Really didn't enjoy this one. I felt the plot had a lot of potential but it just didn't live up to it. To me the pacing felt off and there were times that were interesting but others times it was dragging. I really liked to side characters and their relationship, but honestly I didn't feel the chemistry between the main 2. Annika was not likable and in the end I felt that Hudson gave too much up to be with her. The story was nice but honestly I wasn't a huge fan.

Such a fabulous and amazingly written Rom com. I must say it’s the most perfect enemy’s to lovers book I have read.

Just what I needed, perhaps it’s my number one book of 2021.

This was a nice read! Honestly it was quite a typical and predictable enemies to lovers trope but it was still enjoyable. I liked the aspect of the rival apps that were so different but so similar in many ways. I disliked Hudson for probably the first half of the book, but I suppose that’s because Annika didn’t know anything about him then. As the story went on, he grew on me. This is nicely written and easy to read.

All in all, I wouldn’t say it’s the best enemies to lovers romance I’ve read, but it’s still a nice read and I’d still recommend it if you’re looking for a light read.

I really wanted to love this book and that’s what made me so conflicted when reading it.

With dating apps being massively popular, it made a good choice to centre a story around it, as two CEOs fought to get their business some funding. What made it funnier was that both characters hooked up in the past, but they also are the owners of dating apps that go against each other’s principles - one is set to make relationships happen and the other is set to sabotage them.

I loved the relationship between the female
Protagonist, Annika, and her friend, June, but as an individual I found Annika a little irritating, petty and childish.

I felt sorry for Hudson because it was abundantly clear from the offset that Annika had done something to hurt him and as the reader we were going to wait the whole book to find out.

Idk... this just couldnt keep my attention and felt pretty immature for an adult romance.

Overall, I enjoyed the rivalry between between the 2 companies, Make Up and Break up, but I couldnt stand Hudson Craft as a character and it made this book painful to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Annika Dev and Hudson Craft are business rivals with their relationship apps, hers called Make Up, while his is Break Up.

While it’s called a hate to love trope, this is really a secretly-in-love-with-but-something-has-gone-bust-so-I-hate-you vibe. Or as the English would say “the lady doth protest too much”. You see both of them had fling in Vegas a year or so previously, and due to the old “lack of communication” chestnut Annika is under the impression that he jilted her. Hence when Hudson attracts press coverage and attention, she feels he stole her idea and is out for revenge.

While I understand her motivation, Annika did do my head in a bit with her sometimes childish antics, when there were times Hudson was being decent. I’m amazed her best friend June didn’t blow up at her for being childish. I felt that her growth came too close to the end of the book, so it felt rushed. By that stage I thought Hudson should have given up pursuing her. Even towards the end when she yet again ruins a detente between the two of them, I felt she was being completely unfair to him over his business (even if she had a point). I don’t mind a bit of two steps forward, one back, it just got old quickly. The strongest scene for me was during the housewarming.

Overall, it was funny and entertaining. I loved that the lead was an Indian-American woman. Her relationship with her best friend and dad were delightful. This book is another one to add to your holiday reading.

I enjoyed this. Loved the whole expansion on dating apps. The picky part of me wouldn’t have wanted such success stories (no spoilers) but overall I would recommend.

Trigger Warnings:death of a parent, car accident, injury

As a fan of Lily Menon's YA catalogue, I was immediately intrigued and excited to read her first full length adult novel (she previously released a short adult novella), thus I was thrilled to get an early copy of this!

Make Up Break Up tells the story of Annika Dev, CEO of the app Make Up, which strives to help couples communicate better to get their happily ever after, and her fierce rivalry with her competitor, Hudson Craft . . . who she may have been previously been involved with. Not that she thinks about that . . . much.

I did enjoy the banter between Hudson and Annika, especially in the yoga scene, but sadly, a lot of their romantic tension fell flat for me. I just felt that they were just mean to each other, and then it would suddenly flip, and then back again, with no real rhyme or reason. While, again, some of it I did enjoy - their soft scenes, and then the awkward, heated conversations the day after - most of it just felt underdeveloped and I think that was because a lot of the tension in their relationship relied on the 'miscommunication trope'. When the book came to a head, and confessions were made etc, I didn't feel elated as I should have been because it just felt rushed.

I do wonder if the romance would've felt 'fuller' and more developed if we were able to read Hudson's thoughts and his motivations, rather than seeing him through Annika's. If we were able to follow his line of thinking (even though it was pretty obvious WHY he made his app, and that he didn't rip Annika off), it would've added to the tension of the story.

Additionally, I'm not sure I liked the decision made by Hudson at the end of the book - I respected why - but I think it's just the way it happened, with Annika shaming him etc.

