Okay, I need the sequel. One of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Brigitte Knightley must be on something to write like that - her way with metaphor, sarcasm, and dark humor is insane. I want whatever she’s having.

It was so well balanced. Between dirty jokes and a genuinely intriguing plot, you're just waiting for Osric and Aurienne to finally make a move, to throw themselves at each other and… nope. It’s slow...slow burn level slow. And when something finally happens (barely anything), it cranks up the tension so much, my heart clenched more than once.

The enemies to lovers is "aux petits oignons" (if I may say so). Finally, a trope that’s been done right. They hate each other, insult each other, are as egocentric as it gets (seriously, I’ve never seen such vain main characters), and they spend all their time bickering. Un régal.

The worldbuilding might be a bit messy for my taste. At times, it felt like the book threw info at me and went, “figure it out.” It’s light on explanations, heavy on vocabulary and honestly, I wasn’t here for a complex universe anyway.
The Deofuls deserve a special mention, they reminded me of the Dæmons from Northern Lights and the message-carriers in The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy. It was the perfect match.

I think this is my first British original version read, especially one with such old-fashioned language and an intricate writing style. It definitely made me question my own reading skills. But at the same time, I’m so glad I read it in the original version, because the little winks to the French language are everywhere.
As a French reader, I honestly don’t see how you could translate this book. The humor is so sharp and biting, so rooted in its native language… how do you translate that without killing its soul?

I don’t think it’s a book for everyone. You’ve got to have a very open mind, laugh at anything, and have a seriously weird sense of humor with layers of irony (a lot of it). But it’s also a book full of surprises – just when you think the paragraph is going somewhere serious, you turn the page and bam: the punchline, the burst of laughter.

Reading this book felt like opening a door and having it slam shut from a sudden gust of wind. A comfort zone constantly teased by surprise.

Madame Knightley, let’s have a night out together. I think I’m funny. In your case, that’s not a guess, you are. We’d walk out with sore abs and aching cheekbones.
Thanks for the unexpected fits of laughter. Can’t wait to get the paperback and fill it with a hundred annotations.

Thank you, NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK, for this ARC

3.5 ⭐️ A Netflix rom-com with magic. Knightley is the master of banter and perfectly timed insults. I was laughing out loud throughout this book. It's hard to come across a true enemies to lovers romance with a tension filled slow burn but this hits the mark with complete sufficiency. The plot itself fell behind the budding romance. It didn't grip me until the second half of the book but I enjoyed the dynamic between our two main characters enough and the debauchery of the world they live in. It's not a book I will be running to reread but it's perfect for those looking for something light and funny. I do look forward to reading the next one.

5/5 stars! I am so in love with this book. I almost don't have words. It is just perfection. The cover? Amazing. Women in STEM? Check! Sexy, swoony assassin MMC? Mhmmmm. I think I may have drooled a bit during a couple of these scenes. This is a slow-burn, without much explicit spicy, but their chemistry was so flammable I didn't miss the spice. These characters are so deeply developed that I felt like I had known them forever. Cannot wait for book two in this duology.

Thank you to the publisher for the earc!

Well, I don’t know what to say. Wait, I do, I’m (once again) extremely disappointed in an upcoming hyped release. This was definitely not what I expected.

Let me start with that if I didn't know it was originally a Dramione fanfic (though I don’t know which one, as I don’t read fanfics), would have never been able to tell you. There was nothing that resembled anything from the original work. One huge point for the world building and magic system. Was it perfect? No, but it’s a fantasy, so I’m good with a few unexplained things. Plus, this is the first book, it’s possible we’ll get more explanation in the sequel.

The other good point was the story itself. Aurienne looking for a way to heal Osric while simultaneously trying to save countless children from dying. Does she want to heal Osric? No, but as their research funds are blocked, and no royal wants to give them money to find a cure for the Pox, his offer to pay the necessary money in exchange for her knowledge gives very little room to object.

I did not like Aurienne at all. She’s constantly saying how hard it is to be the Best, to be Perfect. Like, chill, just because you’re good at one thing, it doesn’t mean you’re the Best. Do I love a confined FMC? Yes, but she’s not confident, she’s smug and annoying. I hope we can see more of her personality in the next book, because so far, we haven’t seen much of that.

