If you like jokes about balls and banter x 1000, then this is for you. Unfortunately, it's not for me.

Enemies to lovers, cosy romantic comedy. Nothing too serious and an easy read if that is what you are looking for.

4.5 STARS

What an incredible talent Brigitte Knightley is. This book was an absolute delight and I will be thinking about it incessantly for the next year.

I don't think I have ever laughed as much at a book. The humour was very 'Princess Bride' and who doesn't adore that book/ movie?!

The characters were very well written, and depsite being almost entirely (and deliberately) ridiculous, I found them very believable. I feel that we got a lot more character development from Osric in this first book, despite him being technically a villain, but I am looking forward to seeing how Aurienne's character arc progresses over the series.

This is one of my most anticipated books for 2025 and I was so excited to receive an advance copy from Orbit! I love an enemies to lovers trope, slow burn and an interesting magic system, this book is all 3, the ultimate trifecta ✨

If you’re looking for an action packed romantasy or a spicy read, this book may not be the book for you, but if you love character and relationship focussed books, where you end up fully invested in the characters journey, then definitely pick this one up!

The banter Osric and Aurienne have is just perfect, the snippy little comments and jibes which slowly turn into something more familiar and playful is excellent. It reads very British humour/banter, which I absolutely adored, but then later on there were moments of pure poetry that honestly was probably some of the most beautiful sentences I’ve ever read, The way their relationship evolves throughout the book is perfect, it’s a believable timeline and evolution and I think that’s something that’s so hard to get right in a book like this, but it has been handled so well, the best I’ve read in a while!

The plot is definitely on the lighter side, but there was enough happening that it kept me engaged and I was eager to know what was going to happen. Knightly’s writing instantly grabbed me, I binged this book in 24 hours, partly because I was engrossed in the characters but also because the writing flows and made it so hard to put down.

Already can’t wait for the next book and it’s not even been announced yet! I love when I finish a book and instantly want the next book or to read it all over again, this book gives me that!

Thank you to Orbit UK for the opportunity to review this ARC.

When I tell you this is one of the best things I’ve ever read, I cannot even begin to describe the happiness I had while reading this. I had a smile on my face the entire time and that’s not an exaggeration. The banter between the characters is phenomenal. A beautiful enemies to lovers and I cannot wait for the next instalment.

Thank you for the advanced copy @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk
I can’t wait for my physical copy to arrive July 8th!

Thank you to Netalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.

Although I didn’t enjoy this book I think it will be popular when it’s released.
I went into it with interest hearing it’s a slow burn and originally a fan fiction.

Sadly I just couldn’t get on with the writing style, the wording that was used I was confused majority of this book. Even though there was good banter between the characters sometimes it fell flat and the interactions between them seemed like it was just done to get words down.

The world and the magic system was overcomplicated. Usually if it’s explained very well and dumbed down I can keep track but this wasn’t. It spent little time explaining things before going on to very little explain even more complicated things.

With its humorous tone this book is quite engaging and fast paced. In general the world plays a secondary role, while the relationship between the mcs is very much the focal point (which is what you would expect). The plot is a bit repetitive, but I mainly want to be entertained by bickering mcs and the book definitely delivered that.
You can't really tell, that the characters were once based in fanfiction.
3,5

Dark, bloody and delicious.
An enemies to lovers slow burn romantasy that really does tick all the boxes.
I adore the banter in this book, I find it hard to laugh out loud at books but this had me smiling so much, which I was not expecting from our assassin and healer duo. The fact that I found it funny throughout as well as the plot being so engaging was so much fun.
I want more of Osric and Aurienne as soon as possible, but I guess for now I will just have to be content with a reread or two.

Onion Boy will forever and always be my new favourite nickname 🧅

What can I actually say about this book? How can I possibly put this into words??

Favourite read of the year so far 🙌🏻 hands down, I LOVED this! Why Erin did you love this so much? Well, dear reader, let me tell you!

The banter? Unmatched.
The characters? Multilayered.
The plot? Mysterious and dense.
The romance? GODS THE SLOW BURN ROMANCE 🥵

Brigitte has crafted one of the funniest, sweetest, twisty, page turning books out at the moment, and I simply could not put this down. Except the moments where is as spamming her DMs with my thoughts 😂 The magic system is so well described with so much depth for more to be explored in further books, I love how each Order has a signet and not only that but they have familiar type animals (can we all stan my darling sassy Cíele) which I just adore! If you are down with enemies to lovers, secret missions, betrayal, magic and slow slow slow burn romance then you need to pick this up on release.

