Really not for me. I wish it could have been as it has a plot that really intrigued me but after finishing it, I wish I had never picked it up.

This was a fun enjoyable read, and I liked that it was different in the sense that the book didn’t end with the couple getting together, that happened early on and we got to see more of them navigating their relationship, which I wish more romance books would do. The divorce paper mystery was intriguing but I felt it wasn’t used to its full effect, because no resolve every come of it, it felt unnecessary and didn’t actually add much to the story for me. I really loved Lars and Susie and their relationship, there was a lot of chemistry and funny banter between them. There were a lot of funny moments however I found it very much gave millennial pop culture humour which often felt cringey. Overall though, an easy enjoyable read, I would definitely try more from this author.

This is a fun opposites attract romance with whip smart dialogue, heart and humorous moments that made me laugh out loud.

Susie and Lars spark sizzles into a relationship that is sexy and warm.

Enjoyed it a lot

Well paced, funny, fresh and steamy read 🥰
Full of angst, this read was so addictive I couldn't put it down!!

Susie thought she had her whole life figured out, until her boyfriend dumps her in the most public, messy way possible. Heartbroken and lost, she's given a chance at a fresh start when her aunt bequeaths her a house and money in her will. However the contractor she hires to help the renovation happens to be her ex's best friend, and therefore her natural enemy. Except Lar is actually kind of fun. And hot. And then there's the surprising discovery of a divorce certificate behind a wall in the house. With Susie and Lars names and a date for 10 years in the future...

This ended up being a cute, fun time. Susie goes through a journey, finding out how determined and strong she is as a character. She has to deal with her toxic family, an ex who humiliated her and still comes out of this experiences as an all round nice person. Lars is the typical grumpy hardworking, build with his hands type. Not exactly the opposite of Susie, who knows who to hold her own, but certainly a lot deeper than he first looks.

One aspect I didn't like was the introduction of the divorce certificate, which is never resolved. Adding in the concept of 'destiny' and divine intervention just threw the whole story for me and didn't really make sense in an otherwise contemporary setting. If you're going to add a supernatural element it needs explaining and some sort of backstory to get me to find it believable.

A fun yet forgettable story for me. I think this would have been stronger without the supernatural elements.

Had me gripped from the start. Amazing twists, funny, heartfelt, relatable. Would highly recommend, as long as you've no immediate plans because its difficult to put down!

I went into this story with little to no expectations. Based on the synopsis, I was just looking for a fun romance with some fantasy mixed into it.

To be honest, I struggled even finishing this book. I was intrigued by the magical divorce certificate, but the book never sold me on the idea of these two people falling in love. I kept waiting for a big significant moment, but it never happened. And I understand the hesitancy on both sides, because yes, falling for your douchebag ex-boyfriend's best friend or your douchebag best friend's ex-girlfriend seems more than a tad complicated, but the way this got dragged out, Jeez Louise...

And then you decide to push through anyway, because that damn divorce certificate is still floating around in the background and you just want to know what's what. And that's when the disappointment hits you like a punch in the face. Because it just poofs out of existence. So you're just left with the overwhelming feeling that all the hours you put into reading this book were just for nothing. End of story.

With thanks to Netgalley and the author

Sadly this book was a Could not finish. I couldn't make it past the first chapter. I didn't know if it was the writing style or the way the characters acted.

A wonderful romance to get caught up in, I loved every second. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.

This is my first and only 5 star read of March after a very 3 star month! I really enjoyed this and to be honest was completely taken by surprise by it.

The story follows main character Susie as she starts to renovate the home her aunt left her. Susie was very close to her aunt Susan and is still acutely feeling the loss when Lars, her ex’s best friend, appears at the door as the builder in charge of her project.

The story kicks into gear when the pair unearth THEIR divorce papers from behind a wall in the house with no reasonable explanation of how such a thing can come to exist nevermind how it got behind a wall. The two characters have to navigate their finding and their burgeoning feelings for each other.

