Disclaimer: I received this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review— thank you! 🤗

I think the story itself maybe just wasn't for me. As a statistics and computer loving girl myself, I just felt that Pandora was too... on the nose being a software engineer. Like we were halfway through the book and she was still mentioning that this completely normal quirk was because, you know, she was a nerdy software engineer. And then you have the "opposite" side of the spectrum with Ozzy being super hot so of course he has to be a dumb player and have nothing else to live for besides surfing. Everything was very surface level.

In general, not a horrible book but not... my cup of tea.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:

This one was hard for me to get into, as the FMC internal dialogue wasn’t a style I was use to. Eventually I acclimated and I really enjoyed the story as it’s full of swoony summery vibes. It was refreshing to see a female in a STEM role. I can relate to her work struggles of putting in above and beyond and not being recognized. I loved this couples second meet-cute and the entire road-trip to Mexico was so fun. How can you not swoon when the surfer teaches her to surf!

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:

Pandora is a software engineer fixing code and debugging issues. She works night and day and she may as well be invisible. So when a handsome hunky surfer swoops her off her feet and kisses her on the beach she thought this is it, my time has come. But after that kiss her boss fired her and the surfer walked away never looking back.

Pandora found a new job and the chance to finally be recognized for her work. The new company was working on launching an app to match users with their ideal travel partner. Somehow the code had matched her with Ozzy, who happened to be the surfer who kissed her & new next door neighbor!

But to keep her job she now has to go on a 10 day van trip through Mexico curated for them. Where a team will upload their time together as promo for the new app. As Ozzy is actually a famous pro surfer and has quite the following.

Pandora does not like to leave her house, she definitely doesn’t want to travel in a van and least of all she does NOT want to spend any time with her nemesis Ozzy. But Pandora has never been able to say no. So the question is will they survive a 10 days in a van together.

𝙁𝙖𝙫 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:

Panda: “My superpower is invisibility.”
Ozzy: “You’re never invisible to me.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Enemies to Lovers
* Pro Surfer MMC
* Software Engineer & Video Gamer FMC
* Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine
* He’s Her New Neighbor
* They are Competing for Same Job
* 10 Day Mexico Roadtrip in a Camper Van
* He Calls Her Panda 🐼
* Single POV w/ Spice

🧡🌴🚐🇲🇽🌮 🧡🌴🚐🇲🇽🌮🧡

A total miss for me

I have to admit I struggled to finish this book. And that was surprising, considering that I've absolutely loved every other book I've read by this author. But this one? It didn't even seem like it was written by the same person.

Pandora is our heroine, a plucky gal trying her hardest to rise above mediocre. Ozzy is the hunky guy she crushes on, but he's about as shallow and empty-headed as I've ever read in a book boyfriend. Of course we only get the story from her POV, so the problem may just be her interpretation of him, but even so it's hard to understand why she wastes any time with him. Nobody can be that good-looking.

He's crass, clueless, and insufferable, but he's also her ticket to resurrecting her career, so she's trying to make the best of whatever she has at her disposal. There's plenty of hot and steamy intimacy with these two - to the extent that one could conclude it's a physical relationship only. He's really not much use to her (or anyone, really) in any other capacity.

There's a HEA, for what it's worth, and they nicely resolve their conflicting career issues, so at least there's closure. If you're just looking for a one-handed read, this book will meet your goals. Just don't expect much else.

I really enjoyed the premise. Sharing their locations with each other when they did felt a little wild to me. The pranks were fun. mentions of the AI conversation app were odd

I really wanted to love this book. As someone who works in product development, the premise—a romance between a female software engineer and the male main character—sounded like such a fun concept. Unfortunately, the execution missed the mark for me.

The heroine felt more like a collection of engineering stereotypes than a real person. It seemed as if the author had met one or two engineers in passing and built the FMC entirely on those surface impressions. Instead of showcasing the creativity, collaboration, or joy that can come from working in tech, the story focused on bad code, endless bugs, and unrealistic deadline drama. There was nothing quirky or charming—just a lot of grumbling and jargon that didn’t feel authentic to the industry.

The relationship itself didn’t click either. The dialogue between the characters was stilted, and I struggled to understand their connection or root for them as a couple. Honestly, I should’ve trusted my gut after the opening chapter—it set the tone, and it wasn’t one that worked for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC. Not my cup of tea. Usually I enjoy enemies to lovers but this book was hard for me to get into.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun premise but the plot didnt fully deliver. Id love to see it if it had a bit more work.

I really wanted to like these two, but I never connected to them. Their first meet cute was good but everything after was just not it for me unfortunately.

The good: I liked the energy and pace of the writing! The author deserves major kudos for keeping up the high energy throughout, and I also loved the snark and banter!

The bad: the plot had too many twists and turns and it got distracting (like when Ozzy was suddenly competing with Pandora for a job). Also Pandora was borderline too negative to be likable which doesn’t work for your FMC/narrator character.

