I'm glad I watched "The Hating Game" because I could imagine Grace Hastings played by Lucy Hale and Eric Bancroft played by Austin Stowell throughout - the premise is quite similar just replace the competing publishing houses under the same umbrella company with dating apps. Grace works for Fate, a dating app for those looking for love, compatability and their happily ever after and Ignite, those just wanting a good time, no strings. In sync with the launch of a new app Ditto, which embodies the best of both these worlds, meeting the love of your life whilst partaking in creative settings that brings out your personality, is a Marketing Manager role up for grabs that could mean a world of change for both Grace and Eric. There's a twist in the story - they'll have to work together (read: date each other to figure out the strengths and workability of the app) to impress the investors. Whoever does the better job earns the title.

what to expect:

- friends turned enemies (turned lovers)
- workplace romance
- he falls first
-slowburn romance

This was a really sweet read and I know readers will love it if they loved The Hating Game (I've not read the book but based on the movie). The story built up gradually and I enjoyed being brought into Grace's world, her aspirations for her career and how she builds herself after a bad breakup and the growth and development she goes through the story. It felt realistic and not far-fetched, which also added to the appeal for me. I feel like everyone could relate to Grace in one way or another. Yemi and Alice are the best supporting characters too! A female friendship circle that empowers one another is the ultimate win. Grace and her chemistry with suave Eric Bancroft was gorgeous - the banter between them means she doesn't take any grief from him and vice versa. A charming read!

Thank you @netgalley and Penguin Random House Transworld for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest unedited review.

the launch date was a fun read. with lots of banter and heartfelt moments, it had two tropes i absolutely adore, enemies to lovers and workplace romance!!! it follows grace and eric, both going head to head for the same promotion, who have to find a way to work together as a result, which includes a series of ‘test dates’.

the romance between them was a slow-burn, but in the best way, with so much tension. grace, having fallen out of love, was a character with great development. it was heartwarming to see her find herself again! eric was the definition of ‘fell first and harder!’ the author did such a good job of creating an actual rivals to lovers situation!

this was a good debut, and i can’t wait to see what annabelle writes next!

I have started reading this book on 3 separate occasions so far and sadly i can’t get past the 20% mark… I will be coming back to it again as it may not necessarily be the book, it may just be the mood i’m in and life difficulties going on at the moment, and I will absolutely update my review when I finish it, but sadly it’s not for me at the particular moment in time…

however, i do think a lot of people will absolutely love it, so…

read if you enjoy:
🧡 workplace rivals
🧡 slow burn
🧡 forced proximity
🧡 friends to enemies to lovers

✔️workplace romance
✔️friends to nemesis to lovers
✔️forced proximity
✔️single pov

This was such a fun story! I found myself rooting so badly for these two. I loved their dynamic, banter, and undeniable chemistry.

I was hooked from the beginning because I needed to know what had happened to make them go from friends to nemeses. And who would eventually win the promotion both deserved.

Although it was pretty obvious to me that Eric was absolutely obsessed with Grace, I loved reading how they fell in love, how they began to be friends again, and how she also realised that he was obsessed with her.

The only thing I missed here was Eric's pov. It would have been absolutely phenomenal to have his POV.

I can't believe this is a debut because it was SO good! I'm dying to read more by Annabelle Slator.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I think I got 10% when I just couldnt read anymore. I didnt like any of the characters, and I felt very disconnected from the story, so unfortuanly this was DNF.

This book wasn't requested by me, but Netgalley was kind enough to provide it, so I gave it a shot.

The Launch Date was a sharp, fun workplace romance that gave major The Hating Game vibes but still carved out its own space. Bitter rivals working at competing dating apps, stuck in a high-stakes race for a promotion, with serious chemistry brewing underneath? Oh yeah, I was into it.

The banter was great, the tension slow and satisfying, and the whole dating-app war backdrop was refreshing and fun to read. What really stood out to me, though, was Grace. Her journey from being a worn-down, overlooked people-pleaser to a confident, no-nonsense powerhouse was the highlight for me. I loved watching her find her voice and stop shrinking herself for others.

The book lightly touches on how women—especially older women—get treated unfairly at work, and while it could’ve gone deeper, I appreciated the attempt. As for the romance? It was a solid slow burn with some spice, though I did wish the payoff at the end packed a bit more heat.

