This was such a fun and brilliant read - witty, sharp, magic and packed with banterous chemistry (is that a word? I'm making it a word).

This is a romantasy unlike any I've read before. It's still got a solid magic system that can be using by everyday folk, but higher levels for those that study it and earn their way to a Tacn (a symbol on their hand showing their speciality, as well as the source of their magic), plus a cost that differs depending on the person. The worldbuilding is fantastic - I love the very basic grounding in the real world, with added interest on top. But it really shines in its dry wit. If you're looking for banter, you've come to the right place.

It absolutely delivers on the promises of the title; it is a true enemies to lovers story. Not only are they on totally opposite sides of their society, but also morally (she is a healer, he is a murderer).

Osric is not just morally grey, he's a character who is, in many ways, totally immoral - he's self-centred, self-interested and has a wicked sense of humour. Which makes him an excellent match for Aurienne, who prides herself on sticking to the rules - except when something comes along that challenges her sense of the greater good.

The tension between the two is palpable; every scene where they're together eventually tumbles into an argument, but somehow, these slanging matches seem soft with a whole lot of banter and no real threat, more like bickering between a long suffering married couple. Each time they hit argument territory, you start to see common ground between them as they build something of a rapport. They're so prickly, it's brilliant. Let me give you some examples:

<i>He was a Fine Specimen in the way an abscess might be a Fine Specimen.</i>

<i>"I'll just kill them a little."
"Kill them a little? Death isn't divisable."
They were unable to conclude their argument on murder as a fractionable activity because the men fanned out and began an approach."</i>

Even the descriptions where characters are starting to recognise something they like about each other are excellent:

<i>The veins seaming them were a phlebotomist's dream.</i>

I think I'm in the minority when I say that I haven't read the author's other work, Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love, but considering how prickly the title seems, I know I'm going to have to get my hands on this too!

There is only a little spice towards the end of this book, it's a slooooow burn. I imagine more to come in the next book (did I mention the series is called Dearly Beloathed - amazing).

And the ending, argh! Just bring on the next book already!!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.

🌟∞ INFINITY STARS ∞🌟
This book did not just live rent-free in my head—it purchased property, built a palace, and declared itself sovereign. “The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy” didn’t just ruin me—it reshaped my soul molecule by molecule. I will never be the same. I went in expecting a cute enemies-to-lovers romp and instead emerged feral, emotionally unstable, and spiritually reawakened.

Enemies to lovers? EXQUISITELY executed.
Banter? So sharp it sliced through my soul and left me smiling.
Osric and Aurienne? Unmatched. Undeniable. Unbearably delicious in their tension. I wanted to slam their faces together and yell “JUST KISS ALREADY!” every five pages. It’s CRIMINAL we had to wait until 95% in for a simple kiss!!

Osric and Aurienne aren’t just characters to me, they mean so much more. The chemistry? Off-the-charts explosive. Their dynamic gave “hypercompetent idiots in denial” and I devoured every moment of it.

This book was the perfect cocktail of feral yearning, dagger-sharp humor, and devastating slow-burn romance that made me kick my feet, giggle, & scream. The chemistry was chef’s kiss. The emotional tension? A slow, glorious torture I begged for more of. I wasn’t just invested—I was spiritually bound to these characters and desperately need book two.

And the writing? So cinematic, so vivid, it felt like I was watching the story unfold on a screen in my mind, popcorn in hand, gasping every chapter. I laughed out loud (many times), highlighted like a madwoman, and honestly forgot how to breathe during the rain scene. If you know, you know. 🌧️🔥

Seriously though, The humor was so clever it made me cackle.

✨A magical world that felt both fresh and lived-in
💔 True reluctant allies to reluctant lovers
⚔️ Sass, snark, softness, and so much soul
🔥 Slow-burn so torturous
💀 Osric? Officially my new problem.
🛡️ Enemies to lovers perfection
⚔️🩺 Grumpy healer x unhinged assassin
🗣️ Banter so crisp it gave me papercuts
🫦 Mutual pining, emotional repression, and high-stakes longing
💋 Only one kiss. One. And I would kill for it.

I didn’t just love this book. I was devoured by it.
If you’re a Dramione fan? Run. Don’t walk. You will be feral. The vibes are there.

This is the kind of story you dream of finding and dread finishing.
The only thing I hate more than waiting for the sequel is not owning a physical ARC so that I may stare at its beauty and charisma it forever.

Reading this felt like falling in love and getting stabbed at the same time.
I need the next book just to survive.
No exaggeration—I’d trade sleep, food, and peace of mind for even one more chapter.

