I want to preface this by saying that I had really high hopes for this story and maybe thats why it fell ever so slightly short. I did enjoy the book and really got into it towards the latter half but found the beginning to be on the slow side and I had to force myself to power through. I'm glad I did because the ending was sweet enough. While I could recognise the message the author was trying to get across, I just couldn't get into it enough to be enraptured by it. It was a sweet love story with a theme of self acceptance, and the character who was battling with her self esteem because of past traumas and the corporate environment she had been stuck in. I had hoped that the traumas of the past that were being built up so much throughout had actually landed but for me, by that point, I was just frustrated by the MC.

All this to say the story has sooo much potential and I'm sure there will be readers who absolutely love it, as they should. But unfortunately that wasn't me.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review

Quarter-Love Crisis was great fun, and super romantic! A little slow to start but ultimately worth sticking with. Recommended :)

What a fantastic debut. I devoured this book from start to finish. Maddison and Aiden are characters to root for, with a dynamic that is equal parts entertaining and heart-warming. I loved how they swapped approaches to life, each discovering the value in the other’s way of thinking. Maddison, with her rigid five-year plan and seven notebooks to organise every aspect of her life, is forced to go with the flow, while the more free-spirited Aiden learns the benefits of a little structure. And a man who carries snacks just for her? That is swoon-worthy perfection.

The supporting cast is equally strong. Maddison’s best friends act as her sounding board, never overbearing but always ready to give her the push she needs. Her mother and brother feel wonderfully real, full of nosy affection and unshakable loyalty. I particularly enjoyed Evie, who spotted Maddison’s workplace challenges and quietly championed her, helping her stand up to the difficult Pippa. The book also handles, with subtlety, the many small yet significant hurdles that women of colour face in the workplace, from stolen ideas to deliberate attempts to hold them back.

A warm, funny and insightful story that had me smiling throughout.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This book is perfect for anyone in their twenties who aren't sure what they doing in life, worried that they're falling behind but still trying to have fun.
I loved all these characters they were beautifully flawed and you couldn't help but root for them and need to follow their journey. Also the romance was so sweet and heartwarming. I'd definitely recommend.

🪴| Emotional and swoon filled. A vulnerable rivals to lovers love story. Encompasses self discovery and facing challenges. Self vs love and balancing both. Quick, enjoyable read. ✨

I really enjoyed the theme of this novel being about not having everything together and feeling like a failure in your career and other aspects of your life. I related to the idea of being underutilised in a job and having a hard time to show your potential without being put down or given tedious tasks to occupy your time.

There are many engaging side characters here that really made the story thrive, in particular Maddison's friends and Evie, their encouragement of Maddison was really great, and they also gave her a bit of a kick when she needed it.

I didn't really see her relationship with Aiden as a rivalry, so I found it hard to entertain the rivals-to-lovers side of the writing, although I did enjoy the character progression of the two of them.

Quarter Love Crisis is a promising debut by Jasmine Burke, and I look forward to reading her next work!

Thank you to Dialogue Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

This isn't just a rom-com, it's also a letter to those in their mid-twenties, worrying about where they are in life. I really enjoyed and appreciated how all of these elements balanced together. One minute I was laughing, the next nearly in tears... and then I was swooning WHILST laughing. I loved the vulnerability of the two MCs. Although, it was a singular POV, it still felt as though we were seeing both sides.

I would really like to read this again for the first time!! It felt refreshing.

I haven't completed the book yet, but from just the first few chapters, I thought the author really nailed what it means to be in your twenties and still figuring it out. I also felt like the dialogue, pacing, characterization and overall writing was well done too. I'd definitely recommend from what I've read so far. It's the kind of book that I can see a lot of people talking about, especially online and in book clubs.

This is a fun, flirty rom-com that totally nails the chaos of figuring out your life in your twenties. Maddison is super relatable as a planner who's hit a few roadblocks, and her enemies-to-something-more dynamic with Aiden is full of hilarious banter and slow-burn tension. Watching these two opposites clash (and maybe catch feelings) while planning a major work event makes for a super entertaining read. If you love messy characters, workplace drama, and a good rivals-to-lovers vibe, this one’s definitely worth picking up.

This was such a fantastic debut. The characterisation of Maddison was SO. GOOD. I loved the growth of her over the course of the book. I loved the banter and chemistry that she had with Aiden and the way that their love story slowly unfolded throughout the book. The girl gang! They were so much fun and brought a great extra layer to this story. I was also very happy for Pippa to get put in her place a little!

