'Work Trip' was the perfect workplace romance, with a true enemies to lovers trope! Our main characters Fliss and James truly do detest each other!

In order to resolve their differences, James and Fliss's boss sends them on a spontaneous - and very unglamorous - work trip that immediately goes south. As their adventure unfolds, tensions grow, and our two love interests in such close proximity are forced to learn more about each other.

Full of snappy banter and fueled disagreements, as well as heartfelt conversations, James and Fliss find themselves drawn to the very things they hate about each other. They were such a great pair! My favourite part was James' uncanny ability to notice when Fliss was overthinking and interally panicking, proving that he'd been keeping a closer eye on her in the office than either of them expected! He was so in tune with her feelings. Fliss also discovered how much she'd been judging James on his cover without realising the depth to his character underneath, especially his difficult upbringing.

The rough and wild backdrop of the remote Scottish Highlands was the perfect touch to this novel! Which ended up throwing James and Fliss into some tense situations, where they needed to lean on each other in order to make it through in one piece.

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this!

*I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers Aria & Aries for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest review.

She’s the Type A head of marketing, everything in her work life is planned to a tee.. and he’s the egotistical head of sales who constantly aims to derail her ideas in order to benefit himself and his department. When their nutty CEO has had enough of their bickering, he plans a ‘team building’ work trip to the Scottish Highlands. But these two city folk are quickly abandoned in the wilderness, with just a handful of protein bars, two sleeping bags and just one tent 😳😳

I absolutely ate this book up! 😍 Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, last-two-people-at-the-end-of-the-world disease 🤣 this book started off strong with corporate rivalry and a ton of banter and it stayed strong throughout! I laughed, I empathised and I joined Fliss on her emotional 180 regarding how she felt about James! It has literally everything you could want from a romance book!!

What an incredible debut novel from Chloe Ford! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

An easy read which really drew me in so I flew through it, with enemies to lovers and workplace romance!
Loved the British humour as well.

I really enjoyed this read, it was refreshing to read a UK based book with good British humour. End of Chapter 5 particularly made me giggle.

Fliss and James are work enemies but their boss makes them work together on a work trip. Can they resolve their differences ;)

I flew through this book! I really enjoyed the banter between Fliss and James, with good British humour and lots of adventure along the way.

If you like a romance with a bit of spice, enemies to lovers and lots of humour, I'd highly recommend this book.

All the elements needed for the trope and lashings of Scottish weather to add to it! A thoroughly enjoyable read of tribulations, attraction and denial with an ending leaving things wide open for a sequel!

I would first like to thank Netgallery for allowing me to both read and review my first ever arc !

Work Trip by Chloe Ford is an enemies to lovers & workplace romance which I absolutely LOVE. It reminded me a lot about the hating game but that much better !
I love the setting being in England as well as Scotland as I always find myself gravitating towards each place.


Tropes:
Rom Com, Workplace romance, Damsel in Distress, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity

Thank you so so much again netgallery

Marketeer Fliss and salesman James are at loggerheads at work. When their boss decides to send them on a work trip, it is not as either expected. Can they complete the challenge they are set, and find a way to work together?

I found the story fairly predictable, but entertaining nonetheless. I struggled to warm to Fliss, but I loved James - I really liked how he could sense when Fliss was overthinking. A fun romcom, set in a beautiful location, the descriptions were wonderful.

I am so grateful to the Team at Aria & Aries, as well as the Team at NetGalley, for taking a chance on me, and allowing me to access my first ever ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

As a busy Mum, quiet reading opportunities are few and far between, and it is exceptionally rare for me to finish a book in under 24-hours, but I absolutely devoured this book, which had me giggling from the first-page! It was utterly unputdownable!

Work Trip is an enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance, filled with warmth, fish-out-of-water humour and wonderful character development.

In Work Trip, we follow Fliss and James, who work for a burgeoning London-based corporation, specialising in pop-up music festivals, with Fliss heading up the marketing team and James heading up sales. James and Fliss couldn't be more different, both in terms of their appearance and their office personalities. James dresses as though he's about to step into an episode of The Apprentice and has a natural confidence verging on arrogance, whilst Fliss is a hard-working Type A personality, in need of external validation, and she wears vibrant patterned dresses with sequinned heels. With a Director position in the offing, the tension between these two has reached fever-pitch and their somewhat unhinged and unethical boss decides an impromptu work-trip is in order and promptly abandons them in the remote Scottish Highlands, with two back packs, one tent and no phone signal.

