As a book reviewer and content creator, I loved this story so much! It was packed full of all the things I love (and sometimes dread) about being a reviewer in the bookish space. The fact Susan Lee brings attention to how easy it is for men to gain a huge following quickly in the reading community is SO valid and I just wanted to stand up and clap for that moment. A reminder to love up on the women creators just as much as the new/conventionally attractive man who enters the space.

This book is full of so much humor, I was literally laughing out loud while listening to the audiobook! And I loved following our two MCs as they discovered themselves and found their way to each other through that hilarious fake dating scheme. Also, the side characters…loved them! There’s also a lot of Pop Culture references-I know some people don’t love this but I thought it fit really well with this story. And the banter? CHEF KISS 💋

Overall, it was just adorable and perfect for reviews and creators in our community! I really enjoyed the audiobook narration by Shannon Tyo and Eric Yang. These two produced such a lovely audiobook and would absolutely recommend listening to it.

Thank you Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for early access to the audiobook!

Thank you to Harpercollins for a chance to read an arc this book! 🖤

5⭐️ brb crying over two tiktokers in love |
tropes: rivals to lovers, fake dating, asian mcs | audio

Overall Thoughts 💭:
This book was a love letter to all things romance and also a heartfelt lesson i. finding yourself. I loved Irene so much! I related to her a lot. I loved seeing her journey dealing with people pleasing and anxiety. As someone who struggles a lot with negative self-talk and anxiety it can be tough to feel enough and worthy and it felt cathartic to see Irene face these challenges and deal with them. I loved Irene and Aiden together. Their chemistry was everything and I loved seeing Irene slowly let Aiden in. I also loved Aiden's character. He is so caring and kind while also being charming and sarcastic. I liked seeing him challenge some of Irene's perceptions and how that helped her grow. I also liked how understanding he was of her and how he fought for her. This book also was such an ode to romance readers in the best way. I loved the discussion of tropes and the subversion of them. Seeing a main character that lives and breathes romance struggle to feel worthy of her own happily ever after was really interesting and relatable. I will definitely have to read more from Susan Lee because this was incredible.

Absolutely loved this! Can't even begin to categorize the tropes (hehe, maybe rivals to lovers wins out) but the execution of THE ROMANCE RIVALRY was so much fun! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

This was my first Susan Lee read and it was an absolute joy to read! This book is a love letter to all things romance and it really shined throughout the book. I loved the references to other popular romance novels, and the banter between Irene and Aiden was top tier!! There were so many parts of this book that had me giggling. I thought the rival booktoker's aspect was super cute and loved getting a slice of Aidens POV about their reads at the end of every chapter.

At times, I was frustrated with Irene and the choices she was making as a result of her insecurities BUT I am very aware I felt similarly in college. This is a YA book after all so I understand the characterization and it didn't annoy me enough to detract from my feelings about the book.

I enjoyed the audiobook narration and! This book was largely done by the female voice actor expect for Aiden's booktok POVs and the epilogue. I would have preferred duet narration given there was a male voice actor but did not feel like I struggled to determine who was speaking with only the female narration. Overall the narration was engaging.

The Romance Rivalry is perfect for romance lovers! I really enjoyed this audiobook. This book is for the times and is full of pop culture references and bookish language and abbreviations. It is more enjoyable if you are up to speed on the lingo but there is a key in the beginning of the book explaining some references. The story was engaging and was well paced and full of romance tropes. Irene Park is obsessed with romance and is a popular online book reviewer, but she's never actually experienced romance irl. She is just starting college and finding adjusting to the new classes and workload very challenging. To make matters worse, her online nemesis, Aiden Jeon, is at the same college and they are partnered in their beginner's lit class. Aiden challenges Irene to see who can find love-by-trope first and they are competing for love and professional success.

The way I raced through this! 😍I was able to both read my preordered paperback and listen to this (thanks to Harlequin Audio and the Hive) and I was head over heels for this love letter to romance books right from the start. Susan Lee manages to capture acutely that feeling that only being truly understood by another bookish person can give you-and how powerful it is to see yourself in your favorite books. Both MCs are so absolutely lovable and also complex and a little broken in the way that most college freshman are before they figure out who they want to be. Even as someone nearly two decades removed from that experience, this book brought me right back in the warmest, fuzziest way. I 1000% recommend the audio, the narrator really embodies our FMC well and delivers the book with so much heart and in a very genuine fashion. I can’t wait to read more of this author!

The Romance Rivalry was a fun audiobook and at first I loved all the nods to romance and tropes but it began to get old. I struggled to understand why Irene was still reading and reviewing books but was failing her classes? I feel like one of those things needed to go and it was obvious which one.

