Juliana’s husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her widowed with two girls. She must go back to work after being a stay at home mom for a few years. On her first day, she gets off on the wrong foot with her coworker, Ben. After a couple years of antics, she learns Ben is full of surprises.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I really liked Ben and Juliana as characters and I loved all the side characters. I loved the trip to Boston and Ben and Juliana getting to know each other and learning that Ben liked Juliana all along. However, the big conflict in the book felt wrong to me. After getting to know Ben and how protective he is over his daughter, it was so hard for me to believe he would allow that to happen. It felt out of character for him, and really made me like him less when it was happening.

I love a good enemies to lovers office romance and this one was just that. there was lots of tension at first, and also lots of heartbreak with Juliana trying to navigate life after her spouse's death. This was all from her POV and I would have loved to have Ben's POV too because I would have loved to see some of the pining that I am sure he was doing for so long.
This was a messy book, a messy look at real life single parenting and it did make my heart go out to her and her grief. I loved her journey and working through what she thought she deserved and I was so proud of her (and mad at Ben) when the OW drama came up. Protecting her peace, even when it was hard, was the right thing to do. I am glad that in the end they were able to work through things but at some points in this book I honestly wanted to punch him. Some people live for the emotion and the drama so I have a feelign they will love this book! 3.5 stars.
Thanks to St. Martin's, Netgalley and Amy Buchanan for an early copy.

I really enjoyed the setup for this book - I really felt like Juliana and Ben were true work enemies, but I equally could sense the tension between them.

Unfortunately, this book fell apart for me once they got together. The pacing was as frenetic and the third act breakup here was pretty wild. I grew less and less interested in their relationship and by the end I was disappointed.

That said, there’s great banter throughout and the chemistry (before it’s acted on) is through the roof.

3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A true enemies-to-lovers tale in the vein of 'The Hating Game,' and my favorite Glen Powell vehicle, 'Set it Up."
Juliana and Ben serve delicious office-tension as a single mom starting to find life after the death of her husband and a mysterious guy with a secret that is sure to slip at any minute.
I always get a little nervous about workplace romances, especially ones where there is a hierarchical difference between the characters, as there is here (I blame my vehement reaction to "Funny You Should Ask.") The setting is one reason why the first half of the book didn't sweep me away, but the second half of the book, once their romance moves more into "real life," is near perfectly executed.

Graphic sex scenes (not my thing) but otherwise it was an enjoyable time spent with Julia Ryan and Ben Thomas.

Julia Ryan is a recent widow with 2 daughters, Sophie (5) & Clara (7) to raise and support. Thankfully her support network in Orlando FL are there for them. Going back to an HR job she gave up when Clara's was born presents a challenge. Still loving and missing Jack, her emotional tizzy is complicated by Ben Thomas the head of the architectural department, Work & Family complications are a challenge and provide constantly changing emotions for all involved.

A HEA ending made for a perfect reading experience. The adult content is spicy and detailed at times.

I think I’m still a little undecided on how I feel about this one. While I really enjoyed it, I also felt like it was almost too much back and forth and too much leading each other on at different points.

I did really enjoy the premise of this one though! Plus it’s full of banter, which I’m absolutely obsessed with! Ben was so patient with Juliana in the beginning and you couldn’t help but root for him! Juliana was such a strong mom and you wanted her to find her happiness.

This one is out January 14, 2025 and I highly encourage you to put it on your radar! I’ll be excited to see what Amy Buchanan writes next! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is an incredibly emotional story of love after loss. The adults (the actual adults) in this story genuinely care about the children in their lives, and that is absolutely amazing. The kids are cute but also realistic. I laughed and teared up reading this, and I can confidently say that I want more from this author.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review. I'm calling a truce with romances that don;t give me the swoon and the delicious banter of enemies to lovers. The E2L troop, IMO, needs to be handled with care. And the banter needs to spark from the pages. Let's Call a Truce fails in both regards. The MMC is a jerk in the beginning and doesn't really redeem himself. They both seem to look past their hate because they are both ridiculously attracted to one another. I don't remember either characters names and found myself skimming a lot. Maybe I'm just grouchy today.

Thank you netgalley and st martins press..

I enjoyed this angsty read.... the grief journey and banter... I think tje plot twists added to this enemies to lovers story great job Amy!!!

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, but also one of the hardest to get right. Let's Call a Truce did some things well, but struggled at times to balance the tone in a way that ultimately failed for me.

