From New York Times and USAToday bestselling author, Nicole Williams:Ms. Romance, Hannah Arden, writes one of the top read relationship advice columns in the nation. Mr. Reality, Brooks North, writes the top read relationship advice column. Ms. Romance believes in true love and soul mates. Mr. Reality believes love is a term humanity has assigned to the primal instinct to procreate. She believes … procreate. She believes in fate—he in chance. She knows there’s one right person for everyone—he knows there are multiple ones. The two writers couldn’t be more polarized on relationships. They’re professional rivals, and philosophical antagonists.
For eight years, their battles have been fought with words and ink. That changes when they apply for the same position at the World Times and find themselves face-to-face for the first time. Brooks isn’t the sour-faced, antiquity of a man Hannah pictured. And Hannah isn’t exactly the middle-aged shrew with cat hair on her housedress that Brooks imagined either.
In lieu of competing for the promotion traditional ways, the two writers are presented with playing the leading roles in a social experiment unlike any before. Can a person be tricked into falling in love? Can a relationship be crafted under the right string of circumstances? Hannah knows the answer. So does Brooks.
Agreeing to the terms, the two set out on a three-month dating experiment, live-streamed for the world to watch. All Hannah has to do to win is not fall in love with the narcissistic brute. All Brooks has to do is get the starry-eyed dreamer to fall in love with him. Both are so confident in their philosophies, they expect the challenge to be easy.
With the world watching, Brooks and Hannah will be forced to confront their beliefs and conclude, once and for all, who’s right. The answer is one neither of them saw coming.
more
My thoughts on Dating the Enemy are a dichotomy.
Nicole Williams writes a good romance. I really enjoyed the banter between Brooks and Hannah. She is a bit sassy, knows what she wants and goes for it. Brooks started off as a bit of a d-bag, but he really wasn’t and did show it. The grand gesture at the end was good, as was the article that instigated it.
However, I am irrationally angry at the whole “social experiment “ thing and the stupid boss, Mr Conrad. He is an idiotic misogynist who has no regard for real people. Hannah should have called HR or quit on him immediately and then write an expose. GAAAHHH WHY WOULD SHE WANT TO WORK FOR THIS A$$HOLE!!???!?!? I understand we needed the plot device for the animosity between Brooks and Hannah, but this was so crazy to me! These are peoples lives here. And they were forced to compete in this stupid “experiment” to win a promotion????
I almost put this down because their boss was such a sexist jackass. But I kept going and Brooks and Hannah won me over. The article at the end tugged at my heartstrings and made it worth the journey.
Hannah Arden is the personification of the romance. Her conservative clothes, pearl necklace, flat shoes, girl’s night with endless hours watching Pride and Prejudice and her search for the Prince Charming all contribute to her extremely romantic, beautiful and loving world. She believes in soul mate, love, and lifelong relationships. No wonder she writes a column on relationships under the pseudonym of Ms. Romance.
Brooks North is extremely practical, realistic and one might say cynical. Handsome, rich, successful, he believes that love is a fabricated feeling, the result of a conditioning between two people with mutual interests and who decide to spend time together. The whole concept of romance for him is a scam. His designer suits arouse more interest in him than a relationship. Brooks is a successful writer, and his column from a clinical standpoint on relationships is a great success. Brooks North is Mr. Reality.
Hannah has a lot on her mind right now. The guy she met and spent the night has not called yet, and it’s been almost a month. Her friend Quinn can not see that the coffee guy is interested in her. And most of all: Hannah wants a promotion. There is a job available as head of a department, and she wants that job. What she could not imagine was that when she was summoned to a meeting by her boss, she discovered that there was another candidate interested in the job. And to make matters worse, he’s the guy she spent one night with and he did not call next day or ever. And to get worse, he is Mr. Reality, her business rival.
And then, her boss has a brilliant idea: to promote a reality show, where Ms. Romance and Mr. Reality will test their convictions, and in that way they will be able to find out who is right. Brooks must make Hannah fall in love with him, showing that love can be fabricated. Hannah can not let that happen. Whoever wins gets the job and proves the theory. And so the dating season is open.
The book is completely hilarious. Hannah and Brooks tease and provoke each other the whole book. The two have full conviction that their views are right, and do not accept the explanation of the other. Forced to embark on a fake relationship with Brooks, Hannah will find that the man behind expensive suits is not as bad as she thought.
Brooks will be a tough competitor. He knows what women like and want, and will give Hannah a run for the job. In some moments he is cute, in others you want to strangle him. The scene of the flowers was very funny. Just like the picnic. Who shows up at a park, on a sunny day, for a picnic wearing suit? Brooks apparently.
