I liked the concept and title of this book, anything enemies to lovers instantly draws me in. Sadly this book wasn’t for me. I found it hard to connect with the characters.

4star read for me, really enjoyed this book, including the plot and characters, would love to read more from this author

***I received a free ARC copy of this book through NetGalley but my review is still unbiased 🫶🏼🫶🏼***

I absolutely adored this book, we have Wes and Mo (our main characters) who are layered, relatable and funny. Honestly with my boys of tommen binge this was the perfect palette cleanser for my brain 😂.

I never like giving any spoilers with arcs but this really is a book for book lovers, and I thought it was really good!

I really liked the concept of this book—it had so much potential, and I was excited going in! Unfortunately, it didn’t quite land for me the way I’d hoped.

My biggest struggle was with the characters. They felt a bit flat and underdeveloped, and I found it hard to connect with them. At times, I even felt a little frustrated by their choices or lack of growth.

That said, I can absolutely see this book finding the right audience—especially readers who love a lighter romance and enjoy college settings. While it didn’t fully work for me, I still think the idea behind the story is solid and charming. It just needed a bit more depth and emotional pull to really hook me.

I really like the consept of this book! However I just feel like it wasnt working.

My biggest issue were the characters, they both felt slightly flat and underdeveloped. I just couldn't connect with them and mainly felt like I got slightly annoyed with them. Also due to the name of the book having rivals in them i kinda thought there would be more of an actual rivaling and tension situation, but there really wasnt.

That being said I did enjoy reading it. All in all it was a cute romance book and the writing was easy enough to follow and stay engaged with. I think this is a good debute book.

Thank you netgalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts are my own. I really like the consept of this book! However I just feel like it wasnt working.

My biggest issue were the characters, they both felt slightly flat and underdeveloped. I just couldn't connect with them and mainly felt like I got slightly annoyed with them. Also due to the name of the book having rivals in them i kinda thought there would be more of an actual rivaling and tension situation, but there really wasnt.

That being said I did enjoy reading it. All in all it was a cute romance book and the writing was easy enough to follow and stay engaged with. I think this is a good debute book.

Thank you netgalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts are my own.

To me this book was a mix between Emily Henry's "Great Big Beautiful Life" and "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The elements of two writers competing for the opportunity to write something about a reclusive famous icon or just being able to write about a reclusive icon is where I see the similarities. I thought it was good but it wasn't my favorite, especially since I had literally just finished "Great Big Beautiful Life" days prior to starting this one. I just think that the relationship between the FMC and MMC was just wayyyyyyyy too drawn out. Other than that, it was good.

⭐️: 3.75/5

I hadn’t heard of this book until I saw it on NetGalley, but as soon as I saw the protagonists were both writers who were fighting to sell the adaptation of their favourite classic novel, I was immediately intrigued.

💜 What I liked about it 💜

✍️ I loved this concept and how it shows the powerful impact certain stories can have on us and the personal relationships we form with them. The book also explores how everyone has different readings or interpretations of books - shown by the wildly different adaptations Mo and Wes write of The Proud And The Lost. This is definitely a book for book lovers!
✍️ The writing is witty and I really enjoyed the banter between Mo and Wes, and watching their relationship evolve from competitors to something more
✍️ I really appreciated the conversations around class and privilege, as well as sexuality. Wes is a nepo baby who sometimes doesn’t seem to realise that life doesn’t come so easily to everyone, and Mo reminds him of this several times. As a bisexual man, I also really liked how comfortable and open Wes is about his sexuality and previous partners, and the discussions around queer readings and retellings of books
✍️ Perkins the hedgehog

✨️ What to expect ✨️

🎙 Dual POV
❤️ Rivals to lovers (the clue’s in the title, after all!)
📝 Main characters who are writers and competing against each other
💰 Conversations about wealth, class and privilege
🏳️‍🌈 Bisexual male love interest
🌶 Spicy scenes

I unfortunately did not love this. I feel like the cover and title set me up for some false expectations. I definitely think it will have an audience of people who love it. I just sadly felt the characters were a little flat and the story didn’t have enough tension or pull for me.

I really enjoy reading third-person POV books quite a bit. I guess because i don't have to feel like I'm reading about my own life. throughout the book, it didnt really feel like there was much rivalry between Mo and Wes but overall it was a super cute read. if you like books by Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, then this is for you

*I received a free copy through Netgalley and the publisher, this in no way affects my review*

So, when you see this cover, you expect a cute, light romance novel, and while it was that at certain points, I found it to be on the heavier side at certain points as well. It also had a lot of the elements that make up a great romance novel, but it felt like they were just put there because they had to be.

Essentially, we have Wes and Mo competing to earn the rights to publish an adaptation on a widely known book, but of course, they start to fall for each other. My main issue with the book was that the romance felt way too underdeveloped for me, and there were talks of feelings and ‘i love you’ way too soon.

The side characters were very interesting, but faded to the background a bit by the end of the book, so I feel they could have had a bigger role instead of just being there when the author needed a set of secondary characters for that particular part of the book.

I really liked the main characters and their constant banter with each other. I really laughed out loud reading Wes’s thoughts.


3.5 stars!