There's not much else I can think to say about this book, sadly. I did like it, I didn't hate it, but I won't say I loved it either. I will still read Lily Menon's next adult book (if there is to be one) as I think there's a lot she can do to go from here, now she's experienced writing a full length adult novel, and I'm excited to read it.

Thank you, as always, to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Make Up Break Up is a feel-good romantic comedy with a mix of tropes to make a good and light read. Sadly, the plot, the romance, and the personalities fell too flat for me to really enjoy it.

There are two main reasons I picked up this book:
1) The main character's name is almost identical to mine, too good to miss.
2) Enemies-to-lovers is always fun.

But sadly there are also two main reasons I didn't absolutely love this book:
1) The heroine is painfully stubborn, one-dimensional, and frustrating as a narrator.
2) The enemies-to-lovers narrative was missing the entertaining banter.

The story Indian-American, Annika Dev, as she goes head-to-head with her arch-nemesis and ex-fling, Hudson Craft, at a tech conference in order to save her failing dating app. And it starts off really strong. The dynamic between Hudson and Annika is immediately set, and there's plenty of humour surrounding their initial conversation. But then it slowly turns into a tiresome battle with lacklustre romance. I actually took more interest in the app development and tech world that the primary narrative.

The biggest struggle for me, is that it’s hard to love a story when you don't love the character telling it. And I found Annika to be frustratingly pessimistic. She switched from understandably cynical to so critical she was blinding herself. She only ever saw the worst in Hudson, so the enemies-to-lovers spark died out. Make Up Break Up has the qualities of a second chance romance, but I stopped rooting for the characters too early to enjoy it.

Still, I think Make Up Break Up would make a great film. It would be more balanced in terms of POV, meaning there could be more development for Hudson as his personality is pretty one-dimensional in the book. The secondary characters bring relief from the protagonists, and I liked the witty but ambitious tone of Menon’s writing.

Ultimately, this book disappointed me. There were way too many times I wanted to DNF for it to earn more than 2 stars. While I thoroughly enjoyed Menon’s writing and charm, it wasn’t enough to save the exasperating heroine and awkward chemistry.

Firstly before I even started reading this book, I knew it was going to be good. I have read many of Lily Menon's books before and I have loved every single one - this one is no exception!
I decided to review this book slightly differently to usual as I took a long time to read this - I wrote down all my first impressions and thoughts throughout the book too.
So...
Pros:
From the start I loved Annika as a character - she is strong willed, determined, quirky, funny and badass. I like the balance between her feistiness and also her calmness. She is a very interesting and lovely character, Similarly, I also really liked June too! Their friendship is super sweet and I love the girl power :)
I also enjoyed the tension between the two main characters too - between Hudson and Annika - it was interesting to see how their feelings, emotions and actions changed throughout the book. The two main characters seem to really compliment each other which makes them a super sweet couple :)
I liked the plot too - how A & H has already been together drifted apart but found themselves together in strange circumstances again - sort of a lovers to enemies to lovers trope I guess!!
I also enjoy seeing see how the side characters story pans out as well - between June and Ziggy - I felt that was super sweet.
Annika's dad is so lovely, I liked his story and his love and continuous support for Annika is gorgeous.

Cons:
there wasn't too much about this book that I disliked but I felt that it deserved 3 stars and no more due to these.
I disliked the ending. I thought it was a bit too abrupt and I would have loved to see an epilogue and continuation of the story later on - maybe how the company succeeds in the future or how everything works out? I just thought it was a bit too harsh. I also didn't love Hudson as a character - I'm not too sure why but I just disliked him as an individual character. I think those were the main two things I strongly didn't really enjoy but overall, I felt it was lovely!! I would recommend this to readers who love sweet contemporary books :)

I really enjoyed this. From the tension between Annika and Hudson to the light-heartedness of June and Ziggy, this bok caught my attention and though I'm not typically a fan of contemporary romance, I found myself genuinely invested in this and wanting for things to work out between our characters.

I really liked both characters. Annika was so driven and even when things began to crumble, she held on to her faith and that certainty that she could pull it off. As someone who regularly struggles to manage things and is quick to panic when things go wrong, it gave me some ideas for how I could rethink the way I look at certain situations. Hudson, with his initial suave arrogance, was refreshingly soft underneath and ended up a genuinely nice person I could see myself admiring in life. He's spent so long pushing his dreams aside to give all he has to the people who raised him and shaped him that he's lost sight of who he is as a person. Again, that is something I have always struggled with, and I was so happy to follow his journey. Both characters showed a vulnerable side that I find can be lacking in romance novels in place of a perfect character who just wants sex all the time, and I was here for it.

Now, the romance itself Hoooo by, someone should have warned me to keep a bucket of ice water nearby, because this book was STEAMING. I don't typically like a lot of smut in my reading because quite often I find it's cringy and poorly written, but the sexiness oozed off the page and straight to my blood whenever the dial was turned up and I found the passion and tension in the writing to be excellently done.