James and Fliss quickly learn that they're going to need to work together in order to come out of this trying ordeal unscathed. What follows is a comedy of errors, infused with zingy dialogue and great banter, whilst also delivering some truly touching, heart-warming character development, as the two gradually get to know one and other, and spark a mutual affection.

Chloe Ford's writing is simply sublime. I loved her biting wit and astute reflections on office politics. Furthermore, her descriptions of the Scottish Highlands were so beautiful and evocative I felt as though I was visiting these places alongside Fliss and James.

It is rare that a book can make me laugh out loud or have me ugly crying, but this book achieved the remarkable fete of making me do both! I have never felt so seen in the pages of a book as I have in the character of Fliss. Fliss has poured her heart and soul into her work for many years, at the expense of a family and social life, but is constantly undermined, undervalued and under-appreciated. Fliss' journey to self-realisation as the novel progresses touched my heart, and I think I cried continually whilst reading the last 25-pages.

All in all, I loved this book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has ever struggled with office politics, particularly if you love an enemies-to-lovers workplace romance, with delectable humour, true heart and fabulous characters.

Tropes you may enjoy in this book include; forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers, one tent (and one bed) and fish-out-of water humour (city slickers learning to get by in the wilderness)

I ended up really liking this book after initially hating both Fliss and James, but I think that was the point, as my feelings towards them changed just as theirs did further in the story as I got to know them better and the reasons behind their initial behaviour. The remote Scottish setting for part of the book was really effective. A great enemies to lovers, forced proximity, only one bed (tent) romance!

An absolute romp of a rom com! Think The Hating Game while on the worst work trip of your life! I loved this book! Fliss and James were both well-fleshed out characters and I absolutely bought their enemy to lovers arc. The backdrop of the Highlands was perfect to bring the two through challenges, emotionally and physically, and bring them together.

I loved it so much that when I got to the last page, I had to loop back to my favorite scenes!


Thanks to the author, Netgalley and Aria for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story is not what I expected when I read the blurb - enemies on a team-building exercise in the wilderness.
For a lot of the book I really disliked the FMC - she comes across as unpleasantly type A with no self-awareness, living in a delusion where she is always correct and the MMC is always trying to mess with her (I almost think him breathing is likely to piss her off). As the story progresses it's established whilst there is a work competitiveness here, 90% of the conflict comes from her head and that she knows barely anything about the MMC but has decided he is the bane of her existence! I really think she would be an absolute punishment to work with, no wonder her colleagues don't tell her things. For most of the book she is in desperate need for a therapist, and even after a little self-growth I still think she could do with some help.

For most of the book, I strongly sided with the MMC and enjoyed his character. He is clearly much more mature than her, and though he can come across as selfish to those who don't know him, he has a good heart.

I did find the premise of this story completely insane though. There is no way a boss, particularly in a country with good employment laws, would ever do what theirs did! He essentially kidnaps them and then abandons them in the rural wilderness of Scotland miles from anything with minimal supplies, of course, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. This plot made the whole story slightly ridiculous.

However, I did enjoy the book and read it in one morning! It's well written and a fun good paced read. The banter is decent, and its a unique take on forced-proximity.

Thank you Aria & Aries & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this, especially after seeing so many early five-star reviews. The workplace enemies-to-lovers plotline sounded like something right up my alley. However, I struggled to connect with the book and found myself pushing to finish it.

While I usually enjoy tension-filled enemies-to-lovers dynamics, I had a hard time rooting for either of the main characters. They were so unlikable, which made it difficult to fully invest in their romance. Since the book was on the shorter side, the chemistry and slow-burn development that typically make this trope so satisfying felt rushed. Instead of a gradual build-up, their relationship moved quickly from animosity to attraction, which made it feel more like insta-love.

The third-act conflict was fairly predictable, but because it occurred so late in the story, the resolution felt a bit rushed. By the time the characters reconciled, I didn’t feel as emotionally invested as I would have liked.

