This is a cute, enemies to lovers, (2/5 spice scale) romance. Olivia is a fledgling writer who works part time in a university library. Aiden is her brother Dan’s best friend and her 10-year long nemesis. Olivia only had to see Aiden a couple of times a year, until he got a job at her university and then moved in with her and Dan. What could go wrong when a man you have hated for a decade invades your space.

I love how Dan is very supportive of Olivia and helping her achieve her dream. Olivia has a slow awakening to her attraction of Aiden, who has been drawn to her since they met. About 75% into the book is where the spice comes to life. I like how Olivia is unsure about Aiden but she puts her whole self into her book writing. I want to know what happened to Stevie and her great love.

There were a few grammatical issues, two places where a word seems to be missing, or it could be British English grammar, which I’m not overly familiar with. The book was well written, and I connected with and cared about the characters. There isn’t any love triangle or overly dramatic characters that get in the way.

If you want to read a solid enemies to lovers romance with some spice this book is for you.

This is a book I definitely wouldn’t regret buying. I couldn’t put it down and if the author decided to write another version of the book from Aiden’s POV, I would pre-order it now.

I liked seeing the process of Liv’s book-writing, their constant bickering/ teasing, the brother’s side story was pleasant and her friend’s presence always meaningful. And I also enjoyed the part where despite the temporary distance, the path of communication was still open; I don’t see that often in similar situations.

For me, it’s not a 5 star for just a couple of reasons: We don’t get to learn in depth about the MCs personalities, especially Aiden. We see for instance that Liv is “wild” but we have no previous indication about that. And the spicy scenes were a bit awkward. It felt as if something was missing or like the author was not comfortable writing them. I would be ok with even less spice but what bothered me was the lack of description of their feelings and the lust they should be feeling at those moments.

-Single 1st person POV (FMC)
-Spice: 1.25/5 🌶️

Overall: 4.5/5 ⭐️ for me.

I received an advance review copy for free via NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book is an enemies to lovers, brothers best friend story where the FMC Liv is a Librarian and Aspiring Author and the MMC is a Film Studies Professor. The design of the cover is wonderful and I very much enjoyed the premise, but I found the writing to be a bit hard to get through. The pacing of the book was good and I liked the main characters but there were moments that I definitely moments where I was cringing. While I enjoyed the pacing and storyline of the book the writing style was not for me.

MUST READ! I absolutely loved this book. It contained my favorite tropes, enemies to lovers, childhood friends, and bothers best friend. Olivia was a smart woman who knew exactly what she wanted, I can relate to her being scared of rejection and the unknown. I enjoyed reading about her journey in writing her first book. This book made me feel hopeful for people who come into my life, you never know where it could end up. I can’t wait to tell all my book friends about this because it was amazing!!

3.5 stars!!

The Love Interest (we love a title named for a romcom trope) is an adorable brother’s best friend/enemies to lovers story following librarian/wannabe author and major Mr Darcy fan Liv and Irish film professor and A Cinderella Story lover Aiden. The love story between these two is filled with banter, lots of care, a pair of beautiful grand gestures, and 10 years of making up for in love!

The only things that didn’t work for me in this book were the sections of the book Liv was writing (not as good of writing!!) and Liv’s coworker best friend who was mostly there just to hype our main gal up. The rest of their friend group- amazing, fleshed out, delightful!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this book in exchange for an honest review in advance of the book release on Feb 12!

I have never been so thoroughly bludgeoned with a theme in my life. And, just in case the cudgel snapped too soon for me to get it through my thick skull that this was definitely a P&P tribute (a shamefully poor one, but here we are), the characters bring up the movie (what? you're saying they finally wrote a book about that bbc drama?) a minimum of once every three pages. Don't even get me started on the "writer" character and her "pages," I've already given this far more time than it deserves.

A strong 3.5 leaning towards 4 star book. I picked this book due to the cover and description and I was not disappointed. It delivered everything it said it would and the only reason it dropped some stars was due to the flow and writing style. I found it a little difficult to read some parts due to the blocky sentences, however I am glad I carried on because it was a fun enemies to lovers story and I look forward to the release of this book!!!!! I can see it being a huge hit.

Have I watched Pride and Prejudice a few too many times? Maybe. Do I like an enemies-to-lovers trope? Guilty. Was I in the mood for an easy, straightforward book I didn't have to think too much about? Uh-huh. When I saw The Love Interest, I knew it would check all these boxes. A bonus that I was delighted about was that I got a behind-the-scenes look at Liv's (FMC) own writing process as she struggled to come up with the perfect male lead. I get it, Liv; who hasn't had incredibly high expectations after having book boyfriends like Mr. Darcy?

