The Code for Love

by Anne Marsh

A software engineer convinced that algorithms and romance don’t mix takes a work road trip with her surfer-boy nemesis in this swoon-worthy enemies-to-lovers romance.

Her perfect plan has a gorgeous glitch…

Software engineer Pandora Fyffe is known for being prickly. The same can’t be said for world-famous surfer Ozzy Wylde, Pandora’s neighbor, a social media star beloved for his relaxed charm. The eight-pack abs and angelic face don’t hurt, either. Everyone likes Ozzy, while Pandora’s boss can barely remember her name.

But Pandora’s aiming to change all that with a new app that predicts a user’s ideal travel partner. Sure, there are bugs—the demo identified Ozzy as her perfect match! Now her boss wants them to take a romantic Mexican road trip filled with fake-dating posts to build their brand. At the end of it, one of them will win Pandora’s dream job.

Soon they’re rumbling through the beaches, deserts and fishing villages of Baja, letting their guards down, confessing fears, falling deeper. Nothing prepared her for sharing close quarters with the force of nature that is Ozzy—or for what will happen to her heart when the journey ends…

From showing up to glowing up, the characters in Afterglow Books are on the path to leading their best lives and finding sizzling romance along the way. Don’t miss any of these other fun titles…

Not So Fast by Karen Booth

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A Tough Act to Fall For by Cynthia St. Aubin

Genres: Romance, Audiobook, Road Trip, Travel, Contemporary

288 pages, Paperback

Published July 17, 2025

About the author

Anne Marsh is a sucker for a grumpy hero who falls hard, a sunshine heroine who won't back down, and small towns where everyone knows your business (but shows up with casseroles anyway).

A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with 30+ romance novels, Anne writes contemporary and paranormal stories full of banter, steam, heroines navigating real challenges (chronic illness, anxiety, all the messy parts of being human), and happily-ever-afters you can believe in.

Perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood, Talia Hibbert, and Olivia Dade.

Anne lives in rural North Carolina with rescue cats who barely tolerate her and neighbors who are real-life heroes—fixing cars, hauling mulch, pulling you out of ditches without even being asked. Her books are love letters to small-town kindness and big-hearted romance.

COMING SOON: Hot for Preacher (Harlequin Afterglow) - February 24, 2026
Grumpy preacher. Sunshine country singer living with rheumatoid arthritis. Second chances. Small-town meddling. So. Much. Heat.

Newsletter: https://anne-marsh.com/newsletter/ (join for bonus scenes, early covers, and book news)

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TikTok: Coming soon!

Reviews

[julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ˖⁺‧✮

i was debating for a long time how to write a review, mostly because it felt wrong to rate this book above 3 stars but at the same time it wasn’t bad?

so here is what i came to in regards to this book.

with romance genre peaking nowadays, it became so hard to find a book that is not a basic 200 pages of conversations, sex and one argument. almost every single book is a rewritten story with the most basic female character and boring male and their stupid conversation that most of the time just don’t make sense. and this is how i felt about this book. i really don’t want to hate on the author and the publisher or editors but this book was felt like a personal story somebody would have written on their phone.

female character was annoying me so much that i can’t put it to words. she was ‘mad’ at the guy, but why? because he doesn’t remember her? well, that moment was resolved pretty fast but that still doesn’t explain constant hatred toward anyone. it feels like the idea was to create that “dark cat” female character who doesn’t really care about the male interest and mostly interested in her personal life but instead this bitchy and teenage like girl came through. her personality wasn’t developed enough, especially in a context of her storyline. she had no foundation to why she felt like that or acted the way she did. similarly to the mmc. overall, his whole personality ended at being funny and clingy. i still don’t understand why he spent so much time trying to get her attention. for what? there was no motive for him to do so.

those moments are pretty common a romance books, especially with newer authors but i really don’t feel like saying only positive stuff and having them publish more of those books instead of complex and emotional romances. this book needs a lo of attention and thinking. the author would have to look to why her character do those actions because now every single thing felt out of place.

Thank you to Netgalley and Shameless Romantics | Harlequin for sending me an arc.

[TheConnieFox · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just not my cup of tea. The cover and the premise was cute, but lacked in several areas. It lacked structure and dragged on, even though this is a short read. The characters lacked depth to them and I found that the ending was predictable.

This is an enemies to lovers, workplace romance. It is about a software engineer named Pandora and a surfer boy named Ozzy. Pandora wants to make an app that predicts the user’s ideal travel partner. Come to find out, the demo of this app says that Ozzy is the perfect match to Pandora. This is a forced proximity and a fake dating romance as they go on a road trip together. They start to get to know each other more and sparks between these two opposites begin to happen. Overall, I give this a 2 out of 5 stars rating.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Anne Marsh and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is expected to be published on July 29, 2025.

