3⭐️ Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of the Love Interest. While I love a good forced proximity trope, this one did not work for me. The combination of cringy dialogue and main characters who act like children just did not work for me.

I decided to dnf this after the first three chapters. The main character was obnoxious and it seemed like the love interest was going to be too. The writing was repetitive and the dialogue was ridiculous.

My favorite part about this book was the banter. The way the characters went back and forth with each other kept me entertained and smiling like an idiot the whole time.

Even with that i found myself struggling to read this book. I wanted to read it and when i was reading it, i was having fun but also struggling to get into it.

I think i would have enjoyed this book more in audiobook form instead of a physical book but i really did enjoy this. the relationship was really good and was overall enjoyable.

‘You’re always telling me you prefer men in books.’
‘Oh definitely, when men in real life are like you.’
‘You couldn’t handle a real man,’ he said gruffly.
‘Show me a real man first,’ I retorted.

"I never thought you actually got a happy ending in real life, that's why I love reading romance stories."

Tropes -
* enemies to lovers
* Brothers best friend
* He falls first
* She grovels
* Forced proximity

Olivia is a hopeless romantic libertarian who is obsessed with books and rom coms (like me). She trying to write a book but can’t find inspiration for a male lead but there’s a solution… her brothers best friend, who also kinda a jerk. I liked it a lot, it was a light funny book. The writing was so easy to go through and the characters were all written well, I might read more of her books in the future.

i would probably give it 3.75 stars. It’s a pride and prejudice inspired story. The plot is good. But the ending is too rushed .
It needs more work.

I absolutely loved this!! I couldn’t put it down and loved everything about it from the storyline to the characters. Liv Jones and Aiden Rivers have had a love hate relationship forever. Liv works as a librarian at the University library and lives with brother Dan, who is Aiden’s best friend. Things become even more awkward when Aiden gets a job as the film studies professor at the university and moves in with Liv and Dan. The chemistry between the two main characters is so brilliantly written and also how all the other characters interact with each other. Some real laugh out loud moments as well as some deeper ones. There are some great references to romcoms that tie into the story too. I equally couldn’t wait to finish but also didn’t want it to end! Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This is your typical enemies-to-lovers but with so much more. The FMC, Liv, had just moved in to London with her brother in the hopes of being inspired enough to pursue her dream of writing her own romance novel. She works at a university library part-time and had learned that his brother's best friend, Aiden, will be joining said university as a Professor. Liv does not like Aiden due to their past encounter and wishes to keep their interaction as brief but with Aiden working in the same university as her, she is struggling to control her emotions. The tension is thick but once they let their feelings out the chemistry was even more glorious; love the banter throughout their interaction as well which was what made this read even more enjoyable for me.

This book is fun to read and I loved the underlying theme of chasing after what you want in life. I completely adore the side characters as well and loved their closeness altogether. This is definitely a nod to Pride and Prejudice and Colin Firth in his wet white shirt (IYKYK).


Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This one fell totally flat for me and was honestly a struggle to get through.
I didn't like the writing style, it didn't flow at all and the dialogue made me cringe a lot.
I didn't connect to, or even really like, the main characters at all. Aiden was unbelievably obnoxious to the point that I didn't care about any character growth and his 180 personality change gave me whiplash. Olivia was just plain annoying and I think maybe first person POV did this book a disservice.
The spice felt totally out of character and just added in to have it there.
Way too reliant on the miscommunication trope and I already hate the third act breakup but this might be one of the worst, so forced and unnecessary.
The whole book felt very formulaic, like boxes needed to be ticked off for no reason.
One thing I will say is that the pacing and structure was well done

I think this book definitely has an audience but it's just not for me.

There is no denying that this book is bursting with chemistry! Was such a nice light romance read that had me smiling away throughout. The characters were all written so well, and I loved reading how they blossomed throughout the book. I'd definitely love a book 2 or 3 with the other characters' stories!

