Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to review.

I was really looking forward to this story but it was very disappointing. Bad Publicity was advertised as a romance but there was no romance in it. The book was more about grief than romance. Andie kept hinting at the terrible event that made her hate Jack but we had to wait until around 70% to find out what it was. I didn't like Andie at all. She was very self absorbed and should have talked to a counsellor about her grief instead of relying on her best friend and being cold to her mum.

If you love a fast-paced, slow-burn, second chance. low-spice romance "Bad Publicity" by Bianca Gillam is for you! Andie, a new senior book publicist in New York, discovers her first major client is Jack Carlson, her ex-university fling whom she hasn't spoken to in five years. They're forced to embark on a European book tour together, avoiding their complicated past and strong attraction while navigating personal and professional challenges.

What I Loved:
Touching second-chance romance tending to enemies-to-lovers
Sensitive exploration of loss and personal growth
Enjoyable mix of humour and emotional depth

What You Might Not Love:
Andie's initial hostility towards Jack might be frustrating, but hang in there, you get a good explanation!
The slow burn is sloooow, but it is worth it
Not a true enemies-to-lovers as only one half is truly an enemy

For me, "Bad Publicity" offers a heartfelt, layered romance that goes beyond surface-level storytelling, making it a recommended read for those seeking some emotional complexity in their romance. Perfect for fans of enemies-to-lovers and/or second-chance romances.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book at no cost and with no obligation. I reviewed this book voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

2.75/5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the ARC of this book.
Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.
We don’t find out what happened in the past with our characters until we’re 80% through the story and that, on top of FMC constantly being incredibly rude and unprofessional, makes it really hard to root for our main couple. Even small hints as to what happened would’ve been helpful but we get nothing.
We also barely see Andie actually doing her job even though she keeps getting praised for how well she’s doing, she constantly describes looking at books and drinking. It really does feel like our MMC is doing most of the work.
And honestly I think it’s kind of misleading to call them exes cause they barely knew each other. To the point that I don’t think it’s believable that the betrayal was felt so deeply.
Main highlight for me was our MMC but even his problems weren’t fully fleshed out, it would’ve been lovely to see some kind of resolution to his relationship with his dad.
The book could also do with a content warning page for excessive alcohol consumption, grief and sexual harassment (?)/exploitation (?).

Forced proximity is a wonderful trope. I really enjoyed this book and am on a romance streak, it fit in perfectly!! It's not deep and meaningful and is a light, summer read. If you enjoy that kind of book you'll love it!

Loved the story of Andie who lands her dream job as a senior book publicist in New York but then finds out she has to accompany a author Jack Carlson for a month around Europe. Jack Carlson is the reason she left Edinburgh for New York after Jack Carlson humiliated Andie at university plus the death of her father.
This is a enjoyable book about how 2 people work through the anger and with some heart warming scenes.
Would highly recommend.

I raced through this emotional and touching read. What an amazing debut! The way Andie's grief was handled was so sensitive and sympathetic and the classic enemies-to lovers and will-they-won't they tropes expertly done, Coupled with Andie's sharp, scathing humour made this a fun, yet heartfelt, emotional read. Already looking forward to the next thing Bianca Gillam writes.

A novel full of heart, romance and dealing with grief.

I was surprised to find that for me this book is more about character development, facing grief and letting your loved ones in, than the romance. Though I enjoyed the romantic parts too!

We follow Andie who has just landed her dream book publicity role when she discovers that her first author is Jack Carlson, the boy who ruined her life.

Chaos! All the romance tropes you love to see: enemies to lovers, forced proximity and a heartwarming second chance romance. A wonderful blend of fun rom-com moments and more heartfelt, serious character connection.

For me the highlight of this novel is Andie's character development. She has been running for years from the grief of her father's death, pushing people away and finally begins to let the grief and the people she loves back in. Her relationships with her mother and bestfriend Sara are beautiful.

It's definitely more than a rom-com, though I did both laugh and swoon! The way this author articulates loss, the weight of the memories left behind and how the sharp pain can become mingled with light, with the love that still remains, really resonated with me. It was stunning.

I really enjoyed this book and have to say it was my biggest surprise of the year, I liked the two main characters and the problems between them and as the book tour progressed i enjoyed how they grew as characters and slowly started to understand each other.

Highly recommend!

I really enjoyed this title - it had everything you could want from a romance. I loved the tension between the characters and how they come back together.

More like a STRONG 3.75 ⭐️

A perfect reminder that a story with romance does not need to involve multiple s3x scenes and lusty thoughts as n addition to the plot. (There is one that describes what it needs and nothing more, and another that is more closed door)

This book shows you that there is more to romance than in the surface, where internal fights, anger and hurt can derail the most truest of relationships.

Our FMC Andie lands a huge job in the city, but her first client is none other than Jack Colson (and ex, sort of). With a painful past looming over them they have to go on tour and pretend nothing has happened, but in the end the moral of the story is about putting yourself first, accepting life for what it has given you, and allowing yourself time to heal. Love, comes second which makes it even more special.

This was a wonderful read. The flow was easy, Jack was charming, and respectful while sticking to his own boundaries. It shows there are two sides to every story has two sides if you’re just willing to listen.

I made it to 40% before I dnf'ed.
So apparently something in their past went wrong, which is why Andie is borderline awful to Jack. It's hinted about but we still have no clue about what Jack must have done to warrant such hate from Andie.
Overall I found this (or what I have read) lackluster. I keep hoping for things to actually happen to make it more interesting, but up till this point, they're just doing regular publicist/author things.
The premise sounded fun though.

