The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi was a 3.5 star listen for me. It was well narrated but a little bit slow to get into.

Nami is a part owner in a tech company. She loves what she does but it is not all sunshine and roses. The company is struggling and she is no where near where she thought she would be. Her high school nemesis pops back into her life, first through a text, and then when his company tried to purchase her company. She does not want it to go to them because it in her mind they would break apart everything she has worked for. Their antagonistic behavior morphs into a relationship and eventually her lie falls into place.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own. #NetGalley #TheTakeover #CaraTanamachi #RBMedia

I do love a good enemies to lovers romance. This one was very cute! I enjoyed the business aspect of the story along with the added family dynamic complications. This was a quick listen that was a perfect pallet cleanser!

This was was a 2.5 star for me, so for ratings, it's getting a round up to 3. The plot for me was just ok. Two grown adults still talking about their nemesis from high school just didn't do it for me. Nami (the female main character) in particular always felt very whiney. I felt like the romance happened rather abruptly, like they went from hating each other to head over heels in love in a matter of a few minutes. There was some good banter between the main characters, and there were a few funny moments, like the ramen scene. It ended as expected, with a misunderstanding, and then everything quickly tied up into a neat little bow.

The narrator for the female character (Nami) sounded very robotic without much feeling or emotion - It almost felt like she was reading a textbook. The narrator for the male character (Jae) was a bit better, and I enjoyed his voice overall, but I could not STAND when he had to do a voice of a female - it always sounded so whiney.

If you are looking for a quick mindless read, this one isn't the worst choice for sure, but it's not one I would really come back to again either.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media who provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Audio—DNF, Story—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wasn’t feeling the narrators on this one—nothing wrong with them it just didn’t feel like I was connecting with the characters and the story was so interesting that I wanted that connection. Because of this I set the audio aside and waited for the PB to release so I could experience the story fully—I am so glad I did.

The banter between Nami and Jae, the very real call outs on business and corporations , the whole Toggle staff including Dell and the Swivel chair just drew me in and kept me reading nearly straight through.

This was my first Cara Tanamachi book and now I’m going back to read her debut and then eagerly await all future releases.

Enemies to lovers trope! This books is fast pace and the story is enjoyable. I would recommend this to those love book lovers!

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.

Struggled with the narrators of the audiobook. They sounded robotic. There were over explanations of feelings/situations that the reader could have gathered on their own.

This book was an enjoyable, enemies-turned-lovers book. The story was fun and light, with dual POV. This office romance introduces us to Nami and Jae, high school rivals, who reconnect when Jae’s company attempts to acquire Nami’s struggling start-up. The banter between the two characters was witty and funny. I appreciate Nami's career driven attitude, while maintaining a dedication to her staff and friends.

Despite enjoying the story, I found the female narrator hard to connect to. Her reading of the story seemed stiff.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an enemies to lovers workplace romance featuring Nami and her childhood nemesis Jae Lee. Jae comes back into Nami’s life as he tries to buy out her company, Toggle. There is a lot of inbuilt angst and tension when it comes to these tropes which you really feel between the characters.

This was an impulse Netgalley request for me! I listened to the audiobook of this so it was quite a quick listen. My one little issue with it was that sometimes I found the pitch of the narrators changed and I kept having to adjust the volume up and down! If you enjoy other workplace romances check out these titles

📊Beautiful Bastard - Christina Lauren
📋The Hating Game - Sally Thorne
📊Mile High - Liz Tomforde
📋Yours Truly - Abby Jimenez

dnf

*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*

This book was a NO for me :( I really wanted to enjoyed it but....

The characters were very immature and the story just didn't captivate me.

Nami just turned 30 and instead of celebrating she’s reminded her life isn’t what she planned for. Her pride and joy, the tech company she’s built Toggle, is about to lose funding. Instead of wishing for her company to survive, she wishes for a soulmate on her birthday.
Jae represents a big corporation Rain Forest and everything Nami doesn’t want for her family-like business, and while she’s determined to stop her partners from selling, she can’t help reengaging with Jae as their competitive streaks flare up.

There were a lot of things I appreciated about this book. Great chemistry and fiery competition. Nami was ambitious and empathetic and that was an interesting dynamic to read from but she did come off as overly optimistic and naive at times. Jae is charming and cunning. I liked him for the majority of the story until the third act. Once his motivations were revealed, I was just uncomfortable with his character and could not root for him in the same way. Their relationship was strong and I loved the first 2/3rds of this book but I just could get past the third act reveal.

I want to say thank you to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Griffin, and author Cata Tanamachi for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I listened to this on Audio.

From the first chapter I could see I didn’t like the female narrator. Her way of narrating grated on my nerves, and I just wanted it to be done. There were no emotions felt in her voice and it became a bit boring. Second chapter was better with the male narrator. I did try to push through, but I lost interest at 50%.