An enjoyable and fun debut. I felt at times that the coincidences were a little too perfect but overall a cute romance

Oof, didn't this one hit me right in the gut! This one is for all the women nearing the end of their 20's whose dreams haven't gone according to plan and have to sit on the sidelines watching their friends succeed where they haven't! Incredibly relatable and really fun, the perfect debut! 🫶🏻

We meet Maddison Clarke, a total planner, she lives by to-do lists, takes endless notes, and even has a five-year plan. But despite all that, life isn’t quite going to plan. She’s almost thirty, still living at home, stuck in an assistant job, and definitely not where she thought she’d be.

Her boss, Pippa, is honestly the worst (I really didn’t like her!), so when Maddison suddenly gets the chance to lead the company’s biggest event, things finally start looking up.

The only catch? Aiden Edwards is back. From the moment they reunite, you can feel there’s some tension and unfinished business. As they work together, Maddison slowly opens up about the past, and it’s clear there’s more than just rivalry between them.

I really enjoyed Maddison and Aiden together, they had great chemistry, and while there were a few bumps along the way (as expected in any good rom-com), their journey was sweet and satisfying. I also loved Maddison’s relationship with her brother, the typical sibling banter to heartfelt chats when she really needed advice, it was a lovely touch.

This was such an enjoyable read from Jasmine! Light, funny, and full of heart. I’m already looking forward to whatever she writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy!

An enemies to lovers story. Maddison and Aiden knew each other from school, and it was not the best experience for her. Now they are forced to work together, these opposites make a bet to see who can win a promotion. A fun read.

Maddison Clarke’s life is all about tick lists, schedules, and plans but at almost thirty she’s still stuck at home and stuck in an assistant role. When she finally lands the chance to lead her company’s biggest event there’s just one catch she has to team up with Aiden Edwards her charming but infuriating long-time rival. Aiden’s casual arrogance drives her crazy yet when he dares her to ditch her notebooks and live spontaneously Maddison can’t resist even if chaos isn’t her style. Forced together the lines between hate and something much hotter start to blur turning Maddison’s quarter-life crisis into a quarter-love crisis she never saw coming.

This wasn't the book for me. I read it but I didn't love it.
This is a solid debut and is certainly pitched at the folk who have drunk the Cool-Aid of achievement by a certain time or perish in a land of failure to launch. Maybe it's a generational thing?

Maddie is almost 30. Living at home, working in an assistant role and not in a longterm relationship. She has a tight group of girlfriends and a brother who is a fabulous sounding board living an independent life. Maddie has the opportunity to work on a big project which brings her into contact with a blast from her past, Aiden.

The immaturity of the "rivalry" between Maddie and Aiden had me scratching my head. I didn't get it. Surely with all seven of her notebooks and a decade of time, Maddie had more to do than dwell on one guys lack of emotional intelligence and ability to communicate over time? The little bit of OM drama didn't make sense as a plot point other than to reinforce the insecurity of Maddie's character and it didn't work for me.

I enjoyed reading the challenge to swap task approaches. From Maddie's hyper scheduling Type A checklists to embracing Aiden's more laisse faire Type B flowing method.

What I cared about was seeing Maddie being assetive and taking ground for herself. The amount of self sabotage and unhelpful internal dialogue meant there was more than once I wanted to reach into the page and sit Maddie down and lay it all out over a pot of tea. She gets there but geez, its hardwork.

I admit to skim reading a good chunk. Whether the pacing was off or the lack of investment I had for the characters or a combination of both. I think there's a great writer at work here who is obviously aware of the challenges facing 30-somethings in a competetive career, life and love landscape.

With many thanks to the author, Jasmine Burke,  Netgalley and Dialogue Books/ Renegade Books for a copy of the eARC to read ahead of publication.  All opinions and grammatical errors are my own.

When I first started the book I was loving the pace of it and already knew I would love the FMC but when the MMC got introduced I said hold on this is childish. There is no way you are still holding a grudge from school when you’re about to turn 30 and I was about to be over the book. But then I had to sit back and be real with myself and say you know what Maddy, you’re just like me, because I most definitely am still holding grudge’s from back then too! And I’m so glad that I came to that realisation and carried on reading because I absolutely loved the book! I rated it 5 stars! I was smiling and giggling the whole way through reading this! I didn’t want to put it down! It had me up until all hours reading it and had me nearly missing my stop on the train journeys I took it on with me! I think this was a brilliant debut! If you love rivals to lovers you will love this book, if you love slow burn, tension building romances, you’re going to enjoy this!! I also loved the depiction of friendship in this book, as well as sibling relationships, you could feel the love! I loved the black success stories in this book too! I loved how it explored how there are many routes to success whether you are a planner or someone who is more chill and goes with the flow!! I just loved it all!

