Happy Release Week to the incredibly talented Ali Hazelwood. Ali’s newest release features one of my favorite tropes….. ENEMIES TO LOVERS.Elsie Hanaway finally has the chance to ditch her underpaid, overworked adjunct teaching position for the opportunity of a lifetime. There’s only one snag. He’s broody and gorgeous. He has those judging eyes. And he knows her secret. She’s been paying the bills by gigs as a fake girlfriend for hire for those awkward social and family situations. And one of her clients is the younger brother of Mr. Broody and Gorgeous.Normally, it wouldn’t faze her. But of course he’s on the hiring committee and he’s basically the one sponsoring the research project she’s gunning for. This is my favorite book from Ali so far! Here are a couple of reasons why:The feminist examination of academia politics. This is always a plot point and element I adore in Ali’s books, but this story takes a deeper dive and exposes the ugly underbelly of advisorship and the way steminists are encouraged to settle instead of reaching.The dynamic between Jack and Elsie is ELECTRIC. The banter is on fire and Elsie isn’t afraid to stand up to him when he makes assumptions.Jack steps up to the plate and stands up for her in ways she’s not used to and never expected. He clearly values her insight and research and tells her so on several occasions. He forces her to confront the fact she never shows anyone her true self, that she holds back because she’s afraid of rejection. The best thing about this story is the way Jack and Elsie force each other out of habitually safe comfort zones. They show each other how to be vulnerable and give each other a soft place to fall when the world is throwing giant dodgeballs at you that are impossible to avoid.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES “In my weird fantasies, Elsie . . .” He shifts me till our curves and angles match up. Perfectly. “In my fantasies, you allow me to keep an eye on you.” I feel his lips at my temple. “And when I really let go, I imagine that you let me take care of you, too.” My hands are on him, and his hands are on me, and I’m thinking of two-, five-, ten-year-old Jack, alone in the world, calling someone Mom, being told not to. The only fair-haired Smith. I’m thinking of a young boy determined to shape his surroundings. He chose his own world in the end, didn’t he? Greg. Millicent. His friends. He carved a place for himself. And I’m certain he’s thinking of me. All the Elsies I’ve created to fit all the worlds I’ve inhabited, all the people in them. He’s stripping them off me one by one, like he has since the day we met. “I want you, Elsie. All the time. I think of you. All. The. Fucking. Time. I’m distracted. I’m shit at work. And my first instinct, the very first time I saw you, was to run away. Because I knew that if we’d start doing this, we would never stop. And that’s exactly how it is. There is no universe in which I’m going to let you go. I want to be with you, on you, every second of every day. I think—I dream of crazy things. I want you to marry me tomorrow so you can go on my health insurance. I want to lock you in my room for a couple of weeks. I want to buy groceries based on what you like. I want to play it cool, like I’m attracted to you and not obsessed out of my mind, but that’s not where I’m at. Not at all. And I need you to keep us in check. I need you to pace us, because wherever it is that we’re going . . . I’m here. I’m already right here.”