“No one writes realistic romance, laugh out loud dialogue and heart warming moments better than Sterling. This book is a MUST read!” – Goodreads Review
New York Times best selling author J. Sterling brings you a brand new standalone romance that will excite and delight you. Falling for your rival has never been more fun!They say you always want what you can’t have. And what I want is Julia La … always want what you can’t have. And what I want is Julia La Bella. I’m supposed to hate her with every fiber of my being, but I’ll let you in on a little secret…. I don’t. Not even close. The woman is stunning. She’s also a colossal pain in my- you know what- but even that turns me on.
Julia’s my number one competitor in the wine industry and she also happens to live next door. Not a good combination for a guy who’s been told to “stay away from her” his whole life. Our parents can’t stand each other; a bitter, outdated rivalry with no end in sight. Which doesn’t fare well for my heart. Or my loins. Yeah, I went there.
I want her. I’ve always wanted her. So how am I going to convince her to see me as the super hot, smart, irresistible guy next door, instead of the one person on earth she’s supposed to despise? I’m not entirely sure, but we’re about to find out.
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I loved this cute book!
An amazing story about passion, misunderstandings, strong bonds, rivalries and forgiveness. I fell in love with both characters from the very beginning. The chemistry between them is undeniable but acting on that could cost them both everything they have worked so hard far. Are they willing to take that risk?
The authors talent and phenomenal story telling made this story absolutely beautiful!!!!
A sassy, fun, and endearing journey to go on with Julia and James. When families have a rivalry but their children have intense chemistry, what could happen? This was a perfect delight .
Bitter Rivals is enemies to lovers story. A bitter rivalry and a forbidden romance mostly because of the family feud that lingers on for at least a generation too many.
It is a low angst, cute and entertaining audiobook with enjoyable narration.
-4 Stars!-
This was such an intense enemies to lovers. This booked pulls you I. Right from the beginning and keeps your interest throughout the entire story. James and Julia have incredible chemistry and their family rivalry is a roller coaster of drama.
I went into this book blind, just jumped on it straight away as it was from Jen Sterling. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I loved this modern Romeo & Juliet / Hatfields & McCoys forbidden romance.
James and Julia are from rival, neighbouring wineries. They have been raised to hate each other, to continue the feud between both families. Only problem is there is a connection between them that everyone can see, despite their protests to the contrary.
I loved watching these two changes from enemies to friends. Even though in terms of the timeline its quiet quick from where the story starts, if you look at the back history its been a long time coming and once they give in to their attraction once, there is no going back and denying their attraction and chemistry.
Oh I loved James, he was totally swoon-worthy and there is nothing this boy won’t do for Julia, even get their families to stop the feud. Seriously hot! how can you continue to deny a man that loves you that much?!?!?
Y’all, enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and trust me, J Sterling did not disappoint. You see, James doesn’t hate Julia, but she sure does hate him and probably with a capital ‘H’ too. But what’s even better is that she doesn’t really know why she hates him, because as the story was passed down, it was told incorrectly.
The Russo’s and La Bella’s own neighboring vineyards, they were first purchased by James and Julia’s great grandparents and somewhere along the way a feud, much like the Capulet and Montague’s was started. And as we all know the story of Romeo and Juliet, there’s love and death too.
This book y’all, it’s so good. Jenn, (while she’s living her happily ever after with RJ, if you’ve read her Game series, you’ll know what I’m talking about) is amazing at making that HEA happen with a ginormous bow at the end and I crave that type of ending
I received an ARC in return for an honest review. I don’t know if there is something wrong with me but I really like not knowing the Alphas POV first hand. I like the unknown. I need the suspense of thinking he might not be interested but later him saying he had those feelings all along. I need the chase. I couldn’t get into it.
Bitter Rival by J. Sterling is an enemies to lovers romance that was fun and charming. Julia and James have grown up as adversaries due to the rivalry between their families. But what neither can deny is their mutual attraction. But with their families at odds, they can never be, right?
Then James decides enough is enough. But can Julia trust him when he should be the last person to trust? I loved the chemistry between these two. Then you have the families tearing them apart. Bitter Rival was a fun and modern twist to the Romeo and Juliet story.
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!
Short but great read of enemies to lovers story. But in this case the “enemy” James has always been in love with Julia since they were kids. They were “enemies” because of a very old family feud. James didn’t care about the feud but Julia did. She was a stickler for rules even though she also had a crush on James she was not going to break that rule. But James wasn’t having it and tried several times to get thru to her and he finally did. It wasn’t so easy and they had to convince their family and put an end to the feud. James and Julia were a dynamic duo and complimented each other well.
Second chance romance I like, enemies to lovers I am addicted, this book. James and Julia family rival story was very entertaining, James is an amazing character, Julia, let’s just say I sometimes wanted to slap her for not seeing it. The chemistry is off the charts, I love Romeo and Juliet kind of stories so this one was perfect for me.
I follow J. Sterling on IG a long time but is my first time reading her book.
First, let’s say James is a complete sweetheart, I’m so in love with him; he is every women’s dreams, he is handsome, hot and a gentleman!
Julia is a spitfire, she is sassy, strong & independent woman, head of her family business, her life is her wine, she doesn’t care for matters of the heart, but her heart speeds every time James looks at her, her skin gets damp every time they talk, and she still in denial.
La Bella & Russo have this hate relationship from their grandparents, and La Bella family doesn’t know the real story behind the family secrets that made them hate some much the Russo family.
I love how James can be vulnerable and show his feeling, like a real man.
