THIS BOOK WAS DELICIOUS!!!

the slow burn, the banter, the comeback, the characters, everything was just absolutely impeccable!! osric i love you!!!! his inner monologue was just everything and love how clever him and aurienne both were, which made their dialogue so so fun to read, they were both so witty and quick, I couldn’t stop laughing my way through the whole book

their slow burn was absolutely brilliant, the way the contrasted each other, the way they’d do the most unexpected things and constantly keep you on your toes, i had so so much fun reading this book

thank you so much for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

i enjoyed this so much!!! the slow burn was slow BURNING and i had a literal blast. the banter? yes please. everything and more. tension that had me on my knees yearning for ANYTHING. like osric and aurienne are the moment! the magic system was really really cool and while it takes a moment to get used to, it ends up being awesome! this was enemies to lovers at its best and i am such a fan!

i am so grateful i had the chance to read an early copy. thank you so so much!!!

This was such a unique fantasy! It honestly took me a while to get used to the writing style and all of the different terminology. This could have been because whilst reading it on kindle it’s difficult to jump to the glossary to remind yourself on orders etc!
I loved the idea of an assassin and a healer relationship. Also the enemies to lovers was beautiful!!! The way they absolutely despised each other when they first met!
The banter between the couple was insane, I was giggling and kicking my way through this book!
“Irresistible bastard meets immovable bitch” I don’t think i need to explain how much i loved this any more….

I just finished The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley, and I’ve mixed feelings, to be honest. The setup is brilliant—an assassin and a healer from rival Orders forced to work together? Osric’s a walking disaster with charm to spare, and Aurienne’s the kind of sharp, no-nonsense heroine I love. Their banter had me grinning, and the slow-burn tension was deliciously frustrating in the best way. But the pacing dragged a bit, and the world-building leaned too heavily on the glossary. I found myself flipping back more than I’d like, which pulled me out of the story. Still, the magic system was intriguing. Given this book has had such high reviews so I might even give it another go down the line and will definitely read Book 2. If you’re into enemies-to-lovers with a healthy dose of sarcasm and a dash of magical chaos, it’s worth a look.

3.5 stars!!
Okay okay okay, I see the vision. About the story: Aurienne is a Healer and Osric an Assassin whose magic is threatened by a disease. Aurienne is his only chance when it comes to figuring out if he can be healed, so their paths cross. Which is how it all starts.
I really enjoyed this book! My opinions: I loved the banter, but it was a bit too on the nose sometimes in my opinion. The world-building was very lacking for a fantasy book. But I read that people are describing this book as a rom-com instead of a romantasy, and to me that makes more sense. Because the vibes were there but it was mostly just vibes and little world-building or fantasy elements. I do feel that this book is mostly setting up the story, and if that’s the case then I’m very curious to see where the series is going. Because I am not completely hooked yet, but I could be in the future. For now, it felt very rom-commy and not that deep. Also the plot moved a little too slow for me in the last 1/3 of the book. But it was the developing romance that kept me reading!!
AND the book was a real enemies to lovers. Because they really despise each other because of who they are, and which orders they belong to. AND it is also a real slow burn. The way they insult each other and make fun of each other is delicious. I’m here for it.
Sooo I’m excited to read the next one!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

I loved it. I do not recommend reading this in public because it made me smile and laugh so hard throughout.
It was light hearted, even though there were so much dark themes, even graphic details of violence. But it was merely shadows considering their interactions.

Basic plot and world building:
Osric's magic is dying out and he wants Aurienne to try and heal it, because she is considered the best. The issue is their orders are kind of enemies - Osric belongs to the Fyren - murdery sort who are ruthless and dishonest. Aurienne is a healer/researcher from the well respected Haelen order who finds whatever the Fyren terrifying and the wrong kind of sort.
But due to the plague that is rampaging in the region and the fact that all requests for finding the research to immunized against the plague is being rejected they conjure up a compromise so that both can be benefited. The inherent hatred between them is rather a difficulty they have to overcome, also if possible help each other if they can stay long enough without killing each other.

✨Enemies to lovers
✨ Strict, perfectionist FMC x cool unaliver MMC
✨first in duology
✨ The bestest banter in the whole world, which includes witty comebacks, funny name callings and word plays
✨ Dual POV
✨ Touch her and d!e
✨ Slow burn, they don't even kiss until 90% although there are minor mentions of spicy moments

The beginning was bit bumpy because the writing felt bit weird, the names were so hard to pronounce and even to read and remember, but I got used to it as i made progress. I couldn't put it down once I reached about 20%.
If you are looking for character depth and intricate high end world building kind of fantasy, this is not for you. This is funny, light hearted, laugh out loud kind of fantasy which was exactly what I need at the moment. I am so excited for the sequel.