Some of my fave highlighted quotes:

‘He hasn’t got any nipples,’ noticed Osric. To Widdershins, he called: ‘Why haven’t you got any nipples?’ ‘You can’t just ask people why they haven’t got nipples,’ said Fairhrim.

‘Tadpoling. Obviously.’ ‘It’s the middle of the night,’ said Fairhrim.  ‘Best time for it. Also, fuck off.’ 

‘My merkin,’ gasped Osric. (This line SENT me 😂)

Aurienne and Osric’s story has me in a literal choke hold and I will not sleep until book two is in my hands.

A 6 star read which is so uncommon for me to give but this was truly stunning ✨

Thank you to @netgalley @orbitbooks_uk and @brigitteknightley for my e-ARC

After reading reviews on this one I must admit I went in very hesitantly - but I honestly fell in love with this book.

There is quite a lot of vulgarity so if that's not your thing then you might not have a good time with this one. I personally found it really funny and it added to the absurdity of the characters.

I genuinely laughed out loud so many times, the witty banter in this one is honestly so on point and I loved that it's a true enemies to lovers. These characters truly despised each other which I loved, I'm so sick of books being labelled enemies to lovers when really they have been in love the whole book it's so boring.

As a huge fan of the Apprentice to the Villain series, this book felt very similar but with a lot more profanity and our MMC is truly a lot more villainous.

I was left wanting more and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book and returning to these characters.

I know this was a original a publish fanfiction of Hermione and Draco but as this is supposed to be a published book now, I found if lacking in every department.
The only really good thing about this book was teh banter ...WAS AMAZING !! I could read more of they talks.
The writing in this book seemed very forced to seem more than the writer was capable of.
Love the cover and readlly fell exited for see a enemies to lovers ...but the attraction between the two characters didn't seem to go beyond physical attraction and I didn't like that at all.
I not gonna give up and maybe the second book is gonna be better so i will wait .
Thanks Netgalley for let me read this ARC.

The banter in this book is e-ve-ry-thing! I could happily read 10 more chapters of Aurienne and Osric’s dialogues and never get tired.

The yearning truly builds a perfect slow burn. But, I had problems to connect with the story at the beginning…it was a little slow.

Can’t wait for the next book to have answers!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Hate could feel strangely like something else"
I knew I would love this book as it was based on a Dramione fanfic and I did love it completely. Osric was such a good morally grey character and some of his one-liners had me laughing so much.
Example: Aurienne "You ate the yoghurt?" Oscric "After he was dead, yes. He'd hardly touched it."

The writing in this book was unique and I loved the worldbuilding and can't wait to explore more into this world that Brigitte has created. I was swooning one minute, and dying of laughter the next. I also loved the dynamics of Osric and Aurienne's relationship and how it developed throughout the book. The mutual loathing (and pining) throughout the book was so fun, and Brigitte wrote the enemies-to-lovers arc perfectly.

Aurienne is such a brilliant and bright character and I loved seeing such a strong female character (in STEM). Seeing her character grow more relaxed towards the end of the book was written perfectly.

Osric is a charming, arrogant assassin (we love) with a wickedly dry sense of humour. The banter between both him and Aurienne was so good and had me so hooked.

I adore the character Xanthe she put Osric (Onion boy) in his place many times which he deserved. I need more of Leofric he was hilarious and only appeared for a short amount of time but he made himself known and now I need to see him appear more often.

The romance is a SLOW burn but was so worth the wait, although I craved more it was realistic in the way it was developed. I'm so excited to see how it progresses in the next book and how the mystery they face is unravelled.

I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a fun, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy that is so well written with amazing characters.

OH MY GOSH
This book was SO GOOD. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book. The banter between Aurienne and Osric was 10/10. This was a delightful enemies to lovers read and it’s actually a proper enemies to lovers where they ACTUALLY hate each other, not just dislike and then *boom* they’re lovers. It’s a slow burn that will make you want to scream, but I enjoyed every single part of it. Love love looooved it!!

Thank you @netgalley and @LittleBrownBookGroup_UK for allowing me to read this eARC.