[Kayla_Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Afterglow Books for the opportunity to read and review the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Forced proximity
Fake dating
Work place romance

Pandora, a software engineer, designs a matching app for single people that are traveling. Her system glitches and matches her up with a surfer named Ozzy. He also happens to be her neighbor and nemesis. She’s prickly and everyone loves him. Their romance just didn’t work for me. Neither did the plot itself. A lot didn’t make sense.

[ReneeReads · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is giving me the biggest ick ever. It may get better but I have zero interest in finding out. I have to DNF this at 35%

Here are my rough notes as to why I am not feeling this book at all. Of course this is just me and your results may vary.
4% they randomly kiss after meeting
5% he doesn’t even know her name?
12% he doesn’t remember her
14% no boundaries, insistent on re-introducing himself, he shows her his drivers license and the super friendly neighbor attitude is annoying
17% he tells her it’s her turn to apologize
18% he says “you don’t want to kiss and make up?”
20% FMC says how annoying he is and I completely agree
22% she internally states his banana is “supersized”
22% he says- “You look like a little brown bear, I’m going to call you Panda”
26% they share their cell phone locations with each other despite only being annoying neighbors with one another? No.
28% their pranks are childish
32% he talks his way into her apartment
33% he’s playing with her hair despite them not being in any kind of relationship
FMC states (internally) “I really need to get on that AI conversation app
34% they kiss again with no chemistry (imo)


I am just not feeling this one at all.

[vickie · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star

this book was just.. not good.

i mean there were just so many instances where i had to ask myself why i'm still reading this.
for an enemies-to-lovers story, they really weren't enemies and even the lovers aspect was flat and boring, there was barely any chemistry at all (good or bad). this book was just boring and the plot was just trying too hard and not at all.

firstly the characters make out not even 15% into the book and then just go there separate way. when they do meet back up after sometime he pretends he doesn't remember her and they are suddenly "enemies"? idk the characters were extremely unlikable. ozzy was a walking weirdo, i have no idea how we're supposed to find him charming, i mean he makes such weird comments and does the weirdest things. the pranks were so stupid and pandora having the chatgpt things was such an ick.

i don't want to spoil anything for anyone else going into this book so i'm trying to be as vague as i can be.

shoutout to Mooreghan Martin for narrating the book and being the only reason i finished it.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute! You do have to overlook a few things--that anyone would think pairing up two (supposed, anyway--they're not in this instance, but not the point) strangers as vacation buddies and then put them in a one-bed "van life" van to road trip through Mexico is a sound idea for a vacation app to do is a big one--but I liked Pandora and loved Ozzie, so I'll pretend the idea's not a lawsuit waiting to happen for the sake of story.

(Also, in what universe are a software engineer and a ex-professional surfer and wannabe wildlife photographer even qualified for--let alone interested in--the same job? The book tried its hardest to convince me that this was a real conflict, but it made ZERO sense. But I digress.)

Pandora's inner monologue was a lot of fun--somewhat reminiscent of the heroines in Charlotte Stein's recent books--and of course the ordinary girl getting the hot, semi-famous guy trope is always enjoyable. I wasn't mad to read about another heroine working in STEM fields; the scenes where she played her space rock game were cute, and we got just enough details about her job to seem real-ish without getting bogged down in unnecessary details about how software engineering works (I'm looking at you, The Bookbinder's Guide to Love and the excessive bookbinding narration).

Here's hoping Ms Marsh has more Afterburn books to come!

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Code for Love by Anne Marsh (July 29, 2025) - Thank you to HTP Hive and HTP Audio for the gifted digital and audio copies. With themes of women in STEM and a roadtrip romance, I was super excited to grab The Code for Love.

This one, unfortunately, didn’t land for me. From the very beginning, I found myself waiting for the story to “click,” but it never quite found its footing. The plot felt underdeveloped, the character arcs lacked the emotional depth I had hoped for, and overall, it left me wanting more - more tension, more chemistry, and higher stakes.

I’m someone who often finds audiobooks can elevate a reading experience, but in this case, the narration didn’t add the dimension I was looking for. The characters weren’t voiced in a distinct or emotionally engaging way, making it harder to connect with their perspectives.

While I always appreciate fresh takes in romance, The Code for Love just didn’t meet my expectations this time. That said, every reader connects with a story differently, and this one may resonate more with you than it did with me.

[Esme · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to DNF this book so many times.

