i didn’t like the writing at all. It was a bit without sync.
The characters were there but I couldn't really connect to them, as I felt no depth in the writing. I wish there were more emotions but this felt like it just scraped the surface, not your heart.
For me sworn enemy falling in love is the best trope and that was the reason I choose the book. I was really hopeful for it. But it didn't click with me

This book is a cute romance that follows a group of friends that live in London. The main Focus is from Birdie and Ben’s perspective, who have known each other since they were kids and actually really liked each other but now all they do is fight about everything. After a year apart can they come back together as friends or maybe more with the help of some of their meddling friends. It’s about friends coming back together and having more open conversations to fix past and current mistakes.
This was an ok story for me. I liked it, but there were a number of elements that were missing. Based on the description, I thought we would be following Birdie as she went on twenty dates. However, the story started out following her on the last two and mentioning a couple of the others and really played no part in the rest of the story line. Birdie was definitely a hard character to like at first, her quick wit and outgoing attitude were great but she did a lot of complaining in the first half and it got repetitive. This story is more cute as in, they are so in love and they can’t be away from each other and we want everyone else to be as happy as we are. I don’t mind it but it is definitely not realistic. There is no sex scenes so for anyone looking for love and romance but without graphic detail, I would recommend this book. There were a lot of sweet moments. It had great potential for a number of funny bits but were not there, which I do prefer in my romance stories. I do recommend this book. It was a nice sweet kind of time.
Trigger warnings: alcohol, blackmail
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

This book had a lot to live up to for me, being that it's based on probably my favorite Shakespeare play. Luckily, it did not disappoint - 4.5 stars! I was hooked on this story and these characters pretty instantly. I loved how developed all of the characters were, not just Ben and Bridie. I also enjoyed that the "will they won't they?" question was not just wrapped up all at once at the end like it so often happens in romance books. I enjoyed seeing how they actually dealt with the follow-through, etc. I could not put this book down and will definitely be looking for more books from Mary Jayne Baker.

One of the classic romance tropes is sworn enemies Fall for each other. Sometimes with assistance. Brodie and Ben were never really an item, but Birdie was hurt by his callous behavior. Now he’s back and in the same wedding with Birdie. Can she ignore him and keep to her 20 dates in 20 days? I love the story of the two who conspire to get them together, only to find they themselves need a little help. It’s a good story, full of ribald comments, lots of dating, and a bunch of emotion. Fighting brings out emotion, but love is the opposite of hate.

This was a very cute modern update on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. We have the witty dialogue between the modern analog to Benedick and Beatrice. In this book they are Bridie and Ben and their snarky conversations are worthy successors to Shakespeare’s verbal battles. There is the secondary romance between Bridie’s best friend, Hattie and Ben’s younger brother, Cal.

Once I realized that I was reading a remake of Shakespeare’s play, I basically knew what was going to happen and was intrigued to find how Baker would craft her take on the story. She did a great job and I really liked how she introduced Ben’s growth as he was forced to realize what Bridie and others thought of him.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

OMG SUCH A SWEET READ. I LOVED IT!!

This book is super sweet and I totally loved the main characters!! I kind of made me remember of old school rom com movies.
The only thing I have a little of trouble to get into it was the writing style but overall is an amazing story!

Love at First Fight follows the enemies to lovers trope pretty well at the beginning, but when I realized I was close to what I perceived to be the conclusion and I was only halfway through the book, I knew I was in for something different. Some conflict with the main characters’ friends takes over the last part of the book. It was not what I expected, and it was a different take than anticipated when I began reading. I wish there was a little more about the main couple and less of the secondary couple, but it was overall a fun beach read.

Love at first fight was a light hearted, fast paced romcom and I absolutely breezed through reading this one in a few hours.

My interest for this book first peaked when I saw the comparison being made to the hating game, however it just didn’t match up to my enemies to lovers expectations. It felt as though the tension between Bridie and Ben was over far too quickly, and i lost interest soon after that. I didn’t mind the Cal and Hattie drama, but i would have rather the latter half of the book continued to be more Ben and Bridie focused, because they were definitely the more interesting couple.

