An easy to read romantic novel which is described perfectly in the title. Flo goes on a family holiday along with Jamie, a family friend, and their relationship is difficult to say the least. Enjoyable holiday reading!

If you’re looking for an easy breezy beach read - this could be the one for you.

The Greek holiday setting was blissful and I spent the whole time I was reading wishing I was there.

The mental health representation is good and I liked that we had a main character who was trying to rebuild her life after some pretty awful experiences. I had a lot of sympathy for her and everything she had gone through.

At the same time though, I found both the characters to be quite immature and I just wanted to ‘bang their heads together’ (to quote my mum!). iIt got a bit frustrating at times but did contribute to the build up of the relationship.

I think enemies to lovers was probably overstating it a bit - probably more hate to love than enemies.

This book does have all the best tropes though - brother’s best friend, found family, forced proximity and only one bed. All the ingredients to a successful romance.

I found this an easy read, perfect for a summer’s day

Found myself angry at the characters the majority of the time. Really struggled to get through it and couldn’t finish in the end.
Will not be posting on Goodreads.

DNF at 10%

I feel so bad doing this but don’t want to waste time reading books that aren’t for me.

Flo is our FMC, 2 years ago she spent some time in a facility due to having a meltdown due to anxiety and depression. She starts getting her life together and becomes good friends with Hope, a girl who also is battling her own demons.

Last Christmas, there seemed to be tension between Flo and Jamie.. Who is our MMC, he is best friends with Flo’s brother Laurie and basically part of their family.
After there being some tension, Flo tells Jamie to come to her room that night.
He slips a note under her door that he can’t do it.

Fast forward to now, Flo is on a family holiday and Jamie arrives.
Flo isn’t happy he is there and holds a lot of anger towards Jamie, whilst Jamie is not really acknowledging her. Then that start to bicker a bit over silly things.

I only made it this far until I just couldn’t anymore. This book isn’t for me, I just couldn’t gel with the characters and found the reason for the ‘enemies’ quite petty.
In my opinion, if this happened to someone with anxiety, depression, I’d think they’d be more self conscious or think deeper into the reasoning.
My first thought when he slipped the note was because he didn’t want to ruin his friendship with the brother.
Like it’s not as if he stood her up, he let her know 🤷🏼‍♀️

The Mum happily making a comment about Jamie ‘sowing his wild oats’, honestly had me near gagging!! What mother encourages a boy to sleep around who is like another son to her. Then commenting about safe sex etc 😅
I’m all for progressive parenting but I just don’t believe a woman would encourage a young adult to sleep around.

I normally love a brother’s best friend romance, but this just didn’t hit the mark for me and feel it’s because I went into this thinking it was enemies to lovers due to the title, when honestly it’s more likely miscommunication and immaturity.

I did enjoy the fact it’s set in a lovely setting and was able to easily get into the feel of the book.
I’m sure this book would be good for someone who likes an easy read with a lovely sunny setting.

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley.

Read this book while on holiday in Greece - so perfect timing! I love to read an enemies to lovers trope, so I knew this book would be perfect. I especially enjoyed the Greenberg family dynamic!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of Enemies to Lovers.

I read this whilst away on holiday and it was a pleasant, easy, quick read that I did objectively enjoy.

However, I found the main character to be really unlikeable. She is meant to be flawed and there is some personal growth and self awareness that happens, but I couldn’t gel with it. I thought the “life lessons” learned by the protagonist on the way were a bit on the nose and shoehorned in rather than woven through naturally.

The plot, at points, was a little too convenient and predictable and lacked depth. It didn’t convince me and it felt like things didn’t happen for ages and then happened really quickly, which I found quite jarring and unrealistic.

2.5 ✨ rounded down to 2.

I loved this book and was captivated from beginning to end. I loved the setting in Greece which made for a most romantic story with a beautiful backdrop. The characters felt very real and brought feelings of both happiness and sadness. A real page turner.

