A dying assassin and a reluctant healer from rival Orders are forced into an uneasy alliance.

It’s one of the sharpest and most entertaining enemies-to-lovers romances I’ve come across lately. The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is a sophisticated novel, rich in sarcasm, dark humour, and a slow-burning romantic tension that grows steadily and irresistibly.

The author’s writing style is distinctive, dense with medical and scientific terms, at times challenging, but undeniably captivating. Dialogue is the beating heart of the story: sharp, intelligent, and wickedly entertaining. Their dynamic was both hilarious and, at unexpected moments, surprisingly moving. The worldbuilding is intriguing, though it could have been more developed in places. The magic system, however, is one of the book’s strongest elements.

If you enjoy clever, cutting stories with elegantly slow-building romance, this book will win you over. I can’t wait for the sequel.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC!

ARC review
4.25 stars

"The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy" is a fantasy with a slow burn romance and a lot of humour.

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK for the advance review copy.
Opinions from this review are completely my own.

Osric is a member of the Fyren Order of assassins. He is very sick and needs the best healer.
Aurienne is the only one that could help him and she is part of an enemy order.

The book starts with information about the orders and a glossary.
It took me awhile to get used to the style of writing and I had to be careful to understand all the information.
What I liked from the start is the dark humour.

The characters are interesting and I enjoyed all of their interactions.
They start as enemies and there is a tension between them that slowly builds.
I loved the banter between them and the fact that they interact a lot of time.
There is a lot of dialog that makes the book a faster read.

It was so nice to see him falling first and taking the phrase "touch her and die" literally.

This is an interesting book and I look forward to the sequel.

I wanna thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for having access to the book in advance.
I was curious about it after reading the synopsis and I was really interested in it but I wasn't expecting a strange invented language.
Even tho I read the glossary at the beggining, I kept reading but I found myself confused between deofol and waystone and other terms (there were some easier terms but I got confused with a lot of them). I managed to get to 25% but between 20% to 25%, I was lost in the story because of the terms. I didn't know what they were referring to so I had to sadly DNF the book.
I'm really sorry, I don't like to DNF book, specially when I'm lucky enough to get them in advance but I was lost in the story.

Osric is in reluctant need of a healer. Aurienne is in equally reluctant need of funds for her Order to develop a vaccine. The extremely reluctant alliance that they form turns out to have far-reaching effects that neither of them anticipated.
This is a lot of fun. I particularly liked the level of dislike between the main characters (blatant) and the sense of humour (bawdy). It’s the slowest of slow burns as Events happen (many of them gory, but done in a darkly humorous manner) and feelings develop with a hefty dose of self-delusion and denial, and the secrecy of the alliance is well balanced with the details of and characters in Osric’s and Aurienne’s daily lives. For me, the world-building was adequate, but I didn't discover the contents of the glossary until the end (which makes sense as that’s where you tend to find a glossary) and if that information had been included at the beginning or worked into the book itself, I think I would have enjoyed it even more. Nevertheless I am invested in the future of this alliance and the ongoing intrigue around it, and definitely look forward to the next instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for sending me this ARC!

I won't lie, the index at the beginning of this book felt daunting, and made me delay reading, and for that, I am a fool.

Aurienne's dry sarcasm and Osric's charm won me over instantly. The slowest of slow burns, and the tension build-up was delicious. I enjoyed the banter between the two, especially Osric's preening and Aurienne's steadfast approach to pay him no attention. Also, their first kiss?? In the rain?? 10/10.

I enjoyed the world-building and magic (but felt we could've been given slightly more information). The sassiness of the deofols was a plus, and I adored Ciele.

Overall, a great read. 4.5 stars!

Some of my favourite quotes:
‘Besides, they threatened to kidnap you.’ ‘And? You threatened to kidnap me.’ ‘Exactly: only I can do that.'

‘What do you suppose he does with it when it’s not erect?’ ‘Drapes it round his neck, like a feather boa.’

'They stood close. That was the thing about war: every clash, every battle, brought you nearer and nearer to the other. Their breaths intermingled, passed thresholds their lips would never cross. The wrongness of it was almost erotic.'

