Liv Jones is a university librarian with a passion for romance and Mr Darcy in particular. After an unfortunate incident at a party when they were much younger, she and her brother's best friend Aidan Rivers are practically sworn enemies. So when her brother invites Aidan to share their flat when he moves to London Liv is furious, especially when she discovers that he is going to be a lecturer at her university! The trouble is, with his entrancing Irish accent, his dashing good looks and his ridiculous charm Aidan is the spitting image of Mr Darcy and just happens to be the (unknowing) model for the hero in Liv's very own attempt at writing a romance novel.

When her brother is injured in a road accident, Liv and Aidan are left alone in the flat, and soon the needling seems less like dislike and more like sparks, but since Aidan is so much more experienced than Liv is she reading too much into things?

I started reading this and left off about halfway through. When I picked it up again a few weeks later I couldn't remember anything about the plot and I think that probably sums up my feelings about this novel. It was pleasant and I can imagine reading it lying beside a pool on my summer holidays, but nothing really sang to me.

Just read my notes from when I broke off reading, apparently Liv is only working part-time but apparently has an amazing wardrobe and walks to work in four inch heels - in London? Is she mad?

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Also available on Kindle Unlimited.

I adore Vicky’s Books, as they always give me a cosy warm vibe that I can enjoy with a cup of tea but wow she heated it up with The Love Interest! We got spice and some more spice! We got enemies to lovers and Vicky chucked in a crush on her brother’s best friend. It was great and hilarious.

I was so excited for this book and it definitely didn’t disappoint.

It was fun; had me squealing in places where I was excited and happy. Laughing out loud at so many bits. I was a big fan of the spice too 🥵🔥 which was captured brilliant. Then there was the romance, that left me swooning in places, a date that would be insane and some great flirty banter. Spot on.

I really enjoyed the plot and characters.
There was an easy, nice friendship between Liv and Stevie. Which was endearing and written wonderfully. Theo and Dan were fab and so sweet too.

I’m such a hopeless romantic so this was perfect for me. I loved it. Here’s to Mr Darcy aka Aiden 😂🥵

Favourites scene - the library! I had so many questions to Vicky on this….

That ending - little bonus too 😍🙌🏼 and I have noted down all the film references to watch and need to read Pride and Prejudice.

Thank you Vicky for keeping me entertained, just brilliant as always 🥰🥵🔥❤️✨

I definitely recommend reading this.

It’s also special how we get Vicky’s lovely, warm personality shining through in her books.

Of course with its Pride & Prejudice vibes I thought this was super cute. Liv could easily be a book bestie given she’s a librarian and aspiring author. Her brother’s best friend Aiden has major Mr. Darcy vibes.

Read For:
🔥 Enemies to Lovers
⁉️ Pride & Prejudice vibes
❎ Brothers Best Friend
🛌 Forced Proximity
📝 Book Lover & Aspiring Writer FMC
📍 London Setting

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 5
Spice level: 🌶️/ 5

I’m a huge fan of Vicky’s writing and loved how she’s taken the romcom theme and added her own style to the story. If you’re a fan of Mr Darcy, and that scene in the lake, The Love Interest is definitely for you.
A true romance with all the feels. Liv and Aiden have all the chemistry despite ‘hating’ eachother for the past 10 years, and the building of their relationship was gorgeous.
I really enjoyed the other characters and their relationships with Liv in particular. Dan, Theo and Stevie were great additions to the story and their unconditional support for Liv was wonderful. Set in a library with frequent references to all of the favourite romcom stories, this is a story I devoured in just over a day.

Review on The Love Interest
Olivia is the book geek, Aiden is the film lover, and they are rivals with her brother Dan forever acting as their referee. She works part-time as an assistant librarian and he is the newly appointed Head of Film Studies at the university. They have a history Olivia wants to forget but Aiden coming to live in the same house isn’t helping her case at all. As she began to actualize the dream of writing a romance novel, can she hope for a happily ever after? Where art thou Mr. Darcy!
Thoughts:
With a reader + a film-lover duo, not unique but my interest was piqued.
The idea of the book was good; the execution- not so much. The premise had potential but the cliches were the death of it. There is London, an art gallery, delicious food, a steady supply of coffee, some Colin Forth Mr. Darcy references, and significant spice; yet, it was mundane. There was so much to build from, so many descriptive possibilities, and yet it failed to make me feel anything.
I liked the LGBTQ+ representation though.

Vibes: Enemies to Lovers; Film Festival; Forced Proximity. Writer Librarian - Film Professor duo.