On the other hand I did like Osric, but you know I have a soft spot for light haired, morally gray characters with tragic past, excellent sense of style, an unhealthy amount of sarcasm and a lot of scars (both physical and emotional). So yeah, absolutely no surprises here.

Why such a low rating if I liked many things? The writing. It was bad. I should be the last person to criticize anyone’s writing, but it wasn’t good. I seriously can’t explain what was wrong with it, but it’s true that I got slightly better in the second half. Another thing was the unholy amount of English medical terms. It probably just shows how uneducated I’m in that way, but it quickly got annoying, that I only understood half of the sentences. And if you mix it with a lot of made-up words, it gets even worse. I constantly had to stop and think “Is it a real medical word or just made-up for the book?” Plus many times I wasn’t sure what’s going on, it felt like sometimes sentences were missing. I wish it had another round of edits, it would have done miracles for this book.

I think I’ll read the sequel, but not sure if I would recommend it.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall for your Enemy follows Osric and Aurienne who are forced to collaborate with one another in order to heal Osric’s illness and find out why a deadly pox is resurfacing all the while denying the growing attraction between one another. This book is part of a series which is unfinished.

Firstly, this book is not as serious as one would think. The writing style on the page is very short, snappy and to the point which means it is, in essence, a very quick read. The humour did occasionally tickle me and the romance was very slow burn.

I would like to point out, before I get into a more critical viewpoint, that the last 100 pages or so of the book were much better than the rest. The pace quickened, the relationship between multiple characters was beginning to bloom and the descriptions were much more welcome compared to some descriptions throughout the book. The last 100 pages really salvaged it for me and I would be happy to read the next book in the series, purely because of this.

However, I must warn future readers of the following as I went into this book incredibly disillusioned because of excitement.

The humour throughout the book can become boring quickly. There’s a lot of crude words used throughout the book which are funny at times but can become repetitive and can pull you out of the flow of reading. Granted, some of the insults are very unique.

The writing style was not what I was expecting at all. I felt like initially we had no plot, there wasn’t a lot of character introduction but there was some character development throughout the book. It just felt like you were travelling in a straight line until the last 100 pages when you actually finally got an insight into what is going on with everything.

There was also the Capitalisation of Random Words. I get what Knightley was doing - it’s like when one of your parents gives you the Look but it got irritating quickly because some of the capitalisation was just unnecessary and didn’t make sense. Likewise, there were a lot of big words in there which I was regularly having to look up because I didn’t understand what they meant. This would also pull me out of the story and I felt stupid for not knowing other words which also meant something as simple as “scowling”.

Overall, this book would suit those who like to read slow-burn romances with intense humour.

sadly, i didn’t enjoy this one at all and so i don’t have much to say either!
maybe it’s because i just didn’t connect with this book, but i had so many issues with it:

- i couldn’t wrap my head around the world building. without the glossary, it was almost impossible to make sense of anything.
- this book feels like it’s just told through dialogues and interactions—there were chapters and chapters of conversations, and only a few paragraphs of actual description or narration. - it felt like i was just listening to the characters talk the whole time.
- the banter between our two mcs got a little too much. it wasn’t as humorous as it could’ve been, and i just got annoyed with the two at some point.
- also, osric says “gods” way too many times. it was so overused.

i think i just wasn’t the right audience for it, but everyone’s been excited about it so i decided to request the arc and give it a go.

I enjoyed this!!! Can’t go wrong with an enemies to lovers!! I did not read the fanfic version of this so it was nice going in blind.

3.75/5 ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy was such an anticipated read for me, ready to be pre-ordered in my basket. The cover grabbed me from the first moment of seeing it and I cannot wait to receive my copy of it upon release. I did get very lucky, however, and I was approved for an eARC of it when I was browsing on NetGalley.

I'm a little disappointed to admit that it took me over a month to read. Partly because I got very busy and partly because I didn't vibe with it for a good portion of the book. I'll start with the drawbacks because they're the reason why this has taken so long and then I'll get to the good points.

The writing is witty and funny, genuinely a good time. However, it's part of the reason I felt a little underwhelmed. The banter was relentless, not something I would usually complain about but it just felt like the two main characters had nothing to speak about; all their conversations, serious or not were verbal jabs which made me feel like they held no real vulnerability. In saying that, however, I need to admit they used some good comebacks with each other; they were very well-matched as far as wit goes. I guess that's the point really, they're well-matched.