Wowowowow. The ending of this brought me to tears. I have never had a book make me feel so seen and known and understood. I’ve always felt weird and strange for my love of romance. And reading this, I felt a little less alone.

It did read like a college romance and had no spice. Which is fine. I didn’t feel like it took away from the book at all. This read like a literary fiction about romance as a genre and I loved it! Honestly this book exceeded my expectations. I heard good things… but this was phenomenal. I finished it in one sitting!

This novel is an ode to romance -readers and the romance community at large. It's for the wallflowers that don't think the romances they read about will find them in real life, but are wonderfully surprised when they do!

I loved this Korean YA romance from Susan Lee! I think this might be my favorite of Susan's books so far. This book was truly a love letter to the romance book community and a special thank you to romance readers and reviewers. I loved all the nods to popular romance books and lingo. The rivalry that Irene and Aiden shared was also super cute. The dual POV narration added to the tension, chemistry, and banter between them. I loved how Shannon Tyo portrayed Irene's hilarious and relatable inner monologue and how Eric Yang portrayed Aiden's head-over-heels feelings about Irene. And their romance was SOOO SWOONY omg. I honestly think this book is catered more towards older YA readers because I was truly sweating reading some of those scenes. Susan knows how to write eye-catching MMCs, let me tell you that!

I definitely recommend this book for YA romance readers everywhere!

This was such a fun story to read! The overall rom-com aspect of the story was super cute, with the trope dating contest being my favorite parts. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Bookstagram and reviewing books in this story, and the journey that it takes our main characters on. I would highly recommend adding this one to your TBR if you need a sweet, fun romantic comedy!

This book absolutely had me invested.

The competition, the banter, the tropes, the best friends. I was hooked. YA Perfection.

The self doubt and constant need to please everyone by Irene was a bit exhausting and like, okay, ask for help already. Growing up in a family where support was given freely and judgement never occurred it is a bit harder to see where she is coming from but she got there!! Finally but she did it.

Aiden however with the he falls first and never giving up. For getting her and getting through to her when she was hardest to love. That is what had me sucked in and devouring this book.

So cute and will recommend to anyone with ears.

Narrators were the perfect choices.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

I zoomed through the audiobook and LOVED it!! It made me so nostalgic for my college years. The new friendships, the various personalities in each young adult trying to figure out who they are, the buzzing energy of meeting new people in a new setting.

Irene is a freshman in college trying to find love doing what she knows best - romance books and tropes! As she navigates through her list of tropes she unexpectedly finds love right under her nose.

I’m so excited for everyone to read this! The narrator also did an amazing job at bringing this book to life. It felt like a younger sister rambling her life away at me in the best way possible.

A lovely, fun and quick read that is truly dedicated to romance readers. The story is unique and engaging and the characters and their stories bring life to this book.

This book is a love letter to the romance readers! It is so sweet and down to earth but still has an emotional and grounded center that keeps things feeling realistic and relatable. Susan Lee's writing style is fun and easy to read so I am excited to explore her backlist and to eventually be able to read her upcoming adult release!

Another bingeable YA book! It is filled with quippy humor and TONS of tropes.

Irene is a popular book reviewer that is starting college to become an editor. She feels as though she is kind of a fraud reviewing romance novels even though she’s never been in love. Her freshman year goal is to find a boyfriend by using her favorite book tropes to gain experience.

During an icebreaker activity in her literature class she gets randomly paired up with her rival and fellow book reviewer, Aiden. Little do they know, that icebreaker determined their project partner for the whole semester.

Aiden joins in on the trope challenge to find love. This book follows Aiden & Irene as they navigate their friendship and their friendly competition to find love.

I thought this book was SO adorable. I loved the way Aiden never wavered in his support of Irene. There definitely was a moderate amount of miscommunication, but such is life! Even though at times I was like “OMG JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER”, that was so real and represented a typical freshman year college relationship lol

I had never listened to any audiobooks by these narrators, but they did a phenomenal job! And the casting of the male narrator was… perfection🤌🏻

The Romance Rivalry 💻📖📚
4⭐️
2🌶️

Thank you to Harlequin Audio for the chance to listen and enjoy this free advanced audiobook!

This book is a love letter to book reviewers and people with bookish platforms! I absolutely loved the basis of two romance book reviewers and their subsequent relationship. I thought that the inclusion of so many tropes was done really well and I enjoyed the progression of the story.

My biggest reason that this book isn’t a 5 star read for me is the genre; it’s being marketed as a teen/young adult book, but it reads more like new adult/adult romance. Things either should have been left out to keep it strictly YA, or could have been heightened slightly to be a fully adult romance. In my opinion, scenes that fully depict/use sexual imagery are not fit for an audience below the age of 18 without EXPLICIT warnings that the book contains such content. To me, YA books are a space where readers can come and expect the content to not be sexually graphic (I.e., The Summer I Turned Pretty, Powerless, Caraval, The Selection, Love and Gelato, etc).

