The main character in this book started off awesome and relatable. Then she gets to Colorado and she's a bitch to EVERYONE. She only changes when she finds out Sebastián is someone formerly famous and she wants a story out of him. Thankfully this was on audio, because I don't know if I would have finished it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of "Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other". All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I fully admit that I am not an audiobook girl. This was a trial and error situation. This book changed my opinions about it. I loved this book. The writing was amazing. I loved that there was no 3rd act break-up. I adored the characters and how their journey lead them to this place that was perfect for each other. I cried during the epilogue. I really enjoyed the narrator and I thought she did an absolutely amazing job with this. There were times when she sounded far away like on the other side of a tin can, but other than that I had no issues.
I will be buying the physical copy!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for the audiobook ARC! Things take a turn for the worse for Brynn Cornell, America's sunshine host of popular morning show Sunup, says some not-so-sweet things about her hometown (thinking she's off camera, of course). Now, she needs to travel back to her past in Adelaide, Colorado and win back her hometown and hopefully the hearts of the American viewers in order to save her career. Once in Adelaide, she meets Sebastian Sudworth, a former superstar reporter who fled his old life for a peaceful life in Adelaide, who now must escort Brynn on her apology tour. The two instantly clash, but through a series of outings, they get to know one another and neither is as bad as they once seemed. This is a sweet romance about reconnecting with your true self, finding your authentic career goals and starting over. Talon David offers a fun performance to fit the witty prose.

Oh boy do they ever hate each other! This was very true to the enemies to lovers trope where neither of the characters seemed to be putting on their hate for banter or to cover their true feelings. They actually hated each other. Brynn was kind of a bitch and seemed to think that because she was some famous morning show presenter that she could talk to people like shit. Glad she was brought back down to earth quickly.

I think that the fact that they really hated each other made it harder for me to connect with them as a couple, and cheer for them to eventually hook up. Like, they were being quite horrible to each other for no real reason other than the fact that they were dicks. The background characters were interesting and quirky, fitting in to what I imagine very small American towns produce. There was a lot of emotional growth and I might have shed a couple of tears in some of the more sentimental parts.

Thanks to #NetGallery and the publisher. I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Genre: Romance
Format: Digital
POV: Single
Spice: 🌶️/5
Age suggestion: 18+

If you loved The Hating Game, read this immediately. It’s got all the tension and chemistry and grrrr, but in a beautiful mountain setting. What’s not to like?!

To be honest, I don’t know HOW I loved this book so much when Brynn is hands down the most obnoxious character I’ve read. *Actually listened to the audiobook, which definitely helped fuel my hate for her since I could hear every emotion in her tone of voice*. But here we are. One of my favorite contemporary romances of the year.

Brynn is America’s sweetheart morning talk show anchor, who just showed her true colors on live tv and now must go to her hometown in an attempt to smooth over her faux-pas. Sebastian is a former journalist who is chosen to babysit Brynn while she’s in town, trying to make people love her fakery again. She’s really awful. We get a great deal of back story, but a lot of her actions, and how to goes from 0-100 in 2 seconds really irked me. Still, I had a lot of Sweet Home Alabama (the movie) vibes, and became smitten with quirky little Adelaide Springs, Colorado and also with Sebastian. His internal commentary and dialogue are hilarious. The snark! *Chefs kiss* Brynn did have some redemption, and their romance was gooooood! This is not to be missed. 4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this audio arc, in exchange for my unbiased review!

This book was really great! It gave me The Hating Game vibes with a small-town Colorado twist. Brynn is very independent and career driven and often comes off as selfish and rude as the book begins. Sebastian is a total sweetheart with his own secrets. From their first interaction they hate each other. They both are mature enough - after some reflections - to try and see the best in the other person. Their dynamic starts to shift and it felt incredibly appropriate for their ages. The author achieved really incredible depth with her characters and I felt like I knew every person in that small Colorado town. I didn’t pay very detailed attention to the specific historical/political references since that isn’t my area of expertise but they seemed okay. The first half took a little bit to get over Brynn’s unlikable moments but the second half really improved. The conclusion couldn’t have been more perfect based on the rest of the book. 4.0⭐️, 0.5🌶,⚠️ (PTSD and war trauma mentioned but not graphically)

Since I listened to this as an audiobook - the narrator was fantastic! The inflection and voices were so well done! I highly recommend listening to this book!

When Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other first began, I was a little suspicious, It seemed like this story was one I've read a million times. However, this was such a delicious, sweet romance that had me rooting for each character, even as I felt frustrated by them or their choices. Bethany Turner did such an amazing job of developing both Brynn and Sebastian that you couldn't help but want the best for them, and it was such a delight to watch these characters grow together. Super fun romance that I unabashedly recommend!

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other
by Bethany Turner
Rating: 4.5/5

I don't know how she does it but Bethany Turner has written another witty, delightful, charming rom-com that is endearing and so funny! I absolutely love a good enemies-to-lovers trope that brings authentic characters together. I also loved that it was set in a beautiful small town. How I love a good small town romance with quirky characters who make you laugh and smile. I could not stop reading/listening this book. I had the opportunity to read the ARC and listen to the audiobook and they did not disappoint at all. I was hooked from the beginning and the pacing is well done. I never got bored but it wasn't too fast-paced that you could not enjoy getting to know each of the characters. I would love to return to this small town to get to know more of townspeople.

Highly recommend if you enjoy clean, inspirational, rom-coms that make you chuckle!

My thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.

I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a honest review. This book was cute, and what is expected from a romance. The character development was a little forced but still a cute story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher of this for allowing me to read this book. I did like the book. However it was a true slow burn. I enjoyed the banter between Sebastian and Brynn. I do think the next reader will appreciate all the popular references.

This is my favorite book I’ve read in a while! It’s cute, funny, and a wonderful feel good story. I finished it in a day and can’t recommend it highly enough. The characters are both likable and relatable, and the author uses the dual POV perfectly to accomplish this.

The narration is also fantastic, I’m immediately going in search of other books by this author.

Oh, golly. Bethany has written on of the worst female main characters I’ve ever read! Truly, I disliked Brynn SO MUCH that I almost didn’t want to keep reading! BUT, of course, there was redemption for Brynn! While I understood a lot of her personality was developed as trauma response, it didn’t make her less unlikable. Thankfully, around chapter 15, she decided to face her past, instead of hiding from it. In doing so, she became so much less confrontational, and more likable! (Just ask Sebastian! He totally agrees.) Being in her hometown, Brynn was reminded of the amazing place it could be, and the people who loved her for WHO SHE WAS, not who she pretended to be. Sebastian had his own traumatic past, and brought that into their relationship. And although he DID seem to like to bait Brynn, he actually appeared to be a good human.
I’m glad I didn’t quit on this book! I really did ultimately like it a lot! This was my first audiobook, so it was a bit of an adjustment for me; I usually like to “read” read, not listen-read, but the narrator did a great job of differentiating the voices of the characters!

3.5⭐️

overall I loved and enjoyed this book, it had a similar vibe to the movie sweet home Alabama which I love.
Also, the narration was so good.

in terms of romance I loved the build up and the bickering between Brynn and Sebastian, but in terms of characters I feel like something was missing especially with brynn I would’ve loved to see a more detailed character development but overall it was a fun read.

𝗕𝗿𝘆𝗻𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 by Bethany Turner
Publishing: September 1, 2023 by @harpercollins
Reviewed by: Mel
Format: Audiobook ALC [thank you @netgalley]

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆
✽ Grumpy x Sunshine
✽ Enemies to Lovers
✽ Small town romance
✽ The Morning Show


𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
Let me start out by saying that my rating for this book ebbed and flowed throughout the entire thing. I actually wanted to give it 4 stars once I finished, but after I slept on it and realized some of the missing pieces, I knocked it down to 3 stars. It was an entertaining and enjoyable audiobook listen, but certainly had some gaps.

First off, the “sunshine” FMC is actually a cranky stuck-up b***h off the air. That upset me right off the bat. She changes her name after moving away from Adelaide Springs, CO, and gets caught on-air bad-mouthing the small town which shows the cracks in her facade that she’s not actually a sunshine character in real life. The premise of her winning over the town’s residents again works, but the transition to just winning over Sebastian (and it actually working) happens so freakin’ quickly, I got whiplash.

The romance between Brynn and Sebastian happens in a blink of an eye - I mean literally, I had to rewind and re-listen to make sure I didn’t miss something because one minute they’re still “enemies” and the next they’re swooning over each other. I definitely think it would have been more believable if one of them developed feelings for the other first, and the second person was much slower to come around. The zero-to-sixty love story would have been much more believable if it was one person falling that quickly instead of both.

