In this book we meet Andie and Jack. Andie is doing her best to achieve more and has recently been promoted at her job to be a senior book publicist. And as luck with have it her first tour is Jack Carlson who she happens to have a past with when she was in college just as her whole world went spiraling out of control. While we know that there is tension between these two the main thing we also realize is that Andie needs to process and get through the grieving she has never truly allowed herself to process with what she lost between university and the death of her father. I was touched by the main character and know how I would process much of what she did the same way. If you don’t mind some tears while you read and think about losing a loved one this is a fun quick read. Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Books, & Bianca Gillam for choosing me to be an arc reader for this book.

Obtained copy after publication date. Significant typos and grammatical errors throughout book. Content wise this was a quick, pleasant read. Personally I thought it took a little too long to get to the backstory for the misunderstanding and then felt semi rushed at the very end.

Witty, sweet and tender. There’s just something about British rom writers that I really enjoy and this was no exception. The characters were fleshed out, the story kept me interested and I loooooved the ending.

💌When I started reading Bad Publicity, I expected more of a "sparkling rom-com" as it's described. What I got instead was a much more melancholy story about grief, regret, and the tricky art of moving on. While the second-chance romance between Andie and Jack simmers in the background, the real heart of this book is its look at loss and the lasting effects, both of loved ones and of the person you once thought you'd become.

💌Andie has just landed her dream job as a senior book publicist in NYC. But immediately, without much chance to adjust, she’s assigned a very high-stakes book tour for Jack Carlson, a blast from her past she’s been spending years trying to forget. There's international travel, close quarters, and a slow-burning emotional unraveling happening, and it all feels very raw and emotional in a way that struck me.

💌The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the humor kept me afloat while I experienced the emotional realism of Andie’s grief. . The writing style and pacing are solid, but sometimes a little slow. I think it had more to do with my expectations going in than a lack of interest. I just wasn't prepared for such a weighted narrative. Despite that, I did find myself drawn in by the interior worlds of the characters rather than the romance.

💌Ugh, let’s talk about Andie. I wanted to root for her and I tried to root for her. But her general refusal to be intellectually curious, her constant self-sabotaging with no awareness, and her emotional unavailability made her a difficult character to want to follow through a full story arc. It wasn’t really "unlikable heroine with growth” so much as just plain insufferable, and it wore on me too much by the end. With her (lack of) character with a late reveal that hits hard, and I think way too late, it’s too chaotic to put together the emotions into a cohesive whole.

💌This definitely isn’t a rom-com, even though the cover definitely gives quirky, cute, fun read. The cover is very cute, but I think it sadly doesn't really fit the overall vibe of the book. The marketing here, I think, sets very different expectations than what the characters and story actually deliver. If you go in expecting a grief-forward, literary drama with some tepid romantic resolution, you’ll have a better reading experience than I did. As a mood reader, I don't really appreciate being surprised by the tone unless it ends up being *more* positive than expected.

Major Tropes & Themes:

- forced proximity, travel
- second chance romance
- workplace romance, writer MC
- miscommunication trope
- grief, loss, unresolved trauma
- forgiveness, being forgiven

You may enjoy if you liked:

- Emily Henry, but want some more emotional punch
- Love and Other Words
- Everything We Left Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

3 out of 5 stars!

Thank you Bianca Gillam and Penguin Books for allowing me to read this ARC via NetGalley.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Vibes: 📚✈️💔🌍💘
Rating: 3.5 ⭐
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers / workplace romance / grief and healing / travel / one-bed
⚠️ TW: death of a family member (off-page), cyberbullying, slut-shaming

I enjoyed reading this book, seeing Andie grow and develop as a character throughout the tour/story really was enjoyable. And this wasn't just about her (complicated) relationship with Jack. It really put a second focus on Andie's grief of her father's death and how it's just not something you can get over.

The reason I'm not rating this higher than 3.5 stars is because it's marketed as a romance and I really wasn't expecting so much of the book to be dedicated to Andie's grief journey (although it was a refreshing change from other romances I've read recently). It's not exactly depressing but it does touch on some hard things that Andie went through in her past to explain the relationship she has with Jack.

