4.5 stars rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy took me completely by surprise. It’s one of the few romantasy books I’ve genuinely enjoyed in the past year. The premise is strong—even though I haven’t read the Dramione fanfiction it was originally based on, this novel stands well on its own.
At the heart of the story are the protagonists, who are beautifully developed. Their banter is fantastic—engaging, natural, and never cringeworthy—which made it easy to get immersed in their dynamic. I also really enjoyed the humor. Additionally, I loved the thoughtful detail of naming all the scientific machines after female scientists.
The only thing that lowered my rating was the repetition—after a while, the characters started falling into the same patterns, repeating similar actions and dialogues over and over again, especially in the first 50% of the book. Perhaps the "cures" could have been handled with more variation, though I’m not sure what would have worked better. The second half of the book, instead, was more dynamic and had a mystery at its core.
I’ve seen some reviews criticizing the lack of worldbuilding, and I think that’s a fair point. However, I didn’t find it to be a major issue that hindered the plot in any significant way (since there is hardly any). The fantasy world is somewhat vague, and certain details can only be inferred from the glossary at the beginning. But if you take the time to read that, you’ll be well-prepared for an immersive experience.
This is by no means a perfect book, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised—perhaps romantasy hasn’t completely lost its charm after all.

Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally – such is the grim comedy of fate – the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order.
Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick - so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for. A forced collaboration ensues: the brilliant Woman in STEM is coerced into working with the PhD in Murders, much to Aurienne's disgust. As Osric and Aurienne work together to heal his illness and investigate the mysterious reoccurrence of a deadly pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction, which only fuels the heat between them.

The Irresistable Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is everything I expected... AND MORE. This book was so good, perfect, irresistable. I couldn't put it down because of the perfect combination of slow burn and enemies to lovers. Oh and healer x assassin? That's the cherry on top! These tropes work perfectly together in The Irresistable Urge to Fall For Your Enemy. The tension between Aurienne and Osric is phenomenal. The fact that they you FEEL they don't like each other from the beginning and it bursts in to some spicy romance? I AM HERE FOR IT!

This book was one of my high anticiptated reads of 2025 and it did not disappoint. It not only made me laugh out loud, but this book had me on the edge on my seat and I can't wait for the second book in this duology. I read it right now, especially after that brutal ending which leaves the reader desperate for the sequel (when?). I need like a hundred different special editions of this book for in my shelves!

You'll love The Irresistable Urge to Fall For Your Enemy if you love:
Enemies to lovers
Slow burn
He falls first and harder
Fantasy

Huge thanks to NetGalley for sharing The Irresistable Urge to Fall For Your Enemy digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

If you have a penchant for assassins, magic, and sizzling slow burns, this one’s for you.

From the very first chapter, I was hooked by the banter—witty, sharp, and consistently fun throughout the book. Osric is delightfully pompous and arrogant in that “I-know-I-shouldn’t-like-you-but-I-do” way, and Aurienne? The kind of brilliant, morally grounded heroine you want to root for and fear a little (okay, a lot, she's amazingly terrifying). The alternating points of view were such a strength—I loved being able to peek into both of their heads and watch the tension build from every angle.
The romance is the slowest of slow burns... but it’s delicious. Every interaction crackles, and the emotional development between them felt natural, layered, and completely worth the wait. Add to that a genuinely interesting magical illness, political tensions between rival Orders, and a rich fantasy world—it’s a recipe that worked incredibly well for me.

I absolutely cannot wait for the next book—this one ends with the perfect balance of resolution and promise. Highly recommended for fans of enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and that extra satisfying ugh-I-hate-you-wait-do-I? tension.

Thank you Little Brown Book Group|Orbit and NetGalley for this ARC!

To all the Dramione fans out there, we are in for a TREAT this year. Having read Knightly's fanfic multiple times, I can truly say that this is a whole NEW story, with a unique magic system and different character personalities that ABSOLUTELY DELIVERS. It has been SO LONG since I've had that feeling of wanting to put everything down just to read. I have over 80 annotations made on my kindle. I was SQUEALING, LAUGHING AND KICKING MY FEET throughout the entire read. It's packed full of back-and-forth banter that leaves you wanting more. This book is the epitome of *chef's kiss*

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED reading all of Aurienne and Osric's interactions. We have Osric Mordaunt with his dark sense of humour and the highest level of arrogance known to mankind. And Aurienne Fairhrim, our highly competent and self-assured heroine, who is not at all afraid of knocking down Osric's super inflated ego when it came close to bursting (like purulent abscess might I say LMAO). Their banter was comedic without it being overbearing. The dynamic and chemistry between the two is perfect; they loathed each other's existence and dragged their feet's when the time came to work together. That is UNTIL they start working collaboratively and they being to develop mutual admiration for each other's skills.
The romance we get is slow and filled with beautiful yearning; the slow burn was truly BURNING when just the mere touch of the arms had me spiraling out of control at 2am. Don't even get me STARTED on the 'Mr. Darcy' references.

