Angela absolutely positively cannot stand her upstairs neighbor Colin Cooper. The one positive of a global pandemic is she is no longer legally allowed to be within two meters of him. Or she wasn't'. That was before she was evicted from her apartment and Colin swooped in to offer her a rent free place to live. He didn't do it from the goodness of his heart, but in order to do a good deed he could talk about on his radio show...does that really matter though? Thankful to have been saved from having to go live with her mother, Angela puts up with all of Colin's eccentrics and maybe they even start to grow on her. Something definitely starts growing between the two when they are forced into actually quarantining together for 14 days and she starts helping him create romantic content for his radio show. While enemies to lovers and forced proximity always works in romance novels, will it work in real life for Angela and Colin ?

VERDICT is that this is a cute book that hit a little too close to home for me right now and not necessarily in the best of ways. I enjoyed Colin and Angela as characters, but I am not quite ready for pandemic romances as we are stilling living through one! I totally see where this idea came from and in theory it works, I perhaps just need a little more distance from an actual pandemic. But, personal feelings aside, this is a pretty well written book. I liked both of the main characters well enough, although I did find Angela a little trying at times. For someone who complained about communication a lot she wasn't great about it herself (although she was in some admittedly tough situations). My favorite parts of this novel were actually the friendships that were developed outside the romance. Colin's DJ community and Angela friendship with Ishani were very well developed and fun to watch.

I was intrigued to read my first "pandemic time" book, but unfortunately this one just didn't pan out. Yes, the pandemic is happening, but almost everything would be going on the same way even if it wasn't. Angela lost her job before the pandemic, not due to it, and was flirting with eviction even before the lockdown. Colin still would have needed content for his show no matter what. I felt zero chemistry between the Angela and Colin and I had yet to discover something likable about Angela-- she's barely grateful for the free place to stay and her boyfriend and best friend are both terrible. If I'm going to be in the middle of a pandemic and read something about it, I at least want to be enjoying it... which is why I dnf @30%.

*I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This was an interesting take on a romance. I liked the concept but the story was a bit slow moving for me. I enjoyed the characters, their relationships and interactions.

I enjoyed reading this book. I felt that it was relatable since Covid is still very prevalent right now. I did enjoy the plot and the characters. I could see how this book would be triggering some emotions from people since Covid is still a huge issue, but I do think this book could become popular in due time.

We are all definitely sick and tired of the lockdowns set in place and this book was reflective of the time. Fake dating is one of the best tropes IMO and I enjoy the humor that often comes along with it. The banter between Colin and Angela were laugh out loud worthy on a few occasions, but I felt that the actual chemistry was a little lacking. They seemed more "roommates" and perhaps I was hoping for more.

Overall, It’s cute and funny and super relatable.

This was a nice, easy and quick read. I liked the fact that it is set during this pandemic, which makes the story very relatable.
The characters might not have the great chemistry between them, but this makes them very real, and I loved this aspect. I could also relate with the loss of a job during the pandemic, so the whole experience of reading this book was very enjoyable for me, made me feel "understood" and less alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A cute covid-era romance that manages to feel like escapism even despite being set during the height of
the pandemic. Some parts fell flat - the motivations behind a lot of the decisions felt a bit unnatural, and it was hard to find any of the characters really relatable or likeable at first. Still, it was an easy, fun read, and if lockdown isn't the perfect setting for an enemies-to-lovers romance, I don't know what is!

This book was super cute! It didn't have a lot of substance, but it kept me entertained. Several times, I actually laughed out loud several times, which rarely happens.

I really loved the banter between Angela and Colin, it was super funny! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this book did it super well!

I loved the "courting period" in their relationship, it was adorable. It had a quirky flair that came off as fun, not as irritating. It also made their relationship feel a bit more natural, which I loved.

My one complaint about this was that I feel like they followed social distancing rules a bit too closely... That sounds terrible, I know, but it just got a bit repetitive. If it had been mentioned once in a while as a joke, it would've been fine, but the pandemic controlled these teo's lives.

I really loved the addition of the radio show, it was a great way to add drama without it being just drama. It was super fun to read the scenes when Colin was broadcasting, and it was totally different from anything I've read before.

I really enjoyed this book, but I never would've picked it up based on the cover. It was a super fun read, and I can totally see myself rereading it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Alyce Caswell for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I think the characters lacked a lot of chemistry which makes it hard to get into the story itself. It felt like the story itself lacked a lot of depth. The cover itself I feel like could be worked on. I don’t hate it but I don’t think it captures you so much.

4.5/5 - This cute quarantine tale has a lot going on. An out-of-work protagonist about to be evicted gets an offer she can't refuse. Well, she could, but it would mean moving back in with her mother, a fate to be avoided at all costs. Her boyfriend isn't suggesting she move in with him so instead, she takes her radio DJ-ing neighbor up on his offer to let her stay with him unaware that his motives are less than altruistic. From there the tropes get acknowledged with a wink as they play out in the most wholesome of ways in a not-rushed-at-all manner.

It’s the middle of a pandemic, Angela has no job and is getting evicted. Luckily her neighbor Colin has an extra room and is looking to do a good deed. Even though she hated him, Angela moves in with Colin and goes into quarantine with him. And of course, they start to develop feelings for each other.

When I saw there was already a Covid/quarantine romance coming out, I was very intrigued. This was another cute romance. It wasn’t super memorable, but in the moment it was a light, easy read. It’s the kind of self-aware romance that almost makes fun of itself with references to romance novels, which I appreciated. I didn’t think Angela and Colin had the best chemistry, but it also wasn’t terrible. If you accept this book for the cheesy goodness that it is, it will not disappoint.

