Bad Publicity is something that Jack really doesn't want. About to embark on his first major book tour, he wants everything to go as smoothly as possible.

Andie has just gotten her dream job as a senior book publicist but then she sees Jack’s name on her Author list and realises her world is about to be turned upside down.

Jack and Andie knew each other at University, and they didn't exactly part on the best of terms...

I really felt for Andie, she was going through a lot of different emotions during the course she of this novel and doing her best to keep on top of everything whist remaining professional.

On the other hand she seemed quite immature and out for revenge for something that we didn’t as a reader know was serious until the very end, but then you remember how young they both are and realise why they behave in the way they do.

Jack for his part seems largely up hashed by Andie’s demeanour. He clearly knows that he has done wrong, thinks he can apologise once and move on.

But Andie isn’t so quick to forgive, and as they continue to work together their relationship becomes even more strained.

Can they put their differences aside for the sake of their careers? Or will their strained relationship ruin everything?

An enemies to lovers rom com centred strongly around grief.

Andie gets the job of her dreams working in a publishing house however this new role soon sours when she realises that the author she's going to have to manage the book tour of happens to be jack - her enemy - the man who ruined her life in university. Now she must go on a European tour while acting as professional as she can but it soon becomes clear there is some unresolved tension between the two.
This book includes:
- enemies to lovers
- Forced proximity
- Second chance romance
- Slow burn
- Set in the book/ publishing world

While I think the concept of the book was a good one the execution just fell pretty flat. There was a lot of subject matter revolving around grief, healing, forgiveness and finding yourself and while I appreciate that it was done well it seemed odd in the grand scheme of the book and poorly placed within a rom com.

There was A LOT of miscommunication in this book, and while I'm a reader that actually doesn't mind miscommunication this book relied too heavily on it. From the very start we know that the FMC has a reason for not liking the MMC and it's made out to be incredibly bad but we don't actually find out what it is until the 80% mark by which point it doesn't make the same impact especially considering the fact that jack has tried to apologise, make amends and explain his side of the story several time throughout the book but Andie just won't let him, it makes for a very frustrating read.

While I didn't love it I would give this author another go as she did write grief incredibly well it just needed a different setting.

After landing her dream job at a publishing house in New York, Andie soon finds herself working with successful author Jack, someone who previously ruined her life at university. Thrust together on a European book tour, Andie tries to push aside any negative feelings she has for Jack and remain as professional as possible. But it soon becomes clear that there is some unresolved tension between the two and it’s not long before Andie must decide whether to continue holding Jack at arms length or eventually let him in.

I do love me some enemies to lovers, miscommunication tropes and Bad Publicity ticked those boxes. I also love a romance book set in the world of publishing and enjoyed reading about characters on a book tour.

If you’re looking for a nice, easy romance read then I’d recommend this one. It takes a good chunk of the book before you find out why Andie holds such a grudge towards Jack and the need to find out what that was kept me reading more than my desire for them to get together. I did really like Andie as a character and felt she was quite relatable in her desire to succeed at her job, the love she has for her friends and family, the grief she is going through from losing her Dad, but also in the way she inadvertently neglects certain relationships in her life and her journey in resolving this. I liked that the book was also about her focusing on herself and re-centring what was important to her along with finding love.

4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨


Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam? A total guilty pleasure!
This book is spicy, funny, and just what I needed for a quick, entertaining read. The chemistry between the leads is off-the-charts—so much banter, tension, and drama, with a little bit of celebrity-life chaos thrown in. Think: fake dating meets the wild world of public relations.

What I loved: the twists, the witty dialogue, and the steamy moments that definitely kept me turning pages. It’s a perfect mix of romance and humor with a side of not-so-perfect-but-still-swoon-worthy characters.

If you want a lighthearted romance with a bit of drama, this is the one to pick up.

4/5 stars. Fun, fast, and flirty. If you love a romance with a little spice and lots of laughs—definitely give it a go!




❤️shaye.readss

Cute, easy to read book. I loved the characters and wanted to cuddle Andie all the way through. The plot is a bit obvious in many ways but I still enjoyed it. Easy read, easy fun.