I appreciate the chance to read it, but I felt no connection to the characters. I couldn't finish it. I just couldn't get into it.

The take over- Cara Tanamachi

This was a brilliantly funny Enemies to lover workplace.

Nami is focused on keeping her company which she has poured her soul into, when her school enemy Jae tries to buy it out. Jae is now working for the big mean company rainforest buying up smaller company's. The tension between these characters soon turn into passion that neither would of seen coming.

I love a duo pov and this didn't disappoint. I love the very nerdy found family that Nami has built at her company.

This is a new author to me but I would definitely would like more from her. The narration on this was brilliant so a enjoyable listen.

🌟🌟🌟🌟


I was gladly gifted this via net gallery.

Donald Chang and Chieko Hidaka narrate Cara Tanamachi’s The Takeover, in which former high school rivals Nami and Jae take their rivalry to the next level as Nami tries to save her company from a hostile takeover by his.

Upon turning 30, Nami’s life hasn’t turned out the way she’s planned. Instead of being married and the owner of a successful public company, Nami has a broken engagement behind her—because of her ex—and the tech company she co-founded is about to lose funding. She’s struggling to keep her jealousy in check over her sister’s forthcoming marriage to the man of her dreams.

Nami makes a birthday wish to find her soulmate, but instead, she gets her hate mate, Jae Lee—her high school nemesis, who barely beat her to win for valedictorian. Unfortunately for Nami, Jae is still just as appealing, sophisticated, and effortlessly cool. Worst of all, he works for the company planning a hostile takeover of her start-up. Nami and Jae trade insults and banter, competing to see who’ll win. She discovers that more than her company is in danger of a hostile takeover when a passion of a more intimate kind flares up from their rivalry. Nami might be in danger of losing her heart to Jae, too.

Chang and Hidaka’s narration complements Tanamachi’s snarky, humorous, emotional, introspective, and vibrant narrative style and delightfully brings her novel and complex, relatable, and fallible characters to life. Their lively, expressive narration drew me into Tanamachi’s hilarious romance and kept me avidly listening as the audiobook flew by. Their narration perfectly captures the character’s personalities and the novel’s shifting moods and tones. They become each character, regardless of age or gender. While I love Chang’s voice, which is smooth, deep, and full of personality, initially, I was not too fond of his voice for Nami, but it grew on me. Hidaka’s voice for Nami works better for me.

Hidaka and Chang provide distinct narration that differentiates between the characters using pacing, intonation, inflection, and emotion to give them voices that reveal their personalities, feelings, quirks, and states of mind. Their narration shines in emotional, humorous, and steamy scenes, superbly capturing the characters’ feelings. They deftly shift between the novel’s tones—hilarious, intimate, angsty, intensely emotional, and sizzling hot—without affecting its excellent pacing. During the intimate scenes, Hidaka and Chang use their full vocal ranges to express/portray the characters’ intimacy, chemistry, sensations, desire, and passion. I can’t imagine anyone providing better narration.

Tanamachi’s writing and storytelling combine vividly detailed descriptions using all five senses and rich world-building, imaginative storytelling, and excellently developed complex, relatable, likable, and fallible characters that immediately draw you in, keeping you glued to her story. She gives each of her characters a distinct voice. I love the diversity in race and personality types of her characters and how she explores issues of racial identity and misogyny with nuance and subtlety.

Tanamachi develops Nami and Jae’s connection and evolving romantic relationship with chemistry-filled hate flirting, one-upmanship, crazy hijinks, competition, sweet, sexy, steamy, humorous, and intensely emotional interactions, banter, and love scenes. In dual first-person POV, the author interweaves flashes of memories with the present. I love how she transitions their relationship from enemies to lovers. It’s funny and sweet.

It’s so clear that Jae has had a thing for Nami since high school and has been totally blind to his feelings all this time. I love their hate-flirting text and emails, snarky banter, and competitive competition to one-up one another. They lead to incredibly hilarious moments and soften their view of each other, drawing them closer. Though Jae and Nami claim/behave like they’re hate-f@$*, they’re falling for each other. The scenes with them interacting with their families are entertaining and informative, revealing essential information about them, their characters, and their past interactions—especially Jae’s.

I feel for Nami. She wants to beat Jae at something but always winds up in ridiculous situations trying to do that. But in these moments, she’s free and happy and enjoys herself. Something she doesn’t allow herself to do much in a life filled with ALL work. Jae loses himself in his drive for success. He reaches the height of his career/success and realizes it’s empty—he’s missing something. Nami and Jae help balance each other’s lives. He helps her to have fun and not be so serious, and she motivates him to be his best self.

The novel’s quick pacing and mostly lighthearted, humorous tone, with a bit of angst, combined with her description, characters, and colorful and natural-sounding dialogue, make it a quick listen. A hilarious, sexy, emotional, steamy, fast-paced romance, The Takeover is an audio listen highly recommended for fans of enemies-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers, humorous, family-centered romances, and romances with heroes who fall fast and hard for the heroine, first.

