This was the first book that I have read by Annabelle McCormack and it definitely won't be my last. It was the ultimate summer beach read. The cover was gorgeous and I love the enemies to lovers trope and fake dating. This book had it all. Set in a Caribbean location was icing on the cake. Loved Lydia and Callum together and they had a steamy chemistry - but also witty banter that made me laugh LOL.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

He Loves Me Know has all of my favorite tropes - meet cute, misunderstanding, enemies to loves, and fake dating. Throw in a Caribbean location, a missing wedding dress, and I'm all in. Lydia and Callum have chemistry, witty banter, and fun adventures along the way. Plus it is a quick and easy read. I recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing for allowing me to read this ARC.

I love a good fake dating romance! The author does a great job setting the characters up for tension and steam. The tropical atmosphere is a great escape from the day to day. I would recommend this book for anyone looking to laugh and swoon.

This is my first Annabelle McCormack novel, and I loved it. I love a forced proximity trope, this was such a great read. I read this in one sitting! I will be reading more by Annabelle McCormack, 5 stars!

Trope: Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn
This book was an easy, light, and quick read. I enjoyed the plot despite the slow pace. I couldn’t stop reading because I wanted to know how and when the romance between Liddy and Callum will progress. There’s just a lack of strength to support Callum’s issues given his personality, but this novel had me at the end. I could say that this is one of the best epilogues I have ever read so far.
I quite enjoyed this book. The character growth was great, there were funny moments and touching moments. Some of the issues that plague them are over the top but are entertaining. I am shocked her cell phone was not broken or damaged, it seems like it should have some sort of problem after the fiasco it went through. Id really like to be on a beach in Costa Rica right now, the hammock sounds dreamy.

June 18, 2024
I quite enjoyed this book. The character growth was great, there were funny moments and touching moments. Some of the issues that plague them are over the top but are entertaining. I am shocked her cell phone was not broken or damaged, it seems like it should have some sort of problem after the fiasco it went through. Id really like to be on a beach in Costa Rica right now, the hammock sounds dreamy.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

GAH!! Such a cute story!! I love myself a fake dating story! Best things have to be the whole "one bed trope" I gobbled that up!!!
I loved the chemistry between Lydia and Callum, so many sweet moments between them!!

I absolutely loved this book so much. The romance was so cute and I really liked the story. The main characters were very well written.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book.

Oh wow!!!!! This was a first for me by this author but will not be my last! Such a good story! The characters worked so well together. Such great chemistry. Good love story!!

This was the perfect vacation read! I thoroughly enjoyed the destination wedding + fake dating this book gave us! Liddy can't stand her arrogant boss, Callum, but en route the same destination wedding for Liddy's sister and Callum's best friend they hatch a mutually beneficial plan. Liddy will pretend to be Callum's girlfriend in front of his mom and ex and in exchange he will help Liddy recover her sister's wedding dress, which was lost at the airport. Over the course of the week leading up to the wedding the two realize how even little they know about each other despite having worked together for almost 2 years how. I loved the setting of Costa Rica and the way Callum and Liddy open up to each other. Callum helps Liddy to get out of her comfort zone and Liddy makes Callum realize how he hasn't let anyone really get to know him since his last relationship ended. This book had a lot of emotional depth which I really appreciated and I would definitely be interested in reading a book about Kyle, Liddy and Elle's brother. I would recommend this to fans of the paradise problem, while the set up of the two books are similar the stories take completely different directions. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishes for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This was a really sweet/spicy book with a lot of smile worthy moments. Fake dating your boss? why not. One bed? no problem.
I really want to visit Costa Rica now, but I will surely check my shoes.
Perfect summer read.

Callum is Lydia's boss, but they are stuck together on a flight to a wedding, will it lead to them being more than just work colleagues?

A fake dating romance for Liddy and Callum. Will be let his last stop them having a.future together? I liked how it was told from both points of view, and the setting in Costa Rica sounds amazing.

This was a cute, light-hearted summer read! Fake dating and enemies to lovers tropes are one of my fave this was well done.

4/5

First I want to thank Victoria Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read this arc!

„I’m falling in love with you. And it terrifies me. But the only thing that scares me more is facing a future without you in it“

I gave this book a total 3.5 out of 5 stars.