Thank you to the author and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. Who doesn't love an enemies to lovers trope (okay maybe not everyone's cup of tea) but I'm a fan and I was a fan of this story too.

The author portrayed beautiful character development for our gal Flo, and also in who is u folded as her love interest (it's pretty obvious from the start who that is!).

Formatting caused some confusion while reading but I know the end result will be better formatted for Kindle reading. However, I did find some time frame jumps a little confusing- like from one location to another..

Overall I'd recommend this book to people, it made me laugh and was an easy enjoyable read

Does exactly what it says on the tin
Enemies to Lovers!

This was a quick read for me, finished it in 2.5 days during lunches at work.

What I really enjoyed was, I thought that the title of the book gave it all away, and whilst it’s pretty obvious how it’s going to pan out, I really enjoyed reading how the characters got to the end point, but with a few little twists along the way.

One of the key points from this book was the growth of Flo, the girl at the start of the book vs the girl at the end shows how far she’s come. Mental health is noted throughout they read however it is respectful whilst also being serious but not taking away from the story.

I loved the Greenberg family and I think I’d really enjoy a holiday with them. I liked how you got to see a hint of each of their character too.

Overall, This is a perfect poolside summer read and won’t disappoint!

It had the perfect location, the perfect family dynamic and it had me laughing out loud…..

But why was this book called ‘Enemies to lovers’ ?
There was some tension between Flo and Jamie but definitely not enough to be declared enemies from the start.

The topic of mental health was tackled respectfully and was well written.
It was all a bit predictable in my opinion and reminded me too much of books that I’ve already read in the past.

It was easy to read but needs some work

Thanks to Netgalley and the tagged publisher for my copy of Enemies to Lovers by Laura Jane Willams

In this book, we follow Flo Greenberg as she goes on holiday with her family and their family friend, Jamie. Florence Greenberg has been avoiding family gatherings since last Christmas because she cannot stand to be around her brother's best friend Jamie, who led her on, ended their relationship abruptly, and then disappeared. Despite their mutual dislike, it's hard to avoid each other during family holidays. Although some of the plot was predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a palate cleanser, and it really hit the spot for me in terms of letting me forget about the rest of the world.

#EnemiesToLovers #FamilyDynamics #HolidayRomance #BookReview #CharacterDevelopment #Relationships #EscapistFiction #EmotionalJourney #EngagingPlot #LauraJaneWilliams

A great summer read. Following a mental breakdown Flo goes on a family holiday and who should turn up but Jamie, her brother's best friend and her Christmas fling. Lots of will they, won't they moment's, with other love interests, creepy hunk Adonis, mixed in.

Unfortunately this book ended up being a DNF for me. I had just read something with a similar plot and really struggled to get into it. I think if I hadnt read something similar it would have been a great read, so I'd still recommend it.

I feel like this book could have been really great of the entire plot wasn’t built around a miscommunication. I did the characters when they weren’t being immature, which again could have all been solved if they just had a conversation.
I did really like the last 1/4 of the book though when it started picking up a little bit more.
I am a little disappointed though because brothers best friend and enemies to lovers are normally two of my favourite tropes and I’ve really loved all of Laura’s other books so I’m sad I didn’t love this one too!

LOVE LOVE LOVE! This was the perfect summer, Greek holiday-based rom-com. Some of the plot was predictable, but plot twists are not what you read a rom-com for. This was swoony, funny and just a really uplifting read. I liked that there wasn't the classic lengthy third-act-break-up, and the miscommunication wasn't painful like a lot of other romance novels. This was my first book by Laura Jane Williams and it's definitely made me want to read more!

PS I would 100% read a book about Alex, he deserves the world xxxxx

(Or maybe Flo's parents' story?)

I hadn’t heard of this author, but who doesn’t like an ‘enemies to lovers’ novel? I am glad I took the chance. It was charming, witty, and with just enough twists to keep you guessing.