I love a dual POV romance and I really think I’d have enjoyed seeing things more from Lars’ perspective to add to the overall angsty feeling that goes on throughout the book. I love the meaning of the title in relation to the book and how the characters reach the end of their story.

I’ve not read anything from this author in YEARS but sincerely enjoyed it and would recommend End if Story for fans of Sarah Hogle, Sally Thorne and Tessa Bailey.

Thank you for letting me read this in advance of its release date.

I must say it’s an easy read with a supernatural and romantic edge to it. I liked the character Susie, who said it like it was and the friendship she had with Cleo. I do think it was obvious where the story was going but it was interesting to see how they got there in the end.

I read not knowing there was a prequel but was rather pleased to see this had been included at the end of the story.

I went into this book solely liking the look of the cover and knowing that it was about a stubborn woman refusing to back down on what she wanted - sounded perfect to me! Other than that, I had no idea whether this would be another average romance, or something more, and I have to say I think this was actually such a good-quality, cute and fun romance. The chemistry between Lars and Susie felt really authentic, and I liked that their prior 'acquaintances from a previous relationship' status led into something much more, with this past blooming into a much more fruitful future. End of Story also gets a massive seal of approval from me because it reminded me so much of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire in the whole moving in because of a situation and then never leaving storyline! I really liked this one.

I really enjoyed the way the small supernatural thread was woven throughout this story of Susie and Lars falling in love. I found it very humanising to show Lars believing Susie regarding her previous relationship but still struggling to fully walk away - it showed how easy it can be for very toxic people to draw you in.

I also really enjoyed seeing Susie gain her own personal inner strength throughout the story without needing someone else to do so - Lars didn't help her stand up to her family, he just happened to be there when she did.

I love Kylie Scott's writing, she always fills her books with a lot of heart to match the heat.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

“We’re inevitable.”

This was a suspend belief, don’t take things too seriously kind of book that I didn’t know I needed.

I’ve read a few Kylie Scott books and I’ve always appreciated how real her characters are, especially the leading females. Susie, as ever, was great but I think I might just have a new favourite book boyfriend in Lars. I didn’t know just saying someone’s name could be so sexy? I’m also utterly convinced he’s a forgotten Sarsgaard brother and I’m not mad about it.

I really enjoyed this story and the prequel novella. While it was Lars and Susie’s story I feel like we got the full story for all the characters so I felt very satisfied by the ending.

I’ll start this review by saying I hadn’t read the prequel so had no idea what the back story about the break up between Susie and her ex Aaron was but after reading End of Story it’s more than obvious that Aaron was no great loss and she’s far better suited to Lars despite the fact that he’s Aaron’s best friend since childhood….. although thinking about it, they were definitely another odd pairing. I loved Susie and Lars in this book and the slow burn development of their relationship. Neither of them are in any hurry to jump into anything given their mutual acquaintance but they had always been friends even down to sharing their meals so that they could taste more things from a menu. There was something beautiful about them being together. I did wish Lars would stand up for Susie a bit more instead of throwing her to the wolves or in this case his mother! And there was a strong cast of supporting characters including Cleo and Tore in particular. While I enjoyed the premise of the storyline involving the unearthing of divorce paperwork in their names dated ten years in the future after having been mysteriously secreted in a wall of the house Susie had just inherited from her aunt. It played its part in bringing them together but then I feel it fell a little flat, almost as if the author didn’t know how to end it. I don’t know, I just expected a little more of a satisfactory conclusion to its existence.