As someone who works in the Emergency Department and tries to avoid books where medicine is REMOTELY involved (because I cringe and get secondhand embarrassment), I found myself enjoying the medical/science aspect of the book and genuinely LAUGHING at the puns and all the crude jokes. The medical jargon might probably be a bit overwhelming to those not used to it, but a simple google search of the terms should be good enough.

Although this is the first book to this duology, it was EASILY a 5/5 star read for me. Knightly did an exceptional job with this book. Cannot wait for the sequel to come out, because that cliffhanger left me HANGING by a thread.
Thoughts and Prayers to everyone who will read this book once it gets published, because YOU WILL be clutching your pearls by the end of book and wanting much more.

Thank you to Brigitte Knightley, Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This had so much promise and the cover art is adorable. However, the writing style is grating and I couldn’t care less about either of the characters 20% in. Draco’s dying? Fine by me.

The heavy glossary at the beginning should really go at the end as a reference point, should the reader need it. It shouldn’t be required reading before you begin as a crutch for loose world-building.

I think this needed further editing to take it from Wattpad-level to publishable-level.

My most anticipated read of the year!

Brigitte’s writing style is just bloody fantastic. It’s unique, delicious, hilarious, witty and refreshing. I was giggling to myself constantly and getting very weird looks from my husband constantly 😆 and the amount of individual words that I highlighted on my kindle was immense - I have never learned so many new words whilst reading one book!!

The magic system and world building was quite detailed at the beginning, but not overbearingly so. There’s so much I could add here, but I really don’t want to add any spoilers! But suffice to say, the new world and the magical elements were very enjoyable ✨ loved the deofals!

And finally, the romance. Again, I don’t want to say too much, but if you love slow, slow burn 🔥 this one is for you… with a handsome MMC with absolutely no morals whatsoever (who knows he is dashing and beautiful), and a FMC who is strong, competent and downright awesome (and who also knows it). This makes for some tasty arguments and goings on between the two… but saying that, the spice level in this one is relatively low.

A story that doesn’t take itself too seriously, with a wonderful cast of characters and a unique writing style, makes for a fun, engaging and addictive read 🩷

4.5 ⭐️

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I loved EVERYTHING about this book. Absolutely no notes, I would read this all over again right now if I had the time!

Woman in STEM meets PhD of murders is completely accurate and I loved how at odds Aurienne and Osric are. The yearning hit a little different in this one. Giggling and kicking my feet is an understatement - I was screeching.

I don’t know why but I didn’t expect this book to be funny. I was cackling through most of this book. It was somehow so serious yet so lighthearted at the same time and it just made it so easy to read.

The wait for book 2 will be criminal, especially because this book isn’t even out until July!!

The Irresistble Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy featuring a scholarly healer and a gentleman assassin, set in an exquisite fantasy world!

I enjoyed this read more and more the longer it went on, but a few of the criticisms I heard before reading this ARC were confirmed after finishing it myself: people without a background in Dramione fanfiction or basic Harry Potter lore will be utterly lost.

Don’t get me wrong - I loved this. It was a breezy, fun read that felt like fic in the best way, but it isn’t a fully fleshed-out story. The world-building is practically nonexistent. We get a glossary at the beginning that explains the fundamentals of this setting and its people, but the story fails to fully paint a picture of how this world works and to dive deeper in the mechanisms of it.

It’s painfully clear that this world is a Harry Potter pastiche - which is fine, because the author clearly used aspects of her HP fics as a foundation - but a reader still needs to feel like the world is a living, breathing place.

Furthermore, we don’t learn enough about Aurienne and Osric at the beginning. Yes, this is remedied as the story progresses, as it should be, but for 40% of the book, I kept thinking that someone unfamiliar with Dramione fics, who doesn’t instinctively recognize these two as Hermione and Draco stand-ins, wouldn’t be having a good time. This was written as if every reader has that context, and as a standalone, soon-to-be-published novel, it shouldn’t be that way.

Also, I don’t have a problem with penis jokes or sex jokes. Or pee and poop jokes. Or any sort of crude humor - hell, I make them myself and can be childish about them. They can be funny. I’m not on some high horse about them. But I found the sheer number of them staggering. Maybe that’s just me, but the gross-out jokes were almost excessive. Sometimes, they even pulled me out of the romance, which is a shame because the pining was masterfully done.

