Honestly, I found the main character to be incredibly selfish and unlikable. And while I appreciate the discussion of AI and how it should not be in writing spaces., I felt like the narcissism of the main character outshined what this author was trying to say.

I'm not fully certain what I expected from this book, but it was very comical. I thought it would have more of a romance element, due to the name and the genres it was given, but the romance really took a backseat.
I really enjoyed the dynamic between Sophie and Hartley - it was funny where it needed to be, and enemies becoming friends and working together is peak entertainment to me.
I felt as though it went on a little too long. Like maybe one or two plot points could have been removed to keep interest going. I felt as though I was close to finishing at multiple time throughout the listen.

i really enjoyed what this book had to say about AI. i am also a huge sucker for an “inside baseball” view of the writer/writing space. a book about books? sign me up!

the only star deduction are the character names were tossed around so much - and there were so many similar names (lucy/liz) that sometimes i had no idea who was being mentioned.

the conclusion was also a little …really? like it was satisfying - but a book that was showing such realistic social consequences just kind of tossed it at the end.

This book is thought-provoking as an author using AI to write her books gets praised by the book community as being the next Sofie Wilde, but is that writing her own books? Meanwhile, the real Sofie Wilde, who does write her own books, is feeling the danger and pressure just as she's about to get what she wanted in her career. I didn't find Sofie to be particularly likeable and she's a bit over the top making it somewhat of a challenge to really get into the story. There is some wit and humor, but it's overshadowed by Sofie's high drama and poor choices that I didn't find funny. I wanted to love it, but it was too much for me.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the eALC of this book. The audio production was good quality and well done. This was probably a 2.5 star rounded up read for me. I didn't love these 2 writer's battling it out and continually trying to throw each other under the bus, they had a redemption arc, but I really spent more time disliking them than not and that's not my favorite way to spend a book. It gave a grizzly look into the publishing world and although the ending was better than most of the book, the journey there was rough. This really was not a romance for me, more women's fiction probably. The ending was vague at best about the romantic status of any of the main characters, but their lives were in a much better place and personal improvements were made, so I'd say it was a good women's fiction story, but nothing I would come back to or think of to recommend to others.

I went into this thinking it would be a rom-com. There is a potential love interest, and I adored the banter between the two - but this isn’t a romance, it’s a hilarious contemporary fiction full of rivalry, drama (the fun kind), and twists and turns.

It’s a fun dive into the world of books and the timely topic of AI, all from the perspective of authors at a book convention. I was there for every bit of the witty dialogue and the hilarious shenanigans (and trust me, there are a lot).

The narrator did a fantastic job pulling me in, and honestly, I felt like I was right there with her watching all the drama and shenanigans unfold.

Sofie isn’t perfect, but that’s what made her feel so real! She’s complex, and even when she’s standoffish or a little rude, I couldn’t help but laugh at her inner monologue and the outlandish situations she lands in.

This one was a mixed bag for me. I loved the premise—especially the meta-ish angle of a story centered around books, authors, and the inner workings of the publishing world—but the execution didn’t quite land. The FMC was incredibly unlikeable, and the further I got, the harder it became to root for her. As the plot progressed, the scenes felt increasingly outlandish, pulling me out of the story rather than drawing me in.

That said, the underlying message about AI’s growing impact on the creative industry is timely and important. I just wish the delivery had resonated more.

🤔 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕀 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕥: I did skim the synopsis for this, but I was mostly pulled in by the title and cover!

🍿 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: Right away I knew it was going to be funny and oh was it. I laughed a lot, and it is in-your-face dramatic at times, but it was the perfect escape while also being incredibly timely in our world of AI and ChatGPT.

👏🏼 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈: Nobody I’ve seen is calling this satire, but that’s kind of the feel I got from it. I loved the way Gold could take something serious and infuse it with that much humor and drama. The story brings up some great talking points about the current climate for authors and it would probably make for a great book club discussion.

🫤 🇹‌🇭‌🇪‌ 🇳‌🇪‌🇬‌🇦‌🇹‌🇮‌🇻‌🇪‌🇸‌: There is a lot going on but sometimes the book dragged just a bit. I also found my attention wandering in some spots before the author pulled me back in again.