I loved this book so much that I pre-ordered it so I can go back and read it again. It really was a fab read and I highly recommend it

This book was not good.

First of all, the pacing was off. Andie and Jack were on a book tour around Europe together but the story bounced all over the place without any real connections to where they are, where they're going or where they've even been. One moment nothing happens in Berlin then the next they're in Paris where something actually happens. I couldn't understand why there was even any story set in a city where nothing actually happens between the characters.

Second, the MMC, Andie, is extremely unlikeable. She's selfish, childish and unprofessional. She's a senior publicist and is managing the European tour of bestselling author and her kind of ex, Jack. Andie has beef with Jack and she hates him with a passion but we don't know what this BIG THING is until about 80% through. And ok, it's bad, but I also feel like she should have let Jack explain himself and his reasons for doing what he did before she decided he was the devil.

Third, there is no character development. Andie's is the only narrative we see and there is no background or development of Jack as a character or why she hated him so much. They had a one night thing after barely knowing each other for who knows how long but they go from Andie hating him to being in love with him in a matter of days. It was ridiculous.

Andie was so wrapped up in herself, she treated everyone else around her like they don't matter at all. Only her feelings matter and everyone else should be catering to her and her problems.

Then when we eventually get to the BIG THING and find out who the real villain is, but he's never mentioned again and he doesn't even get his comeuppance which was a huge let down.

And finally, for a romance, this book falls completely flat. There is no romantic build up between Andie and Jack so when they get together it just doesn't feel right.

I gave this book 2 stars only because at the very end, Andie realises how selfish she is and starts to apologise to people. But even that is done with selfishness, especially with Jack when she decides they can't be together though no reason is really given, just because.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I LOVED this book. Bad Publicity is so much more than a romance book. It tackles hard topics, such as grief and the impacts it can make on your life.

The romance itself had everything I love: slow burn, tension, forced proximity, enemies to lovers (ish) and second chance romance, which made it addictive to read!

Bad Publicity is a must-read for romance lovers as it has the perfect blend of tension and heartwarming moments that make you giggle and kick your feet.

I really enjoyed this book, the premise was entertaining but the explanation for Andie's hatred for Jack, while making complete sense, I felt came a little too late into the story. Andie was awkward and sad in a nice way, one that made you want to comfort her instead of just rolling your eyes. The side characters and their arcs were nicely developed. Jack Carlson was sweet and kind even when he was standoffish. It was a nice and easy read with a cast of lovable characters.

I really enjoyed this one. It was a second chance romance framed by grief. Yes that sounds depressing, but it really wasn't.
Andie was bottling everything up meaning she wasn't able to live. Jack was also dealing with issues that he was unable to work through, partly because of Andie being unable or unwilling to open up.
Yes, most of this could've been avoided had they both had a sensible conversation a long time ago, and if Andie had faced rather than run from her grief. But what I did enjoy was watching her grow as the realisations happened.
Very well written. Very relatable. Very emotional.

Good try at a romcom
—
A small town girl in the big bad city. Enemies to lovers. Forced to live under the same roof. A mysterious incident in the past. You know we’re in a romcom and it’s a hell of a ride.

Andie’s a new book publicist and she’s keen to show her new boss that she’s up for doing anything—until she’s given total responsibility for Jack Carlson, a handsome bast from her past. Can she tamp down her hatred long enough to chaperone him around Europe, or will she implode before she gets to show how great a publicity she can be?

The romcom bits are good but the lack of focus on Jack made it all very one-sided. The mysterious incident in the past came in with a whimper and left with a slap, and perhaps wasn’t enough for an inciting incident. The locations were well-rendered and the romance was quite well played, but still, there’s huge holes in the plot in general. You can hand wave a lot in a movie, less so on the page.

I really enjoyed this one considering it’s so far out of my comfort zone.

When Andie lands her dream job as a book publicist and goes to meet her first client, the last thing she’s expecting is to run into her ex, let alone be stuck with him for a month… on tour in Europe to promote his latest release… when they haven’t said a word to each other in over 5 years!

What started as a swoon-worthy, second-chance romance, actually surprised me by being packed with so much emotion too. Dealing with the loss of her father, living so far from her mother and still trying to find her place in the world — I found myself rooting for Andie from the very beginning.

