This was such a fun & pacy read! I loved the setting on the Great Barrier Reef, I loved the dynamic between all of the characters, obviously Andi & Hugh, but I also loved Andi & Millie's relationship & Andi's friendships on the boat. Will definitely recommend as the perfect summer (or even Christmas) read.

Thank you to Bonnier Books - Zaffre and Claire Kershaw for approving my Netgalley request for an eARC of Head First in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Head First will sweep you off your feet, setting sail into the heat of summer with wind on your face and a chance to experience the tropical delights of the Australian Great Barrier Reef. All of this is tied up with an enemy-to-lover bow with the juicy twist of her not being who he thinks she is. Claire Kershaw wrote an engrossing story that had me kicking my feet with glee and giggling like an evil co-conspirator in on the secret. The gorgeous description of stunning sunsets and the colourful coral reefs made me wish I could trade my asthmatic lungs in for a new pair so I could go diving there. She crossed all her ‘Ts’ and dotted the ‘Is’ to get her devilish duck details in a row to make this a watertight plot and to enrich the story to leap off the page with realism.

A good romance plot never is all smooth sailing; the tension, conflict, and heated banter between Andi and her sister’s devilish handsome rival, Hugh Harris, was divine. I loved every moment on those stormy seas. I did wish she might have been able to tell Hugh sooner her secret rather than the blunt kipper to the face he gets in the heart-wrenching moment when Andi’s outed. But it’s a necessary evil to make Head First the fantastic story and give Andi’s character arc the girl power jump start needed to question her life back home and inspiration to chase a dream and get her man.

An immersive, flirty, light-hearted romance with a fun twist of secret identity and forced proximity that I gobbled up faster than a yummy Christmas dinner. It is definitely for your TBR romance lovers if you want to dive headfirst into a love story featuring travel to exotic places, adventurous activities, and wicked, snappy banter exchanges between love interests.

One thing that puzzles me is why publish Head First in May 2025 when part of the trip takes place around Christmas. I thought this would have made the perfect festive read for anyone needing a break from the festive season or a break from the bleakness of winter.

I loved this book! The tension between Andi and Hugh was everything! I adored the characters and their stories, especially Pip. My favourite part of the book would have to be the tension throughout between Andi and Hugh as it just brought everything together. I wished there would have been more about Hugh's backstory but overall i loved this book and would definitely recommend it.

I would recommend this book to fans of enemies to lovers where they're not really enemies!

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and Claire Kershaw for allowing me to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 stars rounded up

Head First follows Andi, whose sister Millie is a marine biologist due to go on the trip of a lifetime to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. However, when Millie needs emergency surgery, Andi agrees to take her place, but she will have to pretend to be Millie the entire time. If that wasn’t complicated enough, Andi then learns that Hugh Harris, Millie’s professional (and very handsome) rival, is also on-board.

Despite it being cold and snowy where I am, this summery book almost made me feel like I was in sunny Australia! The summery vibes were perfect, and this would be a great book to read in the warmer months.

This was a quick, fun, lighthearted read, and I loved the marine biology aspect. Despite being 400 pages long, this book didn’t drag at all, and the pacing was generally very good.

I really liked the characters and their relationship development, but I wish the false identity on Andi’s part would have been revealed to Hugh sooner. Although this trope is central to the plot, it made me feel a bit icky the further their relationship progressed without Hugh knowing the truth. I would have also liked this conflict to have gone on for a little longer, and for the characters to be together rather than separated while dealing with the repercussions of the lie.

The ending felt slightly rushed, but I was satisfied with how everything was wrapped up. This book is definitely one I’ll be recommending for a beach read next year. Thank you to NetGalley and Zaffre for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As soon as I heard this was a summery romance following rival marine biologists, I knew I would like this, and I did. Head First had me completely immersed in the summery vibes despite reading it in front of my Christmas tree, and I will now be spending too much time staring mournfully at the cost of plane tickets to Australia.

The pacing of this deserves some credit because it should feel long given how much content the plot covers, but I read it in one sitting and it felt like a light easy read. I also feel like the amount the plot covers is necessary for the relationship development, and had we not seen so much content from the boat/dives, it would be harder to root for the character's relationship (and root for them I did).

My only critique is that I didn't love that the characters progressed so far in their relationship under false pretences. I wish Hugh would have found out sooner as it made me feel a little icky, and I also would have liked to have experienced that conflict for a little longer and really explore it. Once the boat trip is over the story starts to feel a little bit rushed, and I would have liked to have seen the characters navigating the conflict around each other rather than being separated. However, I was impressed that I could root so hard for a couple whose relationship was built on a lie so I feel like is an excellent example of the mistaken identity/lying about identity trope.

I thought this was a really fun, light-hearted, and easy read, and I will be recommending this to people for their summer or beach holiday tbrs. Whilst I may have rated this 3 stars, please know it’s more of a 3.5 star rating and I will be purchasing and recommending this.

Sadly this wasn't for me. The premise was promising and I loved the idea of following marine biologists, but unfortunately it felt quite repetitive and lacking character development. Andi was initially lovely to follow but her outrage at Hugh never quite made sense to me and I didn't find myself rooting for them to connect.