Overall this felt like a really strong start to the book and I did enjoy it, even with the pacing change and shift in character focus. I just can’t rate it as an enemies to lovers story because they didn’t feel like proper enemies, they never truly hated each other and it was more in the banter and teasing category. That being said, if there was ever to be a sequel for Ben and Bridie, I would definitely check it out.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: August 5, 2021

A fun frenemies to lovers trope that is a great summer read! There’s plenty of witty banter and plotting among friends to keep you interested but the big ah-ha! moment in this happens at about halfway through and then it works through a few struggles—some reasonable and some not. The secondary storyline dealing with an ex-girlfriend was boorish and off-putting and left a sour taste in my mouth toward the end of the book but this still finishes strong with a HEA!

I just didn't like it at all.
I don't know, probably it's just me because there are a lot of positive reviews about this book...

The Synopsys is definitely misleading, Bridie goes on 20 dates in 20 days but we only get to read about the last two, and anyway, the whole dating stuff ends right at the beginning of the book.
Moreover, the main characters don't hate each other, this is not at all an "enemies to lovers", Bridie and Ben are secretly in love and have been since they were teenagers.
Everyone-like the whole village-knows that. It's not like anyone believes they hate each other.

Because of this, after very little bickering and death stares from Bridie and Ben, Hattie (Bridie's Roommate and College) and Cal (Hattie's fiance) decide to work out a plan to make them realize they are in love.
The plan is the stupidest plan I've ever seen, is basically based on gossip. as if two people understand they are in love with each other because you tell them they are.
Well, apparently is a brilliant plan because it works, from half of the book there's a lot of "I Love You" and "My love", then there's the obvious drama that every romance has and the finale is MEH.

I also didn't like the fact that at one point the book focuses on Hattie and Cal, who cares....the book should be about Ben and Bridie, no? No. There's a lot of drama between Hattie and Cal and I couldn't care less.

I couldn't connect with the characters who weren't particularly well written and they lacked personality.
Moreover, there were too many secondary characters, Ursula, Pete, Jojo, Megan, and another dozen of them...obviously without a precise reason to exist and no personality at all.

I also don't like when novels are set in a real place, I prefer when the author imagines a city and that's it (it's hardly the author's fault this one, still it didn't make me like the book more).
In this case, the novel was set in Yorkshire, therefore places like Leeds, Blackpool, etc. were mentioned a lot (can't relate).
There's also a lot of British slang, a lot of "Luv", "mate" and other words I cannot relate to.

There are also a lot of typos with Bridies's name: Is it Bridie or Bride? I'd suggest correcting them.

I'll follow up with a more reader-friendly review on Goodreads and Amazon (when the book will be published).

The lovers to fighters trope always gets me, so I was intrigued by Love at First Fight, combined with being marketed for those that enjoyed 10 things I hate about you? Count me in.

However, after reading, I don't know if I would make either of these comparisons. There was some hostility, but it seemed more to hinge around a misunderstanding than a bet or wager. The two main characters are manipulated by their friends to start seeing each other in a different light, but I felt like that was too contrived. It was too on stage silly, where I could picture this in a play and being very tongue in cheek, but in a book it felt too staged. I didn't quite buy it or their chemistry after that point.

Also, I didn't love the Hattie/Cal drama, it detracted from Bridie and Ben. Overall, it was fine and a fast read, but I don't know if it delivered the big promises it made with the 10 things I hate about you concept.

Bridie is a cynic when it comes to love because she's been burned in the past, specifically by Ben. She blames Ben for her bad luck with her dating life. When Bridies best friend gets engaged and she becomes maid of honor and her nemesis Ben is the best man, they are thrust together with wedding planning. Bridie and Ben need to decide how to handle being reunited once again.

This was so cute. It gave me warm fuzzy feelings. I love when men get vulnerable in books, it makes the characters so much more rea for me. Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Aria for the eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub Date: Aug 5

Yes, this book is so promising with its frenemies to lovers premise, lots of relatable, interesting supporting characters, MCs’ high chemistry and delicious, sarcastic, ultra smart banters made me fall of my couch several times! I laughed so hard! At least five times I wiped my tears!