But, all being said, the ending had me tearing up while I was reading because it really was a perfect "happy for now" for Andie.

I truly loved this book. The plot, the characters. I just absolutely fell in love with all of it! This is my first from this author and I look forward to reading more of her books!

I was excited to read this book because it was based on the publishing industry- but it kind of fell flat for me. In reading other reviews, I agree with the sentiment that this isn't your stereotypical "romance" book.

This story is about Andy- a grief stricken publicist who's landed her dream job in NY- far away from the painful memories of her father and his recent death. Excited for her new job to start, she finds out that the first author she's assigned to promote- Jack Carlson, is none other than her former college classmate with whom she was traumatized by in their romantic past. The story follows them on his book tour across Europe where they are forced together day in and day out to promote his latest novel. Jack tries to talk to her about what happen and Andy continues to thwart all his attempts to explain himself at every turn.

Where the confusion comes in- the story doesn't really focus on the 'enemies to lovers' main idea I think she was going for. It meanders down several other paths- introducing threads of grief, both friend and parental abandonment issues and college hazing/bullying. It often felt like the author had so many ideas she was trying to introduce and then address, that she lost focus on the main story she was trying to tell. And 'conveniently,' everything got sorted out in the end.

What didn't work for me? I am not a fan of when the author alludes to some big, horrible event that happened in the past and keeps reminding you of it throughout the story, only to make you read through 3/4 of the book to find out what happened. In this case, it was your typical misunderstanding that had she let him explain it rather than cut him out of her life completely, would of not been that big of a deal.

Special thanks to both NetGalley and Penguin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Bad Publicity follows Andie and Jack, Jack is an Author and Ex- boyfriend. Andie the publicist for his new novel and Ex-girlfriend and month long trip together. This book has forced proximity, "enemies" to lovers- I would say love to hate to love. If you liked Emily Henry's books I would give this one a try. The Author did an amazing job explaining and capturing grief and hatred while also capturing love in this novel. However it was not my cup of tea because I am not big into second chance romance but if you are i would check this out! I feel as this book should not be labeled as a Rom-Com as it focuses mainly on the grief.

The book was okay. It didn’t seem to have a lot of romance and the main story focused a lot more on grief. To me, this book shouldn’t have been labeled a romcom.

#NETGALLEYARC

2.75 🌟

This was alot. Heavy on the grief but life is like that sometimes right? And then the university drama and the assault that came out of nowhere. The ending was very open ended.

📖😔🏫

Fun, fast-paced, and full of snark. The PR-world backdrop was fresh and the protagonist’s voice popped off the page. A few plot twists were predictable, but the entertainment factor stayed high. A smart, stylish read with bite.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
All in all, it was an interesting read. I have to say that the synopsis led me to expect a lighthearted rom-com with unresolved feelings. Yet, that was not the case.
I really enjoyed the writing style, especially the short chapters and the insight into the publishing industry. Still, I felt that something was missing. The story kept a lot of important information hidden until very late in the book (when we finally learn what really happened between Andy and Jack).
It was also disappointing to read an ending that was not a happy one, which I did not expect. It definitely was not bad, but also not what I was expecting.

For about 6 weeks recently, I REALLY struggled with contemporary books. I'm not sure why but my fantasy mood has been mooding for months and it finally just took over everything. I, however, had Bad Publicity on deck and in an effort to stay on my I-committed-therefore-I-must-try game, I pushed play. And. Guess. What? Five stars! I loved everything about it. I'm a second chance girlie anyway but this one is an immediate favorite. Combine that with an author MC, forced proximity, traveling, and workplace, I just couldn't stop.
Andie's first day of work isn't great. She might be on day one but immediately having to work with her ex across a multi-country book tour is maybe the worst case scenario. Not one to ignore professionalism, Andie girds her loins and packs her bags to make the best of it. Jack may be the worst but giving up her dream job is not going to happen.
I really loved everything about it!
Thanks Penguin Books for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Bad Publicity (NG)
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc to reas and review. I feel like calling this a “sparkling rom-com” or “second chance romance” is extremely misleading. Overwhelmingly this is a book about grief and Andie doing everything in her power to not face it or move on. When presented with seeing Jack again all we know is something bad happened five years ago but it took almost the whole book to find out what that was. She was so self absorbed in conversations with her best friend and mother and so mean to Jack who kept trying to explain or go about her proposed “truce” so the romance never really connected. I feel like this was more a self discovery or healing type novel. The writing was not bad and I love a book surrounding publishing and the book tour and events were interesting. I just don’t think there was one funny moment or enough romance in this book to remotely classify this as a rom-com. 2.5 ⭐️

