They say, "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," but Annika found out sometimes it doesn't. They met at a week-long convention last year, and Annika thought she would never see Hudson again until he became her new neighbor. Now, Annika, who was in the business of helping couples make up, must fight her attraction to this man, who helps couples break up.

Though I found the ending quite abrupt and wish I had been able to spend more time with these two as a couple, I did enjoy this book. I will admit, I did not feel that the romance took center stage most of the time, but there were many rom-com moments, which were lots of fun, as well as some steamy and intense moments.

I think some people may find Annika a bit intense, but I sort of admired her drive and ambition. She had worked so hard to create Make Up and was so close to having it ready. Due to delays, cashflow was becoming an issue, and she was on the verge of losing it all. I totally understood the importance of her winning the investment contest as it was a make it or break it moment for her.

This was a hate-to-love romance, which are hit or miss for me, but I was happy with the execution in this book. Sometimes the pranks are too mean or the hate goes on for too long. Here, the pranks were fun and the pace of Annika's feelings towards Hudson morphing was just right. Hudson's layers were revealed bit by bit, and you could see Annika slowly collecting these pieces and reconstructing her idea of him until she saw the man underneath the slick Break Up veneer.

I love Menon's work, and this book had a lot of the charm, warmth, and wit I adore in her YA books. I did want more from the ending, but I still enjoyed getting to see these two get their HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Make Up Break Up is a (SPOILERS)

-m/f second chance romance
-enemies to lovers
-close proximity
-woman in STEM

This book had a lot of potential but I struggled with it. The plot did not align. Annika saw life very black and white. I struggled with her friendship with June. June was clearly there for her, and another strong woman in STEM. But Annika didn't treat her as a full partner in the business and insisted that Make Up was her baby despite June's involvement and how much she needed her.

I enjoyed how feisty and driven Annika was, her rivalry with Hudson ended up very juvenile. They sabotaged each other professionally. her issues with money were not there in reality, she continued to spend it despite her fears with losing her office space. The emotional investment in their relationship didn't pan out, the change from enemies to lovers was all physical. While well written, the plot holes made it difficult to enjoy this one.

Rating: 2
Steam: 3

Thank you for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was an adult Rom .com. I've read a lot of the YA titles by this author but this is my first adult reas by this author. I wasn't drawn to main character Annika. I didn't like the steam in this book at all and stopped reading at about the 60-70 mark because of it and the lack of draw to Annika.

I am SO disappointed in this one. I was super excited for it--I love a romcom led by a woman in STEM, since they are so few and far between, and I love Menon's YA books (When Dimple Met Rishi, etc.), so I could not wait to read this one when I heard about it! But it just didn't live up to expectations. And in all honesty, just didn't graduate from YA. It felt like the author took a YA plot, aged them up 5-8 years, threw in sex, and called it a day. The "enemies-to-lovers" portion--normally my favorite trope--felt extremely juvenile. We kept HEARING about how good a person Annika was, but we never really seemed to SEE it. She seemed incredibly self-centered, immature, and a little mean. It was hard to root for her; didn't seem like she deserved Hudson, who other than one time unplugging her charging laptop (after Annika had pulled a number of pranks on him), seemed like a genuinely good guy.

I also want to take a minute to rant about the business aspects of this book:
- June (Annika's business partner and friend) is loaded. She OFFERRED to be an investor in the company--which Annika was on the verge of losing--and Annika said no because she's too prideful. Um, hello??? Your BEST friend, ONLY employee is RICH and offering to invest in your business and you say NO??? WHY???? It's okay to ask for and accept help! Especially when it's in the form of an investment and not an outright gift.
- Eventually Annika's father offers to invest (which she knows would probably turn into a gift) AND SHE TURNS HIM DOWN. Girl, people take money from their parents all the time. It's called privilege, and let's be real, if you have it, use it. INSTEAD OF GOING BANKRUPT AND GETTING EVICTED AT LEAST???
- Also how is Annika paying for things like her rent, food, drinks, a mariachi band, gas, etc. when she's getting evicted? The business is struggling but Annika doesn't seem to be and it makes no sense. The finances in this book are so whack.
- SPOILER. SPOILER. SPOILER. WHY THE HECK WOULD HUDSON "SHUT DOWN" BREAK UP??? You SELL it for millions and walk away rich but without being the face of the company any more! Then you can take care of your family AND find your joy as a sculptor! Like what the heck, this makes no sense. Also, I think we all thought the natural conclusion of this book would be that the two companies would merge. It's unrealistic to think all couples will and should "make up" and how great would it be if there was an app that offered both? This plotline was offered on a silver platter and why the author didn't take it, I do not know.

In sum, the ending was just off-the-chart bizarre, implausible, whatever you want to call it. I still don't understand how these two spent seven days becoming friends and eventually hooking up at a conference and never exchanged cell numbers or became Facebook friends. Makes no logical sense, as was the case with most of this book.

