overall i thought the books was a little too juvenile for my liking. the characters acted a lot younger than they were, and i often feel uncomfortable reading explicit scenes when the characters feel adn act "younger".

here's what i wrote on my bookstores website (link is added)
spice, humor and a lot of tension, thats what you'll find in this easy to digest summer romance about friends turned enemies turned lovers.


i will add more, once i had more time to think about the book!

Flo hasn’t had the easiest of times lately, and this hasn’t been helped by being rejected by her brother’s best friend Jamie at Christmas, so when he turns up on their family holiday in Greece she isn’t best pleased and it seems that he feels the same.

I loved the family dynamics in this one and would be very happy to join the Greenberg’s in their villa for the summer … eating, drinking, floaty races in the pool followed by some more eating! I can always get onboard with a family who prioritises food in the same way I do! 😆

The chemistry between Flo and Jamie was great, with just the right amount of steam so that you could happily read this on a sun lounger surrounded by others without feeling too awkward

3.5🌟
Flo and her whole family go on holiday, only to discover her 'enemy' is in the same place. In actual reality, they're not her enemy at all but someone she has had a crush on for a long long time. However she's angry at him because of a previous incident, and it seems like he's really angry at her too which she just can't quite understand. Flo has been on a mental health journey herself and feels like maybe it's time to let go and be a little more free whilst on holiday, I wonder where that will lead her?

Generally, I liked the book but I wasn't enamored by it and didn't read it as voraciously as others. I enjoyed the family element to it and showing the strength of their family - I thought that was really sweet.

An easy, summer read of a romance.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I opened "Enemies to Lovers" by Laura Jane Williams, I was instantly transported to the sun-drenched shores of Greece, with the irresistible blend of romance and humour filling the air. This delightful novel follows Flo Greenberg, a highly strung over-achiever looking to enjoy what she hopes will be a relaxing family holiday. However, her plans are thrown into chaos when her brother’s best friend, Jamie Kramer—her “pain in the arse" nemesis—joins the trip unexpectedly.
From the beginning, I was taken in by Flo’s relatable struggles. After a mental breakdown had put her life on hold, all she wanted was a peaceful vacation to recharge. Instead, she finds herself sharing meals, boat trips, and sun loungers with the chiselled Lothario who drove her up the wall in the past. Their history is palpable, filled with tension and unresolved feelings that had me laughing and cringing at times. I was rooting for Flo to stand her ground while secretly hoping for some of that sizzling chemistry to spark into something more.
Williams nails the pacing right off the bat, creating a story that feels breezy yet full of emotion—a perfect combo for a beach read. The conflict between Flo and Jamie is both entertaining and believable, and I appreciated that it was tied intricately to the plot rather than feeling like unnecessary filler. While I found Jamie to be an endearing character with layers that slowly revealed themselves, I’ll admit that Flo’s repeated internal monologues occasionally grated on my nerves. Still, her quirks made her a relatable protagonist, and I loved how her journey toward healing was depicted without minimising the complexities of her mental health struggles.

The heart of the story lies in the chemistry between Flo and Jamie, which sizzles off the page. Their banter is sharp, and the slow-burn tension between them makes each scene filled with anticipation. I found myself flipping through chapters, eager to see whether they would finally confront their feelings. The witty text exchanges between Flo and her friend Hope added a lovely touch of humour and warmth, grounding the narrative in a relatable reality that we can all recognise.
One highlight for me was the eventual turning point in their relationship—I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say that the big reveal is well-executed and adds depth to their journey. It was gratifying to witness an evolution in communication among the characters, which felt like a natural progression of their growth.
My only wish would be for a tad more focus on the destination of their relationship—maybe a splash more spice wouldn’t have hurt either! Regardless, Williams delivered a beautifully written novel brimming with hope, humour, and a deep exploration of love that resonated with me.
In conclusion "Enemies to Lovers" is for anyone in search of a captivating summer romance that offers both emotion and escapism. With its stunning Greek backdrop and relatable characters, it’s the perfect read for those looking to be swept away into a world of love and laughter. Honestly, I couldn't put it down—I was hooked from beginning to end, and I think you will be too!

In Enemies to lovers we follow Florence (Flo) on her family vacation to Greece with her parents and brothers… and surprisingly Jamie, her brother’s best friend and Flo’s enemy after what happened last Christmas. Now Flo has to navigate spending two weeks in Greece with Jamie, without her family catching on to what happened between them which turns out be easier said than done.