What I liked:
1. The Writing
The writing in this novel was beautiful. There was just the right amount of descriptions which felt vivid and real. You could tell that the author spent a lot of time trying to find the exact right adjectives to describe the surroundings.
The dialogue was great as well. Nothing about it felt stiff. It was extremely easy to read, and still did not seem trashy or poorly written.
2. The premise and storyline
If I am completely honest, the first two thirds of this book were worthy of five stars. The premise was nothing new but the story still felt fresh and fun. I grew to love the characters (except fort he mmc… more on that later) and became more and more invested in the storyline.
Bonus points for the first scene being in a bookstore.

What i did not like:
1. The mmc (Callum)
I am so so sorry but Callum was just annoying. In the fist 100-200 pages I really liked him. I saw the potential. But the way he handled certain things just pissed me off. Like, yes, I get it, you were hurt. But it is not that difficult to JUST BE HONEST!!!!!!!
2. Lack of originality
I know I already said this book felt fresh, but there were still a few scenes that I felt like I had read before. For example a scene in which Callum is playing football on the beach. It just reminded me of the spanish love deception.

In the end the negative aspects of this book were sadly enough for it to receive only 3.5 stars.
I also just noticed that this is the second part in a series, but I am not sure yet if I want to read the first one…

As always, this review will be published to Goodreads, StoryGraph and Netgalley.
I will also post on Instagram about this one, but in a shorter format. The post will be up in about two days.

He Loves Me Knot is book 2 in the Wanderlust series by Annabelle McCormack.
This was quite a delight to read and it can totally be a binge read!
I was absolutely captivated from the first chapter. Both Liddy and Callum were so relatable and real I couldn’t help but feel like I was part of the story.
A hot enemies turned lovers that was so much fun to devour.

Thank You NetGalley and Victory Editing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers story, mixed with fake dating, set with the backdrop of Costa Rica served with banter and a side of monkeys.

He Loves Me Knot, by Annabelle McCormack, is the second book in the Wanderlust series. In this story we follow Liddy and Cal. Cal is Liddy’s boss, and the two don’t exactly get along. Liddy and Cal find themselves on the same plane on their way a destination wedding where they are both in the bridal party. After something happens to the wedding dress, that Liddy was responsible for bringing to the wedding, Cal shockingly helps cover for Liddy. While the two work together to fix the problem, Liddy sees a new side of Cal, one that very few ever get to see.

This was a fast read that I didn’t want to put down. It is told through a third person dual POV. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter and found myself chuckling and smiling throughout. I love the author’s writing. I read the previous book in this series right before reading He Loves Me Knot, and now I’m sad that I’ll have to wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and Annabelle McCormack for the digital arc of He Loves Me Knot.

He Loves Me Knot is a cute, spicy and quick read packed full of holiday vibes with a tropical location. The premise of this book sound great with an enemies to lovers work colleagues couple who have to fake date for a host of reasons as they attend a wedding for their family and friend in a tropical paradise. The writing is good with lots of banter, conflict and zinging chemistry between the main characters, Callum and Lydia. The spicy scenes are well-written, intimate and add an emotional charge to the attraction between Callum and Lydia as they fake their relationship with their nearest and dearest.

I think this story was a little busy in place as so much goes on in terms of plot events and conflict - I think you could of cut half it out and still had the same story outcomes. It felt much of it was distraction from the main plot that I cared about and everything just fell into place far too easily for a resolution. The pacing was all over the place, making it hard to keep up and keep everything straight for me. There is a lot of characters to balance out and they can all get a little confusing as most of them aren't easy to distinguish from one another unless its Callum and Lydia.

Sadly not the right romance match for me, but I know others who like big hosts of characters, far-flung tropical destinations and soap opera styled action and drama will enjoy this book.

This book was great! The characters were complex and interesting! The plot was well written and compelling, and the story was interesting.

I enjoyed this book, an easy and light beach read for my own sunny vacation :)

The banter and dynamic between the two main characters was engaging but I struggled with some of the conflict that arose, between them and in the general storyline. A main one that I find hard to fully engage with is miscommunication, which created a lot of the plot and led to some convenient situations.

The two main characters did bring out each others strengths and help the other grow. They both had a lot of issues to work through, which I would have like to see more of at the end of the book, as it all ended pretty quickly.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would read more from Annabelle McCormack.