One of my most anticipated reads of this year and it delivered! Next book cannot come any sooner! Fans of the semi-inspired fanfiction will love this & new fans are sure to enjoy every second! Such a wonderful new world.

I was a little let down with the general content of this book and the methods of marketing. I knew going in that this had originally been fanfiction, however, it did not feel far enough removed that it stood on it's own yet. I wish that it hadn't been so closely tied through marketing to the original work because there were good characters and interesting elements of the worldbuilding.

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or, worse, fall in love.

𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦:
🪽enemies to lovers
🪽romantasy
🪽slow burn
🪽duology
🪽healer/assassin

While I love the idea and concept of this book, this one unfortunately did not scratch my itch for an enemies to lovers.

This was hard to get into. Although it made me laugh, I was confused af. I felt like there was no world building and you are thrown in expecting to know. Also there were so many big confusing words. I felt dizzy and stupid reading this. This one was not for me, but could be for you! 😅

If you enjoy enemies-to-lovers fantasy romances, along with a slow burn, humor, & banter
This is an fun and engrossing debut.

dnf at 35%

i really tried to give this one a good go but just couldn’t go through with it. i thought the humour was funny at first, but all the dirty cock and balls jokes really turned me off after a while and it really never slows down. not every line needs to be banter, and in fact i felt like that made me divest from the storyline. if you like cheesy sitcoms, the ba dum tss one liners, and something you could imagine with a full on laughing track throughout the entirety of the storyline, this one may be for you, but unfortunately it was not for me and especially not for 400+ pages.

i also thought this book had a major issue with world building and explanation of the magic system. providing a map and a glossary in the beginning does not excuse giving no context written into the actual story and i found myself super confused having to flip back and forth as it was waaaay unnecessarily complicated. since this did come from a fanfic (and man did it read line one) where the assumption is that the characters/world is already built with no extra explanation needed, but this book massively failed to stand on its own in the rewrite. these characters were hermione and draco, and they were living in the harry potter universe—there was no hiding that that was how it was originally written.

in all, i’m pretty disappointed. maybe i’ll give this one another shot in the future, but now is not the time.

Characters: 3.5⭐️
Setting: 4⭐️
Plot: 3.5⭐️
Themes: 3⭐️
Personal enjoyment: 4⭐️
Emotional Impact: 3⭐️
Overall rating: 3.5/5⭐️

Aurienne is the scholarly healer.
Osric is the bad boy assassin. They shouldn’t fall in love, right?
When their walls start to come down, I was melting into the plot.

A lot of wit and banter. Had me laughing out loud. Both characters internal monologue was so enjoyable.
Slow burn romantasy with forced proximity.
The magic system was easily digestible. Addictive and fast paced plot to keep the reader hooked.
Now I just NEED book 2 👀

“The best love stories begin with hate at first sight.”

Witty banter shines in this battle of brains and bossiness!
Osric's magical order is infamous in the criminal world for their violent tendencies and merciless assassinations. But when he develops a life-threatening illness he has to set his sights on a different target - the most talented healer in the kingdom! Aurienne has a no-nonsense, logical view of life, medicine, and people. So when Osric blackmails her with the one thing she truly cares about, she has no choice but to concede to his terms in trying to find a medical cure for his ailment - preferably before he dies, she's killed, or the kingdom erupts into civil war!

If you're a fan of despicable antics, snarky vocabulary, and a edgy first book in a new series, then this is the book for you!

I really enjoyed the banter between the main characters, it felt like they were very well written and had a good amount of chemistry. This was a bit darker than I was expecting but I enjoyed it.

I loved this so much! As someone who has read the original fic this was based on, I really enjoyed seeing all the little nods to the story while still seeing this book develop and be its own unique entity.

I was definitely expecting a cliffhanger since we’ll have to wait for the next book but the way this story left off was lovely, I’m so excited to read more!

The irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy, is first and foremost an enemies to lovers (duh). This story follows our FMC Aurienne Fairhrim of the Haelan order as she is forced to work along side Osric Mordaunt, a member of the enemy order of Fyren. This story is filled with witty banter, hysterical comedy and a slow burn that will give you frostbite. As a massive fan of the fanfic I had high expectations and was nervous they would not be met. I was ready for a fresh story, world building and yearning. I was not hooked during the first half of the story because of the slow pacing, but as the world expanded and our characters developed I found the witty banter I have come to love in Brigitte’s writing. The cliffhanger had me SCREAMING. Having the book end as Osric realized he was fully in love with Aurienne was EVIL, but so so satisfying. Osric is the he fell first final boss. I cannot wait to read the second book!

🗡️ Bookish Thoughts
This book was absolutely hilarious! Both the MMC and FMC were so ridiculous and slightly unhinged, and honestly they deserved each other.
Osric and Aurienne foreverrrrr 🫶🏾🫶🏾

I laughed through the entire book. The magic system was fun, and I really enjoyed the world building. It’s a witty and chaotic fantasy romp. Don’t take anything too seriously and just enjoy the ride.

💬 Favorite Quote:
“It was hard, being perfect in an imperfect world, but Aurienne managed.”

