I always like to start by thanking the author and publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the book. I found this book to be overall good, but it did seem like it dragged on in some places.

Eloise Fox wrote a fun office romance in This Is Not An Office Romance. It was a solid read. You won’t regret reading this one.

DNF--I couldn't get through this book. The writing was very amateur and not enjoyable to read. I feel bad leaving a bad review, but maybe someone else will enjoy this read.

Unfortunately this book is a miss for me, which was disappointing because I really thought I held promise.

First, the characters come across as flat and lacking depth. Everything seems very surface level, the development of their personalities and motivations just didn’t seem defined. I was struggling to connect with any of the characters, especially our main couple.

Second, the dialogue is extremely stilted. No one talks this way in real life and it came across forced instead of natural. There were multiple times when characters used each others names even when no one else was present, which was disruptive to the vibe of the book as once I noticed it, I couldn’t stop. It started to become a game to me to see how often it happened.

Third, the book is simultaneously descriptive while also giving us no details. I know that sound weird, but sadly it’s accurate. This author spends the entire time “telling” us instead of “showing” us. I was unable to immerse myself into the book because it felt like information was being shoved at me instead of leading me there overtime. The writing was also repetitive, using the same words/ phrases multiple times on the same page. Third person perspective wasn’t the best choice to use in this book, especially considering that it does switch perspectives.

Fourth, It’s 2024. There were some phrases used within this book that would (in my opinion) be considered extremely offensive to the disabled community. I thought we were past this type of insulting language? Especially considering that one of the main plot points of this book is that she starts a job at a new firm due to a scandal around harassment. The language felt disjointed from the message the story is trying to portray.

Fifth, I’m not a huge fan of long chapters, and while this is a personal complaint, these chapters took me 20-25 minutes each. It felt like way too much was happening before the next break in the chapter.

I truly hope that this book finds its audience, unfortunately it wasn’t for me and there were just too many small things that tallied up into me not enjoying this story.

Sadly, this was a miss for me. I feel like I may not be the target audience for this book as it wasn’t what I expected and I found it quite difficult to finish.

Starting with the positives - I liked the character of Sarah, Jack’s PA, she was light and fun and a nice bridge between the FMC and the MMC at times.

I found Emily’s backstory interesting but it’s quite surface level. All the characters in this book are unfortunately. The two main characters were borderline insufferable and I found them very one-dimensional. Despite being a “feminist” lawyer, Emily isn’t a very feminist character - lots of focus on her looks in the descriptions from other characters and she’s immediately suspicious and sometimes downright rude to other female characters throughout (specifically Bronwyn and Jack’s ex).

In terms of the writing, the chapters switch perspectives. Which I think is a useful tool when the writing is in first person but in this case the author continues switching perspectives but writes in third person throughout. I remember reading a chapter from Emily’s perspective but reading what seemed to be from Jack’s inner monologue. There are points in the book that are sexist and ableist - surely we’re not referring to people as “deaf and dumb” anymore?

Furthermore, the dialogue between characters is unrealistic and repetitive - “oh my days”. The characters use each other’s name throughout the dialogue even when there is only two people present in the discussion. Emily said “Bea” in dialogue five times in one page.

This is a huge disconnect between the first half of the book and the second and whilst this book had a promising premise, the execution requires some closer attention prior to publication.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Burning Chair for this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Slow burn… work enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers…. Tropical vacation work trip. Excellent character development very descriptive which I love. The story ran slow so it was a perfect easy weekend read for me.

This is NOT an office romance is a solid 3 star read for me. It was a good comfort book that i was able to read in a few hours. There was strong character development. The author was very descriptive which I like because then i can really imagine what’s going on. The book did run a little slow at times and i found that the characters say alot of the same phrases - but i guess even in guilty of doing that in real life.

I was really excited to try this book as one of my favorite romance books takes place in an office setting. Unfortunately, while the idea for This is NOT an Office Romance was solid, the implementation had significant and distracting plot holes, and at times I felt as if I was reading a book by two separate authors.

Emily as a character was likable. I thought her backstory was interesting and gave her something appropriate to overcome. I liked how supportive her parents were, and appreciated that she was written as a woman with power and self confidence. Unfortunately her backstory came with significant plot holes, at times her ex was referred to as her fiancé and at other times in the book it's indicated they were never engaged. At one point Emily describes meeting her ex at uni, at another she describes him as being from her hometown and labels them to have been childhood sweethearts. Discrepancies like that play a significant role in preventing me from being fully immersed in a story.

Jack as a character was not as likable. His condescending remark that junior staff looked up to senior staff as children look up to parents felt gross; especially in a story where the idea of workplace appropriateness was a big plot point.

Also, I was very confused as to when the story takes place. If it takes place around 2024, it doesn't make sense that Bronwyn would be considered a millennial based on the age given for her. She would be a member of gen z, and the main characters would be millennials. If the story takes place in the past, there is no clear indication of that. Emily herself is described as 32, yet two years earlier she was in the accident (30) and it's said she was working in New York as an attorney for nearly 10 years. I'm unsure if law school goes more quickly in the UK than in the US but 20 seems very young for a lawyer just starting out. Additionally, Jack is said to have worked at the firm for nearly 20 years, yet he's written as in his mid-thirties. Did he start as an intern?

Another aspect that I found jarring was that around the 2/3rds mark, the book became much more descriptive and poetic. Frequently to an extreme degree. Some of the language was beautiful but it was also continuous and very different form the rest of the book which was jarring.

Finally, wiithout spoilers, the last non-epilogue chapter contains a discrepancy about what happened to a particular character. Two different and mutually exclusive conclusions were given.

Thank you NetGalley and Burning Chair for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own

This is NOT an office romance... or is it? I read this in less than a day! It was such a cozy stay at home book to read.
Emily and Jack are both at transitional points in their life and feel as though they have feelings for eachother almost immediately. They cannot stop thinking about eachother.
When they are assigned to work a case together for the law firm they both work at, they seem to get a little more than just work done.
However, their job and troubled history might not let them be together.
Read to find out if they get their happily ever after!
Things I liked: character development, the plot, and the writing style was very descriptive.
Things I did not like: some of the explanations were repetitive, with a character even responding the same way twice back to back in chapter 5.
Rating: 3/5
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review. #ThisisNOTanOfficeRomance