Look, I loved the premise. The beginning of the book was fine. But then it got so much more bizarrer and bizarrer, I couldn't take it. If you are looking for a book along these lines--enemies-to-lovers, women in STEM, second chance, dating app romance--I would recommend The Right Swipe.

Thanks to St. Martin's for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3 stars - 5/10

Pride and Prejudice, but make it steamy.

This book while very different from Pride and Prejudice, definitely had Pride and Prejudice influence with a prideful, and independent woman and a secretly sweet guy. The last romance book I read I did not enjoy, so I was a bit hesitant to start reading this. The best part was I wasn't even expecting to like this book so much and then boom, done in a day.

This book has so much besides romance, which by the way was fantastic. The connection between the characters and sexual tension just grew and continued to build throughout the story. I typically have issues with romance books/rom-coms when the girl changes to be with the guy or compromises what she wants, and that was not an issue in this book. Annika was strong-willed, driven, and held to her morals through and through.

Other cool things: an Indian American main character who happens to be a CEO/entrepreneur in the tech industry, with a female coworker/best friend who codes.  I loved it! Their passion for their work and representation in a male-dominated field was admirable and I think the world could use more rom-coms like this.

My issues are quite small, I did feel like Annika was a little too harsh and too blind to Hudson's pain which is pretty clearly caused by Annika. The ending was also a bit to abrupt, but all in all would recommend highly it to romance lovers.

This was definitely a cute book! It’s not my favorite rom-com that I’ve read and the plot fell flat for me, unfortunately. I really, really wanted to like this more than I did but the character arcs felt all over the place and the plot was incredibly predictable. I could see the direction this was going in but fell slightly short. I still enjoyed it and I think many, many people will really enjoy this as well. I still recommend picking it up!

I had high hopes for this book based on the premise of enemies to lovers, a dating app and a strong female lead. Unfortunately it fell completely flat for me and I was not able to finish. I need not find either main character compelling or interesting and in fact found Annika annoying. Her app also is something I would never use or be intereSted in.

I know some people have really enjoyed this and I hope you are able too also.

Annika Dev has high hopes for her app, Make Up. Born out of her passion and personal history, Make Up will be a revolutionary tool to mend relationships. But as struggles to raise her app from the ground up, Break Up, helmed by Hudson Craft, is rising in downloads, breaking up relationships faster than ever before. Annika thought she could ignore her summer fling with Hudson, but when his business moves next door, the two find themselves pitted against each other in a meaningful investment contest.

I know this will sound really mean, but I can’t believe I wasted my time reading this. Like, I am trying so hard to think of something to say that isn’t so harsh, but Make Up Break Up was not good. The book lacks tension, the writing dragged, and the characters were truly so miserable to read that I genuinely could not understand what they see in each other.

The story did not work for me at all. It begins with Hudson and Co. moving in next door to Annika’s office. They’re popping champagne while Make Up is struggling to stay afloat. Annika soon realises that Hudson aims to win the same investment competition she needs to keep the place afloat. And then it becomes a cat and mouse chase between Annika and Hudson on who can be the most annoying person ever. They act so pettily and messy between themselves; you would think they were some teenagers and not adults. Like hiring a mariachi band to disrupt the other’s party or taking the charger out of a laptop before a major presentation? The stakes were nothing to feel invested about. The plot pretty much drags itself through Annika and Hudson just being assholes to each other. They’re both very self-centered, but Annika takes the cake because at least Hudson tries to be more sociable. He’s still rude in my view, nothing he does redeems him, but his place as a love interest was so two dimensional. He’s pretty, and he’s got a good body. His personality was to be blatantly in love with Annika while she rants about him for a good chunk of the book.

Much of Annika’s anger comes from believing that Hudson had stolen her idea and was now profiting off the anti-dating app. She spends much of this book with this high and mighty attitude that Hudson is a creep and that his app is terrible. And she’s not wrong. Break Up is essentially pay-to-break up service where people are hired to break up on behalf of a person. There’s an interactive element where random people just dump terrible new on another, and it’s passed off as quirky. That alone just put me off Hudson as a romantic lead because how uncomfortable that app made me. And, strangely, Annika is the only person to mention how terrible the concept is. But then she thinks she had this moral high ground because her app fixes relationships, but there’s a problem with her app: she never considers whether a relationship is worth pursuing. That not every relationship needs fixing. You would think that would be discussed within the development team. Her own reasoning didn’t do much either, and it felt more like pieces of a draft that hadn’t quite finished developing. This is where you could think they could work together to create an app that takes both concepts into account, but the book’s actual ending was just so much more disappointing. There was a demi-decent discussion about women in tech and the boundaries they faced, but it’s all weak. Annika is too inconsistent in what she wants to say, so Menon’s actual message falls through.