🎧 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒩𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃: I don’t think I’ve ever listened to Courtney Patterson before and man does she get into it. She really was the perfect person to voice this book, and I thought she nailed the drama factor. Sometimes she was a touch loud for my ears, but I have to hand it to her for bringing the story and characters to life so well.

💭 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: Some of the insights that Gold shares through the book really struck a chord with me and had me saying “omg YES” out loud. Clearly, I am not an author or writer, but it felt honest, and I love this idea for a debut novel. The plot itself can get pretty out there, but this was a romp of a good time, and I was here for it.

T͏h͏i͏s͏ B͏o͏o͏k͏ i͏n͏ 5͏ E͏m͏o͏j͏i͏’s͏ o͏r͏ L͏e͏s͏s͏: 🥜😂🔊📖

𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing this book!
This book put me through the emotional RINGER! It handled the controversy of writing with AI and what it means moving forward. Most of this book, I was so angry at the concept of the world being okay with someone using AI to publish a book. And while at the end, we see the truth and how creativity and talent were the center all along, I still leave feeling uneasy after this book. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, silly, and a little ridiculous at times (in the best way). The commentary on AI is such a controversy in of itself. Leave out the environmental impact AI has, even if the antagonist used AI, then edited the living hell out of it to make their story her own, it still was written by a computer first. Even with how Sofie "learns" the truth, at the end of the day, Hartley still stole her work to make her own. Authors have constantly come out to talk against the use of their work to train AI, and part of this book feels like it is on the side of authors, and some parts of it are on the side of AI. Though at end of the day, it highlighted that human emotions will not come across in AI and that talent is vital for writing a compelling story. I enjoyed this book, I really did. This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.

I was excited to read this book based on the advanced reviews but I found this one to be a bit of a miss for me. It was hard to parse out if the author was advocating for AI or not until the very end so that was a bit confusing. I also found it very unrealistic that a huge group of readers would not immediately riot over the AI use. Ultimately, this book didn't work for me. I did enjoy the narrator for this audio.

Sofie Wilde is well known for her fantasy series that she’s promoting for as the tenth and final book is released. Another author, Hartley, is beginning to be well known as well and a lot of it has to do with the fact that her writing is very very similar to Sofie’s. Hartley admits to using AI to write her novel and gains the support of fans everywhere leaving Sofie feeling a bit like a villain in this story.

The topic of AI in creative spaces is something that definitely needs constant discussion. I found it interesting that the author chose to make the consumers supportive of the use of AI in this since that would most likely not happen in reality but it is fiction so I went with it! The story was interesting in that aspect and gave a behind the scenes look at these conversations. My struggle with this book was that it was written with exaggerated comedic scenarios that are reminiscent of older sitcoms. It is just not a style of writing that I personally enjoy however I do believe that there is a reader for this! I am used to reading stories that are targeted for other age groups (I’m an elder millennial) but I will say this is definitely for a more mature audience and that gen x would love the style.

The narrators did great with portraying the characters.

Thank you so much to GetRed PR and Lori Gold for providing this physical ARC. This is my honest review! This publishes on May 6th.

This was a nuanced, timely, adult fiction debut that has a best-selling romance author getting challenged by an up and comer who uses AI to 'copy' from one of her books and ends up getting praised by the reading community. Mixing a blend of genres, this had romance, suspense and a thought-provoking plot about the role and use of AI in book publishing. It was also good on audio and I look forward to reading more from Lori Gold in the future. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Loved the twists in this book! It was an awesome look at how AI could potentially influence the publishing industry as well as a “behind the curtain” feel of it all!
I loved the characters!
This was a 5 star listen!

Books about books and publishing. I always find these so interesting. And what could be more on topic than AI? As we are looking to teach it at all levels of education. At least here in the US.

This really gave me a little food for thought on AI and the creative side of life. Nothing changed my mind but there were points of view I’d never thought of.