The writing in general was also great. I cried a lot in the final few chapters, certain events and feelings I have experienced in the past and could feel every inch of the emotion on the page. I was there for the drama, and I sniggered at the awkwardness of these two bouncing around each other until they finally sort things out.

All in all, this was a great book that has the premise of being an enemies to lovers story but is one with a lot f undertone and a history between that characters that convey not all is as it initially seems. For someone who isn't usually a reader of the genre, this was an amazing book for me and I look forward to reading more from Lily Menon in the future!

I do love a good romp from rivals to romance! Bloody lovely tale of technology, tantrums and true love. If these apps don’t already exist....they should do!

Make Up or Break Up is a book about Annika Dev, the owner of relationship app Make up, and Hudson Craft, the owner of the breaking up app Break Up. They have a connection but with such different business ideas seems to struggle to make the connection in to something more. Annika is a really likeable character, as is Hudson. You are rooting for them pretty much straight away and this well written story made it a “can’t put down” read. The relationship between Annika and her dad was so lovely and it is just a really good, highly recommendable read. I was sad when it ended!

Actual rating: 4.75/5

This book has a second-chance and enemies to lovers tropes. Annika is creating an app that helps communication in a relationship. On the other side, Hudson has a break-up app...
First, I really like the backstories of the characters and the way that it is affecting their story.
As well as that, the characters were so funny but they could be serious at times and they felt real, powerful and strong. I also loved the fact that the main female character was CEO and she was so badass and not afraid of anything except failure.
Furthermore, the plot was addictive and original as dating apps are really a huge thing now.
Overall, I truly liked this light-hearted story and I can't wait for Sandhya Menon new books.

Menon's adult sizzling debut, MAKE UP BREAK UP, is a fun romance in the backdrop of a modern contemporary.

Whilst MAKE UP BREAK UP leaves me mostly conflicted, Menon reigns supreme in her upbeat contemporary worlds with charming characters and dynamic relationships. Was it flawless? No. Was it fun? Absolutely.

Going in, I was certain this was going to be a modern, tech-savvy rivals-to-lovers with a diverse, STEM-focused lead, but it was Menon's name is what sparked my initial interest in her adult debut. I've enjoyed her YA books, written under Sandhya Menon, and MAKE UP BREAK UP follows in their footsteps with a healthy dose of cute romance and fun chemistry.

That said, it doesn't, however, quite hit the benchmark of the promised rival-to-lovers. It's a one-sided take on the trope that misses some of the elements that make it a juicy read, as though in Annika's head they're certainly rivals, it becomes quickly clear that Hudson's heart is not in the dynamic. Their attempts to sabotage each other during events are small and petty and rarely end up with consequences. It's an inkling of what the trope could be, but it doesn't roll with it in its entirety.

I've said this before in reviews of her YA books, but Menon has a habit of overexplaining characters' feelings in narration. The issue persists here. Main character Annika's internal voice was... very YA, erring on the side of a little too YA to feel like I was in an adult's head. I liked her ambition and her passion, but she has a juvenile approach to life – from insulting Hudson and her 'hah, take that!' inner thoughts to questioning everything that happens in her relationships. There's very little, if any, subtlety to the voice. Whilst I didn't actively dislike being in her head, I could see why her POV would be frustrating.

Even ignoring personal taste, however, Annika makes questionable leaps in logic when it comes to Hudson and his actions. She constantly assumes the worst in him and the Break Up app even though we barely see any reciprocation on his part. He's a cheat, a liar, The Worst, but to him they're just prodding and poking and not being serious. They have good banter between them, so much that I smiled at some of their scenes together, but also I didn't really understand what attracted Hudson to Annika in the first place. It's very clear that her opinion of him is negative. Why put up with that? I get that she doesn't really hate him but even her surface level treatment of him would get tiring after a while.

The ending also casts a long shadow on this book. I was unsatisfied to the denouement to Hudson's arc. He makes a great personal sacrifice to accommodate Annika, with his reasoning being that his success has led his family to asking him more and more of him, which is baffling considering Hudson can just draw some boundaries. Why is the solution to this problem so extreme? It seems rather convenient, as well, that this in turn allows Annika to condone dating between them, because this is a sacrifice she deems morally upstanding. It's like he had to compromise who he was to suit Annika and the romance. There are other factors coming into play as well, but ultimately this is what it read like, and it's an uncomfortable resolution to their story.

Is Break Up even 'bad', all things considered? Sure, the odd slimeball will use it, but what about people who genuinely struggle to end relationships on their own? People afraid of confrontation? People afraid of the consequences? It offers a clean, efficient way to sever a relationship. Is there absolutely no good in that? Are these apps really so black and white? I thought the book was building up to some sort of arc of understanding that, perhaps, Annika judged Break Up's usage too harshly, but the story never delves into this territory and remains staunchly believing that Break Up, as a concept, is pure evil. This seems like a missed opportunity, especially given how it could've given a dimensional edge to Hudson as a person and his flawed, but perceptive, nature.

