearts and minds of the town. It becomes clear to Brynn that Sebastian is the key to winning over Adelaide Springs - win him over and everyone else will fall into place. And try as she might Sebastian is uncharmable! Slowly everything unfolds… Why Brynn left town to begin with… How and why Sebastian came to town… Why hating each other is the build up to them actually liking each other…

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other is a hilarious enemies-to-lovers story! So much to love about this story. It’s a small town chock-a-block full of absolute characters, it’s well written and the build-up to these guys actually liking each other was an absolute trip! And the audiobook narration was spot on.

So why do Brynn and Sebastian hate each other? Brynn was on top of the world, a thriving career, and loved by the masses. That is until she is caught on camera saying nasty things about the people from her home town. Sebastian has fled the city for small town life. A bit grumpy he is stuck chauffeuring Brynn while she works toward saving face.

The first half of this book revealed a heroine who was very unlikable. Even though her goal was to make amends it didn’t seem that her heart was in it. Thankfully that changed as the book went on. Brynn began to put aside her persona and became a more honest, down to earth, person. Still, the focus seemed to be on Brynn’s home town relationships rather than that with Sebastian. The love/hate drama really wasn’t there.

As for the audiobook goes I enjoyed the narration finding the flow good and was engaging. Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook ALC.

As someone who enjoys enemies to friends and friends to lovers tropes, I did really enjoy this eARC. It was a bit predictable at times, but I personally do not mind light and fluffy reads whatsoever.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bethany Turner for this fun read.

What a fantastic rom-com! If you love an enemies to lovers small town romance with great banter, pick this up! I loved listening to it on audio. The narration was really well done! The title initially caught my eye, but then the depth of story and character growth kept me hooked through the end.

When a news reporter loses her job and has to go back home to make amends with the people from her hometown. Then ends up falling for a guy who hates her and wants her to leave asap.

I loved that their love story had some heat but it was behind closed doors. Aka I didn't have to mute or pause the story when I was around my kids.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I enjoyed the narrations voices, and the pace of the story, I couldn’t help but think about how much it reminded me of the plotline of the Disney Pixar movie Cars.

A tiny, dying town is struggling to save their businesses, right as “hometown hero” Brynn is imploding as her career is on the way up (sound like lightening McQueen it is that just me?!)

Brynn has made it - she’s headlining the network morning show. It’s everything she’s worked for, but everything goes wrong on the last day of the week, and she’s accidentally on air talking crap about her hometown and the viewers. Criiiiinge. The internet backlash is immediate. As a last-ditch effort to save her career, Brynn goes back to her hometown - for the first time since she left without so much as a goodbye. She’s returning with a cameraman, hoping to save face and prove that the viewers should forgive her if her hometown can forgive her. Buuuut the reception is anything but warm, as we meet Sebastian. He’s an ex-journalist, with a reason for laying low in a small town. He’s definitely not Brynn’s number 1 fan, and they spar as they bring out the worst in each other.

I liked how the dual POV jumped seamlessly in time from Brynn to Sebastian. One part picked up where the other left off. It kept good pace for the story!

This was a cute, quick read. With a degree in broadcast news reporting, and having spent plenty of time in a newsroom and on location with a cameraman, I really enjoyed it!

Oh, this was such a great story! The audio version was excellently narrated and I enjoyed listening to it from start to finish.

One of the many things I liked about Brynn and Sebastian’s story was that although there were many funny or cringe worthy moments, this story had real depth and heart. These two people both had some serious trauma in their pasts. Things they had tried to move forward from and it impacted who they had been and who they were.

I appreciated that, toward the beginning of the book, Brynn seemed to stick her foot in her mouth and rushed into situations that she had to extricate herself from, however, she did end up learning to curb her responses, think things through, and look deeper inside herself regarding the events and people from her past. She had quite the awakening in this novel. It was fun to see Sebastian’s initial reactions to Brynn. He was very good at reading people and just sometimes couldn’t help himself as he reacted to her demands and preconceived ideas. Yet, I loved seeing his heart and the way he would reach back out to her and try to right whatever had gone wrong.