An advanced listening copy was provided by Netgalley via Recorded Books for review.

I love an office romance plot. This book was surprisingly entertaining. I wasn't expecting to like these characters so much. Nami was so dedicated to her job and truly wanted the best for her company. Jae, on the other hand, was a shark and thrived on company takeovers whether it was ethical or not. The pair was very opposite but also complemented each other in a way. It was not surprising at all that Nami was able to soften Jae's edges.

I was super happy with the ending. I'm glad they were able to work out their differences and find a way to move on. Everyone deserves a second chance and I am glad that they ended up happy and found the perfect solution.

I really wanted to love this more than I did. I didn’t connect with either character especially during the beginning when there was a lot of bickering. I’ll admit that enemies to lovers haven’t been high on my trope list but recently have come to love some enemies/adversaries to lovers. I had high hopes for this one. I love a tech and startup environment and loved the FMC’s office and coworkers. I also appreciated the diversity in characters and Asian representation. It’s always fun to see bits of you or your family in a story, which for me doesn’t happen very often. I think where it fell flat for me was the chemistry between the MCs. It often felt one sided. So when they got together I wasn’t really invested in the romance of the story but more the company/business storyline.

🎧 The narrators did a fantastic job. I have no complaints. I suspect if I was eyeball reading this one I probably would have put this one down and not picked it back up until much later if at all. I especially enjoyed Donald Chang’s performance. I hope to see more of his work in the future.

Title: The Takeover

Author: Cara Tanamachi

Rating: 4.5/5

"The Takeover" by Cara Tanamachi delivers a captivating blend of rivalry, romance, and redemption that keeps readers hooked from start to finish. Nami's journey from frustration to unexpected love is both relatable and heartwarming, making this book a delightful read.

Tanamachi skillfully crafts a narrative that explores themes of ambition, identity, and the unpredictability of fate. Nami's struggles with her failed engagement, impending financial crisis, and envy towards her sister's happiness create a compelling backdrop for the story. Her encounter with Jae Lee, her high school nemesis turned hate mate, sets the stage for a battle of wits and wills that evolves into something much deeper.

The dynamic between Nami and Jae is electric, fueled by sharp banter, simmering tension, and undeniable chemistry. Their rivalry adds layers of complexity to their characters, allowing readers to root for them even as they clash over business and personal matters. Tanamachi masterfully navigates their shifting dynamics, gradually unraveling their pasts and vulnerabilities to reveal the true depth of their connection.

One of the highlights of the novel is Tanamachi's portrayal of entrepreneurship and the challenges faced by startups. The intricacies of Nami's tech company and Jae's hostile takeover provide a compelling backdrop for the romance, adding an element of suspense and intrigue to the plot.

Overall, "The Takeover" is a thoroughly enjoyable read that seamlessly blends romance, rivalry, and self-discovery. Tanamachi's engaging storytelling and vibrant characters make this book a must-read for fans of contemporary romance and workplace dramas alike. With its compelling storyline and heartfelt moments, "The Takeover" is sure to leave readers longing for more from this talented author.

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

Narrated by Donald Chang, Chieko Hidaka
Novel by Cara Tanamachi

I'm not sure how to rate this book due to the fact I can't pin point if it was the narrators interpretation of these characters I didn't like, or if it was the authors writing I didn't like.

Every thing felt a little over the top and a tad too cheesy for me in a bad way. Don't get me wrong I LOVE a cheesy book, but if has to still give you the feels and unfortunately all these characters did were annoy me.

This is my first time trying this author and while this fell flat for me, I would try the author again.

This was a cute rom com story. There are lots of quirky elements that kept me engaged throughout and I really enjoyed the FMC in tech entrepreneur. The representation of the app dev/tech/investor space seemed pretty realistic and the dynamic between the partners, as well as the rest of the employees, was really well crafted to drive the story.

Read this story if you like:
>Rivals/Enemies to Lovers
>Workplace Romance
>Entrepreneur FMC in Tech
>Boss lady FMC/corporate take over
>Dual POV

There were a lot of fun little details in this book that I really enjoyed. For instance, the big, bad corporate giant is called Rainforest (which I interpreted as a not so subtle nod at a real-life corporate giant which made me chuckle). There is a well-rounded supporting cast of characters in this story - that include LGBTQIA+ representation as well as great POC representation.

This is a stand alone story, but also has a sub-plot line that is a carry-over from The Second You're Single that provides another layer to the story. The FMC in this story is the sister of the FMC in TSYS, so there are some overlapping characters and storyline that feed into this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC. I thought the dual narration was very well done and I enjoyed both narrators. All thoughts in this review are my own and given voluntarily.