I really liked this one!

As the book tour goes on you can see the connection between the two characters develop and also how they work through their differences.

A great romance and an utterly enjoyable read.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for this advance copy of Bad Publicity.

Bad Publicity follows Andie and Jack, a pair with a mysterious history. Jack is a bestselling author, and Andie a new senior publicist, who's first client is none other than Jack. Due to Jack's level of success, he and Andie end up on a book tour around Europe, where old feelings resurface the more time they spend together...

I really enjoyed this book. I read it super quickly and wanted to know what happened next. Andie and Jack were both flesh out characters, and I enjoyed the barrage of background characters too, like Andie's mum and best friend. However I sometimes felt the chemistry between our leads was slighttlyyyy lacking. Still recommend tho!

Bad Publicity is a must-read for romance fans like me. The writing is engaging, and the characters are unforgettable. With its perfect blend of angst, humour, and heartwarming moments, this story is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Andie is a publicist and finds out she’s going on tour with a famous author - who happens to be one of her ex’s! What could possibly go wrong??

I liked this book! I liked that we went through the story wondering what happened to them rather than a “then and now” approach. I also liked the characters and how we really got to know them.

I liked how this book was a nice palate cleanser. I needed a book that would keep me interested but was quite a “beach” read and it was definitely that!

I’d recommend if it’s your style of book!

Thank you to Bloomsbury publishing for this arc

Join an author and publicist whilst they rewrite their story…

Thank you for Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ)

What better way to settle into your new job as a senior publicist in New York by learning one of your authors is your ex. That’s Andie’s life currently, and she’s cursing the universe for taunting and testing her temper in this way. Surely it can’t get any worse for Andie right? Wrong. There’s a schedule European book tour scheduled for, you guessed it, Jack’s new non-fiction book. Meaning Andie is set to spend the following four weeks, resisting the urge to hit Jack with a car whilst revisiting romantic places across Europe. But what about if there is something in the air in Europe? What if whatever story Andie had thought up of her relationship with Jack was all wrong?

I was so excited to read this when it was duped as The Devil Wears Zoraida meets Ten Things I Hate About You, but maybe that expectation let me down. I struggled to connect with the story or the characters as the writing style was not a preference of mine. I will say that I could see the reassuring effect of exploring grief in this story could bring to readers, and knew this from hearing friends of mine's opinion on this book. However, I could not really connect to this as much as my friends had. I would argue it is an easy going, fast read romance perfect to escape for a little or as a palette cleanser, and I’m just sorry that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

I was really looking forward to this one given the blurb.

To me, this is a really slow burn as the author leaves little hints of the past, wrapped around the book's present.

We know SOMETHING happened the pair years ago but we just don't know what straight away. With a flashback from both parties, we are brought up to speed about 75% of the way through.

The concept was good though.

(I rounded up to 4 from 3.5!)

"Bad Publicity" by Bianca Gillam is a sharp, witty take on the chaotic world of PR, media, and scandal. Gillam’s prose crackles with humor and insight, and the protagonist's journey through professional and personal upheavals is both relatable and entertaining. The novel’s satirical edge adds a refreshing layer to the storytelling.

However, the plot occasionally feels predictable, and some of the secondary characters lack depth, making parts of the narrative less impactful. While enjoyable, it doesn’t quite reach the heights it aspires to.

A fun, light read for fans of workplace dramas and media satire.

A slow burn with a bookish plot. Bad Publicity included all the best tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity and second chances, along with the intricacies of grief and personal growth.

“Five years ago, Jack broke my trust and set off a chain of events that completely unbalanced the world I’d built for myself”

Andie lands her dream job as a publicist in New York. But as fate would have it, her first big author is a man she had planned to never meet again. Jack is promoting the release of his first novel, requiring a book tour around Europe accompanied by, you guessed it, his new publicist.

After a short fling with Jack whilst together in university in Edinburgh, which ended in disaster, Andie has been harboring a lot of unresolved feelings and has refused to come to terms with the death of her father. In Andie’s case, avoidance is the best tactic and floating through life by repressing all of her issues is the key. What better way to do that than to move to the other side of the world? That is, until she is forced to confront her issues after being partnered with the one person she despises.

The reason for my rating not being 5 stars, is because I spent most of the book angry at Andie. Professionalism aside, she is nothing but horrible to Jack, whilst he works had to remain civil and continue on the tour. But the author redeems herself by bringing to light the reasoning behind Andie’s hatred, and in a way, it becomes more justified.

NY, London, Berlin and Paris. Each city brings a host of new issues for the main characters, from the difficulties of continuing with a difficult partnership, to the unraveling of what is soon to become a rekindled romance.

Andie begins to realise that her repressed grief is causing the rest of her life to fall apart, and until she can deal with the loss of her father as well as the dramatic events of her time at university, she can’t begin to mend the parts that are broken.

“The thing no one ever tells you about losing someone you love is how guilty you’ll feel about every single moment you spent with them where you could’ve been more attentive, more loving.”

Jack is nothing short of a gentleman, and as the reason for Andie’s hatred is unclear through the majority of the plot, he is hard not to love as one of the main characters. Hence, the loss of a star in rating due to Andie’s awful attitude.

But as the story comes to light, both Andie and Jack’s professional relationship begins to take a turn in that perfect slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers twist.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Light easy read, no big twists, but very enjoyable.
Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review