A fun premise that is let down by a lack of chemistry between the leads and Andie’s insistence on ignoring Jack instead of having a conversation with him that could clarify their past and make it easier to work together.

There is a dark backstory that isn’t introduced until three-quarters into the novel which felt too late and also made it difficult to root for Andie and Jack to be together. I really wanted to like this and think with a few tweaks (e.g., no miscommunication and a less complicated history between Andie and Jack), it could be a charming romance. As it is, this is more a story of Andie learning to deal with her grief and let go of the past.

Thank you to Penguin Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Bad Publicity is a sharp, engaging romance that delivers the perfect mix of chemistry, tension, and emotional depth. Bianca Gilliam crafts a compelling story with well-developed characters, witty banter, and a plot that keeps you invested from start to finish. The dynamic between the leads is full of push-and-pull, making their journey to love feel both realistic and satisfying. With a balance of humor, heartfelt moments, and just the right amount of angst, this book is a must-read for romance lovers looking for a fresh take on the genre. Definitely one to add to your TBR!

I think that this is an absolutely fantastic book - if you go into it wanting to just read literary fiction. If you go in and you truly expect a romance book... a happy rom-com especially I expect you'll be disappointed. So I for sure don't agree with the fact that this one is being marketed as romance.

That being said - I found this book to be really wonderful at showcasing what it is like to live life with grief, how it can make you run away and shut down. Sometimes that's the only way you can survive a tremendous, life altering life, and Andie did just that. She moved to the states and promptly shut down the piece of her that was forever changed by her loss, she started building her career and was truly just surviving - not thriving.

Her big break as a publisher came, but the problem was that the author she'd need to be supporting and touring with is her "ex", Jack. He's not written particularly strong, and Andie's anger really overshadows and overpowers him time and time again.

It's a SLOW burn in the sense that you never find out what Jack has supposedly done - this big thing that changed Claire's life and blah, blah until about 75% into book. Then you get the flashback and eh... a discussion, perhaps multiple discussions and it would have been blown over. There's still a bully in the situation, and there's still some messed up crap - but holding that over someones head for 5 years? But again, it comes back to the grief. It turns out when she looks back at it all? She's able to see things far more clearly than before.

The ending was rather frustrating just because I would have liked a bit more. A bit more on her healing, a bit more about the "romance".

All in all I would say it was enjoyable just not very memorable.

However; these 2 quotes will stick with me for quite a long time:
<b>The thing no one ever tells you about losing someone you love is how guilty you'll feel about every single moment you spent with them where you could've been more attentive, more loving. Where you would've soaked up more of their presence, if you'd known you'd lose them so soon.</b>

<b>"I've found, thought, in my years on this earth, that life will surprise you. There is never just one thing at a time. There's room for many things, always. Light and dark, all at once."</b>

A very huge thank you to NetGalley, and Penguin Books for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Bad Publicity Review

Thank you so much to Net Galley and Penguin Books for the ARC! I received this copy in exchange for my honest review and as always I’m so appreciative of the opportunity.

I will be posting this review in full on my goodreads profile, featuring parts of this review on my Instagram account story, and placing the story into the highlights portion of my Instagram page under ARC reviews on 3/2/2025.

I was drawn to this book because I love the trope of enemies to lovers and this one seemed like a doozie! Jack and Andie for some unknown reason haven’t spoken in 5 years but now she has to be the editor and head of his Europe spanning book promo trip. Sounded awesome!

However to be honest with you I would have probably DNF’d this book if I hadn’t received an ARC of it. I usually give myself about 100 pages of a book before I decide if I will keep reading it or not. At about 100 pages through the book we didn’t really go anywhere in this book and it took until more than halfway to go anywhere. For the first almost half of this book we are just told repeatedly that there is tension and that Andie can’t stand Jack even though multiple times he tries to apologize for whatever travesty he committed towards her yet Andie refuses to hear him out. I’m all about dragging the tension out but it was just super repetitive and the plot didn’t really move. And at about 65% through the book when they finally get together they go from 0 to 100 in about two blinks which didn’t really make sense to me especially after such a long build up process.