Enter Aiden (MMC). The man is fine, cocky, and slips into the classic situation of teasing the little sister of his best friend, who we know he is secretly in love with. Or is he just a jerk? Well, you will have to pick up a copy of The Love Interest to find out.

Ultimately, this was a classic romance novel with a low level of spice and a high level of cuteness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

Overall I enjoyed this sweet, quick romance novel. The main characters were fun (I especially loved Liv’s obsession with Pride and Prejudice) and I’m such a fan of the forced proximity trope used to get our characters together.

I felt that the event that prompted Liv to label Aiden as her “nemesis” was weak - I’m just not sure that should’ve fueled the fire for 10 years. The side characters had potential, but they were all underdeveloped yes-men at the end of the day, not really challenging the plot or the characters. I felt some of the writing was choppy, but not to the point of being distracting.

I’d recommend this as a straightforward, easy romance that is great for fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope.

4 stars. A cute enemies to lovers story!

This is the first Victoria Walters book I've read. The cover is cute and the plot sounded interesting - after all, Pride and Prejudice is a classic of romantic literature!

The book follows librarian Liv, who is writing her first book, which is a romantic story. Liv hates her brother's best friend Aiden. He begins to use reality as inspirationto her book, as the theme of his book is enemies to lovers. However, as the story progresses, Liv and Aiden feel more something completely different than disgust towards each other.

I really liked the plot of the book and the main characters were cute together. Their relationship from hate to love was interesting to watch, and the story unfolded nicely little by little.

Overall, the book was a nice and entertaining read. I hope this book gets sequels, I would love to read them!

Tropes:
Enemies to lovers
Big brother’s best friend
Tall, dark, handsome hero
Forced proximity
Second chance
Little bit of steam

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the chance to review this!

The Love Interest is a spicy romance with a librarian/author main character and a fun enmities to lovers style. I loved the pacing, the detail of the MCs fashion and style, and the drool worthy love interest. This book moved along at just the right pace, I was always eager for more, but never felt like it was rushed. The MC felt well rounded and real. She has her own style and I felt like I got to know her. The love interest is a sexy film nerd and is respectful but also very flirty. There was so much banter that I could really feel the chemistry. I will definitely be recommending this to friends! Such a great read!!

First of all, THANK YOU to Boldwood for sending me an ARC, I truly appreciate it.

This novel, where do I even begin. The big thing I love about this novel is that in a way, it shows how authors think. With Liv (FMC) being an aspiring author--which I'm sure many of us readers dream of being as well--, we really get insight into the details behind writing a novel. This was definitely bold, interesting, and different from what other books have to offer. Furthermore, this book wasn't predictable, which I LOVED! It did include references to other major literary novels and films but I think being able to incorporate those into this novel really blossoms the love between Liv and Aiden (MMC). But that Pride and Prejudice "thing" at the end though ;) that was definitely adorable.

Will say, I could not put this down, read it in one sitting because it truly is written very well. The side characters (Dan, Theo, Stevie, and Jasper) were incorporated into this story beautifully. I'm not an AVID reader of enemies to lovers but this one really warmed my heart.

The thing holding me back from 5 stars is that I wish there was more emotion in this novel. While reading it, there were many parts where my feelings of joy just kind of plateau'd for a while. Would love if there were some really gut-wrenching tear-jerking moments added in.

I took a lot of notes while reading, but I'll share one quote that doesn't spoil this story. Honestly, I just love some good 'ol classic romance that doesn't involve an overwhelming amount of raunchiness. This is a wholesome book and I would recommend it to anyone who is a film/classic literature buff or just loves a good enemies to lovers / my brother's best friend story.
“I will woo you every day for the rest of your life if that will make you happy.”

At first I didn't like the mc, Aiden bothered me, because he was always picking fights with Liv. All the time I was wondering how he was going to win Liv's heart. But, as the story progressed I realized that Liv enjoyed that confrontation. It was their routine, the way they expressed their attraction without saying it out loud. They were like children, which is somewhat rare at that age, but after several years it was difficult for them to change it. I loved the great gestures of both of them. Aiden dressed as Mr. Darcy and it was very sweet. It became one of my favorites scenes of the book. Although, Liv's gesture was beautiful. Who wouldn't want the love of their life to write them a book? Their love story was sweet and I truly enjoyed. Thanks to the author, the publishers and NetGalley ❣️

I really really really enjoyed it!
I was alternating between giggling and swooning throughout the whole book.
I think Victoria did an awesome job with these characters, their stories and their growth throughout the book.
I usually don't like the miscommunication but Victoria did in a way that didn't feel just dumb and annoying and I really liked that.
For me, this one was a solid 4.6 read and I'm glad I'm adding a new author to my shelves!