Another point I have with regard to why I didn't give this a higher rating is the plot development. The first half of the book was the journey of our main characters to healing Osric; many different trips to close locations to do the same thing over and over with no plot in between. It just lost me a fair few times, I'm sorry to say.

A big HOWEVER to everything I've said so far comes halfway through the book when things start to pick up a lot. We get a second plot point and a genuine collaboration between our two enemies-to-lovebirds. We have a fast-paced storyline, vulnerability, we see different sides to Osric and Aurienne and I can really see how this is meant to develop into genuine love. At this point I felt like the banter WAS so well placed and added to the story, it gave me more information and appreciation for our fmc and mmc.

I came out of reading it feeling excited for the second book.

I didn’t realise I was one of gods favourites but here we are: ARC in hand.

This is a partially biased review as I’ve read Brigitte’s previous Fanfiction work and thoroughly enjoyed it and have been DESPERATE to read this. Anyway, on with the review!

The writing style was fantastic and hilarious, not just exhale through your nose hilarious but laughing out loud hilarious. The world building was really interesting but honestly wasn’t explored nearly enough. There was SO MUCH POTENTIAL! But out of the many different classes, only the two main characters classes were explored in detail, the others barely got mentioned. One other class was mildly touched upon later on, and even then it wasn’t fleshed out much. Coming from writing Fanfiction where the world building was already done, I get why this may have been overlooked but it was still disappointing.

The relationship between the main characters was great, their banter and story was entertaining and engaging. The story and plot itself was brilliant, easy to follow and kept me reading. There was an Easter egg to DMATMOOBIL 5% in which had me kicking my feet, and one entire chapter where I was crying with laughter.

The magic system was unique and very much like modern medicine in the sense of “idk how or why this works but if I do this then this happens so let’s roll with it”.

Overall, incredible read and I’m VERY EXCITED for book 2!

My personal rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What I feel it deserves:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - the world building needed more, it was the only let down.

Thank you to Netgally and the publishers for the ARC!

This was such a fun read with absolutely exquisite writing.
The story builds so much potential for future books, but still doesn't neglect what's happening in the moment. There is still so much of thia world to be discovered.
And the characters? Perfectly written. The internal rationalizations and denials were so good!
Will not give spoilers, but trust me and don't miss out on this masterpiece. It's 100% worth it!

I think this book has had a lot of hype surrounding it which tainted my view going in… It wasn’t quite what I expected. We follow two points of view Aurienne Fairhrim a Haeler and Osric Mordaunt an assassin in desperate need of help to cure him…. I found we didn’t really get to know these characters to any real depth….when things did get interesting I felt I was pulled out of it with a rude quip which I just felt was quite jarring overall…. I didn’t find myself cheering on the enemies to lovers storyline as I didn’t particularly warm to either of the characters as I feel I don’t truly know them… I think Osric as the MMC could have had more depth to him than killing and rudeness. I really hoped the STEM aspect which had interested me initially when applying had shone through more…. The overall premise of this story was so promising but the execution could have delved further into these characters and world. Overall, it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to net galley for allowing me to read this e-arc.

One word: OBSESSED!!! This was my first 6 star read of the last couple of years if I’m honest and I had an absolute blast reading it. The prose is beautiful and the world-building is so fully fleshed out that even without the glossary I could have figured out the vibes. The banter and the wit in every line, that’s the best part.

Also an assassin and a healer in a forced proximity relationship that both of them hate. Perfection. I have no other words. It was amazing and I’m so grateful to have gotten to read it.

Also as a stem girlie myself, I loved how much science and logic featured into the magic system. It worked so so well. I’m now just devastated that I have to wait for the second book to come out though. I didn’t realise it was a duology until I got to the end - totally my own fault. But I enjoyed it so much and will defo re-read when it’s out.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing this ARC.

I audibly laughed on multiple occasions; this was an incredibly witty read! Super fun and intelligent, this author is most definitely one to watch.

Beware: this was a slow burn to end all slow burns and I need the second book immediately.

3.5🌟

I was so excited for this book having seen other reviews and overall I did like it! I just didn’t love it.

