That cover is so beautiful and fun! Grabbed me and made me want to pick this book up. Unfortunately, it's a bit juvenile in execution and I think I'm not the target audience for this particular trope of grumpy (she) vs. sunshine (he) where she's so off putting that it makes her appear immature. Sigh, I love a romance of different personalities but when you draw them to make them so polar opposite just to "prove a point" it comes off as a characterization. I'm not sure this narrator was the right choice either. She sounds older than the characters being voiced. Just not for me.

Just finished listening to The Code for Love by Anne Marsh and honestly... it was such a fun surprise.
The story follows Pandora, a super-smart (but kinda closed-off) app developer, who ends up on this wild road trip through Mexico with Ozzy, a laid-back surfer and social media star. Total opposites. Of course, there’s fake dating involved because her app sort of accidentally pairs them up, and from there, it’s road trip chaos, sweet moments, and some really great chemistry. The audiobook totally worked for me. Mooreghan Martin’s narration is so good—she gives each character their own vibe without overdoing it, and her pacing is really smooth. You know how some narrators make a good story feel slow or awkward? Not here. She nails the tone, especially during the banter and the quieter, more emotional parts.
What I loved: the tension builds naturally, the settings are vivid (hello beach towns and desert sun!), and it never felt cheesy. Just the right mix of flirty, funny, and heartfelt. If you're into enemies-to-lovers with travel vibes and strong female leads, and you're looking for an audiobook that flows really well, definitely give this one a go

Pandora is a software engineer developing a Tinder-style travel companion app, and her world collides with champion surfer Ozzy. They become neighbors, enemies, coworkers, and much more when Pandora’s app matches them up and her team seizes the publicity opportunity for them to take a trip to Mexico together.

This novel was fine, though I will say it was a bit of a disappointment. The premise seemed cute enough, but the execution didn’t really land for me. I think the author made a valiant attempt at trying to incorporate almost all the romance tropes (and subsequently calling them out), but I think that ultimately was the downfall. The initial meet-cute didn’t make sense, then they were neighbors, then travel buddies, then coworker/competitors, but also a sports romance, and also a grumpy/sunshine trope, with some sci-fi style dream sequences… and if you’re confused reading that sentence, that basically sums up how it feels to read the book. I think if the author had kept it much more simple and straightforward, it would have worked out better. Definitely a lot of steamy scenes, but in a way that felt unnecessarily gratuitous (yes, even for a romance novel) and almost a bit… fanfiction-y. For what it’s worth, Mooreghan Martin’s audiobook narration was one of the few saving graces that kept me listening when I may have otherwise DNF’d. Maybe consider this if you’re a diehard Anna Marsh fan but otherwise I wouldn’t put it at the top of my list.

Reviewed as part of #ARC from @NetGalley. Many thanks to @harlequinbooks for the opportunity to read and provide my honest review.


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This review will be posted to Instagram @AutobiographiCole on or around the release date!

3-3.5
This is a very cute and very steamy grumpy sunshine. It tries to be enemies to lovers, but I think that falls a little flat. I love grumpy sunshine, especially like in this case where HE is the sunshine. Ozzy was a perfect fluffy surfer sunshine.
Some of the job related plot points seem far fetched (for example Pandora, software engineer, and Ozzy, social media former surfer, compete for the same gig?), and I did not love just how much the female main character relies on ChatGPT.
The travel part of this story sold me and was so fun, but unfortunately didn't even start until halfway in.
The narrator was perfect. She adds to the sarcasm of Pandora and is a very easy listen.
If you are looking for an easy spicey romance with a dose of Mexican travel, this is perfect.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an arc of the audiobook!

The premise of this book was honestly so promising. I picked it up thinking I was in for a good old enemies-to-lovers story which, let’s be real, is one of my favourite tropes. And to be fair, the setup was definitely intriguing and had all the right ingredients: tension, conflict, and potential for some emotional payoff. The context and the overall plot had a lot going for it.

But as I got deeper into the story, I realized it just wasn’t clicking with me the way I’d hoped. It wasn’t bad by any means but it simply didn’t resonate on a personal level. I really tried to love it, to get pulled into the world and feel everything the characters were going through, but unfortunately, it just didn’t turn out to be my cup of tea.

That being said, I did enjoy the characters. They were relatable in their own ways, and I appreciated the layers the author gave them. I genuinely believe that some readers will absolutely love this book. It has a lot of charm and potential it just wasn’t for me personally.

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

🧡🌴🚐🇲🇽🌮 🧡🌴🚐🇲🇽🌮🧡

The Code for Love by Anne Marsh had a great sounding description and I was excited to read. Unfortunately, it was a DNF at 28%. The story was disjointed and I struggled to relate to the characters, feeling like it was just a constant stream of thought from the FMC without any actual substance.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for allowing me to listen and review this book. I am actually quite sad about this book. The premises of this book and the cover are so cute and I was excited for the book. I was especially excited that the sunny and grumpy roles were reversed in this book and the grumpy tech MC was actually the female and not male. However. This book was just messy and did not keep me interested. The ending was my favorite part of the book and it took a lot of mess and all over the place to get there. I really wanted to love this book and I wish I could have. I did really enjoy the narrators throughout the whole book though!