That, I can say: the romance was slow, filled with yearning, and the perfect amount of patheticness from Osric’s side. I loved it. And oblivious, cold, competent heroines like Aurienne are my bread and butter, so I relished the build-up and the slow unfurling of their attraction. So much so that I was mournful when the book ended. I wanted more.

In that regard, this novel took the best aspects of fanfiction: the deep, slow-burn tension that fanfic writers, including Knightley, excel at, and played them masterfully.

Still, it wasn’t a perfect book. The world-building was too thin, the characters felt a little too shallow, and it’ll surely be confusing for anyone unfamiliar with Dramione fanfiction or the Harry Potter world.

Luckily, I’m into both, so those flaws didn’t ruin my reading experience. For anyone else, I’d really caution against going into this blind without at least some context of it.



Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit UK for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, the relationship dynamics reminded me a lot of the Emily Wilde series and I think that readers of that series will also enjoy this. However I found the writing to at times to be overly complicated with a lot of medical references and also rather juvenile with the amount of ball jokes. I did like the hate to wait do I like this person relationship between the two main characters and I’m interested in continuing on with the story.

This was such a fun and unique book.
Our healer FMC and the morally grey assassin-for-hire MMC are both hyper competent, sharp-tongued and confident. This was a great combination with dry humor, hilarious banter and a mystery element that kept me guessing.
They absolutely cannot stand each other at the beginning and to watch this slow burn unfold was highly entertaining. Also, both have some kind of animal companion and those were hilarious as well.

By the end of the book, I was rooting so hard for them 🫶🏼 Can’t wait to see where the second book of this duology takes us.

✨Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the gifted eARC✨

4.5⭐

Firstly the banter between the FMC & MMC was some of the best I've ever read, it was so funny right in at the first chapter.

Osric and Aurienne are in completely different Orders, he is a contract killer/assassin and she is a healer, but they strike a mutually beneficial deal where he needs her help to heal his ruined seith and she needs funding for help with the pox outbreak. Which means these enemies need to work together and this leads to actions and decisions that both would never normally make until they met each other.

The overall world building was really easy to understand and the different kings and queens added a great bigger plot which made the ending of the book make me want to read the next one straight away!

Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, forbidden association, slow burn its all there and a personal highlight is Osric's internal thoughts were so funny in his chapters.

Thank you NetGalley & Little Brown Book for this ARC.

This was a weird read for me. While I enjoyed it as I was reading, I found myself lacking the usual pull to pick it back up the next day. It wasn’t until around the 80% mark that I finally felt somewhat invested, which made for a frustrating reading experience.

One of the biggest struggles for me was the language and word choice. The author went all out with the writing style, and while I understand the intent, it just didn’t work for me. Instead of coming across as smart or witty, it often felt clunky, and I had to reread sections to fully grasp what was being said.

The world-building also felt underdeveloped. There was an extensive glossary at the beginning, but it was difficult to retain all the information while reading. As an ebook, especially, flipping back and forth to check details became a challenge, which left me feeling a bit lost at times.

That said, I did enjoy the banter and witty conversations throughout the book. They were fun and engaging, though at times they overshadowed the plot rather than enhancing it.

Overall, this was a decent read, but it didn’t fully click for me. The writing style, world-building issues, and pacing prevented me from getting truly immersed, so I can’t rate it higher than 3 stars.

4,5 stars

This was so funny, I’m still laughing.

The first impression was not great; I don’t like having to learn a bunch of new words just to understand a book, but I quickly got over it. The magic system was not that complicated, and the glossary at the beginning made it very easy to follow.

Aurienne is a healer, and “harm to none” is her life motto. Osric is an assassin, proudly enjoying a conscience-free existence. As it turns out, Osric desperately needs a healer, and Aurienne is his only hope.

This was a brilliant enemies-to-lovers story. I absolutely adored the author’s sense of humor and writing style. The dynamic between Aurienne and Osric was delightful; the haughty puns, the dry comebacks, and the extraordinary eloquence and intelligence shining through their banter. I couldn’t get enough of them.

I loved how their relationship slowly evolved from animosity to curiosity and then to a very inconvenient attraction. I can’t wait for the next book to see where this story takes us next.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy delivers exactly what its title promises—a deliciously slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance filled with snark, yearning, and two characters who absolutely should not fall for each other… and yet.