I loved the dialogue between Aurienne and Osric, and I love a slow burn so it rocked those boxes for me. Also I did like the concept of the world and the magic system.

Where it was lacking for me was the world building. Aside from the information dump at the start which outlined everything you needed to know, I don’t feel like there really was any? It was mostly the two main characters’ inner monologues and then dialogue with each other for the most part (which I did enjoy, but it took away from the world build).

I also feel like for mortal enemies as is described, they were amendable way too soon…

I still really liked it but it fell a bit flat overall

I was super excited for this book! I have followed Brigitte Knightley for a long time, and this book seemed to have everything I need in a fantasy romance book. Minor spoilers incoming. Bewared.

I think the biggest problem of this book was that this isn't fan fiction any more, this is book that is supposed to stand on its own, have it's own character development and world building, and on all of this: it failed.

I had trouble diving into the world, while the world building seemed very abundant, it was hard to understand, and way too much of it was given to reader before the book even started. I dislike those starting page facts so much. If you're not capable of telling everything a reader might need in the story itself, that's not good. Also lot of the world building really didn't make sense. The one thing I really enjoyed were the way stones and the pubs, that was a very original idea!

After a rough start, everything seemed to get better, and I actually enjoyed the banter between Osric and Adrianne quite a bit. But everytime the banter got good, it felt like the writer got bored, and the rest what was happening was just explained to reader. Osric and Adrianne also didn't feel like very complex characters. There was just something missing. There were also a lot of characters that felt really underdeveloped, that didn't basically give anything to the plot, or to other characters development.

On the romance side: This was way too slow burn, and I don't think the title of the book matches the inside very good. Based on the title and the blurb I wanted more romance, more "I cannot be feeling this way, as we are mortal enemies." I was also expecting this book to be a bit spicier, than it ended up being. Most of the romance scened happened at the end of the book, and the main characters only kissed once.

The overall plot also was pretty dull. The premise was interesting, but when a guy is supposedly dying any minute, and then just keeps on living for a few months, something is wrong with the plot. And right when things started picking up, the book ended. Different pacing would have been great.

In summary, I had high hopes, but this book would have needed more thought and depth: 3 stars, I really hoped for better.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a free arc of this book in return for an honest review.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy follows Osric Mordaunt and Aurienne Fairhim as they meet under odd circumstances (him needing someone to save him) and come to form a kinship despite their many differences (she’s a healer, sworn to cause no harm; he’s an assassin-for-hire, paid to cause harm).

I am obsessed. I feel like that’s a pretty good way of summing up my feelings for this. But also, why did no one tell me this wasn’t a standalone?? Honestly I’m not too bothered because I could easily read hundred more pages about these two, but it would’ve been nice to know beforehand (entirely my fault, it wasn’t something I thought to look up).

I know this is written by a Dramione (Draco/Hermoine) fanfiction author (a pairing I’ve never read before), and personally I can tell. There’s something about the writing of someone who’s moved from fanfic to traditional writing, but honestly I love it. The slow burn was slow and burning - something that never feels the same outside of fanfiction normally. I loved every minute of it. The writing style was so good, especially how seemingly random things are capitalised to give them meaning. I think it’s a fun way of creating emphasis in a way that makes sense for the characters.

The magic system was really interesting. I loved the use of waystones as means of travel (also the inclusion of ‘Mind the Gap’ as we have at every platform). I appreciate their magic doesn’t come without a price too, so it doesn’t feel like it’s too overpowered.

The slowly developing relationship between Osric and Aurienne is so much fun to follow. Watching how it develops throughout the book is so good, with their banter and warring inner thoughts. Also that ending? How can you leave us hanging like that?

So if you’re a fan of the author’s original fanfiction, or the pairing, or fanfiction in general, or of a really good slow burn romance set in a magical version of the British Isles, then I’d say this is for you.

Consider me lying eagerly in waiting for book two! I was worried that this book would feel slow paced as I wasn't sure how the story would stretch out over two books however I absolutely needn't have worried, plot aside, the character work alone made this book fly by, but the addition of the slowly evolving plot and the subtly revealing mystery just added to how badly I needed to keep turning the pages.