Thank you for these fantastic enemies to lovers story.
This book deserves all the stars!!!
Rivals, enemies, decades-old feud, neighbor hate…wow, James and Julia don’t have anything going their way except their steamy chemistry and lifelong connection to each other. Rivals in the wine industry keeps these two in each other’s orbit (by choice mostly) and competing to be the best. When James makes a heroic effort to save Julia’s vines, she sees a different side of him and then she sees all of him! He’s so sweet to Julia and swoon worthy to the max. Major heart flutters along with the sizzle. I loved that James put his feelings out there while Julia chose to play it cool. They have a lot to overcome with their families feuding and hatred over what? A bet that nobody remembers or really knows the details of, certainly not the would-be lovers. Julia’s father is the worse. Ugh, he needs to get over it and let his daughter be happy. This is an excellent enemies to lovers romance with two wonderful main characters and great secondary characters. Loved the friendship and snark and sass between James and Dane and Julia and Jeannie. The small town locale is also a character and adds to the charm of the story. Well written with loads of conflict, a sweet Romeo & Juliet romance, great friendship, and some humor to round out the story. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC.
4.5 stars
Bitter Rival was an enjoyable story with characters that own a vineyard. Naturally this sort of book is right up my alley, I mean, wine and a book, what could be more perfect??
I loved the characters, the sizzling tension between them and the banter was great as well.
What happens when a long standing feud threatens to keep an impending couple apart??!! You will just have to read it for yourself to find out!
I really liked both James and Julia’s best friends, they were a hoot.
Definitely an enjoyable fun read!
I absolutely FLOVED this story!!!! I’m a true fan of enemies to lovers storylines!!!! J Sterling really hit the mark on this one!!!! I’m new to her, but I will most definitely read more of her!!!!!
Enemies to lovers… swoon
I can’t believe this is J. Sterlings FIRST enemies-to-lovers story! She jumped right into this genre flawlessly! Bitter Rival is a sweet & funny story with just enough angst and conflict to keep you hooked until the very last page.
It’s a modern day Romeo and Juliet, except that this Romeo and Juliet, doesn’t die at the end!
James Russo and Julia La Bella were born into a rivalry that spans decades. The feuding between their families has gone on for generations with no signs of slowing, even though at this point most of them don’t even know WHY they are supposed to hate each other so much in the first place. But they do know it has something to do with those cherished Southside grapes. These sworn enemies live and have their respective vineyards right next door to each other.
Since James and Julia were children it was ingrained into them that they were to hate each other and to stay away. As they got older James realized that the feelings he had toward Julia were more than just an attraction but because of misunderstandings and the feud, Julie never gave him a chance.
Now, Julia and James are all grown up and James is DONE hiding his feelings. He wants Julia and he’s not going to stop until he gets her! But of course, Julia is suspicious of James motives right from the get-go and it’s not going to be easy to get past the walls she has in place when it comes to James, but her attraction to him seems to be stronger than the hate.
The attraction continues to build until neither can deny it anymore, but what happens if they give in? Julia’s father has already sworn her away, if she goes near him she risks not only losing her family but her legacy (La Bella Wines) as well.
“How was I ever going to get inside her heart if she felt like she’d lose everything because of it?” -James
Will these two let years of bad blood end their relationship before it even gets started? Or is love strong enough to end this decade long feud once and for all?
Check out Bitter Rival’s to find out!
This was a quick, feel-good, love story filled with hilarious banter and minimal angst. I loved that all the townspeople were making bets on the two of them getting together (gotta love small town livin’) it’s something I could see happening in my own town! James was such a swoon-worthy character, I do believe he’s taken over the top spot on my book boyfriends list! Julia, I wanted to shake her soo many times but then again, how can you blame her for being suspicious when she’s been told her whole life that he’s a bad guy?
So now that that’s over, when do we get Jeannie and Dane’s story?! I can’t wait to hear more about them, I have a feeling it’s going to be hilarious because almost every interaction between Dane and James had me laughing out loud!
J. Sterling did an amazing job with this sweet enemies-to-lovers read and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
**I voluntarily reviewed an advance complimentary copy of this book.
This is an excellent push-pull book between 2 people whose families hate each other. Jenn refers to them as a modern day Romeo and Juliet. One could argue their families were like the Hatfields and McCoys too. James and Julia were entertaining as leads in the book. I was more pro-James than pro-Julia at times. Good storyline. Dual point of view. No cliffhanger.
This was a very quick read (less than a few hours), but it was just that fun and light. A refreshing take on Romeo and Juliet (which the characters reference a few times), it is the story of James and Julia, son and daughter of feuding families who have adjacent wineries. Everybody knows that James and Julia are meant for each other, but the family feud (and their own stubbornness) keeps them apart. I liked the characters, I liked the backstory, and I liked how they unraveled the feud and figured out how to solve the conflict. If I had anything negative to say, it would be that I wished the author had done a little more with the wine production and the concept of adding flavors to wine – make that more of a conflict between the two before reconciliation. But that’s being nitpicky, because I really enjoyed this book a lot, and will certainly look for others by this author. This review was written based on a complimentary pre-release copy.
Bitter Rivals is fabulous. I love this Romeo and Juliet style romance when it comes to James and Julia. You feel the attraction they both try to fight through this one. Once they give in it is sweet and red hot. I love how James wastes no time and sets the family straight. The family feud is one of for the ages and once you get the full story you wonder why things were not hashed out sooner. You feel the love between James and Julia is so strong. I loved this one so much.