I personally enjoy books centered around publicty and I think because it is one of my favorite tropes, I enjoyed this more than some other reviewers. This is much more than a romance and I appreciated seeing how the character grew throughtout the novel, alongside a romance developing. There were a lot of past feelings to overcome and I felt like the story pacing worked well for me!

This book left me wanting more and feeling a bit frustrated. I feel like the author wanted to write a different type of book and somehow ended up trying to write a romance novel, but it just didn't work. The characters felt like they need more depth and we as the reader needed more background knowledge. It was just okay overall. Not the worst book I've read but definitely not a top tier one either.

Okay, so calling Bad Publicity an “enemies to lovers” felt a bit generous — honestly, there wasn’t much actual enemy energy between Andie and Jack. They had some history from university, sure, but once they were forced to work together, they pretty much agreed to keep things civil and not stir up the past. Which meant most of their interactions were kind of surface-level small talk that didn’t pack much punch.

Even when the story aimed for some deeper conversations, it didn’t quite land for me — I was craving more of that classic angst, the slow burn pining, and all the emotional tension that usually makes these romances so addictive. It felt a bit like it was just skimming the surface.

What surprised me most is that the book leaned heavily into Andie’s personal journey dealing with grief and a mid-life crisis, which was handled with sensitivity and depth. But because of that focus, Jack ended up feeling a bit underdeveloped. I honestly struggled to get a solid sense of who he really was beyond being an author with some family baggage.

All of this meant their romance didn’t quite click for me. The chemistry felt low-key and not quite convincing enough to fully invest in their story. Still, the emotional themes were interesting, and the writing has its moments — just not the swoony romance I was hoping for.

Bianca Gillam’s debut is giving rom-com with emotional baggage- but in a good way! I really loved her writing style and the premise had me hooked.

This isn’t your standard fluffy rom-com. It dives into grief and healing, especially around the loss of Andie’s dad, which adds depth but might surprise readers expecting a breezy love story with quirky banter. There are jokes- but there are also tissues.

Andie was super well-developed and easy to root for, while Jack took his sweet time opening up—like, sir, who are you??

I still thought this was a promising and heartfelt debut. If you love second-chance romances with a little more weight, this one’s worth the read. Can’t wait to see what Bianca writes next!

(Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the e-ARC. Please keep the emotionally complex rom-coms coming!)

3.75 stars

Bad Publicity had all the ingredients for a standout romance—grief, personal growth, an irresistible setting, and that classic forced proximity dynamic. I was especially intrigued by the premise: a book publicist stuck on a European book tour with the man who broke her heart years ago? Sign me up.

But while the tension and chemistry were there, I found myself frustrated by how long we had to wait to learn what actually happened between the main characters. When the reveal did come, it was huge—but it wasn’t given the emotional weight or conversation I felt it deserved. Without true closure or accountability for both the MMC and another character from the past, the ending felt a little too neat for me.

There’s definitely an audience for this one: it’s a slow burn, enemies to lovers, with a strong sense of setting and lots of angst. If you love when the tension simmers for chapters on end, this might be your cup of tea. I just wish we got to see the healing and resolution, not just assume it with time.

(Also, lowkey hoping for a sequel to tie up some of the loose ends about what happened previously and really redeem Jack’s character.)

A fun lil workplace rom com. Pretty predictable but it was a fun enough read. I do wish some of the friendship aspects were more fleshed out rather than just internal dialogue