This book had potential, but of all the romances I’ve read featuring authors, this one didn’t feel very special. It was based on the premise that they are supposed to be rivals, but it didn’t feel like a rivalry. I love a good enemies to lovers, but this felt lacking. There wasn’t a lot of depth, it all felt very surface level. 3 stars because it was okay, but nothing felt too original or unique to put it above average.

There were a lot of things to love about this book. The story itself is a tribute to the love we have for the books that shaped us and I really liked that, including the snippets from Mo's book. The general writing style was witty yet emotionally intimate in a sense.

Mo as a character was interesting and her motivations were compelling enough. Her love for her favourite book from childhood and her channelling that into writing a retelling is something that resonated so deeply with me. I loved reading through her pov and seeing her grow into a more confident version of herself. Wes on the other hand was quite bland to me. I unfortunately do not have a lot of interest for a rich character who's pinnacle of distress is his parents divorcing. I did love that he was confident in his bisexuality and that it bled into his retelling of the book. It was such a fun concept and I wish we'd gotten to see more snippets of his book.

The other characters were fleeting and oftentimes were just there to offer or guide our mcs to some kind of self realization and I was not the biggest fan of that. Not a single one of these characters were memorable enough.

The relationship between Mo and Wes was not palpable enough for me to get into them. The banter was good yes but every other part felt underdeveloped. It would have done more for them if the first part of the book actually dragged out the contest a little bit and if they didn't almost immediately have sex. That, coupled with the constant inability to communicate on Wes' part made this so frustrating to read at times. I did like the ending though, I'm always down for a chase across state lines to confess your feelings!

All in all, this was such a good read and a solid debut.

This was a fun romance book to dive into. I am a sucker for a good rom-com, especially with an enemies to lovers plot line. The adaptation with this one was interesting and took me a second to get a grip on it, but I ended up enjoying that aspect to it as well.

I saw that the author wrote this as an escape during a state of depression and that simply made me love this book more. I can see this same scenario play out for so many readers and this book being able to be an escape from reality for them. I also really appreciate that Elise Wayland was able to openly share that and open up about the mental health aspect that she was experiencing while developing this fun rom-com.

This was cute, but ultimately ended up falling a little flat for me.

Both characters had a few different moments of unlikeability, that rather than make them real just made me… not totally like them.

Their romance was heartwarming, but did feel a little too instalove for me - while I can totally buy why their commonalities helped them connect, I’m not convinced it went too much deeper.

I really enjoyed the deeper story, and thought that plot was well done - the story-within-a-story can be hard to do, but it was really smooth!

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for this e-arc in return for a honest review.

Wow, I really wanted to like this book. The praise is so cute and it's perfect for fans of Emily Henry, who I love. Unfortunately this was not for me. The FMC didn't feel very relatable very rich kid and has no real problems and handed everything for her entire life so I felt no sympathy for her. I liked the idea of the MMC, Wes, but that is where y interest stopped This book from the first page dragged and I just could not get into it. I wish I had loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elsie Wayland & Alcove Press for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

Truthfully I’ve struggled to review this book because while it’s a good read, it just wasn’t for me.

I usually love a good rivals-to-lovers rom-com but this one lacked the humor I was hoping for. I found it hard to connect with the characters or get pulled into their story due to the “story within the story” element and although it was a great concept, it felt more confusing than engaging.

The dynamic between the main characters also didn’t quite work for me. Even though they start off as rivals, they get together pretty quick (with still over 3/4 of the book left) which left the rest of the plot feeling a bit pointless and drawn out. At times their conversations came across as awkward or unrealistic which made it hard to believe in their chemistry.

However, I know every reader connects differently with a book, and I can see how others might enjoy the unique concept more than I did. If you’re a fan of layered narratives and fast paced romance then this might be worth a try! But for me, it didn’t quite hit the mark.

Rivals to lover
di Elsie Wayland che ringrazio per la collaborazione attraverso @netfalley

🩷 Rivals to lovers
🔥 He falls first

La storia è molto carina, si costruisce passo dopo passo con costanza. Personalmente ci dino un paio di descrizioni di troppo e avrei apprezzato qualche dialogo in più. I due protagonisti hanno una buona chimica r ho molto aplrezzato i loro battibecchi. Tutto nasce come loro due rivali perché solo uno dei loro retelling verrà pubblicato e ho semplicmenete adorato il setting editoriale.
Nel complesso è sicuramente un libro leggereo e dolce

This was such a fun and quick read ! From the start I’ve fell in love with the banter and the chemistry between the characters! The pacing of story wasn’t exactly fast , but I loved the lush prose of the author. I didn’t love the characters right away but page after page I was more more invested in their slow burn!

This author is new to me, but I will be keeping an eye out for anything else they publish. I loved the story and the characters. The pacing of the story was great and the characters were relatable.

The premise immediately drew me in — two writers competing to adapt a beloved feminist classic? Yes, please. The rivals-to-lovers setup had so much potential, and the early chapters delivered on the tension, wit, and literary charm I was hoping for.

However, the story started to lose momentum for me in the middle. The pacing slowed, the spark between the characters dimmed a bit, and I found myself struggling to stay fully engaged. While the writing was solid and the concept fresh, I personally wanted more emotional depth and chemistry from the romance.

Still, I think this will work for readers who enjoy character-driven romances with a literary twist and slower-burn pacing. A promising debut with a unique concept — just not quite the hit I hoped for.