Juliana is struggling with being a newly single parent after her husband dies in an accident. As she returns to the workforce, she worries about balancing her daughters' needs, her own grief, and her new workload. She's instantly sympathetic, especially when her handsome coworker Ben derides her abilities when Juliana has a family emergency. This sets off their rivalry and is a pretty good start, considering it's no miscommunication--he was genuinely being a jerk.

Cut to two years later, and the two are in constant battle. I didn't have a problem with that. What I did have a problem with is how Ben was fairly flirtatious while Juliana seemed to loathe him. She goes out of her way to be petty and mean. There was a real mismatch in the tone of their interactions, which are later reframed as enjoyable flirting. Without Juliana's internal narration to clarify that she enjoys battling with Ben, the sexual tension seems both forced and out of place, especially their first kiss.

The problems, for me, escalated from there. Sure, people can form sexual relationships on chemistry only, but Juliana never entertained that as a possibility--she started talking about dating him yet still seemed to actively hate him. My initial sympathy for her dissipated quickly when she was hot and cold with Ben and continued to be mean to both him and her supportive friends. As an example, she refused to let Ben tell her about himself and his life, then got angry with him for not sharing things--that she specifically asked him not to share.

The dialogue and exposition were at times awkwardly stilted and formal. There is a sex scene that happens at work during the work day, which made me uncomfortable, but might not bother some people.

I enjoyed the middle of the story the most, when Ben and Juliana were working things out. However, I had huge issues with most of the ending, which I'm hiding because of spoilers.

*SPOILER* [When Ben's ex shows back up in his life, she moves into his house and thinks they're dating again. Ben refuses to kick her out for the sake of his daughter, whom his ex abandoned, thus destroying his relationship with Juliana. Perhaps I could have understood his initial reaction of wanting to protect his daughter, but it becomes clear very quickly that his ex is, at best, neglectful of their daughter, if not downright abusive. When Ben FINALLY kicks his ex to the curb after far too long, it's because he can't live without Juliana anymore, NOT because his daughter was being mistreated. That was a step too far for me.] *END SPOILER*

In the end, Ben was an idiot for way too long for Juliana to forgive him so quickly. It felt like he won her over with flowers and the promise of a vacation. His mistakes were far too egregious for me to get over them.

While this book had some high points, particularly in the depiction of grief, single parenthood, and imposter syndrome, the relationship just didn't work for me. For readers looking for a great enemies to lovers romance, I think you might end up disappointed, like I was.

Thanks @netgalley @smpromance and @amybuchananbooks for the chance to read and review Let's Call a Truce. It releases on January 14th, 2025.

You don't want to miss Amy's sparkling, witty, HOT 🔥 debut romance. Her writing is the perfect combination of humor and heart. I had the chance to beta-read this book, and I fell in love with these characters all over again reading it again. Pre-order now!

When Juliana unexpectedly loses her husband, she's forced to return to the workplace after years of staying home with her two kids. It's hard enough navigating her new normal, but then she overhears a colleague named Ben complaining about her, setting off a years-long feud between them. Two years later, they are forced to collaborate on a career-defining project and call a truce. But as they spend more time together, they realize the spark between them might be something else entirely.

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Tropes: single mom, enemies-to-lovers, work romance, he falls first, found family, recreational use of office furniture

Let's Call a Truce was a happy surprise. It's not often these days that I get to read a brand spanking new author's work and it's rarer that I enjoy it as much as I enjoyed this one. I really enjoyed how much fun it was reading Juliana and Ben's bickering and their ultimate capitulation into the romance fueled, initially, by all of their sexual tension. As we get to know them both, we discover their histories that make it difficult to move forward, which only serves to make us want them together even that much more. I enjoyed how much their lives overlapped and what an obviously good pair they made. I enjoyed their banter, the secondary characters, and even the yucky stuff that had to happen in order for them to realize that they needed to be together. My only complaint, a minor one, was that the build up to their getting together sometimes seemed a little repetitive or maybe I was just impatient for them to get to the good stuff? Ultimately, though, I was very happy with how it all played out and it was a solid 4 star read for me.

Classic enemies to friends to lovers.
Loved the combination of characters
Little bit of spice.
Overall, I enjoyed and would definitely read more from this author

Upon finishing Let's Call a Truce I immediately headed to Amy Bunchanan's profile because I wanted to dive into her other works, so imagine my surprise when I find out she's a debut author! I'm even more impressed by this work knowing it's an author's debut. It was such a fulfilling, heart-racing journey from start to end.