While making its point about the publishing industry, it takes an over the top plot of outlandish moves and unlikable characters to do so. It walks the line of quirky and unique versus a little too far. I can see readers being split between loving the banter and extremes and just too much. I’ll admit to waffling back and forth at times.

But I loved that the main character was older and sassy and really knew what she wanted and appreciated the underlying message of kindness and friendship.

Courtney Patterson brought this organized chaos to life. Some parts came across a little preachy in the audiobook that I didn’t feel with my eyeball reading. But I’ll admit I can be a little sensitive to that as I listen. But overall I enjoyed Courtney’s narration and intensity of her interpretation.

A quirky and wild take on publishing and perfect for someone looking for a unique women’s fiction read.

Romantic Friction by Lori Gold is a humorous and timely novel that delves into the world of publishing and the impact of AI on authorship. The story centers around Sofie Wilde, a bestselling fantasy romance author, and Hartley West, a debut author whose work is generated by AI.

The book explores themes of artistic integrity, the definition of authorship, and the evolving landscape of the publishing industry. Gold crafts a narrative that is both funny and thought-provoking, with relatable characters and sharp writing. The clash between traditional writing and AI-generated content creates a compelling and entertaining story.

The audiobook's witty dialogue and engaging plot was so engaging. A skilled narrator enhanced the humor and bringing the characters to life, making for an enjoyable listening experience.

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately the main character was too unlikable (with an almost frantic internal dialogue) to make this one enjoyable for me. I think the premise and discussion of using AI to generate content was timely and relevant, but the way the plot unfolded felt juvenile and silly to me. Some parts were humorous, and readers who are comfortable with unlikable characters/satirical criticism might enjoy this one! The narrator did a good job with the ‘tirade’ portion against AI and captured the main character’s personality well, but I struggled with distinguishing between the secondary characters voices.

Sofie is a romance author with the last book of a very successful series about to be released when she is confronted by another author who has taken her work and emulated it using AI. This story explores what might happen if readers embraced AI work. Our first-person main character, Sofie, is prickly, entitled and unlikeable, having ostracized herself from her fellow romance authors. She also has a wee bit of a drinking problem. When they are all brought together at a romance book convention where the AI author’s success appears to be on the horizon, they must all work together to ensure the future of publishing.

The book itself reminded me of Yellowface, in the plagiarism angle and the unlikeable main character. The book cover is reminiscent of Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Romantic Comedy.”

In the audiobook I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between first-person main characters narrated internal dialogue and when she was speaking. Sofie’s internal dialogue is often quite critical and judgmental, and most of the time she has trouble censoring her speech.

Betrayal. AI. A viral rant.
Sofie Wilde built an empire with her words, until a debut author using AI stole the spotlight. Now, with her career crumbling and revenge on her mind, Sofie’s ready to fight back.

Romantic Friction by Lori Gold is a fierce, funny, and all-too-real battle between human creativity and machine-made stories.

The story was simply amazing!! Figuring out what the world is going to come to after AI wants to take over is really an eye opening. After a lot of people work so hard to get where they are and when people get to just take the easy way out and get recognition is shocking.

The audiobook was phenomenal, loved the way the narrator was able to bring the character to life.

I thought this book is timely as AI is getting incorporated so much into our lives. We have Sophie, an established best seller author, releasing her final installment of her series with an up and coming writer, Hartley sharing the event with her release party. Instead of celebrating her release, the event makes a turn with Hartley confessing her book was written by AI.

The story from there goes on how the public reacts to this news. It was an interesting premise and it was fun to see it set in book community with book signings and events.

I was hoping the story would focus on this but it took a turn and it focused on Sophie and her actions. For someone that is older, I did not agree with her actions.

The story redeemed the story when it revealed Hartley's side.

Courtney Patterson did a good job with the narration. Thank you Harlequin Audio @netgalley for a copy of the audiobook.

Thanks to #NetGalley and HarlequinAudio for an advance listening copy of #RomanticFriction. I really liked the discussion around the timely topic of AI and art. Beyond that, the plot was rather silly. I can see how it may appeal to some readers. 3 stars.