Juliana and Ben are workplace rivals whose lives continue to intersect outside work. Amy Buchanan masterfully builds their relationship slowly from enemies to lovers. I love that Juliana is a mom who always puts her kids first, and her decisions throughout the novel include them. Sometimes, the children and family seem to take a backseat in romance novels, but they are at the forefront of this one. It makes the characters more relatable and real, making it easy to fall for them and want them to be happy. I loved Amy Buchanan's writing style and can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

This was a middle-of-the-road romance for me! I love a good workplace, forced proximity, enemies to lovers romcom and this delivered. I liked the characters, my only wish is that the tension between the MMC and FMC would've lasted a bit longer. Seems like they were only "enemies" for about 10% of the book and then it was kinda insta-lovey which isn't my favorite.

I probably would've rated this higher if it weren't for the third act breakup -- i didn't care for that whole thing at all.

read if you love:
-forced proximity, workplace romance
-enemies to lovers
-single mom
-grief undertone
-spicy

3 stars! thank you so much for allowing me to be an early reader. ill share my review on pub day!

A book is the authors baby, their heart and they're giving it to us to be gentle with and I always try to remember that when I'm reviewing a book. That being said, I am in the minority when I say this (with over 4 star reviews on both GoodReads and NetGalley), Let's Call a Truce was a flop for me. Juliana was beyond frustrating to me and I could not connect with her character. Empathizing that grief isn't linear, that it would take time to be ready for a relationship with what she's been through and having small children, but the back and forth and wishy-washiness she gives been was annoying as was the "I can't go out to lunch, I don't have the money but I'll wear brand new running shoes on a field trip I know will destroy them". The potential for a slow burn, build up of tension, forbidden work romance was all there; while it didn't come through for me (I DNF at 44%), it clearly did for others. If you pick up Let's Call a Truce, I hope it is more of a hit for you than it was for me.
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Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book absolutely tore my heart in half!!!! In a good way!! The plot and characters were so believable, and even the kids were well-developed. I loved the friendship dynamics and the way this book didn’t shy away from the complications of grief and trying to blend families.

Genre: Romance
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Work Place Romance, Single Parent
TW: death of a loved one, relationships after loss

Wow. I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. I enjoyed an Enemies to Lovers romance in a way that I wouldn't normally and it's all thanks to Buchanan's writing, character development and her ability to weave in heavy topics in a way that was sensitive and appropriate. I'll go ahead and say it now, the only thing I didn't like about this book is the cover art - c'mon, Ben and Juliana deserve so much better!

How was the story line?
I was hooked by the story line immediately - starting with a flash back to how the relationship began and then immediately thrown into the present day, I appreciated that things got off to a quick start and I was instantly invested in the dynamic between Ben and Juliana and couldn't wait to read more. Buchanan includes some very heavy topics as her set up for the character arc of each of the characters but she did it in a way that felt real, not campy, and I thought it was done beautifully.

What was the spice level?
Whew, this is spicy! A Work Place Romance is always a friend of mine but add in some NSFW scenes that are happening at work?! I'm a fan. There were a few chapters with explicit scenes while a lot of the other chapters including heavy sexual tension, lots of banter, and tons of build up making the spicy scenes even better once they were on page.

Who would I recommend this to?
This is, hands down, a book for all rom-com lovers but especially for fans of The Hating Game or any of Kennedy Ryan's romances. There were so many parallels between Kennedy Ryan's Skyland Series (Before I Let Go, This Could Be Us) that I loved including later in life romance, balancing romance and desire with parenthood and careers, and the way that the emotions of the characters jumps off the page - if you like Kennedy Ryan, you'll guaranteed love this.

Juliana is forced to team up with her work nemesis Ben and learns there is more to him than she thought. They both have family situations that make their developing feelings complicated. When Juliana gives into her attraction to her attraction to Ben, his past comes back to threaten their happiness. This is a great story about love and loss and single parenting. I rate this a 4.25⭐️

I am sad to report that I've DNF'd this title at 48%. I really *wanted* to love it!

I found Juliana to just be too frustrating, and Ben isn't much better. I understand that Juliana has a lot of mixed feelings about herself, her future, and her grief, which leads her to be entirely conflicted over what type of relationship she wants or feels she should have with Ben. Giving in her to attraction once and running away from those feelings he stirred is one thing. When it happened again, I questioned whether I could consider her character as a supposedly mature, adult woman. When the same thing happened for the third time and we weren't even halfway through the book, I was done.