Also the “misunderstanding “ between Andie and are mom over the garden party you could see what the event was going to be from a mile away.

I appreciated the authors attempts to show the process of grief between Andie and her mom but between that the storyline of Sara and James (who seems at the very minimum emotionally abusive) felt like completely different books and tones and made no sense in a book marketed as a romance.

You do finally get the answer to why Andie “hates” Jack 77% of the way through go the book and to be honest it made 0 sense why she would ever give him a second chance- even after seeing his POV it just didn’t make sense. And the end where she professes her love for him??? Like what the heck! What do you love about him? It was just frustrating all around.

There’s a lot going on here that had potential but the pacing felt very off. The last third of the book easily could’ve been expanded to be the entire story and would provide necessary context for what felt like a slog in the beginning. Andie is a frustrating character and I can’t say I felt she developed well enough to root for her, but again, I think the ordering and pacing didn’t help her case. The stakes of the conflict between the two leads is left to be so ambiguous and while it felt justified, it almost felt like a cop out to find out about this giant issue so late in the book. This book would benefit, IMO, from more strategic editing. I would’ve loved hearing dual POVs and more flashback chapters throughout to paint a more vivid picture.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bad Publicity was everything good about rom coms. I got this as an Advanced Reader Copy and looked forward to coming home from work and continuing this book. I will say it took a bit for me to get into at the start which was slower, but then once I got used to the characters i was set.

The main character’s battle with the loss of her father was very cathartic as someone who has lost a loved one myself. Her journey through processing her emotions felt very realistic and raw.

Andie is a book publicist who gets her dream job in New York.

But then she realizes one of her authors is Jack, who she had a huge falling out with while in school. But this book tour they're about to go on could launch her career.

So she goes on the tour. No spoilers, but this book was such a highlight of my day. I loved the funny moments, the sad moments and in between. Besides the slower start, I really enjoyed it and I’d rate it 4.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Books for providing this book to me to review!

I was really excited to dive into this one! I love a book publicist storyline and was happy to read a real, emotional portrayal of parental grief and how that filters over into other relationships. I really loved both characters and was rooting for them and thought the ending was realistic and lovely.

had potential but unfortunately didn’t work out. The pacing was off and the characters lacked depth that I couldn’t get into this book.

Bad Publicity was a well-written book and I did thoroughly enjoy myself, but I was a little turned off by it feeling more about Andie figuring out her grief than finding love. I do realize that the stories are entangled and her growth with her grief is a key point of the story and her ability to face the troubles of her past with Jack... But, it just didn't feel quite right for a romance book. Not to say I didn't like the book, just wasn't exactly what I was expecting or looking for.

Damn this book for making me cry on an airplane. But seriously, it was really good.

I feel like Bad Publicity is an advertizement for therapy. If the main character, Andie, just had a mental health professional or support group, she could have avoided a lot of problems. Instead, she buried things and compartmentalized (or at least tried to) and dumped everything on her best friend, whose advice she did not even heed! It was definitely frustrating at times watching Andie make poor decision after poor decision, but at least she had some growth in the end. I still wish she realized she needed a therapist and started going by the end of the book, though!

The pacing is a little bit choppy, especially in the beginning. I love a short chapter- it keeps me reading and was part of what allowed me to read this book in 2 days! However, some of the jumps between scenes in the beginning there were a little whiplash-incuding. I think about 40% in or so it was much better and the pacing evened out a great deal. This book has a lot of great tropes- slow-burn enemies to lovers, forced proximity, just one room- but it is a bit more serious than other romances I've read. I wouldn't describe it as a romcom as Andie has a lot going on she needs to deal with and there is a good amount of angst and tension to work through. Trigger warnings- body/sexual shaming, some violence, grief and recent death of a parent. I liked the inclusion I saw with the mention of a trans person, but other than that there wasn't a ton of diversity.