At its center is the rivals-to-lovers romance between our leads Juliana and Ben. Ben gets off on the wrong foot with Juliana who doesn't forget it for the next two years. Yet it's less a build of up animosity that follows, and more of a build up of secret mutual attraction via a push-and-pull. They play off each other brilliantly and underneath their biting words there is always a smile sneaking its way to the surface. They enjoy each other, but there is also a lot of individual history that holds them back from pursuing more at different points in the story. I thought each hurdle was appropriately placed and paced. This wasn't just a fluffy love story, this was a love story dealing with grief and its acceptance; a love story dealing with fear and its confrontation. There is so much heart to tend to, and the narrative does it quite beautifully.

I admit I felt frustrated at times in the first half by Juliana constantly shutting Ben out, but I also came to love her dearly. When her friend rightly calls out Juliana's behavior, I found myself wanting to go to her defense even though I had the same thoughts as the friend, haha! But it just goes to show even with my annoyance, I also came to fall in love with Juliana and I embraced her, flaws and all. By the second half, it was Ben who took a bit of my scorn, but he never lost my love either. I understood them both even as I became frustrated by certain choices. Bunchanan did a phenomenal job in allowing our leads to make mistakes, to be vulnerable, to be human-- while ensuring these characters are ones we never stop cheering on. These are characters we want to see find a happily ever after with one another.

I left this one with a full heart and a grand ol' smile. And I most certainly will be making my way to bookshop on release day and grabbing me a copy!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this complimentary copy, I leave this honest review voluntarily.

Fun story, lots of banter, but it was tinged with a lot of childishness for an adult. I didn’t t really like Juliana for most of the book as she clearly needed to grow up and spend more time in therapy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this contemporary second-chance romance. The enemies-to-lovers trope is always an interesting one. Juliana and Ben's story definitely held my attention. However, I'll be honest and say I didn't feel completely captivated by the leading characters. They were interesting enough, but I couldn't relate to their lives much so that kind of made me feel like I was just reading their story, not truly experiencing their emotions and feeling like I was invested in the outcome of their lives.

I spent a lot of time trying to understand where Juliana was coming from with all her feelings towards Ben and her new life. At times she just aggravated me, lots. Ben wasn't quite the man I thought he was at first, so that was interesting. He kind of grew on me, LOL Each of them clearly had issues that they needed to deal with!

I would expect that a reader who has experienced some of what either Juliana and/or Ben has experienced will find this story much more relatable and therefore, very captivating. There's back-and-forth banter, laughs, angsty feelings, steamy times. The story is well-written. I think many readers will find this to be an enjoyable story and a satisfying read. Give it a try.

loved this romance of enemies to lovers and with them working together , and their kids becoming good friends. loved her friends and that she had support from her family raising the girls after the death of her husband. Loved seeing her find her way at her job

I found myself starting to hate read this book. I was wondering what exactly the FMC was bringing to the table in her friendships. How did she not notice a big reveal - that in hindsight was super obvious!- while working with the MMC for years?! It felt like the romance was going to build but all of the sudden the MMC was all in and the building momentum had peaked... but somehow I missed it.
Overall I wanted to love this one but it didn't work for me.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC of this novel.

title: Let's Call a Truce

author: Amy Buchanan

publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

publication date: January 14, 2025

pages: 336

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: 

parental, violent death (off-page, before story)
parental abandonment
alcohol

summary: Widow Juliana is excited to prove herself in her job in HR after her years staying home with her young daughters, but she's not excited about working with her nemesis, Ben, who doesn't seem to understand the demands of being a single parent with a full-time job. Though there's a clear frisson of energy between them, they spend most of their time engaged in a petty war...until they need to call a truce for a work project to start an intern program.

tropes:

enemies-to-lovers
work relationships
our kids are friends
recently widowed
spouse who abandons the family
work trip
grand gesture

what I liked:

There were some great scenes with the daughters and friends.
Buchanan shows them getting to know each other, paying attention to the other.
She integrated the death-of-a-true-love feeling into Juliana's present life well.
The kids are cute and believable.

what I didn’t like:

Juliana doesn't seem mature enough to be a thirty-five-year-old mother of two.
She changes her mind too many times.

overall rating: 3 (of 5 stars) (some scenes were 4 or 5, but I found Juliana's arc too annoying to give the overall book more)