By 48%, I also realized that I still have no idea why Ben is somebody I should be rooting for. We get it that he's H-O-T-T-O-G-O. And... he's a good friend to Juliana's bestie? And... he's a single dad? That's all we've got? Because he doesn't seem to have any self-respect and is content to let Juliana jerk his chain?

Ultimately my decision was made when there were no interesting plot developments, and Juliana and Ben's relationship, had still gone nowhere. It was just a series of one step forward, one step back. There weren't any emotional stakes for me as a reader.

I also think that Juliana and Ben were rude to each other for years for no acceptable reason when considering they are two professionals in the work place -- and she's in HR. The underlying premise of this novel is too unrealistic in this year of our lord 2025. Speaking of which, it's time for my annual required employee sexual harassment training.

Buchanan’s story is charming, delightful and full of emotions as the main female character, Juliana, goes through many new situations and faces conflicts. The quick witted banter is carried throughout the book. It is funny when sarcastic or teasing. There spicy scenes are just right for this book. They are not overwhelming yet enough to show the attraction between the characters.

While I listened to the audio as well I enjoyed the book as well. So, whether it is read or listened to it is a solid book. Happy reading!

I overall enjoyed this. It wasn’t perfect and it was very emotionally heavy but a great example of finding love after loss.

Juliana and Ben are coworkers with a terrible meet cute and spend the following months arguing and hating each other (he’s been simping since day 1, she just doesn’t know it).

The back-and-forth became a little too much for me. And the third act conflict made me irrationally angry. But that being said, I lost sleep over these characters. They became so real in my head. I was very invested in their story and very happy with the ending.

A solid debut and I’m looking forward to Buchanan’s future books!

Read if you like:
Workplace romance
Enemies to lovers
Slow burn
Love after loss
Spice
Single dad

The enemies to lovers trope is a sure way to win me over every single time. This was fun! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was fortunate enough to read Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan via ebook through #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Juliana is a recent widow with two young children. She has spent seven years as a stay-at-home mom and I wish I could add some of her relatable quotes on that job! Maybe after it publishes I will come back here and make some additions.

She needs to get a job and is hired by her past boss who is wonderful. Juliana immediately makes a nemesis, and we know how that goes in romance novels! After two years of hate, the love interest (I won’t tell you his name) becomes Mr. Perfect who fluently speaks all the love languages- words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, gifts, and physical touch. He will be considered primo book boyfriend material with how vocal he is with his strong and unrelenting feelings towards her. She is a little more up and down which may be understandable with her situation. I didn’t bond with the main character, and while she was so wise with her career and as a mother, some of her inner thoughts seemed immature to me. I enjoyed the side characters, the side storylines, and Buchanan’s writing style.

This book publishes January 14, 2025 and I look forward to reading more books from this debut author in the future!

3.5 /5 stars
Open door
Locations: Orlando, Florida and Boston, Massachusetts

UGH!!! BEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And JULIANA!!!!!!!!! This was the best way to end the year with a really good Enemies to Lovers. Ben and Juliana met at their current job, and Juliana is a recent widow at the time and she’s trying to manage her life as a single mom, and Ben hasn’t been too nice. Then we fast forward to 2 years later and the chemistry between them is literally steamy. Her friends are so funny and they encourage her to go for it, but they are rivals for some crazy reason. But little does she know, they have so much in common. And when they FINALLY gave into their urges, or better yet, whenever Juliana was ready to move forward, it was STEAMY!!!!! Add some drama, and their kids??!!!! I loved them all…

[ARC review]
LET'S CALL A TRUCE by Amy Buchanan starts out as a workplace antagonists-to-lovers, but it gets a lil angsty on our way to happy ever after.

Juliana is a widowed mom, obliged to go back into the workforce after being a stay at home mom for several years. On her first day at her new job she runs into a tall, handsome man...only to overhear him badmouthing her to a coworker later that day.

People sometimes complain that romance has become all vibes, no plot, but there is plenty of plot here. So much happens! The drama!!There's lots of grief and big feelings (death of spouse in an accident, parental abandonment, manchild crying "reverse racism" about a diversity initiative) but also lots of longing and logistics (kids, man).