When you see those comments you may think I have two different personality! If I liked this book so much why the heck I gave only three stars! Why I suddenly changed of heart…

Firstly: I loved childhood friends, teens in love but some incident tear the lovers apart theme: Ben and Bridie has been knowing each other at young age. They have some unresolved issues and now Ben’s brother marries Bridie’s best friend so they have to tolerate each other during the ceremony instead of being each other’s throats and working together because they’re best man and maid of honor!

This blurb gives me so much hope! And their group friends were so much lovable!
But… I was confused because Ben and Bridie’s issues finally resolve in second third and we finally find ourselves reading about blah blah blah much ado about nothing kind of bride and groom drama. I felt like the author wrote two different books and instead of releasing them one by one she decided to release them by combining in one story!

I loved Hattie and Cal but I preferred to read them as secondary characters! I didn’t want to read additional pages filled with their angsty personal dramas! It made me lose my interest and I simply started rolling my eyes, feeling an irresistible desire to skim their parts to reach the ending!

I think if there is a chance the parts belonged to bride and groom to be emitted, I could change my grading and giving this book four entertaining, smart, great romcom stars!

But I think I decided to give this one solid three, still entertaining but no necessary additional characters needed stars!

I loved the writing style of the author and
still intrigued to read different works of hers. But the last third of the book didn’t work for me!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This is such a fun read!! The concept was brilliant and I laughed a lot!!! I really loved the relationship between the characters and I found it really endearing

Teacher Bridie has struggled in the love department since her high school date and first love Ben decided not to show. She's much older but the slight still stings. She's even been on twenty somewhat disastrous dates to try and find someone .... without any luck. With her friend's upcoming wedding to Ben's brother, Ben returns home. He's still charming, egotistical and a womaniser. And he still pushes all Bridie's buttons. How can she avoid him and why does he get a reaction all this time later?

Love at First Fight is a quick, light rom com. It is fun and the banter between Bridie and Ben is appealing and promises much. For a womaniser Ben gets cold feet at one stage - it's meant to be appealing, however there's something about the couple that seems a little forced, or just falls short. This is a gentler romance in terms of the steam factor, and after the time period these two have experienced such angst, you would think there might have been a little more to this. The relationship between Bridie and her friend Hattie is a nice one, and between Ben and his brother as well. If felt there was alot of work getting to the couple getting together and then it just didn't amount to what I expected.

Three stars for this one - and thank you to netgalley for the free ebook copy of this one to read.

This book is a frenemies to lovers with lots of sarcasm. Love at First Fight is just so light, fun and enjoyable! I adored the duality of perspectives as we could see Ben and Birdie's perspectives on their relationship and it allowed for a more dynamic read. The book following Cal and Hattie was a little confusing, it distract from the main story. Although I understand that they were used as a plot device to allow the main characters to come together. I love this lighthearted rom-com, all the characters were so cute.

This was my first Baker novel and I'm a little torn on how to review it. I loved the UK verbiage and patterns of speech so much and felt she nailed the world-building and character development. The banter was fun, flirty, more friends with ruffled feathers than enemies-to-lovers, and created a strong bond between all the characters. Where my issue comes in is the plot-line/drama. I wanted more Bridie and Ben (who I called Birdie the entire time because as a US English speaker Bridie isn't a word/name and my mind kept trying to make it something more "normal" for me, I guess) and less Cal and Hattie drama. The relationship and push and pull of Bridie and Ben was so much more dynamic and smoother/more natural than the made for tv drama of Cal and Hattie, which felt forced in there to add angst. It changed it from a really good NA rom-com novel to a daytime drama series. (think soap operas here in the US) I will give Baker another go because it may just be that this particular book wasn't my thing and I do truly enjoy her characters and sense of humor.

To start off, Love at First Fight is an ‘enemies to lovers’ book about two childhood-friends/more-than-friends. It’s a trope that I’m obsessed with, so to say that I was excited to read about enemies having to work together on their mutual friends’ wedding would be quite the understatement.