Susie Bowen has just inherited her aunt's fixer-upper. When builder Lars, the best friend of her ex, turns up at her door, both immediately feel the tension. Things get even more awkward when they discover a divorce certificate in both of their names, dated for ten years in the future. As work continues on the house, they can't deny the chemistry building between them. But is there really any point in giving in to their attraction, when it seems their fate is already sealed?
I was immediately invested in this book. The magical element was intriguing, and I loved Lars and Susie's banter right from the start. Together they were adorable, but their chemistry was also incendiary. Their slow-burn relationship was really well done, making me desperate for them to finally get together. And when they did? Wow! Lars is a classic grump with a hidden soft centre (which is one of my biggest weaknesses in book boyfriends), and I really loved Susie's sass, but also her vulnerability. Her relationship with Cleo was definitely friendship goals. They were hilarious together. Tore was also great comic relief, and both supporting characters felt authentic and integral to the storyline.
No specific spoilers, but high Lars was SO stinking cute and his pet name for Susie made me swoon. He gave me strong Tom Valeska vibes (from Sally Thorne's 99% Mine), which is just about the highest compliment I can give. This gorgeous romance has a bit of everything, including the most satisfying ending, and I absolutely loved every page. Highly recommended.

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥.5
Emotional Rating: 😬😯💓😂🤤😢🙈😍😂🥰😡💓😍🥰😻

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

I’ll start by saying I noticed there was a prequel to this book mentioned when I started but when I looked I couldn’t justify spending £3 on 30 pages. Good thing I didn’t as it’s at the end of this book, but I also don’t feel it was necessary at all. It repeats a lot of information we get in the book and contradicts some things (Susie mentions the last time she saw Lars was not good but we get another scene in the novella post-Susie’s-breakup)
Onto the actual book. I thought the premise was good, I really enjoy a random unexplained magical plot point that just exists to create intrigue so this was not an issue for me as I’ve seen with other reviews. Generally I liked the characters, they weren’t overly loveable nor were they annoying. The communication between Susie and Lars is great and I enjoyed the side characters too.
However there were some word choices thrown in that felt very much like a thesaurus had been used without consideration of the way that different words work better in different situations (e.g. multiple instances of prophylactics in a sexual setting as well as labia that just didn’t work for me). I also hated the fact that we are told what Susie is wearing in just about every scene (potentially all but I didn’t go back to check) especially when she wears black every time. It adds nothing to the character, especially when most of the time it felt shoe horned in just to remind us that she only wears black.
It also dragged quite a bit in the middle and I found myself becoming easily bored but I wanted to see how the divorce paper situation would be resolved. This is a review of an ARC so there’s a chance some of this may have changed pre publishing but I just didn’t enjoy this the way I expected to from the blurb, unfortunately.

2.5*

Headlines:
A message from the future
Ex problems
Hot damn these two

It's no secret that I'm a Kylie Scott fan and End of Story demonstrates why so well. This romance is all ease but with plot depth and the right amount of steam. I flew through this book and didn't want to put it down.

Susie the FMC inherited a house from a close family member and the contractor who came to work on her house was the best friend of her vile ex. Lars was a pretty great guy but he seemed a bit of a light weight in terms of romance at first. There was more to him than that first glance.

Susie was a strong, relatable heroine. She had a tough shell, she didn't tolerate any BS from anyone. She was the kind of friend you wish for, all loyalty and goodness and inside her heart was huge and soft. Add in a cat called Kat and the appearance of something from outside our time and this became a great hook for the book to be orientated around. The plot was perfect weekend reading material, nothing too heavy but meaty enough.

Scott has released a prequel novella that came at the back of the arc for me, so I'm presuming it will for the finished copy. The prequel filled some gaps in but I wouldn't have bought it.

Thank you Piatkus Books for the review copy.

This is a story about finding yourself as well as finding love. I was swept up in the writing and simply adored this whole thing, I hadn’t read this author previously but I loved this one, I don’t know why, maybe it was aunt Susan, as even though she isn’t there you feel her through the whole story. As the walls come down, the truth comes out and Lars and Susie come to realise what they mean to each other. This is light and sweet, but there is something deeper running underneath, and that’s what makes this a great story and introduced me to an author I cant wait to hear more from.

This was a cute read with some funny moments and a supernatural twist. Susie and Lars had nice banter and chemistry. Their fall into sorta friends to friends and then more was nicely handled. I liked the side characters of Tore and Cleo. Hated Aaron. . Overall. 3 ⭐️