The reason behind the third act break up kind of took me by surprise, but the reasoning made sense. You don't have to like it, but people make bad decisions for good reasons!

#NetGalley #ARCreview #LetsCallATruce

Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan is a great debut novel. The book has a number of tropes including second chance, single parents, enemies to lovers and workplace romance. Ben and Juliana meet at work and their relationship quickly sours, leading to some excellent banter. The book deals with some difficult topics including death of a spouse (off-page), divorce and single parenthood and while I felt they were included in a sensitive manner, they might not be right for all readers. The book also has a great focus on female friendships, which is always a nice addition and the side characters were well-developed.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨ 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 ✨ of 𝙻𝚎𝚝’𝚜 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊 𝚃𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚎 by Amy Buchanan (@amybuchananbooks)

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 5⭐️
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 01.14.25

📝workplace romance
📝single mom
📝enemies to lovers
👏yearning

After her husband passes away, Juliana has to return to work after several years of being a stay at home mom. On her first day, she runs into Ben classic meet-cute style, but it quickly goes south after Juliana hears him berating her to a coworker for having to leave work early due to a family emergency. What follows is two years of animosity (at least on Juliana’s part) that borders the line of attraction. When Juliana learns that she’s up for a promotion, the caveat being that she works together with Ben on a project, the two are forced to get to know each other on a deeper level👀

A ✨shining✨ debut!!! I loved this so much!!! 🩷 This one has tons of banter, YEARNING!!! slow burn and wit. But more than that, the depiction of grief and fear that Juliana faces was well written.

Also?? If you’re a Floridian in the Orlando and/or Gainesville area, this has so many nods to our charming lil cities and I absolutely loved that. Seeing my town & certain local places named was so neat!!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Props to Amy Buchanan on this fun and exciting debut workplace romance story between widower Julianna and Ben. The banter and tension between Julianna and Ben was great lead up to the tipping point between them when they finally kissed. It was worth it! Julianna’s mom guilt was running full force on top of being a widower and having to go back to work and from her first run in with Ben she knew she would be at war. What kind of war was definitely up in the air until he made a common about her rescheduling a meeting and they became office nemesis.

Two years of being nemesis and then finally being forced to work together on a big project made it harder for them to keep each other at arms length. Slowly, they began to realize they wanted to be in each other’s orbit without the animosity and that lead way to new and scary feelings. I really liked how they navigated everything even if I wanted to grab Ben by the shoulders and shake him a few times.

If you love a good enemies to lovers workplace romance story then definitely check out this debut from Amy Buchanan!



Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback

Juliana and Ben’s love story and blending of families after Juliana tragically lost her husband was so beautiful. The ending of this book was one of my favorites, and it made it worth the read!

Juliana was not my favorite female main character, though. I felt like she was immature for a 30+ year old professional woman and mother, and she really did NOT want to let anything go ever. There were definitely moments where I didn’t hate her, but I had a really hard time connecting to her. Ben was a phenomenal male lead, and his character was written so well!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

“Let’s Call a Truce” by Amy Buchanan
2 single parents & One Spicy Story
For the most part I really enjoyed this story. The trauma of loss was a major player for two of the characters which in turn had an impact on other characters with head vs heart choices to be made. There were a few times I thought the story dragged just a bit; I am glad I persevered! There were a few scenes that shared descriptions that I would rather not see, although I guess that is what sell stories. It is a good story, a rather long story redeemed with a happy ending.

Let’s Call A Truce is a wonderful, well written, contemporary romance for the author’s debut book. This is enemies to lovers delight! I loved Juliana & Ben, watching them both overcome anxiety and grief and learn to lean on each other was so heartwarming. The banter between the two had me giggling and kicking my feet. The development of their relationship was so pure and beautiful written.

This book deals heavily with grief of losing a spouse. You could feel the pain Juliana and her kids were going through. I’ve read many single mother/widow stories but this is the first one that made me feel like I was there with the characters experiencing their feelings.

i devoured this book!

i don’t have kids, but reading juliana’s struggles with being enough for her children will resonate with anyone. she was relatable and easy to love. ben thomas? SO HOT. the office banter and forbidden romance aspect just added so much tension to the plot.

this was a fun enemies to lovers book and i had such a great time!!

thank you st. martin’s for an e-arc!