Osric, the deadly-yet-charming assassin, and Aurienne, the no-nonsense scholarly healer, are on opposite sides of a deep ideological divide. Their interactions are electric, with razor-sharp dialogue, subtle (and not-so-subtle) tension, and enough repressed feelings to fuel an entire library of academic rivals-to-lovers fanfiction. If you love Dramione-coded dynamics, this will be right up your alley.

The book is definitely a true slow burn—so much so that it might test the patience of readers who like their romance with a bit more action. While the witty banter and constant push-and-pull were a joy, the plot itself felt like it took a backseat until the final chapters. The worldbuilding is intriguing but a bit dense for a duology, and at times, I found myself wanting a bit more movement beyond just smoldering glances and intellectual combat.

That said, the writing is sharp, the humor is spot-on, and the tension is top-tier. If you’re in the mood for a fun, trope-filled romantasy where the yearning is borderline unbearable (in the best way), this is a fantastic pick. Just be prepared to wait for that payoff! And yes—more fork-related murder in book two, please.

I’m one of the people going into this that did not read the fan fic.
Unfortunately this just didn’t work for me, I felt the world was overly complicated and it took away from the actual story.
I just couldn’t connect to this book at all

4.5 ⭐️. I had an absolute blast reading this book. The writing, banter and wit was chef’s kiss. Trope wise, it’s the truest of slow burns and true enemies to (what I hope in the future is) lovers (and yes read that as they have a legitimate, almost star crossed reason to hate each other initially). Here’s a taste of some of the many, many lines I highlighted while reading…

“'Not everything can be said with words,' said Osric. 'That's why we invented longing looks.”

“Osric found himself almost looking forward to their inevitable skirmish.” (Reviewers note: me too, Osric)

“He spent too much time that afternoon continuing their discussion in his head, resulting in an imaginary argument in which he featured prominently with sharp and witty rebuttals. He considered sending his deofol to Fairhrim with a script, so that she knew what he was capable of.”

“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.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book!

my expectations may have been abit too high for this one which is entirely my fault but i enjoyed it nevertheless.
The premise of this book was there, the assassin and a healer complete enemies who very clearly despised eachother but that seemed all there was too it.

It is a VERY big slow burn which is very dramione coded and what we love but this was slower, however it had lots of humour and witty charm that did make me laugh out loud which is something i don’t usually do when reading. I loved the back and forth jokes between the two of them, both arrogant in their own ways but with a lot of banter in their sense of humours.

The world building was fun, it seems like a very interesting world but also very complex for a duology i honestly only remembered both of the main characters orders and the witches.

The plot was interesting but i didn’t feel there was much too it nothing really happened until literally the last few chapters of the book!

I think for someone who loves slow burn romance this is great but i personally love slow burn with lots of plot! The cover is ABSOLUTELY beautiful though!

Thank you very much to Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC as this was an anticipated read for me❤️

4.3⭐️

I haven’t read this author’s fanfic (although it is on my never ending TBR), so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this, but this chaotic story was so much fun, and the writing style made me laugh even during some gory scenes.

You are dumped straight into the world without much world building at the start, but things are explained along the way. Audience and Osric’s relationship is a joy to watch, and I loved their banter.

The cliffhanger at the end was perfectly painful, and I can’t wait for the next book to see how things pan out!

(Oh and thank you as always to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

3.5 rounded up for goodreads and netgalley.
Overall, I had a good time reading this book. The first hundred of pages were quite funny for me (hilarious even), I was not expecting the humor. The rest of the book’s bits of humor fell flat for me though. But it gave the book a cosy feeling, as if I was reading a cosy romantasy. I did like that.
However, I did not like the over-presence of sex in the book, it was so random at times it really thew me off. The main female character is okay, but I’m not a fan of the male main character — I did like the fact that he was being ridiculed throughout the book, that was a nice and refreshing touch. The plot is easy to follow and thickens as the story progresses. I can totally see myself reading the sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Osric, an assassin, needs healing and turns to Aurienne, a scientist from a rival Order. She agrees to help in exchange for funding to fight a deadly pox. Forced to work together, their animosity turns into unexpected attraction.

This was fun and irreverent. I don’t think the humor and tone will be for everyone, but I enjoyed it. You definitely have to lean into the silliness. It felt like what Villains & Virtues was trying to do, but more successfully in my opinion. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic was built up really well, and I loved the bickering, quips and back-and-forth between the main characters. A great example of how to do slow burn well. The side characters were also quirky, no bland characters to be found in this book. I thought the seith magic system was cool and unique. I was invested in the plot and am eager for the second book in the duology.

The only thing that I felt could be improved was that if the author wanted to move into the political intrigue, the world-building could have used more depth. It felt like it needed to be fleshed out a bit.