I came away from this read with really mixed feelings, the first 50-60% of the book I honestly whizzed through, I was having the time of my life and genuinely enjoying the story and the characters and what the novel had to offer.
Starting with the good points/what I enjoyed:
Maddison is an incredibly relatable character and as someone who is also in their late 20s and not where I thought I'd be, I felt a real connection to her and what she was going through. There is so much external pressure to have settled down, or achieved all these accolades or dream jobs that when you haven't done that by this socially constructed timeline it's very easy to feel like you've somehow failed life. I think the novel has a really incredible message at the importance of: not comparing yourself to where others are at, to slow down and enjoy life you have, and to remember that if you haven't achieved everything you hoped for by 30/40/etc, then that's normal, and it is never too late for you to start again.
I really liked the relationships between Maddison and her friends, that friendship group seem so sweet and so supportive and honestly sign me up i'd love to be apart of it. I loved Maddison and Evie -- their relationship was fun and cute and also so supportive, and it was so nice to see a woman of colour whose made it in the industry use her voice and privilege to support and build up another woman. Maddison and her brother were also so cute and very relatable to people with siblings - but again the support network, absolutely incredible!
I think the second half of the novel is where I lost a little bit of the spark and the love, Aiden and Maddison just didn't have the chemistry for me, I think there potentially wasn't enough small moments building up to them getting together. It just happened and I didn't feel the spark. They did have some nice tender moments, I liked them opening up to one another and slowly becoming friends, but it just wasn't enough. Their rivalry was also a little bit childish, and just didn't really stem from anything; I would've liked to have seen this developed/explored further but it just felt a little bit lacklustre.
Overall the novel had some lovely moments and some really important messages/themes and it does stand as a solid debut novel, I just would've liked to see it go a little bit further. I think the overall message the book is trying to convey is dampened a little at the end by Maddison having achieved the things she does. But I get it, it's a romance we all want a happy ending for our girl, and she's happy with the life she's got as opposed to all these big goals and plans...I think the novel still stands as an important message for those of us in our twenties-thirties etc who still feel like little baby fish in the big sea of adulthood.

(Review posting to instagram and tiktok week commencing 14th)

a cool book with a cool title. this is a true gem. and for the 2os totally felt relatable and i think this could be a real healing balm particularly for woman of that time. i took to this book so much deeper than i thought i would going in but it still managed the light and brightness i wanted from it too. the flow to this book was spot on, i love it when a book just works, you know?
this book gives us Maddison who is not where she thought she would be or should be at her age. shes still at home, her job isn't where she wanted to be, she doesn't have anything close to "the one" or future one by her side. but then a work event lands in her lap, this is the opportunity she needs and has craved for. and of course she thinks this is it, this is the start of everything coming together. sadly there is one sticking point. and that is who she has to work alongside, her rival Aiden who challenges her at every turn but maybe not in all bad ways. but it will meaning losing the leash on her tightly knit behaviours and let of of her lists and rules.
who doesn't feel like this at this age. for woman it can be a pit of doom to find yourself not where society either allows or wants you to be. you get the questions even from those closest to you. "boyfriend, dropping babies,job" argh! their are definite milestone musts at certain ages and dare you not hit them... this book hit all those notes but didn't sound judgy,pushy or preachy with it. the tone was perfect and you could relate to Maddison either being her age or not. as an oldie this book still sang to me in all the right places. and there was an note running through this book in a really positive way... that you dont have to live "a timeline" and that that very line is one you can make and be on yourself. its yours. noone else and if they want to analyse that or even pull you down for it then that is on them. all on them. so go be you!
its also a really lovely and fun book. the mix and emotional points were balanced really well and you get two characters you genuinely root for.
you can read this book with a smile on your face.

Jasmine Burke is going to be an autobuy author for me. This book was beautifully relatable (green licence girls, let's go) and I will always adore the workplace romance, rivals-to-lovers dynamic - top tier. And this one was no exception. I LOVED the slow burn, and watching these characters pull towards each other was an absolute joy. Jasmine Burke is an author to watch!