'He looked at her as one who wished to worship, and one who wished to defile.'

'Such witchery, such witchery in a pair of bright eyes'

'He and she sat in the moonlight as lover and beloved. He hadn’t paid attention. He had been stupid – gods, so stupid. He no longer owned his heart. The thief was unconscious of her crime.'

This was the slow burn I’ve been waiting for. Instead of enemy to lovers but really after 3 chapters they are already in love…… they truly disdain each other. One is a healer, the other an assassin, one walking the light path, the other the dark. Orders that never mix are thrown together out of necessity. This book is full of wit. The humour is dry and the relationship is sparky. And he falls first. I was absolutely gutted when I realised I only had 20 pages left and I can’t wait to read the next in the series. Thank you for the arc.
A solid 4 stars
#TheIrresistibleUrgetoFallForYourEnemy #NetGalley

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this but I am honestly blown away by it. It was funny and camp and had some incredibly beautifully written passages that really surprised me. The story was well developed and plotted and for the majority of the novel it was extremely well paced. Both the FMC: Aurienne and MMC: Osric did grate on me a little in the beginning chapters, but as the novel went on and they developed and you get a handle on them/understand them both more, they became extremely likeable and well-rounded. AND their reasons for being enemies was actually completely valid and justifiable.
The romance is incredibly slow burn which makes sense given the storyline and the characters themselves, and for me personally just makes it even more enjoyable. There was the tiniest bit of spice, and quite a few sexual innuendo’s thrown in that I personally would’ve been content without, but it definitely didn’t spoil the reading experience in the slightest.
This novel was unexpectedly funny and witty in ways I just didn’t see coming, and there were moments that had me gasping and clutching at pearls kicking my feet.

My only slight issue comes from the fact that I didn’t know it was a duet going into it — what do you MEAN that’s the ending and now I have to wait? I was looking at my percentage marker on my kindle telling me I was 98/99% of the way in and I thought surely I was incorrect but alas! I think because it is a duet the ending of this novel was wrapped up slightly too quick and therefore felt a tad rushed, but I am so so thrilled to know that there is going to be another coming.
In the meantime I’ll have to sit and wait with bated breath and imagine all the wild scenarios our characters are going to get into in book 2!

How do I even begin to describe this book. What a unique reading experience! The author has such a distinct and stylised writing style. This novel is impeccably written, with such flair and flamboyance. It was a deliciously dark and quirky romcom, and I ate up every second!

There were a lot of moments in this book where you feel like you've gone as mad as some of the characters. This book was full of whimsy and was just a whole lot of fun. There were so many laugh of loud moments, and I just adored the characters!

Our two main characters, Aurienne and Osric, were very sophisticated and in a constant battle of intellect. They were clever and witty and sardonic, with such dark and dry humour. This novel was rich with some of the best snarky - and hilarious - banter I've ever read. And this first instalment to the 'Dearly Beloathed' dulogy certainly gave us a true enemies to lovers dynamic.

The magic system was so cool and I loved learning about it. I think it was maybe one of the strongest aspects of this book. But I will say this novel was very scientific and medical, with lots of related jargon. I made full use of the dictionary function on my kindle for this one. There were a lot of 'big words' which is definitely part of the authors writing style as a whole. I feel significantly more educated than before I started this book. My head hurts a little, but it was well worth it.

I also really liked the worldbuilding and found it so interesting, but I think it could have been developed a lot more, as there were a few things I wished we could have learned more about. The Kingdoms and Kings and Queens were mentioned quite often but never fully explained. I wasn't sure if this story took place in our world a few decades or centuries ago or in an alternative universe. I just think there was a bit more world building needed so that the reader could gain a full understanding of the world. There's a glossary at the end that briefly covers these questions, but this really could have benefitted from being at the start of the book or immersed further into the story itself.

This book is definitely not a re-write of the fanfiction by the same author and had quite a different plot, but it had the exact same energy and had all those perfect dramione inspired hate to lovers vibes - fanfic lovers you will not be disappointed here! I am so happy to see this writer as a traditionally published author because they so deserve it! Their writing is one of the most unique and fantastic I have ever read, and their quirky and delightful storytelling is some of my favourite of all time!