Bridie Morgan and Ben Kemp used to be childhood friends turned into something more-than in their late teens, at least until the incident their last school year. Ever since that incident, they’ve been at each other’s throats like cats and dogs, or at least Bridie has been. But after a year away from home, Ben returns to find that his little brother is in quite the serious relationship with Bridie’s best friend. To Ben’s delight and Bridie’s horror, they’ve been assigned the roles of best-man and maid-of-honor.

The relationships between Bridie and her friends are hilarious. They – Bridie, Hattie and Cal – were fun to read about. Especially the relationship between Bridie and Cal. I loved how they all seemed so close, almost like family. But this is not just the three/four of them, but with the other friends, and Pete of course, to complete the group. They were all fun to read about together, especially as each other’s co-conspirators. The banter between Bridie and Ben was probably my favorite thing about this book.

However, I was honestly a bit disappointed after I finished this book. Maybe I went into this with high expectations. But when started reading this book, I was ready to really fall in love with it.
As an enemies-to-lovers fan, the bantering and teasing is my absolute favorite thing to read. But with Bridie, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Ben. Ben really seemed to consider her his friend, and his teasing was always good-humored. But Bridie didn’t consider Ben as her friend. So her ‘teasing’, at times, came off really harsh and mean-spirited. At times, she sounded downright mean to him.
What really bothered me about this book, is the fact that there’s basically a second book woven into the story of Bridie and Ben. And that’s the story of Hattie and Cal. However much I liked reading about them, it started to frustrate me the more they appeared. With that, I mean having their own chapters throughout this book. I felt like I saw too much of them in this story to consider this a Bridie and Ben story. Hattie and Cal’s relationship woes/drama seemed to become the center of this book, and it was not what I was expecting. What I expected was more of Bridie and Ben’s relationship and their own drama, and less of Hattie and Cal. It felt like I got a 2-in-1 deal that I was completely unaware of. Hattie and Cal could’ve and/or should’ve gotten their own story, instead of forcing Bridie and Ben to share the spotlight with them. Their drama dominated the last 20% of this book, which I unfortunately skimmed because the frustration had gotten so bad, and made it a slow read for me.

It would’ve been nice/considerate to share the importance of Hattie and Cal’s drama in the blurb. Because what I expected was not what I read about.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

After really enjoying The Runaway Bride earlier this year I simply couldn't resist returning to Mary Jayne Baker's writing; especially since her newest story promises to deliver the 'enemy to lover' trope I tend to enjoy when done right. I've been looking forward to Love At First Fight ever since, and I'm still surprised myself I ended up struggling with this story instead of having a great time with it... But there were various reasons why this story and me simply weren't ment to be.

First of all I do have to say that I did like the general idea behind Love At First Fight (or at least Bridie and Ben's story), and the story started out well enough. I always love the banter that comes with the 'enemy to lover' trope, and there was definitely plenty of that in the beginning. The 20 dates Bridie forces herself to go on were fun to read about, and most of the characters were easy to like initially. BUT. I can't say this story is actually properly an 'enemy to lover' story as the two characters are not really enemies in the first place. Friends with a grudge maybe (and only in Bridie's case), but fullblown enemies? Most definitely not. And the whole friends and family teaming up to show them they love each other all along was getting old fast too.

I also still don't understand why the story lost focus on Bridie and Ben and introduced a major pet peeve with Hattie and Cal's story instead. I hate stories with a cheating element and the way it was introduced and milked out in Love At First Fight was just cringeworthy. I also thought there was just way too much drama and insecurity going on especially in the second half, and the ending felt rushed after all that sudden cliche drama going on. Not credible, not entertaining to read, and it basically ruined the story for me. A sole focus on Bridie and Ben and more banter would probably have improved things considerably, but as it is the story turned out to be a dud for me. Such a shame, as it started out so well!

I wasn’t too sure how much I’d enjoy this one, even though the premise sounded fun, but I am so glad I decided to give it a try; this was so much fun! I definitely had LOL moments and I couldn’t stop reading it; I had to rush to the end to see what happened. The love hate trope was done very well and the meddlers were hilarious. There was just enough roadblocks to keep it interesting, but fixed speedily enough to not get annoyed. And then, plot twist problem! Highly recommended!