🩶 Brigitte Knightley, ma’am, I am on my knees.
More. I need more.

I absolutely adored this book. The writing style, the banter, the witty asides, Osric, Adrienne - it's all just *chefs kiss*.

Aurienne is the clever healer and she is perfection - gruff, beautiful, smart, selfless, tough. Her Order is working to dispel the Pox, the mysterious illness infecting children throughout the kingdoms, Osric is the snarky assassin in need of a healer - and he is told Aurienne is his only hope.
These two are immediately on different wavelengths, Aurienne is part of a Bright Path order and Osric a Dark Path. By their very nature, they are opposed, Aurienne is a healer and Osric values the skill in his work. Aurienne is completely uninterested in helping him, but he promises to gift a huge amount of money to the healers to work on a vaccination for the Pox that plagues the healers.

The way these two bicker, banter and fight is honestly so good, so much so that you hardly notice when they start feeling a bit warmer toward each other - the burn is SLOWWWWW and I love it, make it excruciating, make me suffer 😂 I love the little glimpses we get of Osric's softer side, and how Aurienne gets drawn into this side of him.

I loved how detailed the health and research inclusions are, using actual medical terminology and statistical measures adds an authenticity to this story that I wasn't expecting. I really like the magic system and the world (portalling through pubs? yes, I love this, it's perfect). The side characters are wonderful, every time we met someone new I was giggling, especially Mordaunt's colleagues from the Fyren Order.

I didn't expect to love this story so much, I was expecting the romance to overpower the fantasy aspects, but this is actually a really enjoyable fantasy read. The stakes aren't super high or tense so far but I can see this could build to more if the author chooses.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Where is the next one?

The banter was *chef's kiss*
Hooked from the very start I did not want this to end.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one! A beautiful cover with a funny and slow burning story.. thoroughly enjoyed as a holiday read!

I had heard a lot of amazing things about this story from friends and had therefore gotten really curious. So, when I saw the book on Netgalley I had to request a copy. Luckily Orbit granted me a digital review and I could start reading!

The beginning of the story was amazing! The author does an amazing job with the banter and the dialogue. It means that the world building is mostly done through conversations, but it worked. It was easy to grasp what was going on. Once upon a time I went to med school, so I also understood all the medical terms used, but it's absolutely not a problem if you don't. After all, one of the two main characters also doesn't understand.

However, the book keeps on doing that same thing over and over. If you like that, you'll have an amazing time from start to finish. At some point I started to long for a little more. I longed for their relationship to slowly move beyond the banter, I longed for the plot to become a little more prominent, I longed for more show and less tell through conversations. What was fun in the beginning of the book, became just more of the same around the halfway point.

The last few chapters did make me curious about the next book in the series though. All of a sudden things start happening, answers start coming and there is even some sort of cliffhanger. However, I do hope that the second book in the series makes a little more room for the other elements in the story apart from the banter. Just like I hope that the dialogues become more than most of the time banter, quite often for the sake of banter.

Under the cloak of a mystery there is this slow burn with very high stakes. Political and personal. With the banter of your dreams and puzzel solving an absolute must to pick up and read this book.

First off thank you to Netgalley, Brigitte Knightley and Little Brown Book Group UK for gifting me an Arc.

I went into reading this book expecting it to be an reworked version of the fanfic. But it's not. Ofcourse there are minor similarities but the story stands on it own.

To be honest at first I had a bit of trouble with the names, mind you I'm not a native English speaker. After a while you get use to it. You want to keep reading. Every chapter makes you wanting more. There are multiple storyline and they are all addicting. You cannot wait until you learn more.

The side carakters are unique, the crickets cracked me up. And won't we all want to be a nutty professor diving in a lake at night?

When the book ended I was so sorry. I will be waiting (not patently) until the next book. I so want to know what becomes of the kitten and ofcourse the outcome of the other storylines.

3.5 stars!

This has been high up on my anticipated releases for a while!! I was so excited to read it.

I will say the world building for this story had me a little confused for a good chunk of the start of the book. I know it’s been adapted from a fan fiction for HP, so it probably was much easier to follow this way. But as it’s been adapted it took me a sec to figure out Seiths, Tãcn, Deofols etc.

It’s also written unlike anything else I’ve read which was unusual .. but it’s refreshing to have something different!

But I will say once I got my head around everything, I did start to enjoy the story a lot more. It’s a believable slow burn romance and the last 10% had stunning tension.