Thanks to netgalley for my copy

I wasn’t sure about this book at the beginner. I didn’t connect with Liv at first, some of her conversations felt a bit cringy. I loved her interactions with Stevie and Dan but something felt off. I loved Aidan instantly instead and as they began spending time together and the story progressed, I found myself unable to put the book down. I really enjoyed their story, although some parts felt a bit slow. Dan’s story in the background was also really good and I appreciated that it was well thought out and developed.

Overall a really good book that I would recommend at anyone in search of what I would consider a classic romantic story.

I really loved this! It had me hooked from the very beginning. I absolutely loved Aiden and Olivia and I loved the banter between them! It had me smiling while I was reading it which is always a winner! I found Liv to be a really relatable character. This was such an easy book to read and I would highly recommend you pick it up.

I was excited to read a forced proximity enemies to lovers, but this book did not work for me. It started out strong with a good enemy relationship between Liv and Aiden. They clearly didn’t like each other but there was banter and tension that would make it believable for them to eventually fall in love. But somewhere along the way it all fell apart for me. Once lovers it didn’t seem like there was that same banter and tension as before, like who they were just completely changed. There was also so much miscommunication between the two lovers that could’ve been resolved if they just talked to each other. It felt like the third act break up lasted longer than it should’ve because they just didn’t talk it out and waited to do their grand gestures. My other issue with this book was that it was filled with too much internal dialogue. I think some of the relationship could’ve been better if they had more scenes together that wasn’t filled with Liv’s thinking.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as I had hoped I would.

Aspiring romance author Liv works part time at the university library as an librarian assistant. She got the job three months ago after her brother offered her to move in with him in London. She absolutely loves her new job and her coworker Stevie who has become her closest friend. One day, while at work, she finds her brothers best friend Aiden touring the university. They’ve known each other for the past 10 years and they always seem to be bickering but it’s somewhat manageable since they only see each other twice a year. To Liv’s shock and displeasure, Aiden gets offered the position at the university and he moves in with her and her brother while he looks for his own flat.

I’ve been loving the romcoms lately, can’t seem to get enough of them. This one was a fun light read but I think I found a few things a bit bothersome. I love banter, but at times I found that the exchanges to be slightly immature, almost like the characters never grew up from the 10 years of knowing each other. I didn’t love how the character said she didn’t like her name being Olivia and preferred Liv, meanwhile the MMC proceeds to call her Olivia the entire book, disrespecting her preference for the sake of the nemesis relationship. I didn’t mind the book, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

✵𝖬𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝖡𝗈𝗅𝖽𝗐𝗈𝗈𝖽 𝖡𝗈𝗈𝗄𝗌 ＆ 𝖭𝖾𝗍𝖦𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖠𝖽𝗏𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋’𝗌 𝖢𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐.✵

I would definitely recommend The Love Interest. I have never read a Victoria Walters book so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but if you like Beth O’Leary’s voice and writing, then you will like this book. The tropes - enemies to lovers and forced proximity, were fun to read. The flashbacks to 10 years prior, when Olivia and Aiden first met were super clear. It makes me nuts when it isn’t clear why there is a story flashback or when we are moving back to current day. The author wrote those transition so well, which added to continuing on with the story. The Love Interest was the perfect combination of fun and spicy.!!!!!! #TheLoveInterest #NetGalley

It's hard to rate this.. For me personally it was very boring and the writing was stilted. I think it literally read like a Hallmark movie--expository dialogue, a very immature main character who doesn't act like a real human, a grudge against the MMC, etc. Which I think would be fine, but the illustrated cover and description made me think we'd get a little more here. I feel like the illustrated cover thing is that they end up being for the romances with more depth? Or that are the newer style rom coms that have more more unique hooks and characters. Whereas I would expect to see this book in the grocery store and the cover to be a generically pretty model either holding a pen and looking thoughtful or glaring/smoldering at a strong-jawed generically handsome man. I'm giving three stars because once I modified my expectations this was somewhat enjoyable. But really the cover looks like an Emily Henry book and that is not a comparison you want to draw here.