This is going to be a torturous slow burn romance, and I am so here for it. I can't wait for book two!

Thank you so so much to the author, publisher, and netgalley for the arc of this book. I'm ecstatic to have received this and had an amazing time reading!

It’s giving enemies-to-lovers excellence with just the right amount of academic snark, knife-flirting, and world-ending sexual tension.

We’ve got:
💀 a morally grey assassin with a chronic case of brooding
🧪 a no-nonsense healer/scientist with zero time for his dramatic antics
📌and a fantasy world so layered and politically messy I needed a bulletin board and red string to obsess over (in the best way)

What worked for me:
✨ The banter? Top tier. Dry humour, sarcastic comebacks, and enough one-liners to fuel my quote journal for the next decade
✨ When I say “enemies,” I mean these two would genuinely rather die (and very nearly do) than be polite to one another. None of that fake enemy soft-shuffle. They despise each other and I LIVED
✨ The slow burn is glacial but intentional - the payoff isn’t just romantic, it’s political, emotional, existential.

There’s plot and plague and betrayal and SCIENCE. You will not be spoon-fed. You will have to focus. And you will thank Brigitte for it. Probably not for you if you want insta-love or light fluff. This is enemies-to-lovers with a body count, a war map, and mutual intellectual disdain.

Thank you so much to @brigitteknightley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk / @hachetteuk for the arc 🙏 Bring on book two because I am INVESTED in this morally-complicated romance and the absolute mess they’re both making of their lives and mine 🗡️📚💋

I don’t think I can adequately describe my love for this book and the utter joy it gave me. How can anything be this serious and unserious at the same time? Had me absolutely cackling at the most ridiculous things. This will definitely be a re-read of mine and one I will forever recommend. Can’t wait to get the book club girlies on this so we can all giggle together over cocktails!

3.5 stars
Having read the fanfic that inspired this book I was so excited to get this NetGalley.
However it fell a little flat to me.. I think I struggled to connect to the characters as the first 30% were quite slow to pick up and therefore my enjoyment wasn’t as high.
However, the slow burn was slowwwwwww and I don’t this will be eaten UP by some readers and I have mutuals who much preferred to pacing of the book to me so very much just a me thing.
The banter however in this was really good and I know this is going to be such a favourite for many readers and I’m excited to see the love for it in the release

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Love,Love, Love it . This was so much fun! True enemies, a healer and an assassin forced to come together to try and heal Osric, real slow burn, hilarious banter and lovable characters. The plot is quite low stakes so far and felt more like a rom com in a fantasy setting rather than your typical romantasy. the SLOWWW BURRRRNNNNN this book wasn't playing around. It was actually quite refreshing to read something so unique. I will be waiting (un) patiently for book 2.
Highly recommend!

'The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy' was a really fun read. Brigitte Knightley is known in the Harry Potter fanfic-dom(?) for writing 'Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love,' and this is her first traditionally published book. The influences of this story being based on Dramione are obvious, but the story stands very well on its own regardless.

'Irresistible' is an enemies-to-lovers slow-burn that features a very whimsical world and two bantering leads who have no shortage of snarky comebacks. The world of this book felt very ‘cosy fantasy’ coded, but the content is very much adult—which I really liked. I don’t always love how squeaky clean a lot of ‘cosy fantasy’ media is and I’m glad the author decided to go this route. Knightley tends to use a lot of Big Words, and capitalises a lot of phrases which I found very tongue-in-cheek but I did read a review in which the reviewer wasn’t happy with that so there’s your warning. It added to the unique voice of the author and the overall humour of the story so I found it funny and not annoying.

The romance is genuinely a slow-burn, so beware. It felt very true to how fanfics usually worked (in my day at least), with the writer taking their sweet time allowing the main couple to get together while the readers begged and pleaded in the comments. I also was not aware that this was a planned duology so there’s another warning for anyone who didn’t know, and I will say that the first book ended in a weird place but it wasn’t too big a deal.