Overall, Bad Publicity was a lovely read. Besides being a jerk and making me cry, which in hindsight was possibly the author's intent, I liked the bookish main characters, the descriptions of the places in Europe they were visiting, the slow-burn, high-tension romance that made me want to keep reading, and the overall plot. I would absolutely pick up another book by Bianca Gillam.

Unfotunately this book would serve as a perfect example of how NOT to write an engaging enemies-to-lovers romance. It starts right up front with Jack wanting to apologize and Andie cutting him off. That means no fun banter that gradually brings them together, instead Andie is an angry jerk refusing to sit down for five minutes to clear the air, while Jack tries so hard he is difficult to believe. The reason for the break comes close to the END of the book, so the reader is shut out along with Jack.

There's some good writing here, and the secondary couple were very much more engaging, but the main couple never convinced me; I won't review this book at Goodreads as I don't like putting negative reviews out there and hurting a book's chance. Tjhere will surely be some reader who will connect with it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I absolutely adore the main character, Andie. I would recommend this book to other romance lovers. There was so much to love about this story, but the most touching parts to me was her relationship with her best friend and the memories of her father while she dealt with processing her grief of losing him.

However, I left feeling like I wanted MORE from her relationship with the main love interest. I felt more connected and invested to her relationship with her best friend than I did to him. Based on what happens in the story, I don’t know if their foundation is believably strong enough to overcome what transpired. I just am left wanting MORE.

Again, I would absolutely recommend this book to someone who reads a ton in the genre already, but it might not land on my go to recommendation list of books I’m obsessed with. I am also 100% sure I would read another book by this author because as a whole, I enjoyed her writing style.

Jack is an actual angel, and the one that really kept me pulled to this book. It was difficult to follow Andie, especially starting out with having so much anger, and not truly finding out why until the end of the story. It made her pretty unlikable at first, but then once you understand the reasoning she was a little easier to follow.
All in all, great story!

Super cute and fun! It wasn’t my favorite writing but I enjoyed it and really connect with books that tackle romance with other emotions, like grief and loneliness. Can’t wait to recommend to friends!

3.5 stars

In Bad Publicity, we follow Andie, a book publicist who has found out that she will be promoting a book written by the man she never wanted to talk to again, Jack. While the book seems to be marketed as a romance, I found that wasn't the main focus of the story. Instead, it is mostly a journey of a woman who has avoided facing the grief from her father dying 5 years ago and now must face it.

Honestly, I don't think I ever fully connected with Andie's character. She felt very self-centered which was often frustrating. The "enemies" aspect was one-sided, with Andie being very hostile toward Jack and often not acting professionally. We don't find out about the events from Andie and Jack's past until about 70% of the way through the book - I think I would have preferred to have the context earlier on so I could understand where all the animosity was coming from. All of this did allow for some good character growth, but even at the end there were aspects about Andie's actions that I found hard to explain.

All that said, the book did keep my interest well enough while I was reading it, and I think there's some valuable insight about processing grief. I especially enjoyed the frequent setting changes while the characters traveled to different cities in Europe.

Thank you to Penguin Books and NetGalley for the advance review copy of Bad Publicity! All opinions in my review are completely my own.

Bad Publicity deserves all the good publicity. This novel had everything- forced proximity, hidden past, enemies to lovers, second chance, and an endless sprawling European backdrop. I loved everything about Andie- her struggles with grief and her past were palpable as she worked to find herself and determine who Jack both was and is. I enjoyed this novel immensely although I do wish there had been more present-day build up between the two.

3/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an okay experience. It had a lot of potential, but it fell a bit flat for me. I was expecting more romance, but it felt like there was a lack of relationship development and chemistry between the characters.

I appreciate that grief was discussed in this book, but it felt like there was more of that than the romance.