This is the perfect beach read for your summer vacation: quick pacing, entertaining and you can cut the tension with a knife, everything you would want from a summer romance.
To give you my rating, I have decided on a 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars). The pacing is what made it such a great beach read, it was not too dragged out but also not too fast to be not believable. There was enough conflict between the two main characters but this was also not too dragged out and was relevant to the storyline and solved in a great way. I do wish there had been more communication between them earlier on, but I understand this was necessary for the plot to go where the author wanted it to.
My favourite character was definitely Jamie, Flo could get slightly annoying at some parts of the book as her thought process seemed very repetitive, but not to a point where it was insufferable.

Overall, I would recommend this to everyone looking for a great summer romance that will entertain you and keep you hooked! I couldn’t put the book down, I just needed to know what was going to happen next.

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Random House, for the eARC.

An ideal sunlounger read, perfect for a beach read. Funny as always I lok forward to reading the author's next work.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read this book, however, this wasn’t the right book for me. I didn’t understand the romance between the characters and found them to be hard to relate to. I did enjoy the holiday setting though and feel this would make a good beach read for someone else.

I've come to the conclusion Laura's writing just isn't for me.
I've read many of her books but only really enjoyed one.
I found this story to not really interest me. While the synopsis sounds like something I'd enjoy.

Enemies to lovers is my favourite romance trope. Combine that with the forced proximity of those enemies having to spend a two week holiday together - then I am hooked. It also featured the awesome trope of brother’s best friend. One I wasn’t very familiar with, but a trope that I’ve fallen for.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Laura Jane Williams’s writing just flows. Her books are so easy to read and I read this book in only a few settings. Considering it’s the school holidays, that’s a sign of just how enjoyable this book is. “Enemies to lovers” gets into the action quickly and the tension between Jamie and Flo was built up expertly.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
And let me talk about Jamie and Flo. They are now one of my favourite romantic couples. Both vulnerable and having come out of a tough few years. They saw in each other things others didn’t see. Jamie didn’t see Flo as the girl who’d had a breakdown and needed to be wrapped in cotton wool. He saw her as she was. Someone who struggled sometimes but who was stronger because of the experiences she’d been through. Jamie had a heart of gold and I adored him.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The depiction of mental health problems was so accurate. As someone who’s had a breakdown, I really understood Flo. I got that she would never forget what she’d experienced but that it now felt like time to move on and take steps forward. Even if she sometimes needed to be encouraged to do that.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is the perfect summer romance and the ideal holiday book.

This was a nice, easy read while on holiday. Thank you to Random House UK and netgalley for the arc for my honest review.
I was a good read, although I found the attitude of the main characters to be quite childish at times and feel as though the book would have been over a lot sooner if they'd actually spoken to each other properly there was a lot of mixed signals and bad communication.
Would still recommend for people who want a light summer holiday read with the book being based around a summer holiday to Greece too.

Book: Enemies to lovers
Author: Laura Jane Williams
Rating: 3.25 stars 🌟

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC of this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed it! But I must say it took me a while to get into, I felt like in the first 3rd of the book, not much really happened... I kept wanting more

Once we got past that, it got really into the plot and characters. The writing was easy to read, and I enjoyed the storyline

If you love a good slow burn and, as the title says, enemies to lovers, then this is for you

It was an easy summer read 📚

‘Enemies To Lovers’ by Laura Jane Williams is an absolutely wonderful and emotional romance novel set on a gorgeous Greek holiday - it definitely gave me vacation envy! The main character Flo is a university lecturer whose PhD was interrupted last year by a severe mental breakdown. Now in a much better place, all she wants is a relaxing and fun family holiday, and for people to stop tip-toeing around her. Her plans come crashing down when she arrives to find her brother’s incredibly hot best friend Jamie is joining the trip - she and Jamie have a chequered history of longing and rejection, and he is the last person she needs on her dream vacation!

I really connected with this novel based on the way it plainly and unapologetically described Flo’s mental health struggles while not treating her constantly like a delicate ornament about to break. She was incredibly loveable and relatable - and a the joy she found in reading just endeared her to me more. I adored her funny text messages with friend Hope and many of her interactions with her family. Jamie was another interesting character whose layers were peeled back throughout the novel.

The chemistry between the two leads was off-the-charts and their slow-burn journey from “enemies” to lovers made this book super hard to put down. A big reveal towards the end was well-handled and I enjoyed how communication opened up between all of the characters.