That, at least, would've been less laughable than the real reason both created their respective apps. Another strike for "well, that was convenient".

There was plenty to enjoy in MAKE UP BREAK UP, however, so much that despite its obvious flaws I found myself staying up to read. Menon naturally does justice to the Indian American POV and makes Annika a desirable heroine. The STEM rep was refreshing as well. I also liked Annika's relationship with her dad and June, plus the little side story of June and her romances.

Menon's debut needs polish, but overall, if one doesn't read too deeply into things, MAKE UP BREAK UP is a sweet, sizzling and satisfying read.

WILL I READ ON? Menon is auto-read for me, hahah.

"Make Up, Break Up" is an enemies to lovers, contemporary adult romance novel set in the world of technology and app development.

I absolutely loved this book and I couldn't put it down. I started it on Saturday and finished it on Sunday. It was an easy and effortless read but also very captivating.

It's the story of Annika, the creator and CEO of an app called Make Up, and her goal is to help people get a second chance at love, and repair their relationships without having to spend $200 an hour with a therapist. The only problem is that Hudson Craft, inventor of an app called Break Up, is taking most of the spotlight with his app being downloaded a million times. It wouldn't be such a problem for Annika if he didn't steal her idea, after they had a fling at a techie convention in Vegas. To make things worse, he moved his offices down the hall from hers.

Make Up is struggling financially, and they have only got 6 weeks before they're evicted and they have to declare bankruptcy. Everything relies on the EPIC pitch to get the capital she needs, the only problem is, Hudson and Break Up are taking part too.

During this time, Annika and Hudson are trying to sabotage each other, but the more time they spend together, the more she realises that maybe he's not the person she thought he was, and that maybe, she's developing some feelings for him.

If you like enemies to lovers novels, if you're a fan of The Hating Game, this is a book for you.

I need Netflix to adapt this book stat. This would make such a delightful romcom! And I mean, that's exactly what it was in book form too. I read this almost in one sitting and that turned out to be an excellent way to spend my Saturday.

If you've enjoyed Sandhya Menon's YA romances, and you enjoy reading adult romance, you absolutely need to read this!

The blurb of this is exceptional - a true enemies to lovers can never go wrong. Except in this case, it did. I had high hopes for Lily Menon because I loved her YA book [book:When Dimple Met Rishi|28458598] and I was excited to see what she could do with more mature subjects and characters. Unfortunately, the characters were not mature and the book fell incredibly flat for me. I had no sympathy for the main character and the fact that she was proven "right" in the end did not sit with me at all. The protagonist had flaws written all over her, but instead of embracing them and working to compromise and/or changing, everyone else around her had to change. The characters were flat, the romance was unbelievably dull, and I'd much preferred a book from Hudson's perspective. Hudson was the only character I liked, and he was treated so badly. I would have loved to see some more fleshed out characters, better writing, and steamier romance from Menon. I will definitely give Menon another chance should she release more adult books, but this did not hit the mark for me.

Make Up Break Up is a lovely, light-hearted read. Filled with technology and romance, this story focuses on Annika, an independent woman who will do anything for her company Make Up, and Hudson, CEO of rival company Break Up. Annika and Hudson have met before, and this is woven throughout their story. There are highs and lows between the two, through competition for funding and within their personal lives, but ultimately the story culminates in a feel-good ending.

This entertaining enemies to lovers YA Romance follows Annika Dev, CEO of Dating App, Make Up also known as “Google Translate for failing relationships.” The only problem is the startup capital is almost gone, her prototype isn’t finished and her enemy/rival CEO of successful “Uber for breakups” app, Break Up, Hudson Craft is her new Office Neighbor.

To make matters worse,Annika hooked up with him a year ago and is convinced he stole her ideas. Now they’re both competing for prestigious EPIC investment pitch contest-Annika can’t loose or she’ll go bankrupt.

As pranks and petty one-upmanship ensues, can Annika put their differences aside, can Hudson learn what true love’s really about?

This was a rather enjoyable read, I love the enemies to lovers trope and this is no exception. The chemistry between Annika and Hudson is palpable and I really enjoyed the petty childishness of their attempts at sabotage/flirting.The one downside is Annika can be a little impulsive and quick to judge but that wasn’t really a huge problem for me.

Overall,this is a fabulously lighthearted take on the rivalry as courtship / enemies to lovers trope that I think, would very much appeal to Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy and Enemies to lovers fans.

I’d also like to thank Hodder Paperbacks and Net Galley for the ARC.