It wasn’t a bad book, there just wasn’t anything distinctive about it. Too superficial, not my taste. I respect everyone who worked hard to make this book a success and wish you well, it just wasn't meant for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the eARC of this book.

This book was such a good read and I was hooked almost from the start until the very end.

This story contains characters that was easy to like and the main character was really like able with their witty comments and arguments.

The story was easy to follow and there are movies and books mentioned inside (Pride and Prejudice for example are mentioned both as a book and the movie with Colin Firth as the amazing Mr Darcy). Sometimes the story was a bit predictable but it definitely didn't bring the book down and it also included a few twists that was very easy to like.

During the read I got to experience various feelings like happy and sad but also a few Oh my that had me blush during a few scenes (Yes steamy).

If you are looking for an really good rom-com with tropes as brothers best friend, frenimes to lovers and a bit of forced proximity then this book might be for you especially if you like your rom-com with steam and Mr Darcy scenes (yes the scene when he comes up from the pond is mentioned).

Now I am looking forward to read more by this author since this was my first time reading anything by her

Searching for the man of your dreams
Can be much harder than stories, it always seems.
Liv Thomas hopes to write a romance
Though in life she doesn't think she has a chance.

A decade ago she met her brother's best friend,
They nearly kissed but that was the end.
Ever since they've argued each time they meet
Despite him being gorgeous with an accent so sweet!

Now he's moving in with her and her brother,
And new inspiration she's about to discover.
She inadvertently writes him as her leading man
That certainly what she'd expected or even plan!

With dreams from a decade and surprises, too,
This enemies to lovers romance I highly recommend to you.
It has Mr Darcy, surprise twists and much more,
Making it a book I really adore.

For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

A fun enemies to lovers read! It was the perfect flight companion. Being an Austen lover myself, I appreciated the Mr. Darcy moments. I will say that some parts of the novel were hard to get into.. especially their backstory. But overall, it was a fun read.

I was grateful to read an ARC of this book. I recommend it and enjoyed the character development and was rooting for them, though it was hard to get into the book.

Liv has always wanted to write a romance novel, but with the lack of inspiration, she struggles, until her brother’s best friend moves in with them.
But her worst enemy must only be the love interest between the pages of her book because surely sparks can’t fly in real life with them?
This was a really fun and easy read. Walters gives us great main characters who have chemistry, as well as, banter that left me laughing out loud.
I couldn’t put this book down and got through this really quickly.
There are some bits that are predictable but this does not take away from the novel and is one I can easily recommend.

Librarian Liv Thomas has always wanted to right a romance novel. After moving in with her brother she decides it’s time. Little did she know her arch nemesis and her brothers best friend, Aidan Rivers was moving in with them.
Little by little Liv starts to base the main love interest in her book on Aidan.

What a great Enemy to lovers book. I loved all the banter between Liv and Aidan. I loved how she was into books and he’s into movies. Such a great fast paced novel.

This was a good palette cleanser. It did a good job of removing all the excesses of the emotional reads I have been doing this year.

The enemies to lovers vibe is very ‘pungent’. The angst and banter between these two was fun and their chemistry when they got together was explosive.

The sassiness of the FMC made up for the slow start/pace of the plot. The grand romantic gesture was the best highlight.

I love the characters and their development was wonderful. I would love to read Stevie’s story.

If you love brother’s best friend, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, office romance tropes then you will enjoy this.

"You had to admire Jane Austen. Not only had she created a character that women were still swooning over in a completely different century to the one she'd written him in, but she'd done so never having found a real-life love interest herself."

3.5 ⭐s

This was really adorable romance about learning to open up and communicate with those who show you they care about you and knowing that everyone deserves to be loved like people are in the movies and books. Liv has always dreamed of writing her own romance novel one day, the only problem is that she has never been in love and never really experienced romance, so she's worried how she'll write a believable love interest in her book. Thankfully her real life antagonistic relationship with her brother's best friend, Aiden, can provide her with some good inspiration for an enemies to lovers trope for her writing, especially when he moves in with her and her brother after getting a new job at Liv's university in London. Will she be able to stand living in close proximity with the last man on earth she'd ever want to kiss, or will she realise her reality is starting to mimic the storyline in the book she's writing.

I really loved the idea for this book and the inspiration that the author took from Pride and Prejudice and Mr Darcy. It's always fun to read a book where the two main characters don't get along but you can just tell that everything is not as it seems and there are hidden feelings beneath their cold exteriors towards each other. I thought Liv and Aiden were a lot of fun to read about, their teasing banter at the beginning was quite funny and silly, although there were moments where Aiden was incredibly annoying during this time and I wondered how Liv would ever see him as a love interest. When the romance starts to unfold this book is very sweet and touching, there are a lot of grand gestures, romance and proclamations of love and a good amount of angst and longing between the two main characters that you couldn't help but root for them. There is a scene where they are switching between antagonistic banter and flirtation, it was very entertaining to read and the tension of knowing they were about to make a move was really good.