Florence Greenberg has grown up with 2 wonderful big brothers and amazing parents, and she realises how lucky she is having a close-knit family. They get together for Christmas, holidays and whenever they can, with her oldest brother’s wife too. However, since last Christmas Flo has been avoiding them all as she can’t bear to be in the same place as her brother’s best friend Jamie. Since Jamie’s parents passed away, he had been considered another member of the family and joined them whenever possible, however Jamie had led her on and then broke up with her in the worst way, and then disappeared. Flo hated him, and he didn’t seem to keen on her either – but on a small family holiday it’s quite hard to keep away.

This is definitely a novel to be read on a holiday, sitting by the pool. Not taxing, but a lovely story, and will keep you engrossed until the end.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6669842077
https://maddybooksblog.blogspot.com/2024/07/enemies-to-lovers-by-laura-jane.html

I really had such a good time diving into this book. Maybe it was a case of right book at the right time but the holiday vibes were spot on. Firstly, this book was based in Greece, which is where I’m going on holiday in less than two weeks. The author painted such a vivid picture which only made me more excited to visit such a beautiful place 🤍

I loved the family dynamics in this book. Everyone brought sometime unique to the table and there was such warmth in their interactions with one another 🫶🏻

For a book based around miscommunication, there was a lot of good conversations happening. The author does such a good job with the mental health representation in this book. Florence’s burnout recovery tactfully tackles the taboo nature of mental ‘burnouts’ and I really liked that this subject was discussed in the book 🥰
This was a really vulnerable romance but Jamie was the perfect match for Flo.

Overall, this is a perfect holiday read but one which also dives in to some deeper subjects. Whilst the main theme was of course the romance, there were some really important conversations had between the family in this story and they were handled so perfectly, which is why this book is rated so highly by me 💞

Whilst being somewhat predictable, Enemies to Lovers was no less a good read. Easy and addictive, a perfect beach read for the summer. Great family dynamics and likeable characters.
Many thanks for the ARC, 4 stars.

A relaxing family vacation in beautiful Greece filled with food and laughter, it came at just the right time for Flo. She was really looking forward to a relaxing trip only to find out she’ll be stuck with Jamie for two long weeks. Her brothers best friend that she almost hooked up with last Christmas only to be rejected in a letter. You read that right a freaking LETTER. She’s determined to not let him get the better of her but trying to be the bigger person in not an easy task.

I was really looking forward to reading this one so I was thrilled when I got this arc. Enemies to lovers is the best trope there is and a greek holiday on top of that is just chefs kiss. The setting is just beautiful but i have to admit that all the food made me really jealous (and hungry).

Flo broke down and had to pick herself off the ground. She’s so strong and such a thoughtfully written character, you cant help but root for her. Flo decides to open up about her fears regarding her mental breakdown and dealing with the aftermath to her family and they were so receptive and understanding. They all talk about it and go around the table opening up about themselves. Their dynamics are so entertaining a group of foodies that are really competitive and have a blast together. I laughed out loud on multiple occasions.

Then there’s the romance of it all, arguably the most important part of any romance book. It’s clear as day that Jamie is in love with Flo but he puts in a good fight avoiding their obvious connection. He’s part of the family, they’re all he has and is afraid of loosing them if things don’t end up working out. It’s slow burn, Flo has a vacation fling but eventually things start heating up. I love them together personally, it was definitely worth the wait.

Every piece of the story has a purpose and it all ties together beautifully. This is one of the must read summer romances of the year, can’t recommend in enough. 

TW: mental health struggles, sexual assault, death of a parent, house fire

Read this if you like
❤️‍🔥Enemies to lovers
🏝️Vacation vibes
🩵Family bonding
🥐Food
🔥Slow burn

Loved this book and devoured it in a day.

Great premise for a story and a good romantic family story with some real issues focusing on death, mental health and the family dynamics.

Laura Williams has written some amazing books and this is another. The characters are well thought out and I was interested in them and how they played out. Although the main love story felt inevitable I was delighted that they came together for a happy ending.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.