A quick and cute slowburn romance with closed door scènes.

I felt like the story suffered from wanting to tell many storylines, and the romance part suffered because of it. I understand that it's a slowburn, but I felt that their romantic connection was in the back seat for the majority of the story, and the work harassment and familial problems were in the primary spot.

The story is told in dual POV. I had a hard time with the mmc's POV. I got the impression that the author wanted to convey that he may be on the spectrum. Which is fine, but the pov was written in a screen play style that took me out of the story for a bit every time the POV switched.

Overall, the characters were interesting, and the romantic moments that are incorporated in the story were definitely cute. But I wanted more.

Zen Cho is an auto buy author. I loved The Friend Zone Experiment and now ive got a new love to add to the list! This author knows how to write green flag men!

The setting is corporate lawyers, there's lots of culture and a strong theme around family and expectations.

Most I loved the main characters. They both deserved the world!

This was a nice quick read for me. I finished it in one sitting. I liked the banter and the flirting.

Taking place in the same setting - the world of London business and law and its Asian diaspora community - Behind Frenemy Lines references some of the same characters and events as Cho's previous book, The Friend Zone Experiment, although it is somewhat less focussed on the gathering corruption scandal which that book introduced and feels more personal in tone.

Behind Frenemy Lines introduces Kriya, a young lawyer, first seen when she wakes late and rushes to a car crash of an interview for a training place, literally falling at the feet of a man, Charles, who she keeps meeting over the next few years, always - in her mind - embarrassingly. (But why would she care about embarrassing herself in front of a man she's decided to write off as an enemy?)

Told in alternate, and often amusing, chapters alternating between Kriya's and Charles' perspectives, Behind Frenemy Lines gives us two distinct voices and styles, illuminating the personalities of two very different protagonists. Charles' sections are synoptic, missing out words and detail and commenting drily on events, as though for a diary. Kriya's are warmer, filled at times with horror at events as she finds herself unexpectedly sharing an office with her "Nemesis". At times they're rawer, though, as she encounters difficulties with a colleague and faces the fragility of her position at the firm.

Both narrators describe their challenges and conflicts at work, with their extended families (Charles's wastrel of a father tapping him for money) and in their personal lives (Kriya's smarting after being dumped by her ex) - which seem somewhat blighted by the long hours of a London law firm (the canteen stays open till 10pm, though you'll be working longer than that if you're really under pressure to meet a deadline). Families and friends enter the stage, social events throwing the hapless two together like a much more grounded version of Four Weddings. Gradually Cho fills in detail for the pair, such as Charles's circle and their fandoms or Kriya's close dependency, even as part of a large form, on a particular partner who seems to have a very old fashioned and almost patriarchal view of things.

It's a warm, funny, generous book with pages that just fly by, the attraction between Kriya and Charles threaded through every enthralling page. There are, naturally, crises and difficulties to be overcome and, equally naturally, the reader is generally a step or two ahead of the pair, it's fun to see them catch up. All in all, I greatly enjoyed Behind Frenemy Lines and will be eager for whatever Zen Cho writes next.

It was fine, kind of generic. The FMC and MMC had a dynamic that I have seen before. I liked the setting in a law firm in London and I liked how the author explored how the FMC navigates workplace dynamics.

ARC and ALC review

Kriya is going through a messy break up and needs a fresh start.
Her boss plans to leave the law firm and asks her to follow him.
What she did not expect is to share an office with Charles, her work nemesis.

Thank you Pan Macmillan for the ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC (via Netgalley).
Opinions from this review are completely my own.

This book is a workplace romance that starts with fake dating.
I liked both main characters, especially Kriya.
She is a strong and independent woman that can take care of herself and even stands up for others.
I have to say that I did not like Charles much in the start, but he turned out to be a very cute guy.

The audiobook is narrated in dual style by Daniel York Loh and Vera Chok.
I liked that we have both perspectives and the narrators helped me connect easier with the characters and the story.
They both have great accents but were easy to understand.

The romantic plot is a slow burn and I liked that they became friends first.
What I did not expect (but it did not bother me) is that there were fade to black scenes.

I also liked that there were realistic work problems, relatable plus size experiences and Asian families expectations.

this book felt like a refreshing turn in the romance stakes. there was a great idea of who the characters were that formed easily in my mind as i was reading and i felt like they really came to life as i got to know them. like you could actually be getting to know these people. their dynamic was fun to watch play out and it made me smile more than once. and again what they were going through felt natural and real. Kriya and Charles were both strong characters and i liked how they bounced off each other if not too pleasantly at first. but even that i found myself side smiling at with an inner chuckle at where these cuties were clearly going to.
they start out coming to us with two different situations going on that led them to this office together. but both we are invested in from the start and it was good how their troubles weren't just sorted on a say so, these things take work and often more time than we would like. i liked learning from their different perspectives. and somehow for and with each other it just worked. i found Charles particularly endearing.

Kriya and Charles have been work nemeses for over a decade and now they have to share an office. What's worse than having to share an office with the person you cannot stand? When you need their help and they agree to help you without any caveats.

I enjoyed that both MCs were lawyers in their thirties. Their backstories, dialogue, struggles, and misunderstandings felt real. What I loved the most though was Charles' POV. It's clear early on that he is neurodiverse, for example, he seems to come across as robotic at times and has trouble reading people's emotions. This is reflected in the way his chapters are written, they show the scenes as Charles sees them, no excess emotions, little to no adjectives, raw dialogue. I loved it! I want to see more neurodiverse POV like his in (romance) novels.

I wasn't aware that Zen Cho wrote contemporary romance so I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across Behind Frenemy Lines. I'll admit I normally avoid workplace romance as it's often the case that the female main character is the male main character's subordinate which results in uncomfortable power dynamics, which in a way Behind Frenemy Lines explores when Kriya bosses hits on her. However, as Kriya and Charles are both senior associates who specialise in different areas of law, this wasn't a factor in this novel.

I liked that they were mature adults who acted reasonably. Yes, fake dating is an overdone trope but Zen Cho executed it in a manner that was realistic and believable. I enjoyed learning about Malaysian culture and family dynamics and I appreciated how the novel touched on unexpected topics such as professional ethics.

My one gripe is that I was quite satisfied with the ending. It seemed a tad rushed and things didn't quite feel fully resolved.

Overall, a well executed workplace romance that I would recommend to most readers of contemporary romance especially those that are looking for something slightly different from novels that usually feature mostly American/ Western protagonists.

I really enjoyed this! I’ve not read a legal romance before and I thought this had a good premise. The characters are very well fleshed out and I was especially impressed with how Charles was so endearing despite robotic tendencies!