If you know the fan fiction origins of this book it's kind of impossible not to superimpose the original characters over these new characters at first, which is always a worry when adapting fan fiction into original fiction, but this pair very quickly develop in their own right into characters with flaws and foibles and interests that both oppose each other and oddly align. I'd almost want to bang their heads together if they weren't so adorable hopelessly unaware.

All in all I can't wait for book two and the ensuing angst and revelations.

4.25⭐️ This was so much fun! True enemies, a healer and an assassin forced to come together to try and heal Osric, real slow burn, hilarious banter and lovable characters.

I found myself actually laughing out loud while reading this and grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Arrogant, self absorbed Osric was hilarious and stick up her ass Aurienne was funny without even trying. I loved them both and understood them well
I miss them already and will definitely be reading book 2!

The plot is quite low stakes so far and felt more like a rom com in a fantasy setting rather than your typical romantasy. There’s no rebellion or dark lord to overthrow, no weak orphan human girl finding out shes the most powerful in the realm.
It was actually quite refreshing to read something so unique.

Highly recommend!

<u>Thank you NetGallery for the opportunity of this ARC!</u>

<b>Actually 3,5/5 stars.</b>

So I just wanted to read this book because all the hype around it and... I think that messed up my expectations with it. I don't really know what I expected about the book, but I think I just wanted... more. Don't think I did't enjoy the book, I did, but it wasn't what everthing promised and that's totally on me since I didn't know this was a series and now I'm invested on it.

<b>Ok from now on spoilers are on.</b>

What the h- was that universe. I liked it, sure, but everything feels... disconnected. Why Osric or Aurienne didn't interact at all with the rest of the Orders? I feel like, in all that internal monologue of both of them (just please, shut up and admit you find the other hot) it could've been some explanations instead of launching everything in that glossary at the begining (they just feel better and the end if I'm honest). I needed more of the universe, more interactions with other characters outside them, Aurienne is a haeler and she wasn't healering enough and Osric is an assassins but there's only one in the whole book. And don't mention Aurienne's mom, which is simmilar to an engineer and we don't even know what she does. I need more of the universe and this is impacting the rating a lot.

When the blurb said slowburn I thought well they always said that but in this case it's freaking true and I completed loved it, it's amazing reading a true slowburn where you can see how the struggle to admit what's obvious for the reader. AND THE KISS OMG, it was at the perfect moment AND JUST A KISS when they had some moments before THE ONE I just felt like please stfu and just kiss but it wouldn't been that good. I just wanted more of them after this, eventhough at the begining I was just basically hating them. Osric's an idiot that can keep his mouth shut and Aurienne's too morally good that I can't even believe a bit of it.

This is the last thing, I promise. The story. Why at the start is all about saving Osric with the ancient magic and around the 40%? of the book they just stop with it? That was one of the things I was loving the most about the book and suddenly it was just something secondary. I hope in the next one they investigate more on it.

This is my first review in years and it's a little bit messed up, so I'm going to wrap up, I liked it, I want more of the universe and let's go slowburn.

The banter. The humour. The tension.

Just spectacular.

Honestly, the dialogue was so enjoyable, I love excellent dialogue and this was chock full of it. I laughed out loud so many times. The dry, dark humour was so good.

I loved the premise, the mutually assured destruction/salvation and the while a darker mystery to be solved.

I loved seeing Osric time and time again go all out to protect Aurienne and then convince himself that he's not interested in her. Even with her thighs of interest. That man had it so bad from so early on and I just loved that the final sentence of the book was just him having an "Oh shit, I'm in love with her moment"

I enjoyed his chapters the best, his witty, dark humour was always great and it worked so well with Aurienne's.

There were just so many moments that just live in my mind rent free, killing 40 men with a boot lace, that moment on the lighthouse, killing another fyren to save her, her saving his life terrified for him, their dance, their kiss *chef's kiss*

Honestly, I wish it was a movie cause I'd just watch it over and over again.

My only issue was with the spacing, I didn't feel like we were building to some climax, it kind of just ended. I know there's another book though so I wonder if they're intended to be read together.

Anyways, I'll definitely be reading it again when the book is officially released, I want to audiobook, with that top tier dialogue, the potential for a spectacular audiobook is there and I cannot wait.

Shout out to the snarky deofols too. Anytime Osric and Aurienne's deofol conversed, I was absolutely buckled.

Book 2 needs more kissing etc., these two deserve it.