A quick, easy read— perfect for a small taste of rivals-to-lovers. This novella felt like the perfect length. The story started without delay, and I was quickly pulled into the tension and chemistry between the MCs. The steady pacing kept me wrapped up in the plot, and I could t stop listening.

The FMC was a bit frustrating, but I also couldn’t begin to understand her trauma and how it would affect her behaviors, decisions, or thoughts. The MMC was totally swoony and felt very safe. I wish we could’ve peeled his layers back a bit more.

The audiobook narration was well done, and I really enjoyed the performance. Mollie Stark did a nice job differentiating between characters.

Thank you NetGalley, 831 Stories, AE Titles / S&S Audio, and the author for the ALC of Square Waves!

4.5 ⭐️ 3🌶️

This was truly an incredible novella. I cannot believe how well the author was able to tell this story in so few pages. From the very beginning, I was so invested in both of the main characters. I often find myself needing more from novellas (which I understand is an odd take when I’m picking up a book that is shorter and by definition will have less time for character development, plot, etc.). However - I now realize that maybe, I just haven’t been reading the right ones. Because Alexandra Romanoff was able to give me a fully fleshed out, entertaining, and believable story in just over 200 pages. Not to mention the fact that it was spicy without being cringy and without any insta-love vibes. I definitely think it helped that the two MCs had history, which made their relationship trajectory so much more believable and genuine.

I will say that some of the conflict between the two MCs felt overdone at times - their reason for clashing didn’t really seem to warrant holding a grudge for over 10 years, IMO. And the conflict towards the end was frustrating for me, though I understand that this was primarily driven by unresolved trauma that the FMC hadn’t yet fully worked through.

The narration was fantastic. Mollie Stark did a phenomenal job with all of the characters, even a male character with a scottish accent. She truly was a joy to listen to and I enjoyed this book even more because of it!

Thank you to 831 Stories for the audiobook ARC!

I read Big Fan and Square Waves back-to-back so I'd have all of the context for Square Waves fresh in my brain. Going into the book, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy a story about the "other woman" from Big Fan, but I also appreciated that Cassidy had a brief scene with Maya in Big Fan that allowed me to see how this story might play out. Cassidy, 6 years after the scandal that nearly ruined her career, is back in her hometown of Berkeley, California for a few weeks while taking a forced sabbatical from her burnt out nonprofit job in DC. Her first night there, she runs into an old high school enemy, Leon - The too-cool-for-school best friend of her high school best friend, who she was often forced to hang around. Cassidy is a vulnerable and relatable FMC and Leon is a lovable and realistic MMC, and this was a cute enemies-to-lovers romance that can easily be devoured in one sitting. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to any romance lovers looking for a fun novella!

I will read everything from this publishing house. Great romances in a tiny package. Enemies to lovers with depth and the narrator was superb.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and 831 Publishing for the E-ALC.

I really enjoyed this as an audiobook! It’s the absolute perfect length to finish in a day! The narration was done perfectly and I could really understand every word. She did a great job with changing her pitch and tone when she was speaking as another character. I always love having a male narrator but that would be the only negative!

I really enjoyed this follow up to Big Fan (which I also loved!). It was really interesting to see Cassidy’s point of view in terms of the scandal from the first book.

High school enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and this was so well done. I enjoyed how they set aside their differences for their mutual friend which showed alot of growth from both of them. I also liked how they communicated with one another. This was a great and impactful story.