One of my favorite genres is contemporary romance. I love the genre and all of the tropes that the genre brings to life. Enemies to lovers and falling in love with your brothers best friend are two of my favorite tropes. So you combine the two, books and movies, and it seems like the best mix.
Not to mention being set in London. That is enough for this reader. Except it’s not, because for me, I normally give a book four chapters and if I am not into it, I give up. I put it in my DNF pile and move on.
However, The Love Interest, made me rethink that practice. Trapped on a plane, I journeyed past chapter four and found myself all in.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
No man can be as good as the one in your imagination… Librarian Liv Thomas has always dreamed of writing a romance novel. But she’s stuck when it comes to creating a romantic hero – sadly – lacking anyone in real life to base him on.
When her brother suggests his best friend stay in their shared flat for a few weeks, she can’t believe her bad luck. Aiden Rivers is irritating and pushes all her buttons. Worst of all, he’s gorgeous, has a sexy accent and reminds her of her all-time favourite character Mr Darcy.
Liv finds herself unexpectedly inspired and the leading man in her novel begins to bear an uncanny resemblance to Aiden. He can never find out she’d never live it down. Because Aiden can only ever be her love interest in the pages of her book – and definitely not in real life… right?!
A sexy enemies-to-lovers rom com, perfect for those who spend far too much time thinking about Mr Darcy coming out of the lake!
ALL THE THOUGHTS
I have never read any of Victoria Walters book, but I loved the cover and I love the genre, so I requested the book and I am glad I did.
Liv wants to write a book – a romance – but he life is seriously lacking in the romance department. She lives with her brother, her head is buried in her job, and trying to figure out how to write her book. She loves her life in London, she loves living with her brother, and she really is starting to like herself. She sees hope in herself.
She just has one issue – she’s obsessed with Mr. Darcy. That’s the man that she wants in her life. She wants her own Mr. Darcy. She wants the romantic fairytale from books, and that keeps her content.
That is until she comes face to face, at work, with her arch nemesis. And who is that? Well that’s her brothers best friend, Aiden. Aiden who seems annoying AF, but also sexy AF.
The two trade A LOT of barbs back and forth with each other. So many that sometimes it’s like you want to jump in the book and tell them to grow up and to just stop. Really not sure I would be able to handle it in real life, but in a book, it adds a lot of tension.
What I will give Walters all of the credit in is that she manages to write some amazing barbs. The way that Liv and Aiden banter back and forth, the way that they trade the greatest insults, but flirting at the same time – I loved it. You can just feel the angst between the two. The tension. But you can also see that they are so interested in each other long before they notice that little fact about themselves.
One thing – no matter the book – that I always love is when you know that people are in love, you know that they want to be together, but they are so blind to the fact that they love each other. I have a tendency to scream at the book, throw it, and wonder how the characters can be so oblivious. That to me is a good thing, because when these things happen you realize that you are deeply invested in all of the characters.
And I get it, because before I knew it, I was invested in Liv and Aiden. I hated that I wasn’t emotionally invested as much in Dan and Theo and it made me think about how I didn’t really love the semi-healthy relationship. I knew that someone was going to come for me because of that.
But here’s the thing – it’s a book. It’s an escape. Would I date a guy like Aiden? Probably not. All of the games in real life – not for me. But reading a book where I feel like I have escaped from my life and I get to drool over the man that seems like he’s hot AF, yes.
My only issue with this book – besides the first four chapters – was Liv’s obsession with Mr. Darcy. It got to be annoying (to a point) and made me think about how we become obsessed with characters. That’s completely fine. But taking it to the next level where you’re putting the pressure on your significant other to be that character feels like a lot.
While I loved the twists and turns of Olivia and Aiden’s relationship, I wanted someone to blame for their issues. Yet you couldn’t put them all on one of them, because they were both at fault.
The Love Interest is a book that will allow you to escape from the world for a bit and quite honestly want to go to the library (IYKYK). An over the top enemies-to-lovers romance that will captivate you and want you to find a man who can trade barbs with the same enthusiasm that Aiden and Liv do. Or should I say, Olivia? 🤪