I found the second half of this book was a bit tougher to get through unfortunately, after the initial build up and climax of their romance the rest of the plot is a little bit lacklustre, there isn't enough happening in the story outside of their relationship to really keep me connected to the story and I think it dragged a bit here, sadly. The third act break up wasn't really based on something I could genuinely believe, and their miscommunication at this point was starting to get really frustrating because every time one of them started to explain the other would interrupt and not let them finish their sentence. Thankfully the ending wrapped it all up very nicely but I do think it stalled a bit around the 75% mark. The writing in this book was really easy reading, but I did find that often we were told a lot of information rather than being shown it through the story, there were a lot of internal monologues where Liv was repeating the same worries multiple times. I think perhaps this book could've benefitted from an alternating of timelines - showing them meeting 10 years ago in one chapter and then showing them now in the next, I know some people dislike this format but I think it would've worked for this story.

Overall, this was a really adorable and fun read, it was a very cosy slice of life type book with lots of references to other romantic books and movies which made it very relatable. I would say it's not a very unique idea, it's definitely story with characters and a plot line that has been done many times before so it doesn't really stand out to me as anything particularly special but it is definitely worth the read if you are wanting a low stakes, heart warming love story about two people who really should've been together since they were teenagers but are too stubborn and blinded to realise how they really feel. A big thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this story for a honest review.

"You look at every man you as meet as either the Darcy to your Elizabeth or someone who's not even worth getting a coffee with. There is some grey in between."

Easiest 5 stars I have ever given to a book, I absolutely adored Aiden and Olivia and even though there was a bit of miscommunication I felt that it was all very believable and handled really well . It's so hard to put yourself out there and put your feelings on the line, so the reason that Olivia disliked him so much was definitely how it would probably be dealt with in real life.

The banter in this book is top tier and Aiden is absolutely hilarious with his quips, Give it a go if you like brothers best friend and enemies to lovers!

I love books about people who love books but also make me want to read more in the process. This book with a librarian and a professor who prefers movies gave a lovely back and forth and great conversation. The story has great call backs and clap backs, some crazy loving family drama but also the love of a crazy family. All the different ways that love impacts the way we love others. It was a great read.

#arc
#netgalley
#theloveinterest

The Love Interest was a little bit predictable. It’s your typical enemies turn lovers story and was a little hard to get into at first. I always give it to page 100 though and by then the story had progressed enough that I was drawn in! Quick read. Would be great for a day at the beach!

This is an entertaining and fun read. It was lighthearted and easy to read.
I enjoyed reading about the various bookshops as well as the library. I also liked the Mr. Darcy references.
Overall this was a nice enjoyable read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood books for my ARC.

The Love Interest is a delightful love letter to any romance bookworm.

This book was surprisingly addictive. It was easy to sink into the story and connect to its characters. I love a romance book that celebrates romance as a genre, and this book does that in spades. Liv loves romances, whether in book or movie form, and her passion for this genre just leaps from the pages. Victoria understands what a story needs to be a great romance, and she knows what her readers want. I enjoyed everything about this book. The flow was perfect. There was enough drama, humour, and spice to keep me entertained. I loved how Victoria blended multiple tropes to create something magical. I really loved the relationship between Live and her brother. It was sweet and fun and added charm to the story.

Liv is a great character. She knows she wants to become a romance author but is stuck when it comes to creating that leading man for her book. This is because she hasn't been in a serious relationship and hasn't met a man who ignites that passion in her. That is until she is forced to spend more time with Aiden, her brother's best friend. After a misunderstanding many years ago, Liv and Aiden have this hate/hate relationship with each other. I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance, and the tension between Liv and Aiden is delicious. I could see the sparks flying between these two right from the beginning and loved the sharp banter between them. The transition from enemies to lovers was perfect and believable. They didn't jump into bed with each other until they cleared up past misunderstandings, which I loved.
The Love Interest is a fun and fabulous romance and the perfect way to escape those winter blues.
Thank you, Boldwood

Very cute brother’s best friend, enemies to lovers Darcy filled romance. They go from annoying each other to Aiden being jealous Olivia is dating another guy. Really enjoyed the journey they go on, the banter at the beginning was cute and funny.

DNFed due to the immature dialogue and the blocky text (nothing flowed). I made it to 57% but just couldn't read on.