Opposites Attract

First Comes Love #1

by Camilla Isley

First law of magnetism: opposite poles attract.

Single mom Vivian has been burned by love once before, and her job as a divorce lawyer has presented enough evidence to convince her there are no good men left in New York City.

The worst offender is her new neighbor: Dr. Lucas Keller, a couple’s therapist whose piercing blue eyes and flawless dark hair are just as annoying as his bad temper. And when Lucas starts poaching Vivian’s clients by saving their marriages, she makes it her mission to force him out of the building to save her practice.

But it’s Lucas who gives her the perfect opportunity when he proposes an unexpected bet. With their offices at stake, Vivian and Lucas play the field of love in a fierce battle of wits that quickly turns hot and personal, especially when Vivian’s daughter gets involved. Now, taking down Lucas has become more than business for Vivian. It’s become a pleasure—and soon, Vivian and Lucas will realize how pointless it is to fight the laws of attraction.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Enemies To Lovers, Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Ebooks

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2021

About the author

Camilla is an engineer who left science behind to enter the whimsical realm of romantic fiction.

She writes contemporary rom-coms. Her characters have big hearts, might be a little stubborn at times, and love to banter with each other. Every story she pens has a guaranteed HEA that will make your heart beat faster. Unless you're a vampire, of course.

Camilla is a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She's a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn't want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Camilla Isley- she always puts a smile on my face with her easy writing style and fabulously romantic stories.
At the heart of this newest story there are two universally acknowledged truths...Wait a second, three.

Truth No 1
'A single man in a posession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife'- well, Luke Keller, Dr Keller is a single man and a family therapist who is in want of a good work office. His best friend's fiancee has even found him one, a lovely corner office that fits the bill perfectly, when...a certain divorce lawyer snatches it right from Luke's nose. Luke settles for the second best office on the floor which happens to be opposite Vivian's practice.

Truth No 2 'A good man is hard to find'
Whatever opinion you may hold of psychologists in general, and therapists, in particular, it's impossible not to fall in love with Luke. He is kind, patient, funny, and modest. And he has chosen mending broken relationships for his living. Luke isn't without his faults, which you will have to discover yourself (spoliler: he is a morning person!). Neither is Vivian or even her daughter Tegan. Camilla Isley created well-rounded, sincere and caring characters that you are definitely going to root for. We get alternating perspectives of both protagonists, which is always fun in a romcom. The secondary characters are equally amusing.

Truth No 3 'A single mum who is devoted to her child's well-being and happiness, may find it more difficult than average to date and find a soulmate', especially if the above-said mother has trust issues. To be honest, it took me some time to warm up to Vivian with her armour of legal effciency and courtroom confidence. This is why I enjoyed this book so much. It is deeply romantic in its belief in being open-minded, looking beyond the first impressions and taking a chance on an unlikely realtionship which may turn out to be exactly what you need.

I could go on and on... Pick up the book and you will acknowledge Truth No 4: Camilla Isley knows how to write a good romcom, entertaining, sweet and easy to read. Looking forward to her future work!

[liz ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She’s beautiful when she laughs.”

“And I should be cautious before I let my feelings roam wild.. but, for once, I don't want to be cautious. I want to enjoy a moment of happiness and hope for the best”

This was such a cutesy little enemies to lovers romcom I loved it so much! It was very easy to read, has very short chapters and I finished this within a few hours!! It’s around 200 pages and such a quick read and a perfect read for February :) I loved these characters so much and their story and this book became one of my comfort reads!! I was literally smiling the whole time while reading this because it was so cute and funny!! When I finished it I audibly gasped because I thought there was more to the book and there wasn’tttt but I did get to read a bonus chapter from their pets pov which I thought was so cute and hilarious :) I also ended up buying a physical copy of this book because of the purple sprayed edges and LITTLE PURPLE HEARTS printed on EVERY SINGLE PAGE which is just the cutest thing ever 💜

[Dee (on Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up - a cute & clean rom-com, both easy to read & enjoyable. May try this author again...

[Syndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opposite Attract is cute book. So why 3 stars? See... the turning point between enemies to friend then to lover is rushed. I need more convincing moments to really feeling the change

Miss Isley perhaps intend this book to more vanilla romance audience. The climax is simple and clean. During enemy phase, the banter is sassy but need more drama into it.
Overall this is OK book.