I did enjoy them traveling and getting to go on the book tour. I do think there was room for them to spend more alone time together to let the relationship to develop over the course of their trip.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the plot and characters were very charming. I thought the constantly moving location was great to move the plot forward as well. I was tripped up a bit about whether Andie could commit to her feelings, it was hard to understand at times if she even understood herself. The interweaving of the stories with the families was nice too. Would rate this book 3.5.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. While the premise seemed fun at first glance, the execution was unfortunately…not great. This read like a first draft in need of a deep developmental edit. Considering this is an ARC, maybe there’s still work in progress…? I’m really not sure, it was my understanding ARC’s are mostly done…regardless my rating is based on whatever version was distributed to advance readers.

I found the book cover and tagline to be a little misleading as well. For marketing purposes, it appears to be a second-chance rom com - with its bright pink and yellow covers and a promise of two exes stuck on a business trip together. First off, there is little to no comedy. Second, while the characters do have a complicated history…calling them exes is a bit of a stretch. However, this was not obvious until halfway through the book when I surprisingly realized that Jack was *not* Andie’s long time college boyfriend, but rather a guy she slept with once at uni (there’s more to it, but I won’t spoil). This revelation…was disappointing and I felt kinda hoodwinked by the synopsis.

Other comments:
- Pacing. The first half of the book is incredibly slow with very little progress. When things finally shift between the characters in the backhalf of the book, it feels very jarring. I think it was intended to be a slow burn, but unfortunately by the time anything happens between them I found it all very contrived and unnatural feeling. I think the buildup needed more depth, meaningful dialogue, quality interactions, and tension. Andie was so hung up on the past that it detracted from the present. There are only so many cold shoulders and brush offs you can insert before the reader starts to lose interest in the mystery of the friction.
- Wordiness and repetition. Honestly, the first half of the book was a transcription of the most boring parts of a real-life work trip (stuff that authors typically skim over in favor of focusing on the interesting bits when telling a story). The taxi rides, the airport security, waiting at the gate, boarding the plane, the baggage claim, another taxi, checking emails, the hotel check in, checking more emails, texting mom hi, texting bff hi, getting dressed, check emails again, another taxi, a work event with random people we never see again, back in the taxi, awkward one-word goodnight…rinse and repeat 20x. It was exhausting and I am legitimately curious - what editors let this happen?!
- The secret. This probably was my favorite aspect of the book, but it was revealed way too late. By the time we get around to learning the truth, I was already checked out. As explained above, I was also really surprised to find out how little time Andie and Jack had actually spent together in college, as it’s insinuated they had a serious romantic past/relationship that was shattered by a big betrayal. But no. They didn’t know each other very well (a verbatim quote). It was just odd. I understand why she had stressful feelings toward him due to the “thing that happened”, but felt hard to believe they’d both harbored longstanding residual feelings for each other over 5 years. Would be more understandable if they’d spent proper quality time together back then.
- Jack was actually a sweet character, but unfortunately he fell flat and was too two-dimensional for a romance love interest. I feel like the author tried to make him too many things at once. It didn’t help that he barely speaks in the first half (Andie doesn’t let him).
- Andie did dig deep into her grief (which was more thematic than the romance), but once again the stream-of-consciousness and inner monologues around this felt long-winded and circular. She was also quite unlikeable in her treatment of Jack, which made it harder to empathize with her as a character to root for / care about her struggles. I also thought it was strange that someone in their late twenties would complain about missing their best friend while in Paris after being separated for less than a week. And how things ended up with her job? Even after her boss gave her praise? After going on and on about how much it mattered to her the whole book? I didn’t understand her actions, motivations, decisions, etc.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I would recommend a few more rounds of edits and plot development before publishing.

Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam was just such an absolute brilliant read. It had everything and more I want from a romance novel: forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, and a second chance romance that left me swooning. This novel is a perfect amount of angst, humor, and emotional, heartwarming moments.