This was a great book. I connected with the characters. I felt engrossed with the plot. I would read another book by this author.

The Love Interest is a fun, lighthearted book perfect to pack in your beach bag this summer! Would recommend!

Unfortunately DNF’ing a few per cent. I have enjoyed several other Victoria Walters books and recommend picking this up if you like the sound of it!

It’s immediately ‘enemies to lovers’ which isn’t a trope I enjoy much, but mostly I had to DNF because it’s quite insulting towards the sidekick guy for wearing elbow pads and being a bit nerdy and I just can’t be on board with nice guys being treated that way. I also felt Aiden was just being so rude to Liv and whilst I understand that would have improved later on, I didn’t want to be along for the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Love Interest by Victoria Walters in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I didn’t love this one. I didn’t like the main man at all and that always ruins trying to root for the couple to end up together. I didn’t like his comments in the beginning; she noted countless times where he had put her down, told her her expectations were too high and insulted her appearance.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that enemies to lovers should stay out of contemporary rom coms and stick to fantasy romance. In this book especially, they are only ‘enemies’ in the main girl’s head - and even she is listing after him the whole time. They aren’t enemies at all, she’s just annoyed around him because she’s attracted to him and doesn’t want to be.

The ‘enemies’ part ended as soon as it had started; the love story had already began 30% in! This was marketed wrong - the trope is completely inaccurate.

There were countless Mr Darcy references which I am sure so many people will love but as I am not a fan of Pride and Prejudice it sounded cringey to me.

The miscommunication was so annoying, unneeded and overly dramatic. It put me off rooting for the couple at all and the main reason I finished this book was because I was already so far in.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this swoonworthy book!
It's a fun enemies to lovers, as well as second chance love. I loved having multiple tropes.
Assistant librarian and British woman Liv is struggling with inspiration for her writing. Her brother suggests his best friend Aiden stay in their shared apartment for a few weeks. Even though they have hostility Liv starts using Aiden as inspiration for her book. With a forced proximity sparks start flying. I loved the steam and the light rom-com elements. Liv and Aiden were likable characters and I always love a British romance! It was an easy and fast book to read! I highly recommend it if you're looking for a fun and charming read.

Liv is a librarian who wants to write a romance novel, but she’s stuck on writing the perfect hero. When her brother and roommate tells his best friend he can stay with them, she’s furious. LIV has had a love/hate relationship for with Aiden for years, he’s irritating and annoying but is also gorgeous. There’s no way Aiden is her perfect hero, right?!?

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Love Interest is an enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, coworkers, close proximity rom com all wrapped into one and I really enjoyed it. I loved Aiden and Olivia, they were just good people with good intentions and fantastic chemistry. The banter was a lot of fun and I loved how Olivia was also writing a romcom during the story as well. The side characters were enjoyable and added to the story, the complication was just frustrating enough but not too overblown and I got the ending that I was hoping for. All in all, a very good book.

Actual rating: 3.5

Tropes: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, office / workplace romance, books about books

The Love Interest follows a university librarian, Olivia, or Liv as she embarks on writing her first novel. She lives with her brother who decides to spring on her that the guy she’s hated for the last ten years will be moving in.

This book had strong characters and character development. The mom, the brother and his fiance, as well as several other characters were very present and very fleshed out. I honestly started getting interested in several of the subplots in addition to the main romance story.

I also felt like the main romance was written relatively well. I didn’t like that there was a third act conflict which made since, but I felt like it was taken a little too far. I also found (especially towards the end) that there were too many flashbacks to prior memories between our hero and heroine that we as the reader had no knowledge of.

One thing I think that makes this a 3.5 and not a 4 is the writing style. It felt at times a little awkwardly worded or sometimes just too wordy.

Overall a fun read.

When I started to read this book I felt in love in a second. A librarian who loves romcom books? My dream job. A male character who loves movie? Even better, but as soon as I started to get in the story, my enthusiasm started to decline.

First. We have Live Thomas, a librarian who lives in her brothers apartment because wants to write her own novels, as a male lead character we have Aiden Rivers, Live's big brother best friends, and of course, she hates him and he loves to mess with her. Until here everything is perfect, enemies to lovers, brother's best friends. What can go wrong? Everything. I was more into the secondary characters, like Liv's brother or her boss at the University library. I wanted to know more about the relationship between Theo and Dan. At 35% of the book I almost DNF it but I keep reading it, I can give a honest review if I did not finish the book.

