Rivals to lovers in a mysterious mansion? Yup, sign me up.

I love a professional competition, and this book does it really well. Our rivals - Nadine and Wes - are both journalists chasing a hot story. Both are good at their jobs, but neither will acknowledge they might be able to learn something from the other. The subject of their story, Dot, is a fun character and her life reads like a novel (haha). While being forced to work together, Nadine and Wes learn a lot about themselves, and about each other.

I really enjoyed this book.

Lily Chu offers a lot of fun with an elaborate concept. The setup took me a minute to get through, but then the characters got a chance to shine.

Drop Dead by Lily Chu follows Nadine Barbault, an obituary editor at the Herald and Wes Chen, a writer at a rival news company, the Spear. When they first met in school, it didn’t take long for them to become rivals vying for the best positions and the best scoops. Nadine and Wes both decide to look into a years old scandal, leading to them spending more time together than they have in years. Their rivalry weakens while the tension rises, leading to a stay in a star writer’s house uncovering the mystery she left them.

Frankly I sped through this book without taking many notes, but here are my personal thoughts: I absolutely love the description of the death desk, it is right up my alley with the cheesy hearse and skull paraphernalia. I absolutely hated Tyler and Wes’s mother, very well written annoying characters. I loved seeing them unravel the mystery of Dot Voline using all of her eccentric clues she left behind. The last chapter is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever read. I think my favorite part was the addition of the cats, all four of them.

This book is perfect for people who want a bit of unique mystery, and a banter-filled romance without descriptive intimate scenes. Thank you so very much to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for allowing me to read this e-arc.

This was such a fun book!!! A plot twist in the middle. Adventure and great description!! I loved both main characters, but Dot was my favorite. You never knew where the story was taking you but it all turned out in the end! A fun wild ride with twists and turns everywhere plus a little love story thrown in there too! Would highly recommend! Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy!

Alot of twists and turns and plots in this enemies to lovers romcom read! It is a bit of a longer book, so bunker down and prepare to keep your mind switched on otherwise you may lose your way like I did a few times 😊

If you're looking for a light hearted, but touching on a few deeper subjects, type of romcom, this one is for you!

This is more like a 3.5, but Lily Chu's work keeps scratches a specific itch for me, so I'm rounding up. I really liked Nadine and I was super interested in her growth and how her viewpoint changed. I did mostly like Wes, but there were a few too many times where I went "For real, Wes?" at some of his bone headed actions. He loved those cats though and I'm not totally immune to a man who loves cats. Nadine and Wes' relationship was sweet and I'm happy that they worked through problems mostly as they came instead of stuff being book length misunderstandings.

The mystery is kind of where this book isn't the best. Ultimately, it's kind of vague in how they were going about using the information. Like I'm not sure they had the best evidence they thought they did if this was real life. The middle of the mystery while they were searching the house dragged a little and the ending was a bit too quick and neatly wrapped up.

With this, I am caught up on Lily Chu books and I can't wait for The Library of Flowers.

Lily Chu is always a delight to read. Nadine and Wes are an irresistible couple offering deep connection and hilarious banter. Their chemistry is undeniable. I read the whole book in a day. The mystery and romance had me turning pages furiously. Tender topics of trauma, violence, race, sexism, and healing are brought up but done so thoughtfully. The book is significant without ever feeling heavy or insensitive. Lily Chu's characters are real and impossible not to love.

Big thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC!

Nadine and Wes are both journalists for rival newspapers, and old rivals from university. Through an editorial error of Nadine's, they both end up interviewing Dot Voline, renowned author, and after her death, investigating a mystery that she left behind.

I'm glad I stuck with this! There was a period of time that I considered DNFing, but after I got into it, I got into it. The "enemies" to lovers is at a reasonable scale, the characters were compelling (both have challenges with their parents and families that are relatable and realistic), and once the mystery got going, that interested me almost more than the romance! Both characters acted realistically about situations, and weren't overdramatic, which was nice!

All in all, I'd entirely recommended this book, both for a fun romance and for an interesting mystery along the way!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Not really my favorite book lately. It was hard to get into, and the middle was kind of slow, but it had an overall good ending. I loved the cats!

I enjoyed the characters in this novel and how they grew as characters and as a couple. I enjoyed the search for clues and the house and the cats. I enjoyed the wrap-up at the end.

However, I found the beginning extremely slow. The first third of the book was setting up the book and it was a drag. I also had a hard time caring about a mystery involving a crooked politician. Once I got the full story at the end, it was more interesting, but while they were searching, I didn't care. If it was a non-crooked politician it would have at least been unique.

i got an arc for this, and if i hadn't... would i have finished this? probably not.

this is a massive departure from any of the other lily chu books i've read. it's much more fiction vibes with a smattering of romance than a romance novel, so i definitely feel a bit duped.

i also had a hard time caring about anything - the characters, the romance (ok so there's aesthetic and sexual attraction as well as some professional admiration and banter, but is that romance? i think not), the friendships (erm why are lisanne and nadine friends? idgi), their work, the sleuthing. i mostly stuck around for what dot was trying to tell nadine and wes, but that kind of comes together 75% of the way through, and the last bit is them trying to figure out what to do with that info, while i was trying to figure out if i could skim faster.

i would have loved some more romance scenes (like they lived together for 3 weeks? enemies to lovers?? hello?!) but we really get...none. i'm also not used to closed door romances so that felt abrupt to me (though that might be because i'm used to getting a pot's worth of steamy moments in my books).

“Drop Dead” by Lily Chu was such a fun addition to my TBR. Chu always writes fantastic FMCs, and Nadine was no exception—I really enjoyed her character. Unfortunately, Wesley didn’t quite win me over as the MMC. Maybe it was the dual POV or something about his storyline, but I found it hard to fully root for him. However, I absolutely loved the Clue-like mystery woven throughout the plot. If you enjoyed "The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year," then you need to add this to your TBR. Even though the romance didn’t entirely click for me, the rest of the story was still entertaining and kept me hooked until the end.
Thanks to NetGallery and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read. I love a good rivalry between two people who end up realizing they are made for each other. How they end up getting to that point was so much fun to read. This book was also a good balance of funny and meaningful.