Victoria Walters had me at the mention of Mr. Darcy in her latest romcom, The Love Interest.  I read this in one afternoon and enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

You know that feeling when you're on a rollercoaster and it starts going down, and your stomach clenches? Or, even better, you talk to the person you fancy, and they start smiling or even looking at you and you get those annoying butterflies? Well, that's basically what I felt for most part of the book. Every banter, every conversation, actually everything these two - Aiden and Liv - did made my stomach clench with butterflies. Every. Single. Time.

Aiden is Liv's brother's best friend and ever since something happened ten years before, they became enemies. Liv only had to tolerate Aiden twice a year - at Christmas and for her brother's birthday. But then Aiden gets a job in London and Dan, Liv's brother, invites him to stay with them while he settles on a house.

You can imagine how two people who supposedly hate each other, might react while they are forced to live together. Especially Liv, who probably hates Aiden more than he hates her.

What I have loved of this book is that Liv is so relatable. I was basically her. Love Pride and Prejudiced, swooned over Colin Firth in the BBC rendition of Pride and Prejudice - who didn't though - fantasised on their current crush as Mr Darcy in the lake scene. We have all been there. She's working in a library - dream job, anyone? And she's always dreaming of finding that perfect guy, since Mr Darcy set the bar too high for her - and all of us really.

Aiden at first is portrayed as someone who had to tolerate his best friend's sister whenever they hang out together. Or even obnoxiously crashing into Liv's date with a colleague, just to annoy her. Of course this is what we get, reading Liv's POV. But you can see immediately through facade Aiden pulled up to avoid showing what he really felt.

I also didn't mind the miscommunication trope in this book. I'm not usually a fan, but the way Victoria handled it was fun and interesting.

If you've stuck with me so far, you won't regret picking this book up, when it comes out on February 12th. It's got banter, a bit of spice - which is always welcomed - and the best tropes out there: enemies to lovers and brother's best friend!

Thank you to Boldwood Books for providing this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia “Liv” is an assistant librarian at a university, and she wants to write a romance novel. She lives with her brother in London. Aiden is a film professor at the same university and is temporarily living with Liv and her brother. Liv and Aiden can’t stand each other.

Things I liked: Liv’s passion for romance and writing, as well as her love for Pride and Prejudice. I liked reading about Liv’s writing process, journey, and the development of her story. Her relationship with her brother was beautiful; they shared their feelings and insecurities, gave each other advice, and encouraged one another. The romantic gestures that Liv and Aiden made for each other were lovely.

Things I didn’t like: Both Liv and Aiden were annoying. I didn’t like Liv and Aiden’s constant bickering; it seemed childish. Aiden was defined by his Irish accent, good looks, and role as the perfect love interest. The character development was lacking, which was a bit disappointing. Liv’s constant mention of Pride and Prejudice and Mr Darcy was a bit overdone at times, even though it was cool to see her wanting her love interest to be like Darcy.

The book was a quick read with a fast pace, which I really liked. However, the plot was pretty predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC of The Love Interest by Victoria Walters. This book was a dream come true! It had all of my favorite things -- enemies-to-lovers, all the Pride and Predijuce references, book and film lovers/references, a quirky, confident lead, a delicious love interest, a fantastic supporting cast, and so much more! This one is smart, sexy, and one you won't want to put down. I smiled through my entire reading of this novel, and I think you will, too. Add this one to your TBR; it publishes on February 12!

The Love Interest
By: Victoria Walters
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints
-I love Liv’s work, and her process for writing her novel.

-Liv has really supportive friends and family!

-Aiden and Liv have amazing chemistry!

-The end is a little cheesy, but it was still really cute.

——
The Love Interest was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Boldwood Books. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this wonderful book!

Release Date: 2/12/24

The Love Interest was such a cute book. Liv is trying to write her romance novel, but she is struggling to find a real life leading man to use as inspiration. Enter Aiden, her brother’s best friend.

As Liv and Aiden’s relationship evolves, she uses it to write her story, but obviously things don’t always work out the way you want, and it all blows up in Liv’s face.

I really enjoyed this story. It was fun and engaging, and I loved the chemistry between Liv and Aiden. Anyone looking for a light and romantic read will enjoy this.

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