The pacing of the romance was awful, I also just didn't like these characters together what so ever. Enemies to lovers?! WHERE?! They kiss 0.4 seconds after meeting and proceed to have the most obvious flirting sexual tension filled "feud". I'm going to be honest Ozzy is a walking red flag, Pandora is not any better either (maybe a light red flag, pink even). The book just made me incredibly uncomfortable! you were meant to root for them but all I wanted was for them to stay apart. I made it through one 'smut' scene and refused to read the others. The characters also read much younger than they are meant to be. It felt like they were early 20's based on how they talked and acted but they're both I believe in their early to late 30's.

It just felt like there were 3 different book concepts that got chucked into a blender and hoped it would work. If we would have only had the road trip scenario I think it would have worked better.

The audiobook was enjoyable, I just wish the characters would have been more energetic.

thank you Netgalley & Harlequin Audio for the copy!

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The FMC felt just a little too manic and all over the place for me in this STEM summer romance involving a coder looking for love with the surfer she finds herself obsessed with.

This one just wasn't for me even though it sounded good on paper. I didn't like the narrator much and couldn't find myself getting invested in either the characters or the plot.

Overall it was a miss for me by a new to me author. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Kristen Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly not even sure where to begin with this. For a book that was not even 300 pages, the author sure tried to cram in as many romance tropes as they could: second chance, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, workplace romance, reverse age gap, he falls first...just to name a few. And none of it really worked. I should have been the target audience for this book. The female main character is supposed to be in her late-30s and yet she acts infinitely more childish and immature than the 20-something male main character. There were times where it felt like not a lot of time was spent researching the subject material (coding). The plot, though linear, seemed to abruptly jump around quite a bit and I found myself having to go back multiple times to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped some pages. I wanted a cute rom-com and instead I got nothing but frustration.

Thank you to Harlequin Romance and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a fantastic plot idea, but the execution was just odd. Here's my impressions as I was skimming, before I finally gave up. It was so slow to get to the roadtrip. Pandora and Ozzy were just cardboard characters and the job scenario was odd. It was barely any STEM other than Pandora just being a workaholic who gets walked over by her colleagues.

12%: A bizarre opening chapter that made no sense. Ozzy comes out of the water and randomly kisses Pandora who was under the pier playing a video game set in space?

22%: I feel like these chapters are from mixed up drafts or something. The characters come off as stick figures. Pandora is just rude and mean disguised as a loner curmudgeon. Ozzy is just dumb as planks who is allergic to shoes (BLERGH). What is with the 'panda' nickname. Why does he even bother with her when she is outright rude.

Yet I should feel sorry for her because she’s also a doormat to her shitty colleagues. What is with the wall climbing? Does it get any better? When are we getting to the road trip?

26%: What is with Pandora’s immature pranks? Isn’t she on this huge deadline? Why is her salivating over Ozzy creepy AF?

30%: Does this get any better? I keep skimming bc characterisation is all over the place with Pandora.

40%: *after much skimming because being in Pandora's head is exhausting* FINALLY we get to the roadtrip.

60%: Wait, how is Ozzy even qualified to be in the contention for Pandora's job? Is he a coder? Why was he talking about code earlier but now he's just all 'oh well I want your job becaue they've offered it'. This book is utterly bonkers. Its taken nearly halfway to finally get to the road trip. The vibe is allover the place. Was this book even edited? Okay that's it i'm done.

Thanks to Afterglow Books/Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was provided both an ALC and an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This unfortunately didn't work for me. The narration was a bit too monotone for me and the characters were far too immature for my liking. As this is told from Pandora's perspective I found that much of it felt as if Pandora was rambling for 26 chapters. I felt like it was one big rambling inner monologue. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers, but Ozzy is never really her enemy, Pandora is just a workaholic introvert. Their "meet cute" is super awkward, all of their interactions are immature, their conversations make no sense, and they have no chemistry. Pandora is constantly objectifying Ozzy and his body or she is complaining and self loathing, it makes for a weird dynamic and the plot suffers.

Having worked in software development for much of my career, I question if the author did any research or has experience in development. I often found myself saying "that is not how that works" in many situations. I admit it is possible that my experience could differ from someone else's however many of these situations were inappropriate or just unrealistic for a professional setting. Inaccuracies like that are an immediate turn off for me in a book. I also didn't need to be told 50 times that Pandora is an engineer and that is her entire personality. Engineering is a profession and not all engineers are nocturnal introverts who ignore basic hygiene.

Overall I think this had a good premise, but this suffered from trying to throw every romance trope into one book. I wasn't a fan of the rambling style of stream of consciousness style of delivery. The character development and plot were also lacking.