3 stars

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the storyline, but was so disgusted with Vivian’s behavior within the first few pages that I almost put it down. The dates they had were entertaining and Luke’s behavior was sweet as he tried to win her over. However, Vivian had such deep emotional issues that she never worked on to resolved (over the past fifteen years) that she was just an unlikeable character that I couldn’t even root for. She is portrayed as a “strong woman” but her behavior of flying off the handle and assuming the worst about every situation because of how one man treated her fifteen years prior is unreasonable and anything but strong.

I would like to read more storylines with emotionally aware characters (both men and women). This book had potential, but just didn’t reach it for me.

[Marisa Kady · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF...I think the author forgot to make the main character someone we actually want to root for. After all, in a rom-com you'd think Vivian should have some redeeming qualities? Her behavior in the first few chapters (not to mention her confrontation with her client who she ambushes across the street while breaking confidentiality clauses while claiming to be a confident and amazing lawyer) made it impossible for me to root for her, no matter the character arc. Yeesh.

[Evoli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the writing style was what saved it from being a 1 ☆.
I really liked that I could vividly imagine the dialogues and actions as well as visualise each chapter as a scene in my head.
It was nice to feel like I'm part of the story as a reader!!
Also, the male love interest (Lucas / Luke) was superior!!! Kind of didn't really like the female protagonist (Vivian) though...
Mild spoiler: He should have been with Mira...

And that's also my main issue with this book, basically:
The story itself was quite good, actually, I enjoyed the idea that Camilla Isley had with them being polar opposites, him a couple therapist and her a divorce lawyer.
Her being a femme fatale and him being more of a golden retriever.
It's refreshing to see a good guy in romance books.

However, how can I say it was good romance if I didn't like the female protagonist Vivian and didn't really want them to end up together (although I knew this would happen because that's how romance books work)?..
It makes no sense in that case because this opinion of mine is contradicting the purpose of the romance genre... You're supposed to want the two characters to end up together, root for them to be okay, while all I wanted was for her to be worthy of him, less dramatic, not overreact, let people finish talking before jumping to conclusions (especially because it was never an urgent matter) and for him to find someone else who fit and won't make him bitter like she surely will...

Definitely not giving up on this author though because the story idea and plot line was fun and, as said, I enjoyed the writing style!!
Hopefully other characters in her books are better...

[Berit☀️✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A divorce lawyer and a marriage therapist walk into an elevator... Camilla Isley once again completely delighted me with this charming romcom. Divorce attorney Vivian and marriage therapist Lucas haves first cross when they are vying for the same office. It is dislike at first sight. Vivian is put off by Lucas‘s temper and Lucas is put off by Vivian‘s pushiness. But as we all know first impressions aren’t always right. The two of them soon find that they cannot get the other out of their minds and are doing everything possible to fight it. When they are both pier pressured into going to a matchmaker agency they decide to wager the coveted office. The bet... who will find love first?

This was just such a fun feel good uplifting story. Loved both Vivian and Lucas and I was just waiting for them to realize that they belong together. The story is told from both characters perspectives and I thought that made it even more entertaining. The dates that this matchmaker agency sent them on were quite humorous. I also really liked Vivian‘s daughter Teagan and the part she played in the story. And of course I cannot forget the cat and the dog! A lovely laugh out loud romcom!

This book in emojis 🐶 🐱 🍩 ☕️ ☯️

*** Big thank you to the author for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

[DJ Sakata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes:

Her eyes blaze with suppressed anger, and in my head her haywire locks of hair have turned to actual snakes hissing at me for how enraged she looks.

“I create literary art. That requires time.” “Oh, okay, what do you write about?” “It’s not so much what as it is how. The craftsmanship that goes behind sedulously assembling words to produce a harmonious symphony of text.”


My Review:

This was a fun and amusing read full of levity and humorous and unfortunate dating situations. I enjoyed the comedy although I had trouble warming up to the character of Vivian as she was a typical lawyer - rude, obnoxious, and arrogant on top of being petty and childish, hmm, in all honesty, I never actually warmed up to the Vile Vivian. I adored Luscious Lucas as he was a sweet pussycat and I pitied him being the continual recipient of Vivian’s wrath and short temper. Vivian was adept at pushing all his buttons, but I think with her easily annoyed and antagonistic personality, she would most likely try the patience of the great Mahatma Gandhi. They started off on the wrong foot and their chance interactions were consistently and regrettably unlucky, although amusing to behold. Their explosive chemistry led to sparks with a different type of heat by the story’s end with lots of matchmaker dating mishaps, family drama, and misfires in between.