I enjoyed the chemistry between our two main characters, and their distinct voices and quirks. And I love how organically they’re falling for one another. I just want to know more about who these characters are.

The story immediately jumps right into the plot and I feel like for most of the book the characters weren’t given a chance to be fleshed out in terms of who they really are, what their hopes and dreams are etc. Which felt weird because usually the reader gets to know all the tea. But with Irresistible we were made to fall for the characters themselves as they fell for one another. Now, I do think that this has carried over from whatever draft of an actual fanfic Knightley had for this story, or maybe just an influence of the fanfic format because it is common in fanfics to not really spend too much time exploring the characters themselves as they’re writing about characters we’re familiar with. Which is absolutely fine in that format, but I do expect to be a bit more familiar with the main characters whose POV I’m reading.

I digress.

I can say the same thing for the world-building, it wasn’t really established so I often didn’t fully understand the stakes or the structure of the magical world, which made some plot points feel a bit disconnected. Even the magical Orders of the world weren’t all explained apart from the list at the beginning of the book. But whatever world-building and magic was established was very fun and very English, I would say. So, I’m eager to see more of this world in the next instalment.

One of the things that really kept me engaged, despite the areas that felt a little underdeveloped, was the writing itself. The humour is sharp, a little absurd at times, and totally leaned into the characters’ quirks. The prose felt vibrant and self-aware, like it wasn’t afraid to have fun with itself. It gave the book a distinctive personality that reminded me a lot of the kind of fanfics that don’t take themselves too seriously but still pack an emotional punch. I had a lot of fun with that.

I devoured this book so quickly. I loved the lively pace, the quick witty banter between the main characters and the world that was laid before me.

I adored the growing undeniable attraction between Aurienne and Osric, their desperate attempts to convince themselves otherwise all whilst they threw barbs at each other.

Drawn together as a “means to an end” they both reluctantly start their journey together on a quest to do the impossible for Osric. As time goes on tiny gains are made and lines are blurred. It has them both questioning themselves and the order of things.

I was snorting out loud at quips throughout and fell utterly in love with both flawed but wonderful characters. The slow burn is perfect and had my toes curling.

Now I'm gutted I need to wait for the next book in this duology

3.5 Stars – A Promising Start with Room to Grow

This book took me a while to really get into—I wanted to love it, especially with several special editions already pre-ordered. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the final 20% that things truly clicked for me. Just as the story started gaining real momentum and I found myself genuinely invested... it ended! That said, I’ll definitely be picking up the next installment.

The pacing in the beginning felt a bit slow and long-winded, which made it hard to fully immerse myself right away. Still, there’s a lot to love here. The humour stood out—clever, dry, and often laugh-out-loud funny. As someone British myself, the “English wit” landed perfectly, and I couldn’t stop laughing at the use of the word “p***,” which is rarely seen in the books I usually read.

The dynamic between the two main characters was tense in all the right ways, and I especially adored Orsic—hilarious, sharp, and consistently entertaining throughout. The overall concept of the story is brilliant and fresh; it just didn’t quite hit the mark the way I was hoping it would.

All in all, it’s a solid start with a ton of potential, and I’m optimistic about where the series is headed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Brigitte Knightley for providing an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 Stars

Overall I did have a good time reading this and due to the last 30%, where it picked up, I am intrigued to read the next book. I did really enjoyed the romance between Aurienne & Osric.

That said, I did struggle with a few aspects:

-The writing style felt a bit clunky. While the choice of words helped portray the characters as intelligent, it often pulled me out of the story. There’s a lot of medical jargon, and as someone without a medical background, I found myself constantly looking things up (thankfully I was reading on a Kindle!).

-I didn’t feel fully immersed in the world, which was disappointing..

- I'm torn on the humour element to this story as I do enjoy British dry humour but I didn't like the crude jokes which was constant throughout.

-Because of the third-person POV, I found it hard to connect with the characters for most of the book. It wasn’t until the last third that they started to grow on me.