[Cole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pandora is a software engineer developing a Tinder-style travel companion app, and her world collides with champion surfer Ozzy. They become neighbors, enemies, coworkers, and much more when Pandora’s app matches them up and her team seizes the publicity opportunity for them to take a trip to Mexico together.

This novel was fine, though I will say it was a bit of a disappointment. The premise seemed cute enough, but the execution didn’t really land for me. I think the author made a valiant attempt at trying to incorporate almost all the romance tropes (and subsequently calling them out), but I think that ultimately was the downfall. The initial meet-cute didn’t make sense, then they were neighbors, then travel buddies, then coworker/competitors, but also a sports romance, and also a grumpy/sunshine trope, with some sci-fi style dream sequences… and if you’re confused reading that sentence, that basically sums up how it feels to read the book. I think if the author had kept it much more simple and straightforward, it would have worked out better. Definitely a lot of steamy scenes, but in a way that felt unnecessarily gratuitous (yes, even for a romance novel) and almost a bit… fanfiction-y. For what it’s worth, Mooreghan Martin’s audiobook narration was one of the few saving graces that kept me listening when I may have otherwise DNF’d. Maybe consider this if you’re a diehard Anna Marsh fan but otherwise I wouldn’t put it at the top of my list.

Reviewed as part of #ARC from NetGalley. Many thanks to Harlequin Books for the opportunity to read and provide my honest review.

[Chrystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pandora: My superpower is invisibility.
Ozzy: You're never unvisible to me.

Pandora, our FMC, comes across as unlikable in the beginning, but as the story goes on it's because she feels invisible in her field of work. No one notices her even though she puts in so many hours and so much effort. People walk all over her. She doesn't know how to say no

Ozzy, the recently retired surfer, is full of joy and quite literally pushes happiness in Pandora's direction. He's sweet and playful.

They are complete opposites and it shows in their love/hate relationship.

My favourite parts are him calling her Panda, their playfulness on their road trip whe she finally let's loose and hiw completely engaged his is when she shows him her little space game she created. You can see how much they love each other.

I do wish that Pandora's character was given more backstop to get to know her more. We get a bunch of Ozzy's during their road trip,  but I think more of hers would have helped.

Overall, enjoyed the story. A few little blips here and there, but I read this for the fluffy romance I assumed it would be. Quite a few steamy scenes as expected. It could have added a few more sweet scenes where she gives more of her emotions/history to him.

[Síle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Anne Marsh, Mills & Boon and NetGalley for giving me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

So much for an easy, breezy start… this book dives straight into the deep end.

The Code for Love is chaotic, messy, and a bit overwhelming at times. Some parts don’t quite click, and the pacing is a little wild. But despite the confusion, it’s not the disaster some make it out to be.

There’s a lot of coding humour. Think PHP, Python, QA testing, and plenty of inside jokes only a true tech nerd would appreciate. If that’s your thing, this book might just hit the right buttons. The banter is rough, the relationship dynamics are questionable, but there’s something oddly endearing buried under the messy lines of code and dialogue.

Not great, not terrible. But if you like nerdy chaos and unconventional romance? You might just enjoy the ride.

[Bianca Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

This one didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I usually love a good grumpy/sunshine setup—Pandora, the closed-off coder, paired with Ozzy, the golden-boy surfer—but their chemistry never really came through. The FMC spends half the book irritated with him because he doesn’t remember a kiss they shared months earlier… but considering they were basically strangers (and he’s a surf celeb), that grudge just felt a little flat. The MC was all charm and persistence, but not much beyond that.
The fake-dating road trip idea had potential, but overall it felt predictable instead of swoony.

That said, I think readers who enjoy light, easy rom-coms may connect with it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin/Shameless Romantics for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[✨Poppy✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for allowing me to listen to this ALC.
I honestly went into this one blind and unfortunately this did not work for me. The pacing was all over the pace and I did not buy the romance for a second.
Narration:
Listening Speed: 2X
Narrator: Mooreghan Martin
Feedback: I believe this is my first time listening to this narrator and I enjoyed her light tone which was perfect for this audiobook.

[JESS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book by Anne Marsh. I am not sure why, but I just did not expect this to have any spice. After I heard the first spicy line a few chapters in, I thought oh wow that was fast.

Not sure why this has medium to poor reviews. I thought it was cute and fun.

Grumpy sunshine lovers and STEM nerds will enjoy this one.

[Andrea Rachelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like these two, but I never connected to them. Their first meet cute was good but everything after was just not it for me unfortunately.

[Nicole Maccaroni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you so much NetGalley and Harlequin Audio. I was lucky enough to receive an early audio copy of The Code for Love by Anne Marsh, and I really wanted to enjoy it—but unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me.