The idea for this book was so interesting, but the execution work at all. This book was unfortunately not good at all. The characters have no chemistry, they are not relatable at all, the story unfolds weirdly and the pacing is off. At some point I decided I needed to DNF.

This is what we in the industry call "crack fic." If you enjoy a series of interesting scenes linked together with a half-baked plot, and only care about fun, this delivers. I actually had a really good time, I enjoyed the book, but more in the way you enjoy ridiculous fan fiction that's meant to just be silly and fun. The best part of the book was the prank war, which I think should have continued through the story. The character's choices almost never seem realistic, the plot feels overly contrived to create a rivalry the story didn't really need, and it felt very much like a self-indulgent fantasy of being your sloppiest self and still landing a 6'3" hottie. You know what? Good for her! This book will absolutely hit for some people, but not the majority of romance readers.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the audio ARC!

1 ⭐️

🎧 AUDIO BOOK REVIEW 🎧

The audio for this book was fine the narrator was good. But the story itself was not good. The premise is cute and had potential but the story itself didn’t make sense half the time. If I had physical read it I would have DNFed.

🎧 Audiobook Review: Code for Love by Anne Marsh
⭐️⭐️⭐️ // 3 stars

This one was a solid listen—smooth narration and an easy plot to follow—but nothing really stood out or stuck with me after it ended. A good pick if you’re looking for a quick romance without too much drama or depth. I want to be clear that I am meaning this as a positive thing.
Have you read this one? What did you think?👇
#BookReview #AudiobookLove

Pandora trying to fit in with a bunch of younger coworkers and getting annoyed that they didn’t have the same work ethic annoyed me. Plus her blaming Ozzy for landing her in that position also made me not like her. This was a miss for me

Thank you Netgalley for the free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 ⭐️'s rounded up to 3⭐️

First off, the narrator did a very good job. There were a few words that were mispronounced, but she put as much heart into the story as she could.

I really liked the premise of this book, and some aspects were good, but it lacked character depth, consistency, and had too much redundancy. It also could have worked out some of these issues with good editing.

This is the story of Pandora who is a coder or software engineer who works all the time, including helping her coworkers, but is somehow completely overlooked by everyone else. Her boss fires her with the wrong name. She meets Ozzy, who models for her company, and they make out but then part ways for quite a while. Then Ozzy climbs the walls onto her balcony.

The transitions are far-fetched and need work. I really wanted to like it, and I do see potential in it.

2.5 stars rounded up!

Ugh, I hate to do this because the cover is so cute and the premise of the book enticing, but the good lord knows I struggled to finish this one. I mean the first chapter was so random and weird.

Overall, this is a quick summer read. Pandora is a software app developer and Ozzy is the cool, handsome, surfer. They are partnered together to travel to test a singles buddy app. I am still not quite sure why Pandora disliked Ozzy so much, he gives all the Golden Retriever vibes.
I think the biggest issue for me is that I could not connect with the book narrator. Most of the time it made it seem like Pandora’s grumpiness came off as whiny and insecure. The plot being all over the place was another issue for me, the chapters did not feel cohesive. The road to the road trip was a long one as well.

The plot idea was great, the execution missed the mark.

Thank you to the publisher for my gifted alc. Opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book… but I didn’t. Pandora was a great character! Ozzy was kind of one dimensional. We got a bit more on him towards the very end but it was hard to get invested.
I felt like there were good plot points, but they weren’t strung together well and we didn’t get enough of Pandora’s thoughts as they happened.
Her space game was really fun though!

The audiobook narration was excellent and sassy.

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.

I listened at 1.75 and that was a reasonable pace. I always prefer a male voice actor for male dialogue.

Well, I really liked this book! There were a few blips, but overall, I had a good time. I thought the characters were adorable. it was somewhat of a slow start, but once it got going, it was so good! 4 stars

Many thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is giving me the biggest ick ever. It may get better but I have zero interest in finding out. I have to DNF this at 35%

Here are my rough notes as to why I am not feeling this book at all. Of course this is just me and your results may vary.
4% they randomly kiss after meeting
5% he doesn’t even know her name?
12% he doesn’t remember her
14% no boundaries, insistent on re-introducing himself, he shows her his drivers license and the super friendly neighbor attitude is annoying
17% he tells her it’s her turn to apologize
18% he says “you don’t want to kiss and make up?”
20% FMC says how annoying he is and I completely agree
22% she internally states his banana is “supersized”
22% he says- “You look like a little brown bear, I’m going to call you Panda”
26% they share their cell phone locations with each other despite only being annoying neighbors with one another? No.
28% their pranks are childish
32% he talks his way into her apartment
33% he’s playing with her hair despite them not being in any kind of relationship
FMC states (internally) “I really need to get on that AI conversation app
34% they kiss again with no chemistry (imo)

Just not the storyline for me. I could not get into the characters or the story. Too much 🍆 talk for me.