I’d say it maybe didn’t live up to my already very high hopes, but I did enjoy! And so thankful to have received this as an ARC!

2.5 ⭐️

I so desperately wanted to love this read and at the beginning I was loving it. I was so intrigued how a dramione fanfic could be as a published book.

I struggled a lot with how it felt as we went from one meeting to another with little to no concept of time. I also found myself cringing a lot from jokes and certian sayings that took me out of the story.

I really thought I was going to eat this book up. Even though this wasn't for me, I do recommend giving this a read!

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the arc!

I think I must start this review by saying the humour in The Irresistible Urge to Fall for your Enemy was absolutely superb! I was so scared it wouldn’t live up to my expectations or that the humour would just not be for me but damn… I devoured this book and could only find peace again at the end of the day when I finished it - yes I read this in one day, I simply could NOT put it down! The slow burn was burning, the reluctant allies were very reluctant indeed - to the point we’re first introduced to them as ‘the irresistible bastard’ and ‘immovable bitch’ -, and the plot was plotting!

The plot was very enjoyable, seeing Osric and Aurienne bickering was so entertaining and absolve all, seeing them slowly opening up and starting to care and question how forbidden those feelings were, was simply the cherry on top of the cake! They were so both so different but equality prideful and truth to themselves! I can definintely see how this book could be a bit of a marmite type of book because it’s driven mainly by the humour and it will either be your style or completely not…! The best way I found to describe it is: English. The humour is dark and dry, very English and I personally enjoy it.

I am definitely eager for its sequel and I’m shedding a tear just thinking I’ll have to wait a year or more for the sequel…!

The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy took me a little while to warm up to, but once I did, around 50% - 60% through, I was hooked.

The witty banter between the main characters Osric and Aurienne really carried the story for me. Their dynamic had just the right mix of tension and charm to keep me invested, and let’s be honest who doesn’t love a good slow-burn enemies-to-lovers? Their inevitable meetings were the highlight and left me eagerly anticipating more.

I had no idea this was based on a fanfic until after I finished, and honestly, if that kind of thing gives you pause, don’t let it. It stands well on its own and is absolutely worth the read.

Overall, an enjoyable fantasy romance with great character chemistry and enough unresolved threads to pull me straight into the next book.

The Dearly Beloved series is definitely staying on my TBR

DNF @ 25%

Unfortunately this book is just not for me. I was drawn in by the cover and the blurb had me compelled to read the book, however I found the characters to be quite one dimensional and the plot to be quite slow and meandering which led to me not wanting to pick the book up and when I did getting bored pretty quickly. I think the writing style is interesting, however not engaging for me unfortunately. The banter was funny at times but not enough to make me want to keep reading and I quickly found myself wanting the chapters to be shorter and quicker moving.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with an eARC of the book.

I was so excited to read this one but it just felt flat for me

This book took me a little while to get into. At some points, it felt like the author was deliberately using pretentious phrasing. I understand that's how the characters would talk but it didn't feel relatable.
Also, I didn't understand why it ended where it did? Felt like it ended in the middle of the storyline.
I did find myself enjoying some of the back and forth between the main characters.

Thank you to Netgalley.com and Little Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an ARC of this title.

I went into this believing it was Dramione fanfic but it isn't! It's a unique, wonderfully bonkers & utterly hilarious story. I think it's the funniest book I've read this year! An absolute stand out & an easy 5-star read for me!

I would class this book as a rom-com set in a fantasy world. It's not a fantasy book & it wasn't a romantasy either. There's a mystery to unravel, a potential war looming and an incurable bout of Seith rot to cure. The stakes are low-mid rather than high. We had enough of the world to follow the story. This story didn't need excessive world-building. The magic system, the tiendoms and the orders were all easy to understand and it didn't feel convoluted.

The story follows Aurienne  (a well-respected and brilliant healer) who is blackmailed into helping Osric (a Feyren assassin) find a cure for an advanced case of Seith rot that is known to be incurable! He offers the Haelen twenty million to fund an inoculation against a pox outbreak to ensure that Aurienne helps him. Aurienne loathe to be anywhere near a Feyren, let alone help one is happy to take his money and is comforted by the fact that he will probably die!

This book was so funny! Every character was witty but the critique crickets were on another level! I hope they come back in book 2! The dry humour, sarcasm & banter between the two main characters was hilarious! They were both arrogant, sarcastic & quick-witted which added to the likability of both of them! They had such high views of themselves I couldn't help but laugh!

"I shall tell them you were too smug - too arrogant - too convinced that you were right all the time - and that these things suffocated all of your other attractions. To the bin with you."