The concept had potential: Pandora, an engineer working on an app to connect solo travelers, crosses paths with Ozzy, a retired pro surfer. But right from the start, things felt disjointed. Their first interaction is a completely random makeout on the beach—with no introduction or context. Then suddenly, Ozzy is her neighbor, they’re in a prank war, and she hates him… but they also decide to hook up to “get it out of their systems”? The tonal shifts were dizzying.

Then came the road trip (because of course they match on her app—forced proximity, check!), a surprise job competition subplot, and a sick-day caretaker moment thrown in. Don’t get me wrong—I love a good caretaking scene, but there was just so much going on that it felt like too many tropes were crammed into one story without the necessary development.

To top it off, the audiobook narration didn’t help. The voice felt mismatched with the characters and tone—more corporate training video than romantic comedy—which made it harder for me to stay engaged. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me.

I appreciate the opportunity to listen and review, and I do think the premise had promise. But the story lacked cohesion, and the pacing and character development never quite landed for me.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for access to an audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

1⭐️ Typically, when a book is not my cup of tea, I can always identify something redeeming that I know might appeal to other readers. This is a rare book that I consider a true miss. I have to start with the cover art, because of course that’s what potential readers will see first. It’s a cute and eye catching cover, but did the cover artist’s instructions fail to include the fact that the FMC has curves and brown skin? I feel like someone was having an off day when they approved it.

While the concept had potential, the execution was a hodge podge of different elements that didn’t work together. Make them rival neighbors or van-trippers or job rivals (what?!), but don’t just throw everything in the blender and see what comes out. In addition to the poor plotting, the writing itself was also poor. Writing a book is a monumental task, so, brava to the author. But, in my opinion, this book was just not ready to be born yet. It is all tell and no show, and the telling is so repetitive I nearly got a headache from rolling my eyes so much. And, when I say repetitive, I don’t *just* mean that the FMC had the same thoughts in every chapter (which she did) but also literally the same phrases were used multiple times in the same paragraph. How many times can someone “jackknife upwards” while on a couch during a single conversation? Speaking of the language used, we had two opposing but not unrelated issues. First was the juvenile, bordering on crass, vocabulary. This may actually constitute a preference on which others’ mileage may vary, but for me, the thought, “he’s sporting a massive hard-on… he’s got a jumbo sized five XL dick” is not something I think an adult professional would walk around thinking. Or during their first sexual encounter telling your paramour, “your dick is one of the seven wonders of the world.” If these were 18-year-olds and the setting is a frat house, sure. But you’re selling me a woman in STEM romance, so I’m expecting language that matches that character. Instead, the FMC, in thought and dialogue and action, comes off as whiny, immature, and unnecessarily mean. I see what the author was going for (socially unmotivated, limited emotional expression, inability to understand social/nonverbal cues), but it just did not land. The second language issue was instances of more elevated vocabulary being used incorrectly. For example, “I tap a finger against my lower lip ostentatiously.” How does one ostentatiously tap their lip? In the immortal words of Fezzik, “I do not think it means what you think it means.” Overall, character development was non-existent, meaning chemistry was non-existent. They were literally just place holders for people.

In many instances, a good narration can elevate a book (e.g., literally any book narrated by Teddy Hamilton). Unfortunately, for me, the narration did not elevate this book. I cannot imagine what a hard job it must be, and all due respect to the narrator and production/editing team. That said, the narrator’s vocal quality was not a strong match for the age of the character, her narration style was marked by awkward punctuation-inconsistent pauses, and she mispronounced too many words to overlook (e.g., deluge, cache, automaton). It was just a miss in terms of audiobook execution as well.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were several elements of this book that I liked, but also quite a few that I didn't.

Ozzy was my favorite part of the book by far. His unwavering gleefulness and, as the story progresses, ability to be vulnerable, pulled me in and kept me interested in how things were going to end up between Pandora and him.

Unfortunately, Pandora didn't hold a candle to his character. I feel like I never got to learn anything about her other than she's obsessed with coding/work and being a doormat for people to walk on.

The road trip in the second half of the book was a definite improvement to the first half. I finally felt like there was movement in the story that wasn't just Pandora planning her next prank.

Overall, I felt that the book left some to be desired. The cover and the premise sounded really cute, but Pandora and Ozzy's love story just didn't do it for me.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing a free ARC of this book.