🩷 What to Expect:
• Witty banter
• Enemies to lovers
• Forced proximity
• Morally gray MMC
• Healer FMC
• Deadly disease
• Political sabotage
• Slow burn
• Found family
⸻

📖 Final Score: 5 stars
📅 Pub Date: July 8, 2025
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you for the arc.

I am unfamiliar with the original fanfic and can not say I am in anyway a Dramione fan, as such I went into this without any expectations. Ultimately, I wasn't in love with this book but it was an enjoyable read. I think the pieces were there but they unfortunately did not all work for me.

The prose did throw me off once or twice. It was odd at times, but I found myself ignoring it for the most part. The jokes and attempt at humor though did not always land. I may have laughed once or twice, but after a while the jokes felt lackluster to me. In regards to the overarching plot, it felt weak due to a lack of proper world-building. I believe the pieces are there and enjoyed the tiny bits of the magic system and the world introduced but they weren't fleshed out enough to allow me to be fully immersed. The romance was also disappointing to me. The banter was fun at times but it didn't really feel like a slow burn enemies to lovers. There was a lack of chemistry between the MCs. It more so felt like to people existing near one another and then suddenly catching feelings in a way that felt like insta-love.

I did enjoy the magic of this world (the little that we got of it). I think its really intriguing and interesting, but would have loved for more of it within the book. The overall plot itself also had a lot of potential but ultimately felt left out and not given enough time to shine. Overall, I think this was a book with potential but it did miss a couple of points for me.

This book extended my expectations!!!

I read it on a weekend two weeks ago and I still cannot stop thinking about it!! This was my first read by this author, and it will definitely not be my last!!!!

I love reading a good slow burn. The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy had a solid plot filled with wit, charm, magic, and the budding romance between a healer and an assassin. The world building is quite fascinating and lends to a unique premise, although I felt dropped into the world a bit too quickly in the beginning. As for trigger warnings, there are elements of graphic content that should be considered before reading if you have any concerns! Despite the writing sometimes being overly elaborate, I appreciated my time with these characters in their world. Curious to see what unfolds in the second book of this duology!

This book was so much fun. I wasn’t totally sure what I was getting into at first. An assassin and a healer teaming up? - felt like it could go either way. But Osric and Aurienne completely won me over. He’s a sarcastic, grumpy mess of a man with a talent for murder and dramatic one-liners, and she’s this determined, brilliant scientist who wants to save lives and would absolutely throttle him if she could. Their dynamic was amazing!

The banter is truly unhinged in the best way. Crude jokes, ridiculous arguments that somehow turn flirty, and dog names I will not spoil because they’re too good. I laughed out loud a lot while reading. The writing style is very casual, very specific in its humor and I can totally see it being a “love it or hate it” thing, but for me, it absolutely hit.

The magic system was another highlight. There’s a lot of detail, but it’s never too much. It felt lived-in and added a real sense of depth to the world. I also loved how the romance was a true slow burn, no insta-love here, just two people reluctantly forced to work together, constantly bickering, and slowly (so slowly) realizing they might actually like each other.

The only reason this isn’t a full 5 stars for me is that the beginning dragged a little. The pacing felt a little off - like we were wandering through a bunch of side quests before the plot really clicked into place. But once it did I couldn’t stop reading.

This was chaotic, funny, romantic, and surprisingly heartfelt. I’m so curious to see where the story goes next. If you’re into enemies-to-lovers with actual enemies, wild banter, and a little plague mystery on the side, give this one a shot.

My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Berkley for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Assistant to the Villain meets My Lady Jane. I liked that this was more silly than I thought it would be. That "don't take yourself so serious" feeling.

I did feel it a little hard to connect with some of the story.

I have heard so much in anticipation for this, but unfortunately it doesn't stand out among the other Dramione fics turned traditionally published novel. Im sure fans of the fic will like the original world the author is creating.

This book is for the banter girlies! I would crawl into this book and live amongst the banter if I could. Truly magnificent.

No one is more surprised than I am by that rating. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, I’m a Dramione girlie til I die. After reading this, I waited a few days to finish writing my review and choose a rating because I have been in a bit of a slump and I wanted to make sure it was the book and not me that was the issue. I should have expected from the title that this would be very unnecessarily wordy. Almost in the same vein as the Emily Wilde series, which I love. However, the prose of this one didn’t leave any space for actual emotions and felt very detached from the characters perspectives. I thought the narrative could’ve benefited from first person perspective because the dual POVs almost blended together at times. I also had an issue with the “humor”. This just wasn’t funny, which I’m fine with but it was trying so hard to be. Almost every joke was about private parts and it got so excessive that I was cringing. There were parts of this I loved, which is why I don’t feel like going any lower on a rating for now. The world is really cool and the healer trope is one of my favorites so I enjoyed the main plot. I think this will be a huge hit for anyone able to connect with it and maybe the slump just put a damper on my enjoyment and it’s actually perfect. We will never know. I am sad to be let down by something I was so excited for but maybe I’ll read the second book when it releases and my thoughts will change.