'All of those things are equally applicable to you," said Mourdant.

He was right, so Aurienne said with vast matter-of-factness: 'Nonsense.'

Aurienne's inner dialogue fantasising all of the ways she'd like to kill Osric was ironic considering her order & their motto "harm to none!"

The beating that Osric's ego took in this book was too good! Here is a man who is irresistible to every woman he meets so he tries his charm all the time on Aurienne only for it to fall flat every time!

"Osric swept a hand through his hair. She ignored him. He flexed his abs. No reaction. He bit his lip. Disregarded. He made a deep guttural sound when she wiped cold hlutoform against him. She told him to act like a grown man. She was the worst."

I was crying with laughter throughout the book. I don't think I've read a book this funny! The humour was really silly in places but I loved that! It didn't feel cringey or like it was trying too hard. The comedy made the book. I appreciate not everyone will like the daft humour but it tickled me!

The romance build up between the two was beautiful. The prose in those moments was stunning. I loved seeing them go from pure loathing to curiosity and eventually an appreciation for the other. Their attraction to each other was forcibly hidden away by both characters which gave us this lovely push and pull slow burn. They shared one kiss dancing in the rain & it was utterly gorgeous. 🔥

"He hadn't been paying attention. He had been stupid - gods, so stupid. He no longer owned his heart. The thief was unconscious of her crime."

"It hadn't been love at first sight, but at last sight - gods, at last sight -"

This was a fantastic read! Highly recommend. It's a standout of the year for me. I cannot wait until book 2!

5 stars! This was a fantastic hate to love enemies to lovers romance. The fantasy world was amazing and despite the cheesy humor and tone to this book, the serious moments made the emotional highs of the story hit harder. This was exceptionally well written, it was funny, romantic and thrilling all at once being in the midst of aurienne and osrics tumultuous relationship.

I’m conflicted about this book, as I was reading it I wasn’t sure I was enjoying it but I also couldn’t put it down and I’m not sure why.

The romance is very slow burn and the main characters infuriating at times when convincing themselves they are enemies and there is no chance they would ever be anything more.

If you’re looking for an easy Romantasy read then I’d recommend giving this a go but beware, it’s the first in a series (I went in not knowing this) and it may leave you waiting for answers.

I DNF'ed this book at around 20%. It read too much like a fanfic to the point where the characters feel like caricatures. I didn't like the writing style with lots of flourishes but still a lot of telling. Instead of being immersed in the world and story, it felt superficial and static. I didn't like either of the MCs since it didn't seem like either had a redeeming trait, even when one is a healer.

I like enemies to lovers stories and romantasy but this one fell really flat for me.

I have mixed feelings about this novel because, while I enjoyed the slow-burn romance, the enemies to lovers concept, and the banter between the two protagonists, there were things that were too repetitive and made the narrative too slow. Also, the world-building was vague and not very clear and, while I liked the writing, I also felt that, at times, was complicated and too over the top. Overall, I found the story interesting, even if it took me a while to really get into it, and I liked the characters and how their story develops and I’d like to see how the story progresses in the sequel.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown for the opportunity to read and review this eARC.
4.25🌟 I haven't read the author's famous fanfic yet but this makes me so excited to!
I'm aware that it's a separate story and not a retelling of the fanfic but still inspired by Dramione and fanfic tropes. However, it holds its own very well as a unique world with unique characters, if you didn't know anything about Dramione fanfic the reader would have no idea what it was based on which shows how well the author has done at creating a brand new world.
The brief explanations at the beginning of the book to set up the world helped a lot and didn't feel too info-dumpy, just the right amount of information to make the book make sense straight away. I found the different orders and the overall magic system really interesting and I hope we get even more explanation of it in later books.
The humour is brilliant, especially the banter between the main characters.
This is a true slow burn and enemies to lovers which is refreshing to read amidst a book market saturated in insta-love.

Well that was indeed something and now I just have trust issues. These “most anticipated reads of the year” have all been less than stellar and I have trust issues now .

This was another one that feels so entirely YA with childish banter and if I read one more penis remark.. I’ll lose it.

I’m so sorry but I just didn’t vibe with this at all. The characters were flat and I didn’t connect. The romance was unbelievable. I had similar issues with a couple other most anticipated reads I’ve read this past month that were marketed as adult but came off extremely YA or NA and I have definitely found, I don’t like them. So happy for those that do, and with it not even being a standalone, I’ll be skipping further reads for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy in exchange for a review!