Overall, this beautiful book gets 4.5 stars from me - given the long road to get there I would have preferred a little more focus on the destination (and maybe some more spice) but otherwise this novel was perfect! Flo might be one of my favourite characters ever and the messages of hope and healing are so powerful.

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Random House UK via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

2.5 ☆

tropes:
brother's best friend
forced proximity
forbidden romance
summer romance

While I usually add a bit of the blurb here, we need to get down to business. I need this title changed EXPEDITIOUSLY because where is the enemies to lovers angst we are used to??? The tension?! The hatred?!! I-

Our FMC, Flo, gets rejected by her brother's best friend, Jamie via a note slid under her door (I wish I made that up) because communication was not found between our characters (why yes, there is one of my top 3 tropes in this book and I really wish I was briefed more but yikes). The relationship between the two was very immature as well and it was really hard to read past it at times.

BUTTT. While the chemistry between our main characters flopped, the family's was so cute. Her and her brother's banter was adorable and it reminded me even of my relationship with my own. Altogether, I think the author had the makings of a really good book (Greece getaway, brother's best friend trope, forced proximity) but it fell flat.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC for my honest opinion! :)

This was a very light and breezy read, which I definitely enjoyed! It made for a lovely summer read. The setting made me feel as if it were really summer while in reality it was quite rainy! However, it was nothing special for me. The characters fell a little flat, and the story was enjoyable but predictable.

Thank you to netgalley for this ebook.
I love most genres and I do love a cheesy story but this was just shit!
I’m sorry but apart from the gorgeous Greece setting and the family connection this book just was missing everything!
Jamie ignores flo and vice versa so not sure how they are actually enemies???? There’s no big drama that made them enemies apart from him slipping a note under her bedroom door at Christmas (yes these are adults and not primary school kids)
The main character is so self centred and because she’s had a break down previously the family are walking on eggshells around her and treating her like she might break at any given moment!
I’m sorry but it was an obvious storyline aswell! If you want something quick and easy to read whilst in the sun then yeah go for it but if your looking for something that grips you and keeps you wanting more then don’t bother with this!!

• 2.5⭐️ •

Sadly, LJW and I don’t seem to be gelling! I read Our Stop a couple of years ago which I adored but the last couple of books of hers that I’ve read, I haven’t really enjoyed.

I feel like Enemies to Lovers is a misleading title - there was such a tiny amount of tension and chemistry, it was more like acquaintances to boyfriend and girlfriend? There was a distinct lack of passion and lust and the fiery ‘love to hate’ vibes that you would expect to see with this trope were nonexistent.

I also wasn’t hugely sold on any of the characters 🤔 Flo and Jamie just struck me as childish, how hard is it to just SAY what you’re feeling? Like, you’re grown adults?? That just irked me to be honest and I found it difficult to picture them being a good match for each other.

I agree with the general consensus that the family dynamic in this story is enjoyable - the bits I liked the most were when the whole extended family were sat having dinner or hanging out and bantering with each other. The characters of Flo’s brothers, sister-in-law and parents were mostly charming and written well. The Greek setting was perfect and made me want to travel there immediately.

This book had all of the ingredients to be a spicy, sizzling summer romance but the actual romance element was MIA and so it was a pass for me.

Thank you Netgalley & Random House UK, Cornerstone for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A nice fun beach read but it is slightly predictable and somehow a little Wattpad-like.

That being said I loved the scenery something about a book that takes place in Europe will always do it for me.

It is important to note that this book does deal with grieve, fire and sexual assault but it is not super graphic.

It is also a brother's best friend and a second chance romance with a huge miscommunication. No honestly if the would have had one prober conversation the book would have been like 20 pages long but thankfully they did not.

⭐️4.5⭐️

A big thank you to Net Galley and Cornerstone for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A beautiful story. If your looking for a book with a lot of summer sun, beach and holiday vibes this is for you. I really enjoyed getting to know all these characters and it will be really hard to leave this world.

I found Flo a perfect advocate for those who battle with anxiety and how to learn life again.

Enemies to Lovers is a good beach read. The Greek setting makes it perfect for holidays.
Set on a family holiday, Flo finds herself sharing with her brother's best mate, Jamie. A man she has a past with.
The story was pretty straightforward, although I did find the main character, Flo, a bit irritating at first.

The first third of this I really didn’t enjoy- the main character was annoying but as the story developed I came to like her and I ended up liking the book more than I thought I would. I liked the building of the friendship and the communication that grew between the leads. The supporting cast were sweet and Kate was brilliant.