Still, for a debut, this was witty, charming, and surprisingly empowering

This was an easy to read Rom com very reminiscent of the hating game but better. I found both characters to be more likeable and actually enjoyable in this book. This is a really well done rivals to lovers and it had the perfect amount of hateful banter. I didn’t love the fact that Grace was such a pushover because it’s just funny that it’s always women in books portrayed as submissive. Other than that really good book

Liked it . Due to health issues cannot not but will write a proper review at a later time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I really enjoyed this book. My favourite trope is friends - enemies - lovers so this definitely ticked the box there. I was most impressed with the quality of the writing - the story flowed, the characters leapt off the page, the pacing was spot on and it was intelligent and witty.

Decided to give this book another go and I’m actually so glad I did! I loved the forced proximity and enemies / rivals to lovers. I really enjoyed the writing and felt the pace of the book was good and realistic and therefore it only took me a couple days to read!

The chemistry and tension is so so good and overall it made me want to read more romance which is GREAT.

Fun debut!

What to expect: Workplace rivals, fake dating, slowburn... all tropes I LOVE!

There was great banter and spice between the MCs and don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book.
It was sadly though a little predictable and similar to others so I found myself comparing it to others.

Still, a fun rom-com and I'm looking forward to more from the author!

3.5 stars.

This is a light-hearted rom-com with great banter and a charming lead. Some plot points feel a little predictable, but the humour and romance is very fun and more than makes up for the predictability.. If you’re looking for a sweet, feel-good pick me up, this book is a great choice!

Enemy’s to lovers, workplace romance, hate you love you kinda vibes.

Was a good story , easy to get through however it’s very similar to other books of the same nature so it gets a little samey / repetitive which isn’t so much the authors fault but more so the tropes in general.

Enjoyable, just … similar. Would defo check this authors future books out though for sure !

a great debut novel from this author, a girl hates boy falls in love kind of book.
perfect to lose yourself in, with a hint of spice included with some great writing

I DNFd this and I’m still upset that I just didn’t vibe with it. I loved The Hating Game and went in expecting to feel that kind of energy again, instead I found myself comparing this book and it not quite living up to the mark for me.

I’ve seen so many great reviews for this and I can see why people have loved it, sadly it just wasn’t for me right now.

That being said I’ll definitely pick up Annabelle’s books in the future.

Thank you for the chance to read 💕

A fun, witty and sharp workplace romcom. I ate this up. The 10/10 smut is the result of a delicious slowburn. Will recommend to everyone who will listen 🙌

This novel reminded me very much of The Hating Game and I read it in two sittings. It probably has its faults but I enjoyed it so much that I can’t tell you which faults there are. I love the enemies-to-lovers trope and the concept of the fake dates is just delightful. A great and fun romance novel, definitely a recommendation!

Firstly thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Launch Date" has great plot potential, but for me, it fell a bit flat. The story felt too long, and the excitement was lacking. I didn’t feel very connected to the characters, and it was a bit too focused on the workplace setting.

Unfortunately. I dnf'd this book at about 33%. There was just too many things that didn't work for me. Grace was frankly a mess, I'm still not sure what Eric did to earn her dislike to me it felt he didn't do anything. The book is reminiscent of the Hating Game or the Spanish Love Deception where a misunderstanding is blown out of proportion. Like just talk to one another. Also, they're competing for the same role so this is more rivals to lovers than enemies to lovers. I'm tired of this, you can't have proper enemies to lovers in a contemporary romance so why call it something it's not.

Thank you to Transworld for the eARC for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgalley and Bantam Books for this DRC -

Grace Hastings and Eric Bancroft both work on dating apps, but they couldn’t be more different. Grace is tired of love and hasn’t been on a date in months, while Eric is renowned for having a new girlfriend every week. When they have to work together to develop a new dating app and compete for a promotion, they find out that they may not be so incompatible after all…

I was so intrigued by this premise and the tropes in this book - a workplace romance with fake dating and rivals to lovers? Perfection. This book scratched all the itches that The Hating Game didn’t for me. I loved the writing style and how natural everything felt - the pacing for spot on. I’d love to see what else Annabelle Slator comes out with!