As someone who loves Pride and Prejudice, the mention of Mr. Darcy is what immediately captured my interest. I had fun reading this! This book promised a sexy enemies to lovers rom com and it absolutely delivered! I particularly like Liv, our female protagonist, who is working on writing her own novel but finds herself having a hard time drawing inspiration because of her lack of experience in the love life department and, as a hopeless romantic myself, I find it easy to relate to her thoughts and mindset.

Aiden is cocky and finds it amusing to annoy Liv and the banter between the two of them is so witty and funny that I had to sometimes pause because the comebacks were just too good and it left me craving for more of their interactions! The chemistry between them is so on fire! While the banters were all fun, the romance between the two of them were swoon worthy and I absolutely devoured the secret jealousy and pining! I loved how their relationship turned out towards the end. I loved that the banters were very much fresh and alive even when their relationship turned romantic.

It was totally interesting reading through the thought process of someone who is an aspiring writer and how they plan to write the story and characters of their novel! I adored Liv's friendship with Stevie! Nothing beats a friendship where you can spill freely to each other and talk non stop about all things love and romance — as well as knowing your worth enough to know that you should never settle for less especially in love. I adored the side characers and the library setting. Makes me long to have a job in a library myself. Also, I love that this book is called The Love Interest because there were moments that made me realize how that title suits this story so much. It would have been nice if we got to see Aiden's thoughts and POV though to allow us a glimpse of what he thinks of Olive and their years of misunderstanding and miscommunication. The ending kind of left me wanting more. The writing is so easy to follow and I genuinely enjoyed reading this!

If you like a quick, fun, sexy, and swoony enemies to lovers read filled with loads of chemistry and sprinkled with a healthy dose of film and book references, I think you might love this one!

Thank you Netgalley, Boldwood books, and the author for the opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange of an honest review!

This was an okay read for me. The writing and dialogue was a bit clunky/stilted in parts and there was a little to much “tell” re the chemistry between Aidan and Olivia and not enough “show”. The premise was interesting enough and it kept me reading u til the end. 2.5 stars⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers along with the author for letting me to review this book for an honest review. Cute cover romantic flirty banter. This one you can judge a book by its cover. Five stars. Love a good romcom and also library setting says it all.

"Like I was a treasure he'd been searching for all his life.."

I was excited to read this! I felt connected immediately upon reading the synopsis, myself also being a romance reader who yearns for the idea of the "perfect love story". Moments of this book felt like such a quick read but other parts felt as if they moved too slow or dragged on. Their reason for hating each other just felt very surface-level to me. I was hesitant about our couple getting together so quickly as I knew it would lead to a lot of misunderstandings and drama later on (and boy was I right). However, I really enjoyed the characters of Olivia and Aiden, and definitely wish we could have gotten dual POV from Aiden's perspective as you could feel how much he liked Liv - but we were always looking at him through Liv's perspective (and wow can she be dense sometimes). Their banter was quick, sassy and fun! Also while I enjoyed the library scene (eyes emoji) it felt very out of character for them both. They both take their jobs very seriously so it didn't make sense for them to risk their positions for some spicy moments. Overall, I think I enjoyed the couple more in the first half than the second but still wanted to see their happy ending! Very important sidenote, Jasper is a sweetheart.

I DNFed this book after a couple days, and the reason for that was specifically the writing. Sentences felt blocky, and nothing flowed, every sentence felt like they stood on their own. There's an air of naturalness that comes with writing, or should do, and here it didn't feel swift or easy, but planned and abstract.

Though something I did really enjoy was the plot, and the pacing was great.
Whether in the forefront or in the background, each little section of the story was well thought through and sat well with the rest of the plot.

You can definitely tell the author put a lot of thought into the story, and I appreciate that while admitting that the writing just didn't sit greatly with me.

This is a quick read for people who are fans of Pride and Prejudice, or their classic dark, tall and handsome love interests. The cosy bookish friend vibes between the mc and her best friend were really cute, and I liked the use of irony, which didn't feel too cliché.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

As a romcom and romance girl, this book spoke to me. I love the story, I love everything about it other than some bits feeling rushed and I wish the epilogue was longer! I wanted more story!!

Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and book boyfriends who make you swoon repeatedly 🤤😍

I love all of the couples and I hope we get a Stevie story eventually, with a flash towards the future for the couples in this book!