To summarise, Make Up Break Up is not the romantic story it thinks it is. The plot was weak, the characters were unmemorable, and its whole execution was quite muddy. There were so many points where the book could’ve turned itself around, but it felt like it was doomed from the start.

The premise of this book is oh-so-appealing. I love enemies-to-lovers and reading about a female in STEM is incredibly cool.
What started out with great potential fell flat for me, unfortunately. I didn't buy into the "enemies" part of the book on behalf of the hero, Hudson. At every point, he seems genuine and misunderstood. Annika's reasons for hating him were easily resolved with a little bit of communication and a lot a bit of practicality.
Frankly, I always struggle with an angry MC. Annika has so much going for her - a great dad, an amazing best friend and business partner, innovative creativity - and yet she's perpetually driven by her anger over a guy she hooked up with for a week. I also didn't understand her prideful refusal of accepting financial backing from her wealthy business partner. It's never made clear why they both are not taking a fiscal risk over Make Up.
The setting is perfect and the supporting cast is top notch, which is what kept my attention to the end. I think with an MC I could connect with, I would love to read more from Lily Menon.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

3/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I'm putting this on the low side of 3 stars. This book was just okay for me. Nothing really stuck out. I feel like maybe I went in with too high expectations. The romance felt a little flat to me and the writing just wasn't it for me. I will say it was a quick and easy read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t the book for me. I really wanted to love it but I just had a hard time connecting with the characters and the story. This ended up being a DNF for me, but think others could end up enjoying it.

An e-arc was provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you so much St. Martin's Press!!

I'm so so sad that I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would. I had such high hopes for it, I've been hearing how amazing Sandhya's YA books are for years but YA contemporary isn't really my thing more often than not, so when I saw that's she's writing an Adult book I immediately put it on my TBR and was very excited to get to it.

There were sadly many things about the book that didn't click with me. I didn't connect with the main characters at all. I liked them but they were just.... fine. I wasn't attached to them, and I'm very much a character reader, I need to at least care about the characters and what's going on with them and ship them.

But it wasn't just that, the book felt unbalanced to me. I like a romance book that includes other things than the ship, friendships, family bonds, a certain important project, etc. But they're there to supplement the romance, you love all the bonds and you root for the characters in whatever they're doing, but there has to be time for the ship as well because it's a romance.

I liked June and Annika's friendship, I liked the cute side ship and the part where Anika talked about her business, inspiring young girls to be business owners if they want. But between that, and the small arc with Annika's father and various other business related things, we did not really get to see her and Hudson grow as a couple.

We spent a lot of time with her hating him and him telling her he didn't steal her idea and being mysterious without properly talking about it. And after that everything just happened quickly and I didn't feel it. Didn't see them interacting a lot, maybe becoming friends with their feelings growing and relationship developing. It just happened and I didn't feel it or ship them which makes me so sad because I really wanted to love this book 😭😭😭

We did get some banter and a cute date in the middle which I liked, but again what happened wasn't enough to build a romance and relationship for me. I didn't see them develop to be a couple or their feelings grow, it just all happened all quickly like there wasn't time for it with side stuff going on too.

So it's a 2.5 rounded up for me. I really wish I could've loved it but I'm still giving her next adult romance and YA a shot when I can because I know a lot of people adore them and I liked the writing, it was easy to read, so I really hope I end up enjoying them.

This is a story about technology, and the making or breaking of modern romances.

I struggled to connect to these characters, so it was difficult to invest in their relationship... but the premise was cute, and I laughed out loud a couple times..

A meet-cute gone wrong, gone right, gone wrong, and now we’re in love! This is a story about 2 budding app developers, Annika & Hudson, going toe to toe in a contest for investment. They had had a previous week long fling in Vegas and just happen to meet up again when Hudson rents an office space just doors down the hall from Annika in the same building and same floor. I mean, what are the chances? Annika constantly pushes off her obvious infatuation for Hudson throughout the book until he decides to give up his app because he’s not happy with it and she made him realize it. I had an exceptionally difficult time with this book. From the moment I started the book, I didn’t like the main character. Annika was whiny and self-centered and, well, kind of mean. Throughout the book it is constantly mentioned how nice and good a person she is, but I didn’t think she was nice. She was kind of brash and hot headed and needed to cool her jets. There were so many cringe-worthy moments that at times I had to skim through a few pages. Overall, the writing is well done, the reader gets their HEA, but it doesn’t have me ready for another adult romance from Lily and I don’t know if I would recommend this one.