This book kept me up until 3am because I could not put it down! The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is a fantasy rom/com that features TRUE enemies to lovers. I’m talking these two fantasise about killing each other. Unfortunately for them, they find themselves in need of each other’s services and the resulting banter is hilarious. This story follows Aurienne a healer, believer in “do no harm”, and Osric, an assassin who harms on the regular. When Osric try’s to enlist a reluctant Aurienne to help heal him of a condition only she can help with. Aurienne agrees to attempt to find a cure for him in return for a large donation to her healing order, which is fighting to find a cure for a pox afflicting children.

From the very first page I was gripped by the writing style which was witty and clever and easy to follow. The characters are both endearing in their own ways. I felt this book was heavy on the banter and lighter on the world building, but it meant for a fast paced read without too much in depth complex world building. Coming from a medical background I appreciated the medical humour, but I can see how some people may be looking up a lot of the terminology used. I feel the humour is quite niche and some may not appreciate it, I personally love this style of humour. It is sarcastic, crass but so clever, which happens to be right up my alley. I was giggling and laughing out loud throughout the book. There is minimal spice, but the tension was top tier! I just loved the main characters dynamic and by the end I was swooning.

Tropes you will find:
True enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Slow burn
Hilarious witty banter

I did feel the ending was a little abrupt, how will I survive the wait for book two?!! I need more! All up this is now my favourite read so far this year. I will be recommending this book to anyone who will listen. This book is a 5⭐️ read for me.

Oh… my god? I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this. When I first found out this is a product of the fanfic author > traditional author pipeline I panicked. I was a fanfic girlie, and back in my days of fanfic they were… not good. But this?? SO good and definitely nothing like the fanfics of my tween years...
Enemies to lovers ✅
Slow burn ✅
Tension ✅
Hilarious banter ✅

Aurienne is a healer and Osric needs healing, but Osric is an assassin (and everything that Aurienne thinks is wrong with the world). The plot follows our main characters as Aurienne makes a deal with the assassin to treat him in order to help her team develop a vaccine to treat hundreds

This book was truly a hilarious read, and I LOVED Aurienne’s character. She had a dry, witty sense of humour and it was a joy to read. My only critique is that I felt a little let down by the ending - I wanted some sense of resolution, but got nothing. It does have me excited for book 2, but I was begging for a TINY bit more?

Overall, a fantastic read and one I absolutely recommend getting your preorders in for! Releasing July 8th!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I can see this being a very marmite book, fortunately, I fall on the side of really enjoying this one. It’s crass, funny and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I have, unfortunately, seen this marketed as enemies to lovers, so, I went into it with the wrong expectations. This is more enemies to reluctant allies, which I expect to continue into lovers in book 2. None the less, I really loved the humour in this book. It was punchy, crude and left me laughing out loud. The crickets were a personal highlight. It took me a while to get a feel for the characters, but I did end up really appreciating them. I loved how confident and capable Aurienne is and I can see myself swooning for Osric when his more vulnerable side come out. The one thing I really could have done without was the constant capitalisation of things. It was overdone and felt quite modern, which pulled me out of the story. All in all, a very fun read!

Amazing. Fantastic. Loved the first draft… but this book is everything! I will read again and again!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

What a gorgeous debut!

The writing and dynamics were so sharp and crunchy, and it made for such a fun, enjoyable read. The magic systems and manoeuvres between orders were intriguing, and I loved the fabrication of the magical medical specialty and its nomenclature. I was especially impressed by the re-appropriation of existing medical terminology and prefixes and suffixes. It added depth and grounded the world building well, making everything seem tangible and believable.

The character arcs were great and no situation our two main characters were put in felt outlandish in the context of the story. I loved that we got to see each of them in different contexts. However, I do wish that we saw more introspective character development and reflection from our two main characters (as is my personal preference) but nevertheless this was a fun read. I eagerly await the second instalment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so wildly up my street. Laugh out loud funny, ridiculous, magical and a proper actual enemies to lovers situation. I need the next one as soon as possible.

I can see why some people wouldn’t be into it, it’s a very specific brand of humour - but it’s my specific brand.

The relationship is such a fantastic slow burn, and the growing and changing of it is well thought out. It makes sense, nothing feels forced.

Also any book that has mention of “clitoris allsorts” is a 10/10 for me.

Delightful! I realised at the 70% mark this had to continue into other books, but I loved the plot and the characters so much I was glad for it. Already excited for number 2.