Quinn and Justin were funny too. Hannah’s friend is completely clueless when it comes to flirting. Conrad was detestable. His brilliant idea to increase the audience did not take into account at any moment how much he was exposing his journalists. At times he subjected Hannah to humiliation, all for the sake of the audience. I did not like it, although I understood that the whole context of the book is based on this reality.
Hannah has a reason to be the way she is, just like Brooks. Past experiences shaped these two, and ended up defining their lives. The characters have a baggage, there is an explanation and logic for them to be that way.
Brooks is irresistible. I in Hannah’s place would be easy prey. It was impossible not to fall in love with him page after page. I missed Brooks’ point of view in some scenes. The questions and answers made before each episode did not show his side. I was curious. I would like to know his answers, especially to the questions Hannah answered without thinking.
It’s a great novel, lightweight, cliché, but with character who hold the narrative, who are funny and with a good guy that will make you sigh. In this fight of Romance X Reality, the reader wins.
When I agreed to read this book, my mind took many different routes the scenerio could take. What it didn’t do, was prepare me for the one laid out by Nicole Williams. This storyline didn’t make me cry over exert my emotions, but what it did do, was give me pause. You see, what should’ve been a clear cut shoe in to Arden wasn’t. She was Ms. Romance at the “World Times”. The journalist, on payroll, who wrote the romance column for the paper and who was to get the Editor in Chief position. She believed in love with a capital L. Ahh, here comes the twist, when she went into her boss’s office on the day she thought was hers, she found Brooks there as well. Brooks was a Freelance journalist who went by the name Mr. Reality. He also thought love was a myth, lie, delusion that people lived under.
In today’s society, this storyline blended and was completely relatable. Because now we’re told these two are both up for the position and are being setup to date for three months to see who is right.
It was a fun adventure that did took what could be a reality and gave it so much personality. The characters were so relatable and developed, it was almost like being in the middle of your own friends talking. What a wonderful surprise!!
Dating the Enemy is a fun enemies to lovers story that I could hardly put down. It was a relatable story full of witty banter, romance and some serious chemistry.
This was my first time reading a book by this author but it will not be my last.
I fell in love with these characters and felt so many emotions throughout the story. Full of drama and excitement this is a must read story for sure! – By Alisa
I am going to start off saying, I devoured this book! It was entertaining, sweet, romantic, filled with chuckles. I fell in love with these characters, even when they were being douchecanoes and I wanted to slap them.
What can I say about this book? It’s the perfect romance book for me. Great characters, great plot, great delivery, great writing. And yes, a happily ever after that will make your heart melt into a puddle of goo!
The back and forth with these characters was everything in this book. The internal struggle to stay enemies made this book everything that it was. I can’t say enough good things about this book.
If you are looking for a fast paced, entertaining romance, don’t hesitate to pick up this book. I am 99.9% sure you won’t be disappointed. You can thank me later!
Enemies to lovers is my favorite. The story of Brooks and Hannah was able to bring me out of my book hangover and gave me all the feels. These two were on opposite sides of the spectrum on their feelings about love, but it came together perfectly. I loved the amount of Pride & Prejudice that was discussed in this book as well, it was pretty perfect.
I’m in absolute awe of this book and everything that came with it. Nicole Williams did an incredible job on this beauty and just oh my god.
When I seen Dating The Enemy I knew I had to get in on that book and boy am I glad I did.
Brooks is an asshole, a confidant, arrogant asshole that has had his fair share of women. He’s gorgeous and knows it. He’s Mr Reality, he doesn’t believe in love or soul mates and is determined to prove it
Hannah, she’s the kind of girl who loves happily ever afters, fairytales and everything that comes with them. She’s a sucker for a romance. She’s Ms Romance and she’s set to show the world love truly does exists.
Bring them both together and we’re left with a couple both trying to prove they’re right, what could possibly go wrong, right?
This book was everything I didn’t even know I needed. This storyline was consuming and even though I knew at some point everything was going to go to shit I still enjoyed it so damn much.
I’ve been a fan of Nicole Williams for a while now, she’s the kind of author who’s book you don’t want to miss out on. They’re angsty, fun and incredibly captivating. They leave you wanting more and wishing you had more.
Dating The Enemy was incredible. It’s a second chance romance, kinda and it’s damn well amazing, if you’re wondering if you should read this then don’t wonder any more just go ahead and READ IT!