[Macey Mentink · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book and for the first half it wasn't bad. I loved the rival roommates with prank wars and how obnoxious but adorable Ozzy was, but then it felt like an entire new plot was added at 50% with the road trip and fighting for the same job. At this point I lost all respect for Ozzy when he was trying to steal Pandora's job which he didn't actually want. I know the real villain was their boss who was going back on his word of offering Pandora the job if she did this trip, but Ozzy explained be only wanted this job for a stepping stone to get more exposure for his dream job but was fine with screwing over Pandora's actual career to get there. Then Ozzy just ignored this fact and acted like he was doing nothing wrong. Their completion wasn't even fair because Ozzy was already a celebrity and had a huge social media presence.

As the book went on I couldn't handle Pandora anymore, at first she was a hermit who just liked to keep to herself and I loved that dynamic with Ozzy's outgoing and happy personality. Her inner thoughts were kind of exhausting to constantly read, she was all over the place but I was able to get past that. But once the trip started, if she wasn't rambling in her head about who knows what she was thinking about sex with Ozzy, she had no self respect, he was trying o take over her career but she would've been fine with it if she could sleep with him again. Also, once she was fired from her first job and said that she finally wanted to be seen and remembered I thought things would change, but she let the same exact thing happen to her for the rest of the book at her new job! And it seemed like throughout the whole trip she had to act like a different person for people to actually like her, instead of finally finding pe0ple who liked her for who she was. The entire time I just wanted to yell at her to stand up for herself! Finally the resolution at the very end happened way too fast, she forgave him in 0.5 seconds just because he didn't take the job and said "I love you."

I know we were supposed to love Ozzy and once again at the beginning I did, but at about 50% I got the vibe he was willing to screw over anyone to "follow his dreams" and he could get away with it because he was charming. He kept that secret about who is dad was and was still played the victim when it came out because his dad was an awful human being.

There were some holes in the story also. Did we ever get answers why Ozzy hid that he knew Pandora when they met at the apartment? I know she also hid it but he was the one who introduced himself. Why did he leave her on the beach when they first met? Why wasn't Pandora offered the job after Ozzy turned it down? Where is Pandora getting the money to work for herself to make this game at the end? Is he ever able to surf again? Does any one at her second job remember her name this time?

Overall, if the book would've stuck with the plot from the first half, I think I would've enjoyed it a lot more. The second half honestly felt like a whole different book.

[Aislin Spurgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

**spoiler alert** This review is based on an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review This review may contain spoilers.

I enjoyed this audiobook, but as someone who reads a lot of romantic comedies, it didn’t stand out as one I’d pick up again.

I really liked the neighbors to lovers portion of the book, and I also loved the road trip romance in the second half. But the two parts felt like almost different books, seeming a bit disjointed. I would have loved if we’d either stayed in the apartment setting or started with the unexpected road trip dynamic. I’m not sure the two arcs meshed well into one cohesive story–at least, not for me.

Ozzy is the definition of a golden retriever. I found him entertaining and delightful as a leading man. His nicknames for Pandora—Panda, Panda Bear, Dora—were endlessly endearing.

Pandora, however, was a bit tricky for me. I know nothing about coding, and it felt like much of her personality was centered around that. She also came across as immature, and she repeatedly mentioned her curvy body type to the point where it became distracting.

I wish the author had gone deeper into Ozzy and Pandora’s emotional connection. The second chance element felt unnecessary—their initial kiss didn’t really play a significant role beyond being a plot device to make them “enemies.” I think I would’ve enjoyed the story more if Ozzy had simply been introduced as her new neighbor. His pranks, building-scaling, and chaotic neighborly interactions would’ve been enough to create tension without the need for a past incident.

I don’t seek out romance for spice, and I found Ozzy and Pandora’s relationship pretty one-note. Some of the language in the intimate scenes didn’t work for me and bordered on cringy, though that may be a matter of personal preference.

The third-act breakup also felt abrupt. I would’ve liked more setup for Ozzy’s involvement in Pandora’s work—maybe I missed it on audio, but it didn’t feel well-seeded earlier in the story.

On a positive note, I loved the surfing subplot. Ozzy’s hesitation to get back on the board added depth, and I’ve never read a rom-com that involved surfing before—it was a unique and refreshing element.

I received the audiobook version of this ARC, and I do wonder if I’d have enjoyed it more in print. The narrator’s voice didn’t match Pandora’s age—she sounded more middle-aged than twenty-something—which made some of the younger, modern slang feel out of place. I love audiobooks, but this mismatch was hard to overlook.

All that said, while this wasn’t the right match for me, I think fans of banter, golden retriever MMCs, coding, pranks, and neighbors to lovers will enjoy this one.

[emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pandora Fyffe is underappreciated and overworked. Ozzy Wylde is unable to do the one thing he's always done: surf. When Pandora's genius idea pulls her company together under a matching app for single travelers, she accidentally matches herself to Ozzy, her annoying(ly hot) neighbor, bringing their prank wars from home into a too-small camper van to drive across Mexico. A PR stunt or a match made in heaven?
Pandora and Ozzy are not going to last. Their literal first encounter was clothed sex on the beach. They have no chemistry, it's typical nerd x jock, and they hate each other. Sure, passion is often mistaken for other feelings, but the transition from "he's stealing my job" to "I want to kiss him" was too stark. Also, what's up with the job stealing? Pandora coded this whole app. Sure, she's pretty unbearable as a person, but they can't be like "okay toss these two people on a van, one of whom can't even code, and whoever we like best personality-wise will have the job by the end." They didn't even know Ozzy?? He just has abs??? By the way, Ozzy shows that he's "smart" ONE TIME to Pandora. Privately. He is by no means qualified. He might be a stakeholder in the company, but this made no sense. His personality is extremely inconsistent; he's passionate about Pandora, but it's all tell-no-show. This whole relationship, which was never really a relationship, was driven on lust. There's no way they're making it in the long term.
Where was Pandora's character arc? The author spent the entire book talking about how undervalued she was, how she ran the whole company and they laid her off, or she coded this whole new app and they chose someone else for the job, prepping us for some grand success story at the end. What did we get? Nothing satisfactory. Pandora's gonna "try something new". Okay, and will she still be undervalued? Will she still be stuck where she's always been, except now she has some hot ex-surfer dude? Nothing felt fleshed out in the novel, which made it hard to love. I maybe only enjoyed some of the bits and pieces of Pandora and Rosie's friendship, or Ozzy's nicknames for Pandora. And the cover. I adore the cover. This book should have been a quick read, but it dragged mentally.
Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

[jensbooknookclub · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:

This one was hard for me to get into, as the FMC internal dialogue wasn’t a style I was use to. Eventually I acclimated and I really enjoyed the story as it’s full of swoony summery vibes. It was refreshing to see a female in a STEM role. I can relate to her work struggles of putting in above and beyond and not being recognized. I loved this couples second meet-cute and the entire road-trip to Mexico was so fun. How can you not swoon when the surfer teaches her to surf!

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:

Pandora is a software engineer fixing code and debugging issues. She works night and day and she may as well be invisible. So when a handsome hunky surfer swoops her off her feet and kisses her on the beach she thought this is it, my time has come. But after that kiss her boss fired her and the surfer walked away never looking back.

Pandora found a new job and the chance to finally be recognized for her work. The new company was working on launching an app to match users with their ideal travel partner. Somehow the code had matched her with Ozzy, who happened to be the surfer who kissed her & new next door neighbor!

But to keep her job she now has to go on a 10 day van trip through Mexico curated for them. Where a team will upload their time together as promo for the new app. As Ozzy is actually a famous pro surfer and has quite the following.

Pandora does not like to leave her house, she definitely doesn’t want to travel in a van and least of all she does NOT want to spend any time with her nemesis Ozzy. But Pandora has never been able to say no. So the question is will they survive a 10 days in a van together.

𝙁𝙖𝙫 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:

Panda: “My superpower is invisibility.”
Ozzy: “You’re never invisible to me.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 ���𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Enemies to Lovers
* Pro Surfer MMC
* Software Engineer & Video Gamer FMC
* Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine
* He’s Her New Neighbor
* They are Competing for Same Job
* 10 Day Mexico Roadtrip in a Camper Van
* He Calls Her Panda 🐼
* Single POV w/ Spice

🧡🌴🚐🇲🇽🌮 🧡🌴🚐🇲🇽🌮🧡

https://www.instagram.com/p/DLqV_tORL...

[Lacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

🔎 ARC Review

The Code For Love

@netgalley

Publication Date: July 29th, 2025

My Rating:
🌟 3/5

👀Read if you like
Forced Proximity
Fake Dating
Workplace Romance

Software engineer Pandora Fyffe is known for being prickly. The same can’t be said for world-famous surfer Ozzy Wylde, Pandora’s neighbor, a social media star beloved for his relaxed charm. The eight-pack abs and angelic face don’t hurt, either. Everyone likes Ozzy, while Pandora’s boss can barely remember her name.

But Pandora’s aiming to change all that with a new app that predicts a user’s ideal travel partner. Sure, there are bugs—the demo identified Ozzy as her perfect match! Now her boss wants them to take a romantic Mexican road trip filled with fake-dating posts to build their brand. At the end of it, one of them will win Pandora’s dream job.