My only gripe with this one is that I didn’t buy the reason behind the initial falling out/break up/sudden hate for each other. It seemed so dramatic to begin with and although I personally think one civil conversation could’ve smoothed so much over, it just seemed a bit far fetched in terms of it resulting in the two never speaking again. 3.5 stars

I wanted to love this, especially for its depiction of working in book publicity, but the chemistry between Andie and her best friend, Sara, would have made a far more convincing and wonderful "friends to lovers" than Andie and Jack's "enemies to lovers". One big star for actually having an enemy rather than a rival, though I think that holding off on telling the story behind her hatred of Jack might have been a mistake.

The pacing of it is good, and I liked the direction it went in. I just saw much more potential in Andie and Sara.

This was one of the most boring books I have read as Andie is so annoying and mean and horrid and also this girl moans and paints the MMC as this terrible character that I just could not care or want them to get together. These are two people who would easily break up after the final chapter. They are incompatible and this was not the rom com promised.

Andie has just got her dream job as a publicist in a New York publisher - let's try to forget that she ran off to New York after her father died and has not processed his death at all, and let's not see a future in the fact she was so clingy when best friend Sara left their shared flat that she hoped she'd break up with her love, James, driving the very thinnest end of a wedge between them. Then who is her first big client who she will have to accompany on a book tour around Europe? Jack, who ruined her life at university. This is a bit uneven - it's not really a second-chances romance but a meditation on friendship and grief, and although Andie does have an arc of learning, she is very immature and thoughtless and we only get Jack's story in one chapter - and that not until the dreaded crisis point 80% of the way through the novel. Of course I liked the writing/publishing/bookshop aspects but this didn't really hit the spot for me.

Blog review coming in April (when I could fit it in!) https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/two-books-about-the-book-trade-bianca-gillam-bad-publicity-and-victoria-lavine-any-trope-but-you/

Bad Publicity is an enjoyable enemies to lovers, will-they-won’t-they story wrapped up in the world of book publishing. An English book publicist living in New York City has been tasked with representing an author from her past and accompanying him on his book tour across Europe. The publicist seems to have a strong grudge against the author which comes to light near the end of the book. I felt the book had good pacing and I was intrigued to find out more about their past relationship. At times, the main character of the book didn’t come across as the nicest person in the world in terms of her relationship with her mother and best friend. It seemed her life was more important than anyone else’s around her, which I didn’t enjoy. Overall, a nice plot that reminded me a little bit of One Day as the university time period was set in Edinburgh.

I love reading stories set in the publishing industry as I find them super intriguing - and this one didn't disappoint. There's plenty of angst and tension between Andie and Jack as they navigate their past... and the current situation they've found themselves in. I found each character refreshing as they also had their individual issues to face, which were emotional and raw.
The plot was engaging and I enjoyed travelling with the characters.

Andie can't wait for her first day in her dream job - at least until she sees the name of the author at the top of her list is Jack Carlson, who ruined her life at university and who she is now expected to accompany on a book tour across Europe.

Set against a backdrop of European cities and brilliant bookshops, Andie and Jack will have to form a truce and find a way to work together, or risk destroying their professional reputations.

This romance novel was really fun to read. Andie's relationships with her best friend and mother were just as important as any romantic entanglement with Jack and it was nice to see her growth over the course of the novel.

This story was beautifully written for grief and different kinds of grief you can come across but I feel it lacked the romance and tension to be expected from this kind of story - trope wise. If this had stayed a book on grief and working through that painful experience it would’ve been great and emotional but to add in the ex point and not work the romance angle for half the book, didn’t make sense to me. Especially because they had the forced proximity down pat but the tension and will they won’t they didn’t come with it.

It's a second chance romance and I do feel it moves quite slowly. It took a while before we know what he did and it made me try reading it in a faster pace. I think it's also because this book doesn't only explore romantic relationship but also other type of relationships - familial, friendship, etc.

Also as someone with interest in publishing industry, any story set in the publishing world is something I would read! Overall, the book pleasantly surprised me as I was expecting a light romance but there are more substace and emotion than I thought.

A 4.5 read for me :)