What a fun beach love story! I felt like I was there. The sweet love story gave me all the chills. I couldn’t put it down. Such a fun story!

The Code for Love starts with a promising setup—a prickly software engineer forced to fake-date her laid-back surfer neighbor on a road trip to sell her matchmaking app. The enemies-to-lovers angle had potential, and the travel backdrop added charm.

But unfortunately, the romance didn’t fully land for me. The chemistry between Pandora and Ozzy felt more told than shown, and their emotional connection developed too quickly to be convincing. For a story that hinges on opposites attracting, their dynamic lacked real tension or depth.

The plot also veered into the implausible a few too many times. The app concept was fun, but the work setup and competition felt thin and sometimes confusing. It was hard to believe that a major job promotion would be determined by fake-dating Instagram posts on a road trip.

That said, the writing is breezy, and there are some cute moments and funny dialogue. If you’re looking for a light, sun-soaked romance with a tech-meets-travel twist, it might still be worth a read—just don’t expect it to completely compute.

A fun and unexpected read! The characters had great chemistry, and the plot kept me intrigued without giving too much away. Definitely a twist on what I was expecting—in a good way.

Pandora is a software engineer up for promotion while developing a new travel dating app. She wrote the algorithms to match potential couples and ends up getting paired with a rival coworker named Ozzy, former professional surfer. The two are opposites and up for the same promotion. To see the app succeed they agree to a fake travel dating rouse. As a someone who dabbles in software engineering, loves alone time, and struggles socially, Pandora is my people.

The Code For Love was a cute, fun, steamy, enemies to lovers romance that I couldn't put down.

I loved Pandora as a mfc. I loved her nerdy side when she was doing coding and also playing the outer space video game she created. BUT the best part of her character was being able to see her insecurities and see her develop and go out of her comfort zone and try new thing.

Ozzy was a great MMC. He was definitely that surfer guy that everyone has a crush on and just wants to be around. I loved that he always challenged Pandora to try new thing but still remain herself. And all the nicknames he gave her had me swooning.

I loved everything about the couples dynamic and relationship. From the Prank wars to travel vacation to the steamy scenes, the book was just a blast to read.

I really, really tried but this book was NOT my cup of tea . The characters were immature and the dynamic was ridiculous . It was so hard to keep track of what was happening .

This is my first DNF ever . Sorry Netgalley .

Thank you NetGalley and Afterglow Books for the opportunity to read and review the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Forced proximity
Fake dating
Work place romance

Pandora, a software engineer, designs a matching app for single people that are traveling. Her system glitches and matches her up with a surfer named Ozzy. He also happens to be her neighbor and nemesis. She’s prickly and everyone loves him. Their romance just didn’t work for me. Neither did the plot itself. A lot didn’t make sense.

Enemies to Lovers ✅
Cute Surfer ✅
Woman in Stem ✅
I was so excited to get an ARC of this book since I love surfing and traveling. I thought Code for Love was such a fun summer read. I loved Ozzy’s golden retriever personality and appreciated Pandora’s grumpy attitude. This steminist romcom also had one of my favorite tropes…enemies to lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

This was such a fun romance book. I loved the coding aspect and I think it would be great for people who love romance and coding. I would recommend this to friends.

There were several elements of this book that I liked, but also quite a few that I didn't.

Ozzy was my favorite part of the book by far.

His unwavering gleefulness and, as the story progresses, ability to be vulnerable, pulled me in and kept me interested in how things were going to end up between Pandora and him.

Unfortunately, Pandora didn't hold a candle to his character. I feel like I never got to learn anything about her other than she's obsessed with coding/work and being a doormat for people to walk on.

The road trip in the second half of the book was a definite improvement to the first half. I finally felt like there was movement in the story that wasn't just Pandora planning her next prank.

Overall, I felt that the book left some to be desired. The cover and the premise sounded really cute, but Pandora and Ozzy's love story just didn't do it for me.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing a free ARC of this book.

1 STAR — and that’s for the cover and the surfer abs. That’s it.

I wanted to love this. I really, truly did. A workplace rivals STEMinist rom-com? An algorithmically mismatched enemies-to-lovers road trip? YES, PLEASE.

But what I got? A messy, glitchy plot where emotional growth and character arcs were nowhere to be found, chemistry fizzled out like a soda left in the sun, and the “STEMinist” rep? Yikes.

As someone who LOVES nerd girl meets sunshine boy tropes and devours fake dating like it’s a food group, this had so much potential. But from page one, it felt like a first draft that never got debugged.

Don’t get me started on the tech inaccuracies. If you’re writing about engineers and code, please Google Java syntax at least once. Pandora invents a whole matchmaking app and the payoff for that arc? Nonexistent.

Honestly, I felt gaslit by this book. It promised a fun, swoony rivals-to-lovers, but what I got was a relationship built on miscommunication, boundary-pushing, and pure physical attraction with zero foundation. By the end, I didn’t buy the romance or the resolution. All I wanted was a Ctrl+Alt+Delete.