I simply loved these characters, the setting, the storyline, the chemistry, the redemption, the narration, and the happily ever after. I have been thinking of these characters ever since the story ended. I definitely recommend Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other to those who enjoy romcoms with heart. I also adore the title and cover art. They fit the story beautifully.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I usually love Bethany Turner but unfortunately, this one is not one of my favorites. It was cute, light hearted and funny, just as I would expect from one of her books. However, the romance just wasn’t believable. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Brynn and Sebastian. I honestly didn’t really connect with any of the characters which took away from the overall enjoyment of the book. I still love Bethany Turner, just not this book.Talon David did a great job near reading the audiobook. However, since we had a male and female POV, I would have liked a male narrator for Sebastian’s chapters. Thank you.NetGalley for advance, copy of this audiobook.

A very cute read that reminds you to value the people in your lives ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of the audiobook.

Overall I liked this book with one exception.
I get Brynn's backstory I really do but I was not a fan of hers. She drove me crazy and was very selfish and rude to literally everyone. In the end she came around but she just seems very childlike and not in a good way. More like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum when she doesn't get her own way.
While she came around in the end I felt myself feeling bad for Sebastian, He deserved better.

This one took me a bit longer to read since I wanted to take my time with the story. While I was a bit hesitant in the beginning, the characters all very much grew on me. It was nice to see how the characters developed and started to warm up to each other. But more than anything I loved the setting of the story and how the townspeople reacted to Brynn being back in her hometown. Such a light yet warm hearted story to read when you just need an easy read.

This book was hard to listen to, as chapter to chapter switches from first person to third person. Talon David actually did a great job narrating, but it’s a personal choice that I prefer first person narration.

This was my first Bethany Turner book, and I enjoyed it. I liked learning about Brynn and her past and then Sebastian and his past. Seeing Brynn fall back in love with the people she grew up with and the town she grew up in was really beautiful. I think it almost felt forced to me that Sebastian started liking her. Or maybe just too fast. 75% of the book was them not being able to stand the sight of the other, and then suddenly they’re kissing in the mountains all because of one morning? I think less time could’ve been spent on the hate and more time developing actual chemistry between the two. I liked the ending a lot though, and I thought it wrapped up nicely with a cute bow.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. Definitely a hate to love done well. There was great development of characters and a slow relationship build between the main characters. The small town setting was good. The narration set the mood and feelings well.

Honestly, I spent too much of the book disliking Brynn to feel great about this story. I wanted to like it more than I did... While I did enjoy the ending and a few of the characters were entertaining (like Orlie), I honestly didn't understand, even knowing Brynn's background, how she could be as nasty as she was so often. As a journalist, she should know that jumping to conclusions is never the right answer. But she was arrogant, rude and entitled through much of the story.

So, when Sebastian started to fall for her, I couldn't help but wonder why. I did enjoy Brynn's reformation as she started to remember what the town had once meant to her. But if that was honestly the case, then how could she be so incredibly demeaning toward it.

As for the romance bits, I enjoyed the banter between Brynn and Sebastian once they started warming up to one another, and I loved the character of Doc. Cole was pretty good too.

But overall, I had a hard time believing the romance parts of the story. I can see giving someone the benefit of the doubt if they've had a bad day, but Brynn was repeatedly getting up on the wrong side of the bed and blaming that on everyone else. Yet, she never really seemed to apologize or explain her bad behaviour. She simply straightened up and everyone accepted that without any real consequences for her nastiness.

In the end, I cared more about the town than I did Brynn. And since she was one of the main characters, that didn't seem right.

Thank you to Bethany Turner, Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Reading this book felt I was on a roller-coaster. Fantastic strong opening when Brynn, a morning show co-host (America’s sunshine) is caught in a hot-mic flub where she trashes her small home-town in Colorado. The producers quickly send her and one cameraman back home for a week to apologize and re-earn her spot back as America’ sweetheart.
Sebastian is a former international Pulitzer Prize winning journalist recluse (retired after a traumatic story) who relocated to this newly insulted small town that he has grown to love. He doesn’t respect Brynn as a ‘real’ journalist and is furious when he must be her guide for the week. The enemies vibe was so natural and fierce that I honestly wasn’t sure I could even envision these two falling for each other. Brynn came across as cold, lacking genuine remorse, and as a complete snob. But somehow, the author really drew me in for a ‘Brynn redemption’! I love the trope of ‘returning home’ to face your demons, and this one was poignant. Readers will learn about Brynn’s traumatic childhood and more about Sebastian’s early retirement and their hearts with thaw. I really adored the climatic conclusion and the endearing epilogue!
Readers can expect: news anchor/journalist careers, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, small town charm, PTSD & family trauma, and no third act breakup. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson publishing for my advanced listeners copy in exchange for my honest review.