Thank you to @netgalley and @booksgosocialclub for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Love and Lockdown will be released on March 4.

Thank you netgalley for letting me read this ARC!

This was a light and quick read for me. I’ve been getting into romance lately, so I enjoyed it. I usually get attached to characters very easily, but I definitely did not feel any attachment to these characters. I appreciated the connection the author is trying to make with what’s going on today (Pandemic), but it might be too soon.

Overall, it was a cute romance!

This was a quick read and it had glimmers of potential but I never really felt fully connected to the characters. I thought I would be into a pandemic-based romance but it may just be too soon for that.

I read this book voluntarily on netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

Overall, this is your classic enemies-to-lovers story, with a unique twist that it takes place during the pandemic. I must admit, it was a bit awkward to read about a lockdown romance when we're still in the midst of the pandemic. But, I appreciated the realistic descriptions of cautious interactions and unique situations that we have all experienced during lockdown in some way, shape or form. While I usually love enemies-to-lovers tropes, I found that these characters in the book were meh. I didn't feel connected to them and didn't really care to see them together. However, I enjoyed the author's writing style. It was a cute/light read.

Not sure this book was for me as it wasn’t that believable and I didn’t buy into the characters

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me this arc!

I think that this book was enjoyable and I liked reading about being in lockdown, as I haven't read a book set in the Covid-19 setting before, but I also thought that other than that, there wasn't much else that stood out about this book. It took me a while before I actually got into the book and enjoyed the characters, but once I did the relationship between Angela and Colin, but I also loved the friendship between Angela and Ishani more.

It was only a matter of time before we had books set in the pandemic. When Angela gets evicted from her apartment just as the UK goes into nation-wide lockdown, her upstairs neighbor, Colin, offers her his spare room (with the intention of discussing his good deed on his radio show). Normally, Angela would want nothing to do with Colin, but she has no where else to go. And if lockdown wasn't bad enough, the two soon find themselves in mandatory quarantine after a COVID exposure. It's only a matter of time before the forced proximity turns these two former foes into something more.

Though it did acknowledge the seriousness of the pandemic at points, this was overall a light read. It was a nice distraction for a while, but not particularly memorable. It certainly hit numerous rom-com tropes, but felt very formulaic. The author tried to be tongue-in-cheek about those tropes at times, but missed the mark.

It may just be too soon to start setting books during the pandemic as we are all continuing to live through it. The author did a lot of telling, rather than showing, of the hardships of the pandemic and lockdown. It felt a bit condescending, especially when it's still our reality. You don't need to tell me about zoom fatigue or anxiety about catching the virus - I'm living it every day.

I know there are those who enjoy the comfort of formulaic romance (like the main character Angela does) and trope heavy reads, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an advance electronic copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Colin and Angela live in the same building and they can't stand each other. When Angela can no longer afford her apartment due to the pandemic, Colin offers her a place to stay in his apartment. It's the perfect setup for a modern day enemies to lovers story.

It feels a little odd to read about a romance set in a pandemic while we are in a pandemic. The author included little Quarantine activities that everyone did, including making sourdough, which helped make the story feel relatable.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style; there was an overwhelming amount of similes, metaphors, and anecdotes. In the middle of his radio show Colin went off on an internal monolog of when he soundproofed his room and painted it beige for two paragraphs.The author does poke fun at the tropes in this book by having Colin's radio listeners discuss the forced proximity and enemies to lovers trope.

I didn't think that there was a lot of chemistry between the two main characters. Angela was unfortunately hard to relate to. I was hoping that the romance would help with that but it took about 100 pages for the romance to get going and the book is only 269 pages long.

Overall it was a nice and easy afternoon read!

I was provided this digital ARC by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Books go Social for providing me this arc via Netgalley!
I was really excited to read this, because I wanted to see how the whole pandemic situation would be handled, and frankly, I quite liked it. It was funny, without being disrespectful and it portraited very real situations. In regards to the romance itself, it had everything to be amazing, but it wasn't. The characters had absolutely NO chemistry and I couldn't care less if they ended up together or not, which I don't think has ever happened to me.

A love story about lockdown - while much of the world is still locked down? Yes please!

This story follows Angela and Colin, two millennials who fall into quarantine together. Angela is a solopreneur who finds herself unable to find work to pay bills as the pandemic hits resulting in her being evicted from her studio apartment. Colin, a radio DJ sent on a mission from his boss to perform random acts of kindness, spots her sitting outside her door in tears and offers her a space to stay for free. After sharing the act with his audience, his listeners have to know what happens next between them. In an effort to thank him for living rent free, Angela helps him right stories to tell his audience about the budding relationship that isn't "actually" happening between them... or is it? Sarcastic banter turns into shameless flirting as Angela and Colin fall hard for eachother.

I loved the idea of a pandemic love story and appreciated getting a glimpse into someone else's quarantine, even if it was fictional. I appreciated Angela's straight forward personality and Colin's easy going charm... In fact, I couldn't put the book down until I got 75% through the book. At that point, I just felt it slow down and lost a bit of interest until I reached the very okay ending. I also had a hard time relating to the characters age as I felt they were written to be 5-10 years younger than they actually were. As a fellow millennial who is about the same age as Colin and Angela, I can tell you that myself nor any of my friends use the slang and terminology that was used in this book.... In fact, the only reason I know what it means is because I worked on a college campus with students 10 years younger than me. This is obviously a bit nitpicky but I couldn't help but feel that it was out of place and forced every time I came across one.

Overall, I would recommend this book as a casual read if you are looking for an easy romantic read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.