In terms of the audio potion of this book, I really enjoyed the narration. I thought that the dual narration was a really nice touch, because while the entire book is spent in Irene’s head, we get little glimpses into Aiden’s psyche. The tone and pace of Shannon Tyo and Eric Yang’s narration style were absolutely perfect in the delivery of this audiobook.

Susan Lee continues to be an autobuy author for me. She creates these fantastic characters that have the right but of swoon and tension, I absolutely love them every time.

I listened to the audio for this, and I want to make it clear that both narrators are fantastic. They didn’t have any annoying quirks, and their voices were both pleasant to listen to at varying speeds (from 1x up through 2.5x).

I loved that she used the tropes to drive the story, each chapter was a different trope and had cute little reviews for books, but the chapters also loosely pertained to each trope. I also loved that Irene was so invested in her social media presence— it was so relatable, the anxiety, the way she sometimes thrived. It really worked for the story that they were rivals in such an interesting field.

The star, though, is how they became friends and how their friend group worked as a found family. I really really enjoyed that the four of them grew from doing this competition, to actually relying on one another.

Anyway, if you want some romance, some yearning, some comedy, and realistic characters that you will love, check out this book for sure!! And her others, honestly.

So, um, yeah - I finished this audiobook in a day.

Okay, I'll say more. I LOVED this book.

I was a little trepidatious at first, since it opens on Irene in a limo on prom night where the evening is certainly NOT turning out the way she planned. I had to wonder if I'd downloaded the wrong book, since I knew this <i>definitely</i> took place amongst college kids. I was also reminded why I don't like to engage in online romance reader fandom (personal preference, but I'm not a fan of all of the back-and-forth in comments sections and how they become breeding grounds for the worst kinds of internet weirdos. I don't need my reading habits spoiled by a bunch of keyboard monkeys throwing their digital poop at the screen).

But it continued on and there was a line from Irene (sorry, I don't have the exact line and I don't really want to go searching through the audiobook to find it) about how college is her chance to learn about herself, and also how romance novels are the place where she feels the most comfortable.

And it was like 18-year-old-college-freshman-me was echoing in my mind and from there on out, I wanted to snuggle Irene in a fuzzy blanket and help guide her through this monumental point in her life, because it mirrored my OWN experience going from high school to college.

Luckily, there was Jeanette and Aiden (and Charles) to be there as her guides. I was really happy that Jeanette and Irene became friends and that Irene didn't find Jeanette annoying or anything like that. Irene had such a poor opinion of every other character introduced to that point, and she was also prone to simply "go-along-to-get-along" with everyone, and I was afraid Jeanette would fall into that category as well. But she didn't. She was quirky and sweet enough and - most importantly - THE VOICE OF REASON for Irene. Jeanette held a ginormous mirror up to Irene in such a way that helped Irene figure out her own hangups and bad habits and make it so Irene could decide what to do on her own and be the best version of herself. Bonus - Jeanette and Charles also have their HEA on the side, so, yay Jeanette!

With that being said - Aiden. Holy cow, Aiden is everything I love in a romance hero character, and then some. There was a part of me that really wished this book could have been dual-POV, but the epilogue (and that other fun little surprise chapter toward the end, which I was pretty invested in and if Susan Lee ever wanted to expand on that idea, I would not complain in the slightest) helped make up for that. He has his own flaws and hangups as well, but the way he deals with them while also being there for Irene is amazing (side note: I would be lying if I said didn't see some of my own husband's qualities in Aiden, so it's likely that's why I enjoyed this character so much).

This is a book that I will definitely be buying for myself when it's available and I was glad I gave it a chance after I saw it featured on NetGalley.

Also - the cover art is STUPID ADORABLE.

This was a cute YA romance about starting college and self discovery. Irene is a romance book reviewer and is starting college. She hopes to find her kiss/love in college. Instead, what she finds is her archenemies, Aiden, who also reviews romance books. They are both in English and ends up partnering for a project.

I thought Irene and Aiden are cute together and I enjoyed seeing them navigate college and working together. I liked seeing Irene's growth with her making friends.

I did find the final project and want Irene did a bit out of left field. We don't know anything about Aiden and his passion and it was just thrown in there.

Overall, this was a sweet YA romance and tribute to all the romance books.

Shannon Tyo and Eric Yang did a great job on the narration, capturing their personalities.

Thank you @harpercollins Harelquin Audio for a copy of the audiobook.