I did really enjoy the last 20% or so when the story happens with the avalanche and they jump into action as field journalists. Maybe it’s the journalist in me (I went to graduate school for journalism) or maybe I just needed something more than the back-and-forth between Brynn and the townies.

Overall, I was entertained by this audiobook, but it didn’t wow me.

Overall this was short, sweet, and simple.
I am a sucker for the grumpy sunshine trope. But honestly it was more fake sunshine who is actually super self obsessed and poor traumatized grumpy. I loved the MMC and the whole premise. I just could not find Brynn to be at all likeable and then everyone just forgave her and she suddenly became likeable as if the “true” her had been likeable all along.
I was also a bit sad that at the end he ends up leaving Colorado.

As for the writing itself. The author overused the phrase “truth be told” so much that everytime it was used it completely pulled me out of the story.

Brynn Cornell messes up big time by accidentally disparaging her hometown live on the morning show she hosts. Suddenly, the nation’s ray of sunshine isn’t as sunny as she appears. To save face, she travels back to her isolated hometown in Colorado to save face and beg for forgiveness. Without her career, who is she?

This was just OK for me. It was a sweet love story but didn’t really offer anything fresh or new. Brynn was not a likeable character at all, and I have no idea how she ever convinced anyone she was a ray of sunshine. I almost wish this was just a story about Seb – I enjoyed learning about his backstory and life in Adelaide Springs. In fact, a story about him and Orly would be better.

The second half of the book was a lot better but there was something quite sluggish about the first half. Also with the promise of “hate each other” it seemed that the two characters fell for each other pretty fast and there wasn’t enough fuel for an “enemies to loves” scenario. I found myself not really caring until the end.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other was a cute read that I enjoyed more than I was expecting to honestly. I'm not a huge fan of enemies to lovers but this one caught my attention. I enjoyed the premise (hot shot reporter messes up and has to return to her small home town she left behind) and thought there were a lot of sweet moments in the book.

That being said, I realized at one point that the book was essentially the plot from the movie Cars--hot shot famous & arrogant character messes up and ends up in a small town where they have to make amends with the locals. Big city once successful transplant has found a home in the quaint town and loves it more than reason, even though its past its prime and could definitely use a fix up. They despise the famous character for all their big city-ness and that they couldnt possibly love the town they love now. ---annnd after that all I could think of was Brynn and Sebastian kachoogaing around Radiator Springs haha.

Despite that, it really was an enjoyable read. 4.5*

I received a copy of the audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I got a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review though my opinions are my own. This book is a hate to love story with a heroine that needs a lot of redemption at the beginning of the book. It is a romcom that covers some heavier topics but due to the format of the book, it doesn’t go in depth. It creates sexual tension between the main characters but there is nothing more than kisses and brief touches described. I want to briefly address the flawed heroine. As female readers, we tend to be harder on our flawed heroines than flawed heroes which is far from fair. I love a good redemption of a flawed heroine because who hasn’t ever been so frustrated by their life circumstances that you lash out to others? It is true to life and these heroines deserve their happily ever after.

Brynn who has been typecast in her role on a popular morning show has said something on air disparaging the town where she grew up. Sebastian is a former news correspondent who has found haven in the town. When Brynn returns home for redemption, the two of them immediately hate each other, until they don’t.

This was a great summer listen. I laughed out loud several times, and really enjoyed meeting all the residents of Adelaide Springs. I am really hoping the author covers the stories of certain other residents. Sebastian was easy to root for. He is such an honest, earnest self aware character who has spent 6 years putting himself back together. Brynn is hard to listen to in the beginning. I was cringing and wanting to fast forward at bits. As her walls fall away and her real personality emerges, you get to watch her discover who she actually is. This book has a romcom feel with chick lit vibes. If you like that and strong secondary characters, give this a go. If a cringey heroine who needs deep redemption in the beginning will ruin the book for you, I would pass.

Super cute enemies to lovers grumpy sunshine trope. The main character played into the rude character a bit more than I thought necessary. But overall, it was a very cute, enjoyable listen. The narrator did a great job!

This book was very hard to get into. Neither Brynn or Sebastian appealed to me. The first half was very slow and there was so much bickering that I almost DNF'd it. The ending was rushed and I didn't believe that they would have feelings for one another.