In the end, while the beginning was a bit of a slow start, the payoff in the final section and the romance development were enough to leave me curious about where the story goes next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an eARC for an honest review.

This one wasn't for me.

I was really excited reading it, knowing it's a Hermione x Draco fanfiction, and I didn't care because I grew up reading fanfiction (there were some Harry Potter ones, but not many), and I wanted to give it a try. I know authors have to change some things before publishing a fanfiction, and I went in with an open mind, not caring that it was a fanfiction; I read it as a new original book , so I will review it as such.

Osric was annoying.

"Osric positioned his hood so that his face was in shadow (if he had to sit like a spod, he would, at least, look sinister while he did it) and settled into his chair to wait."

Omg, so cool and mysterious!

"Osric was annoyed: the onions had spoiled his aura of menace."

Okay, emo boy.

"He hit her with a grin (devilish) and a wink (suggestive) . . . asked Osric, accompanied by a raised eyebrow (sportive)."

Okay. . . :|

And these are only in Chapter 1 (and may I add that Chapter 1 was 28 pages long??? HELLO????)


I just dont like when the author has to shove it down my throat that the character was supposed to be charismatic or deadly,  let ME be the judge of that not you .

And there were one scene were It was supposed to be funny and corky but it was just cringe .

Aurienne was talking with a lady about Osric and they were talking and ignoring Osric , and he was liek " how dare they ignoring him " :|  GO CRY ABOUT IT BOY !

I have been excited to read this book ever since I heard it was a rewrite of a fanfic I read and been frothing out the mouth waiting!

Alongside some other dramonie reworks I don’t think I been so excited before as I’m normally a dark romance girl and this is obviously Romantasy with banter.

Though the different taste, I loved this book and already need the next book like now. My only issue, which is a personal issue is how many times I had to flick to the beginning to get the right pronunciation😂

Osric and Aurienne had me squealing when and how they spoke to eachother, and I LOVE enemies to lovers! Normally I get really impatient with slow burn but this was okay since I didn’t find myself DNFing the book.

So excited for this to be released in July and already ordered every edition I can get my hands one because how many copies is enough? - the limit does not exist.

- thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with an eARC!

3 stars
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Thank you so much for the ARC read!

I feel like I haven’t read a book with a third-person perspective in a while, so it took me some time to get used to it. The first few chapters were a bit overwhelming with the amount of information given and the chapters felt quite long, this made them slow for me to get through the start.

Was there banter? Yes. Though, honestly, some of it felt a little weird at times with dick, ball and anus jokes…that just threw me off.

Was there a slow burn? Yes. The slow burn was definitely there, but I found the end of the end of the book in their relationship aspect a bit unsatisfying, I am going to assume there will be a second book since they did not officially start seeing each other.

I wish there was more depth to the female main character beyond her being a professional woman. The male main character, unfortunately, comes off as plain rude…this stems from the fact it was Dramione influenced. I didn’t even realize it was influenced by Draco and Hermione until I read few of the other reviews halfway through the book and then I couldn’t unsee it for the rest of the book. The writing style and character portrayals gave me major clichés Hermione and Draco, aka smart and no nonsense girl and rude bad boy (who murders).

It’s definitely not the worst read and could be enjoyable for a specific audience. I’m hoping there’s a second book so we can see their relationship grow and evolve more!

Well, this is disappointing. I really really wanted to love this one but alas, it pissed me off instead. There was absolutely no worldbuilding, only people-describing, which most of it was actually done at the front of the book as a glossary. For a book that the author swears up and down isn't a rewritten HP fanfic, she heavily relied on people knowing THAT world in order to visualize this one. The chapters were insanely long. I wasn't even halfway through the second chapter at 13%, LIKE WHAT?! The writing itself felt both pretentious AND juvenile, somehow. One moment she is saying things like "Some called it arrogance. She called it competence untainted by performative humility" (no one talks like that, wtf) and then the next saying "Xanthe had lost the plot"... what in the Gen Z is happening here?! There was no continuity when writing out numbers (14 versus fourteen) for the same Ward. I understand this is considered an uncorrected proof, but it's worth noting, regardless, just in case.