The banter is absolutely amazing!
Every interaction was a banger

My only issue was that writing was a bit complex and had a lot of fancy words that had me going back and forth

So… why am I suddenly catching feelings for my enemy? That's the question I asked myself while reading this book and I absolutely loved it. The writing style is amazing and the Humor just on point. The Autor knows exactly how to built tension and I loved that
At the start I had some difficulties to really understand the world but I need to say after few chapters all my doubts were gone.

(Note, I did not know this book used to be a fanfic based on characters from the Harry Potter universe when I read it, and my views on this there for real. I only found out 1 week before publication. I am actually happy this was the case, because this review was my honest reaction and opinion. I regret nothing)

The way I preordered this book after finishing this arc was ONE CLICK. This book has it all. The tropes, the storyline and the characters just held my heart hostage for weeks. I find myself at a loss for words with how much I enjoyed this. BLOODY FABULOUS!! Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this one!

Absolutely loved this. Osric and Aurienne are one of those odd pairings that shouldn’t work on paper. He’s a sarcastic assassin with the emotional maturity of a damp sock, and she’s a principled, intelligent healer who probably files things alphabetically for fun. And yet somehow, against all odds, it’s absolute magic.

It’s a proper slow-burn—agonising, delicious, frustrating in the best way,,but the story itself never drags. In fact, it zips along rather nicely. The dialogue had me properly laughing at times, which is saying something because my sense of humour tends to lean toward the tragic and juvenile.

Their dynamic is sharp, sparky, and just the right amount of emotionally constipated. They may not have admitted they’re into each other by the end, but let’s be honest, they’re basically already married—just with more knives and suppressed feelings.

Highly recommend if you like a bit of bickering with your banter, and a romance that takes its sweet time without ever feeling dull.

This was a funny read with tons of romantic tension, crude humour, and unintentional (or perhaps intentional depending on which character you ask!) slaughtering! It gave me Apprentice to the Villain vibes but with a lot more magic, and angst.

I loved the two main characters Osric and Aurienne - one a sarcastic assasin with a propensity for low-brow humour, and the other an intelligent, upright healer. Somehow they just worked as a couple (even if by the end of the book they haven't *fully* realised that yet, i'm totally rooting for them) and nothing felt forced. It was the definition of slow-burn, but the read was by no means slow, and I found myself laughing in places (but yes, I am the type of person to find low-brow humour funny).

I am a scientist, so I did enjoy the nods to the profession with the Healer sanc, but I can imagine if biology isn't your subject, that it might take you out of the read with the terminology used. However, Osric equally found the terminology confusing, so once you entered into the mindset of the characters, it didn't really matter if there were a few words that you glided over. Equally, at the start, I was a bit intimidated - rather than building up the world, you are dumped with a glossery, and I did try and skip it and then reluctantly had to go back when I was instantly confused - this was my only bugbear of the whole read.

I also didn't realise that it was based on a Her X Draco fanfiction - I found out this halfway through, and weirdly at the point of this realisation, the read became more fun because I could imagine the character's personalities better. That may not necessary be a good reflection on the book, but irrelevant, I enjoyed the read immensely.

And that ending was just beautiful! My heart!! The dance in rain was beautifully depicted; there were some lovely poetic scenes. What an interesting read to combine beautiful prose of dancing in the rain, with -ahem- toilet humour... definately a read that I'll be thinking about for a while, and I'm eager for the next one!

I'm not normally a slow burn kind of girly, but this one had me gripped and on the edge of my seat as I waited for more! My friend raves about this book, so I was a little sceptical going into it out of fear that it wouldn't live up to her hype, but boy did it! Book 2 when???

I was super happy to receive this as an arc! I’ll be completely honest, initially I found this very confusing. There’s a lot of terminology and there wasn’t a glossary in the e-arc so I really felt lost and didn’t understand much of what was going on and that made it hard to get into the story and my progress was very slow. Since then I received a physical copy from the publisher which was so handy as I could read through the glossary and understand what everything meant and then even better that the audiobook was released which I felt really brought the story to life for me. This is super witty and funny and had me giggling many times and is different from anything else I’ve read. I’d recommend it because of it being a unique romcom fantasy which you don’t see often and I did really enjoy it! I do prefer things a little more serious with high stakes and tension but this was a nice change and I can imagine lots of people absolutely loving this! I’d recommend picking up the audiobook if you’re struggling to get into it though.

Can i just say that word 'bint' should not be used as freely as we experience here 😂
So much fun, will now read anything Brigitte Knightley writes.