Second. The reason why all this fight between Aiden and Live was so not on point. I really was expecting for something more exited, but I think it was too easy. Too bored to go with it.

This was an ok book. Something light, but sometimes the main characters, specially Liv, made me wanted to DFN the book so many times that it was not healthy.

What a fun lovely story!

This book reads like fanfic - the good kind that makes you feel right at home. From the first chapter, you're immersed in author Victoria Walters' world.

Liv is absolutely a reader's perfect main character. Librarian, writer, reading enthusiast. Awkward and cute.

Aiden is difficult. But he grows on you!

Oh, and the enthusiastic BFF and the supportive brother to round out the cast.

Did I mention Pride & Prejudice?

"In real life, did anyone actually make a grand gesture?"

Tropes in this book which I love in general
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forced Proximity
- The guy falls first

Victoria did an awesome job with the pacing of the story and keeping the reader gripped to the book. Some new but some common story lines, but all in all I loved reading it and would love to read more of her works in future.

Thank you to NetGalley, The Author and Boldwood Books for providing this ARC exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

This book was cute.
It felt a little long at parts. The first 40% kind of dragged a bit.
The characters are all likable so you do want them all to succeed and get what they want. The ending is cute.

Liv, Aiden, Dan, and Stevie were all fun characters to learn about. I’d like another book about Stevie. I liked her character a lot.

I really enjoyed this! Once I got into it I couldn't put it down. I liked the idea of the woman writing a rom com based on her real life without realizing it. It was a fun escape for a bit.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Great novel about love. Would keep it for older students but the girls would really enjoy it because it would help them with something that they may be struggling with or another way to see something they may be going through. Kids these days need other ways to relate and this novel could do just that.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks..."

It's not simply a pretty line from Shakespeare, but a rather true sentiment that certainly applies here. Liv and Aiden have been at it for years, and while seen as banter, aggravation, and annoyance, sometimes it's just the heart's way of expressing itself while uncertain about those feelings being returned. Watching these two come around made my heart smile, and it didn't hurt to have a little P&P reenactment either 😉. It's easy to get caught up in the potential love affair, but it was equally enthralling to watch Liv follow her dreams as a writer... even if that gets her into a little trouble along the way.

A great pick for Contemporary Romance fans that like their stories on the bookish side!

Liv is a librarian working in a university trying to write her own romance novel, but she's struggling as she's nothing to base her leading man on. Enter Aiden Rivers, her brothers best friend who has recently gotten a job at the same university. When Livs brother suggests that Aiden moves in with them for a while, Liv can't believe her bad luck. Soon though, she finds herself basing her leading man on Aiden and realising that maybe she actually doesn't hate him after all.

I am so disappointed I didn't enjoy this as it sounded right up my street. This had way too many tropes for me - enemies to lovers, brothers' best friend, forced proximity, and miscommunication. I couldn't connect with the characters and I wasn't invested in their romance as I honestly couldn't see the chemistry. Liv and Stevies friendship confused me too as they seemed like they were only colleagues rather than best friends as they never did anything outside work either. This could've been so much better if the author had taken time to really flesh out the characters and flesh out the friendships and relationships and if she hadn't mentioned coffee and TikTok about a thousand times. The only thing I liked about this book was that it was fast paced so I flew through it in a couple hours. I don't think I'll be picking up this authors work again though.

Liv, an aspiring romance writer, finds herself living with her brother in London, where she works part-time at a university library. When her nemesis, Aiden, her brother's best friend, also joins the university and moves in with them, their love-hate relationship takes center stage. As Liv writes her own romance novel, she realizes she might be living her own love story. Despite a slow start and initial disbelief in their animosity, the novel becomes captivating with its mix of romantic tropes like kissing in the rain and steamy library scenes. What sets it apart is its metafictional aspect of a novel within a novel, which adds depth to the story. Liv and Aiden's miscommunication drives the plot as they navigate their feelings while working and living together. The characters are relatable, portraying the complexity of hiding true feelings behind anger and indifference. The book also emphasizes the importance of seeing different perspectives and understanding there's more to every story.

I unfortunately did not enjoy this one. The writing felt underdeveloped and made me feel like I was reading a YA romance, which is not what I was expecting at all. It's a bit repetitive, and I didn't care for the main characters at all. I liked the premise, but the story itself didn't deliver.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun book. I enjoyed it a lot!