That said, I can see why some readers might enjoy this book, especially those who prefer fast-paced romances. While it wasn’t the right fit for me, I appreciate what the author was trying to do.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you for the arc, I absolutely loved this book! Of I didn’t have to work I would have easily read it in a day 🙈 I thought the plot idea was different and funny and very eventful. The characters were well written and I loved the smooshy hidden centre of James especially when he talked about his family. Fliss’s revelation at the end was definitely needed and I was so happy with the ending ☺️ definitely not my last book I’ll read of Chloe’s I can’t believe this was a debut!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ARC Review

An enjoyable and sweet romcom story.

Whilst Michael is unhinged & I hope this type of plot doesn’t happen in real life, the journey Fliss & James went on was hilarious as well as traumatic.

It was wonderful to see the emotional growth and development of the characters and the book was overall very feel good and great fun to read.

Themes/Tropes:
Romantic Comedy, Workplace, Survival, Damsel in Distress, Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

2/5 🌶️

4 Stars

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the uncorrected eARC - this is my honest review*

This was so fun! I too would 100% sue my boss in Fliss and James’ position after he’d left me in the Scottish highlands with my work nemesis, a poorly packed bag and £50 between us. Yet, despite how totally unethical, what enfolded was a fun micro adventure between two rivals with somewhat scorching chemistry.

The romantic tension was satisfying, albeit a bit frustrating through Fliss’ perspective at times and the overarching conflict was interesting. I do think things wrapped up a little too quickly in the end, but it was an otherwise good time.

Inhaled this book in 24 hours, absolutely loved the enemies to lovers storyline set in Scotland with a forced proximity element too from a meddling boss. A perfect story to get me out of a reading slump!

This was such a fun book to read! The forced proximity really worked in this story between two rival employees who are forced into spending time with one another in the wilderness.

I really liked the tension between Fliss and James and they had such easy banter between them that you as a reader can't help but kick your feet up and giggle.

Definitely for someone who wants a silly rom-com to dive into and beat any reading slump or blues!

"Work Trip was a very likable and well-written book. James and Felicity are great characters; they are witty, and it is amusing to watch them develop their own sense of banter as the book progresses. The plot was well thought out and took the characters on an epic adventure through the Scottish Highlands. As the reader, I really enjoyed their trip and felt as if I were out there in the wonderful wilderness, enjoying the Scottish scenery myself. It is refreshing to see the characters' relationship develop and their sizzling chemistry take off. Overall, the book was very enjoyable, and I think fans of workplace romance, as well as the enemies-to-lovers trope, will really enjoy this read."

Work Trip - Chloe Ford (arc)

4.5 ⭐️

The most perfect and wholesome rom-com!

Fliss (Felicity) and James are absolute office rivals. So what happens when two people who can’t stand each other, get stranded in the Scottish Highlands by their crazy boss with nothing but a single tent and two backpacks?

As a corporate girly myself, I am beyond obsessed with any book that has office antics in it. The way Fliss had to carry herself in meetings with a “corporate cyanide smile” was so real. I love that she was so passionate about her job and career and didn’t cower when people questioned her projects, work ethic or drive. The underlying anxiety and complexity of Fliss made her all the more relatable. She was honestly such a perfect sunshine fmc with all her little quirks, bright outfits and nuances.

The nature of Fliss made it all the more entertaining when combined with a character like James. Also career driven (from a different angle to Fliss), he was extremely loud and ambitious to succeed. He was a character that was larger than life and without seeing him, you could feel his presence. He was such a powerful character, so when paired with Fliss (who was a lot of sunshine but had her own fire) was absolutely hilarious.

I loved that James could read Fliss so well and understand her. Helping her through her moments of anxiety and just someone finally being there for Fliss was so pure. I ADORED that he was there for her, but never dimmed her light (as a lot of characters with this dynamic can tend to do).

Something that Chloe did really well was the descriptions of the scenery and location of the Scottish Highlands. It was so easy to vividly imagine where Fliss and James were and feel like you’re there with them. This is so important for books that are based in the outdoors and Chloe absolutely nailed this!

The witty banter between Fliss and James was exactly what this book needed to keep it a fast paced read. The plot was never rushed but it also didn’t drag on. The most absolutely, perfect rom-com!

Read if you like:
- Forced proximity
- Enemies to Lovers
- Office rivals
- One tent
- He falls first

Thankyou to @netgalley for a copy of this arc!

This book features many of my favorite tropes, and the corporate setting is handled skillfully. I enjoyed the Scottish atmosphere and the well-crafted character development of both main leads. The author’s writing is consistently engaging and easy to follow. Thank you for the opportunity!