This book blew me away in ways I wasn’t expecting. The banger was hilarious, the tension was immaculate and it had me on my toes the entire time.
Osric could ask me to crawl and I would ask him how slow. This man was EVERYTHING. He is witty, sarcastic and clever and I would go to the ends of the earth for him.
Aurienne was the best. She had me laughing at the way she reacted to anything Osric did that she didn’t agree with. She was such an intelligent and strong FMC. I loved her.
The slow burn was slowwww and didn’t happen till later in the book which I loved because watching them fight and insult each other was hilarious.
This was definitely a book I wasn’t ready to end and I loved it!
Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book

I was really excited to read this book because I loved DMATMOBIL. I had very high hopes. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a huge disappointment.

The humour fell completely flat for me. The world-building was confusing and hard to follow. English isn't my first language, but I usually have no problem reading books in English. Still, this one felt like trying to get through a very complicated textbook.

Really wanted to love it, but sadly, this just wasn't for me.

I really struggled to get into this book so sadly had to DNF. I didn’t like the writing style and the commentary between the characters. I tried twice to read it but I couldn’t connect. I even tried the audiobook but the narrator was really flat which didn’t help connecting to the book

I'm so obsessed with this book! The writing style is so engaging and is riddled with humour, clever quips, and plenty of invitations to laugh a little at the main characters. Osric and Fairhrim engage in verbal battles frequently, the results amusing and addictive. These two characters bounce off each other so well, and the banter is really well written. This is not only a case of opposites attract (as much as they're denying any attraction) but also forbidden romance. Though it's an incredibly slow burn, their feelings buried deep, it really draws you in. Brigitte Knightley has crafted a witty and compelling story, where assassin and healer must work together (so very reluctantly) towards their goals. I love Fairhrim's sharp tongue, her cleverness, and her unflappability. She takes everything in her stride, even an arrogant and insufferable assassin trying his best to get under her skin. I don't think I've ever shipped a couple harder and I don't remember the last time I had this much fun with a book. And it's only the first in a series? We've been blessed! I can't wait to see how these two are going to get into and out of trouble in the next book, as the danger levels are certainly rising and surely their secrets can only stay hidden so long? I'm hoping the same goes for their feelings...

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

In general, I am a little conflicted about this book. The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy feels like it had all the ingredients to be one of my favourite books: enemies to lovers, banter, slow burn, but something about it in general just missed the mark for me.

The story follows Osric Mordaunt, a member of the Fyren order (essentially assassins), who has a disease which is affecting the use of his Seith (magic) and slowly killing him. He goes to Aurienne Fairhrim, a Haelan (healer) for help, because she is an expert in that field and nobody else can help. Aurienne initially refuses to help him because of their fundamental differences and opposing orders but once Osric donates a substantial sum to her order to help fund an immunisation programme for the Platt’s Pox, a disease killing poverty-stricken children, she agrees to help… under duress of course! They then embark on a journey of the “old ways” to try and heal Osric and their relationship dynamic develops along the way.

One of the things I did love about this book is the slow burn romance. The dynamic between the two is constantly changing and you can feel the tension. The banter is well done and feels genuine. The two are constantly fighting how their feelings are changing for each other as well as the moral implications and frankly, practical implications, of falling for a member of an opposing order, which feels like it fits into the story well.

I think the thing I struggled the most with was the writing style, on one hand there are some words thrown in that seem unnecessarily complex but on the other it seems almost too basic at times. I struggled to get really invested until I was over halfway in and I think I just disconnected from the writing style a little.

That being said, I did enjoy this book enough to give it 3 stars, particularly the romance, but also the sub plot mystery that went behind it. Would I recommend it? Yes, don’t expect world changing literature but then not everything has to be! Will I be picking up the second, probably!

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has some of the best dialogue I have read in a fantasy book!

My favourite thing about the book is the way real life locations and amenities have been transposed on to a fantasy world. E.g. pubs and waystations, places in the UK and the concept of tiendoms.

I enjoyed the dual POV and it was very effective because of the very different voices of Aurienne and Osric. Osric's internal monologue is beyond hilarious, the way that man swims in his own superiority is just too funny.

The description of the countryside and nature were gorgeous. A smattering of brilliantly crafted sentences really invoked emotion especially towards the end of the books when there is a tonal shift.
I also really enjoyed the nod to old-fashioned speech. The story itself is fairly low-tension with most of the tension arising from the interactions between Osric and Aurienne.

The very indirect jealousy and possessiveness scenes were a lot of fun. I didn't realise this was the first book of a duology but I am mow eager to find out how Osric will deal with the discovery he made at the end of the book!