Soon they’re rumbling through the beaches, deserts and fishing villages of Baja, letting their guards down, confessing fears, falling deeper. Nothing prepared her for sharing close quarters with the force of nature that is Ozzy—or for what will happen to her heart when the journey ends…

🔎 My review
This one, sadly, just missed the mark for me. Even though it’s a short read, the pacing felt slow and a bit draggy. I struggled to connect with the characters—there just wasn’t enough depth for me to really root for anyone. And Pandora? I had a hard time with her. Her anger felt outsized for the situation, and the whole “you don’t remember me!” conflict never fully convinced me. A few plot threads also felt a little forced, which pulled me out of the story.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC!

#BookReview #ARCReview #NetGalleyReader #Bookstagram #BookstagramReads #BookishCommunity #ReadersOfInstagram #HonestReview #BookThoughts #BookLovers #BookishLife #AvonBooks #RomanceReads #BookBlogger #BookInfluencer #NetGalley #TheCodeForLove

[Kasey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Code for Love is a good story for those days when your brain just wants to be entertained. If you read it surface level, and only want surface level engagement, it fits the bill for a cute romance story of frenemies-to-lovers (there's no convincing enmity).
The real rivalry comes along later when the two start competing for a job.
The story has its cute moments, its funny moments, and it has some good banter... but there's something a little off. I can't tell if Pandora is meant to be written as an autistic/adhd/neurodivergent main character- there are times it seems to hint that way, but because it's only small moments of commentary if comes across a little disingenuous. To put it this way, it's like if someone were trying to describe my own internal experience but forgot part of the time to frame things from that lens, and other times it's like an expectation of an experience, not a genuine feeling of the experience.
(A note to authors- commit and own the character's traits).

Overall, a solid 3 star book, and I"ll even give it an extra .25 for being sports-adjacent in a way that added to the story. The coding lingo, however, was just enough to keep my data analyst heart happy, and probably why I stuck with the book when it was a little frustrating elsewhere in the writing.
As a light-hearted no-brain-needed romance I enjoyed it.
But the times my brain tried to delve in and really think about the book, there are just some things that are off that pulled me away and made it easy to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own, and they are just that- opinions.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet, feel-good romance about a girl in STEM and a retired surfer. The idea of a science-minded person and a sports-minded person falling in love was really interesting. I felt like the book missed a chance to show how their different ways of thinking could cause some fun problems, which is why I gave it a lower rating.

Plot Summary
A coder, Pandora and a surfer, Ozzy are matched up as travel partners. They get to take a free trip together to promote a new app. The story follows their journey as they travel and fall for each other.

General Thoughts

Character Development: The characters themselves are likable. It's easy to see Pandora's inner thoughts and Ozzy's charm, and the way they're built makes it simple to follow their story. However, the way some of the character-building paragraphs are written felt a bit cringey, especially when they were trying to show Pandora's chaotic thoughts. While the author might have wanted to show her as messy and antisocial, it didn't always make her likable.

Pacing: The book moves at a medium pace, but because it's short, you can easily finish it in one sitting.

Tropes: This book includes the grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity, and a bit of enemies-to-lovers. The book's description also mentioned fake dating, but that wasn't significant in the story.

Setting: The scenes in the apartment between Pandora and Ozzy were interesting. The majority of the story takes place during their van-life trip, which is where most of the plot moves forward.

Who Is This Book For?
This book is for readers who enjoy travel romances and stories where a STEM character falls for an athlete.

[Kymberly Lamb · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️ ?🌶️ 4🎧 I love books about women in STEM, opposites attract, forced proximity books, so this book was (in theory) a recipe for time well spent. This book missed the mark in so many ways.

• 30% in and we finally start the main plot of this book: FMC creating a dating app to match you with the perfect travel companion. 1st 30% was why she doesn’t like Ozzy and all the issues Women in STEM deal with.
• I don’t feel like Ozzy and Pandora have any real chemistry. Where is the longing and pinning that usually comes in an enemies-to-lovers romance story. She just straight up hates him for their not so meet cute 6 months prior and this is a single POV story so we have no clue how Ozzy is feeling, but he seems to have his head in golden clouds he lives among.
• “One second I’m plotting his demise, the next I have my tongue in his mouth” the whiplash is so real in this book
• “He has a jumbo 5XL dick” uhhhh…..no he doesn’t, lol. And then where being whipped back into “I’m not having sex with you”/”call me when you change your mind” zone

I started this book at 1.5x speed. I went to 2x at about 20%, 2.5x at 35%, and DNF at 40%. I am sure this book will bring someone joy, but I have too many books on my TBR for books I am speeding through just to get them over with.

Things I loved about this book:
• Ozzy calls Pandora ‘Panda’
• Pandora’s deadpan humor and the narrator nailing her one liners and inner monologue.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.