I’m a big fan of rivals-to-lovers. I love the banter, the sabotage and the tension that builds until they just can’t stay away from each other anymore. Make Up Break Up is a story of Annika and Hudson, app developers who had a weeklong fling in Vegas in the past but now are rivals competing for investors. Their apps couldn’t be more opposite of each other, just as Hudson and Annika’s personalities are quite different. There was definite build up and steam, but unfortunately, this book just wasn’t a big hit for me.
I love a good enemies to lovers trope, but when it’s all based on an assumption or miscommunication, I want that part cleared up before the last chapter of the book. It gets old when you as a reader know the truth and have to endlessly read the MC pushing the LI away for reasons that you know aren’t true. I would have preferred for their misunderstanding to be resolved sooner. I predicted very early on that he started his app because of her. When he finally tells her, WAY later than he should have, she doesn’t seem too remorseful. She instead seems selfish by explaining that she did what she did because she assumed he wouldn’t return her feelings. I’m all for female power and women not giving up their dreams for a man, but I’m not okay with him sacrificing who he is in order to earn her affection. The ending felt very rushed and unrealistic.
There were some funny moments and I could picture Hudson being sweet and charming. This book was just okay for me, but I would give the author another chance and read the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and SMP Romance for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read. Annika Dev and Hudson Craft have the will they, won't they element that I love in a romance. Annika is the CEO of Make Up, an app that helps people talk to their partners so they can work through their problems. She and Hudson met in Vegas at a tech conference and instantly hit it off. The only problem is that Hudson is the CEO of Break Up, an uber like service that sends someone to break up with someone for you.

Annika can't see herself being with someone like Craft because of what Break Up does despite their undeniable chemistry. I loved their back and forth banter and the pranks they pulled on each other. I also love books that have strong independent women especially in male dominated fields like the tech industry.

I felt sometimes like Annika was a little young and immature in her decision making (she is only in her early 20s.) I also felt like she was asking a lot of Hudson to just give up everything he built in Break Up. Otherwise it was a great book and I really enjoyed it

I will update with the link once I shared on my bookstagram account.

3.5 Rounded up. I liked the overall premise of this story. I love a good enemies to lovers trope but I felt like it fell flat a little bit. I wasn't all that invested in either of the main characters. I think if it had been a first person point of view it might have helped. I didn't feel the sexual tension and even with the start and stops, I didn't really care when they got together. I loved the secondary characters and her friendship with June. I also felt like the story was a little repetitive. It did have some cute moments and I did read it in two days so I did enjoy it, I just wish the characters had a little more depth.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC to read and review.

Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon.

Unfortunately, I did not connect with the characters of this book from the first pages and this wound up being a DNF for me.

Annika Dev has one passion in life - her relationship app Make Up which serves as virtual couples counseling. She believes in happily ever afters and second chances. Hudson Craft owns Break Up - the app that breaks couples up. He believes in getting it done quickly and painlessly. How could two people like this ever be together? Especially after Annika thinks Hudson stole the relationship app idea from her after a passionate week-long fling. Make Up and Break Up are going head to head in the tech world and Annika won't let Hudson stay on top for long.

The concept behind this book is fun albeit far-fetched. I don't think either of these apps would be successful in the real world. I also don't think Annika could avoid paying her bills for as long as she did either. But my biggest problem with this book is Annika herself. Sure, she's a badass boss who owns her own company, but other than that she was fairly annoying. Her rationale for almost every action was baffling and her hatred for Hudson could have been resolved with one open conversation.

I also found Hudson to be lacking. If he ever spoke more than a sentence at once, maybe I could have connected with him a little more. In his conversations with Annika, he always felt evasive or condescending. Not someone I would fall in love with. And Annika is a bigger person than me if she can be happy about winning a competition where your biggest competitor drops out. I was surprised this wasn't a point of conflict between them.

At the end of the day, this is not a bad book. I'm excited that Lily/Sandhya Menon has branched out into adult romance. I've enjoyed her YA books and was psyched to get some swearing and sex scenes in this book. But there needs to be more focus on character development and better chemistry between the lead characters. Hopefully as she continues to hone her chops in this genre, these problems will go away.

It wouldn’t be hard to look through our archive here and see that I am a huge fan of Sandhya Menon’s Young Adult romance. Well, this is the same author writing adult romance and it is just as delightful!



Make Up Break Up needs some content warnings for a dead mother (off page in past), hospitalization of father after car accident (accident not shown, but discussed on page), familial arguments, and discussion of a one night stand.

Annika was a delight to read. She was so convinced that everything she did was right that I wanted to shake her on occasion, but it was a lot of fun to see her come around to what the reality of her situation was. I loved the way that this bullheadedness really played into her relationship with Hudson, and how soft he ended up being in the end.

Her relationship with her dad was very realistic, which made things a little difficult to read, but it’s really worth it. I loved the peace they managed to build together by the end of the story.

The side romance between June and Ziggy was absolutely adorable. I would love to see a spin off novella or short story with them as the main characters!