[vaishnavi ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠* · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest issue I had with this book was that the enemies-to-lovers part was so rushed, and that's a problem if it is the entire premise of the book 😭

I feel this way with A LOT of enemies-to-lovers books. Either the 'enemies' part is too short or just fake (and they're more 'rivals') or the transition is just too sudden to make sense.

Vivian was so mean to Lucas at first and the next moment they're in love?? But the relationship between Vivian's daughter & Lucas was heartwarming. So even if I wasn't convinced by the two being a couple, I could see the father-daughter bond forming.

[Inna]

Not sure how to rate this one, will have to think about it. I really liked the writing, and I liked a lot of the story. The heroine was *really* hard for me to like though. She really moved into major beeyotch and man-hater territory fairly often during the story. *ALL* throughout it, actually. I kept waiting for her realization that not all men were scum, but that moment didn't really come until basically the end for her. And even then, I don't think she changed as much as just saying that she would try to change for the hero. I wish she had softened up to the hero much sooner, because he really was a great guy.

This book actually reminded me A LOT of a book by Jewel E. Ann with the lawyer and the musical therapy heroine, Look the Part. Except this was a role reversal, and this hero didn't drive drunk and kill his first wife (thank god). Here, the heroine is the serious (uptight) divorce attorney with a kid (the daughter is 15 years old). The hero is a much more easy going couples therapist. They are opposites in every way, which is frequently shown throughout he story - the title definitely fits here. They get office spaces across the hall from each other, and have quite the rivalry going, since they practice very opposite professions. They do share mutual friends, a couple, who are convinced that the MCs would also make a great couple. However, since neither of them seems interested in the other, their friends recommend they both go to a matchmaking agency, as that was how they met. The MCs make a side bet before going to the agency. If the heroine finds her match first, the hero needs to move out of his office space. If he finds his match first, she needs to give him the corner office. So they give the matchmaking agency a shot and both go on several pretty bad, but somewhat comedic, dates. They eventually end up together, but their journey to love is a little less than smooth.

I do wish that the author did a better job of building the burn and attraction between them. I did feel that the hero was interested in the heroine for a while, but I didn't think that the opposite was true. Them getting together felt very abrupt on her part - like she jumped straight from hating him to love.

Overall, this had good writing, a pretty good plot, a good hero, and I even liked the heroine's daughter quite a lot. But the heroine was tough to love, and the relationship development needed some work.

Safety was good
▫️No sex on page or off
▫️Hero not a manwhore, heroine not a virgin
▫️Heroine has a 15 year old daughter, the father is not in the picture but does feature in the plot, he has no on-page role. She was a teen mom, at 19.
▫️There's a mention of an ex-gf of the hero who moved away about 6 months prior to the start of the story
▫️OM and OW drama in the sense that they both go on multiple dates throughout the book. Neither of them so much as kiss anyone else though. None of the dates lead to anything. They do both experience some jealousy.
▫️No cheating

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could tell by the description that I was already going to love this book. All the characters were great to read and worked so well together. Just a really cute little romance

4/5 stars

[Camilla Isley]

An enemies to lovers, neighbors to lovers romantic comedy... get your Free ebook copy at your favorite retailer!

You can also download an exclusive epilog for members of my Readers' Group both in ebook and audiobook.

I loved gifting this book to you. If you'd like to give something back, please leave a review here on Goodreads or at your favorite retailer...

Happy reading,
Camilla

[kayceeverse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot even though I'm a smut girly and this COULD NOT be cleaner! It is a fade to black sort of clean romance. Really wholesome at times but also very fun and bantery. Gotta admit I do love an enemies to lovers moment. Overall a really pleasant and easy read.

[Ta || bookishbluehead · Rating 1 out of 5]

After getting approved for two books of this series on Netgalley without me realizing that they are connected, I thought I’d start at the first book in this series, which was a mistake on my part.

There were many things I didn’t like in this book. I didn’t know the FMC would be a single parent, normally bothers me a little, but it didn’t work for me at all in this book. This probably correlates to the fact that I hated the FMC. She was horrible and didn’t have one redeeming quality. From the first time we saw her on the page, I wanted nothing to do with her, but we met her first through the eyes of the MMC and I thought maybe, when we get to know her a little, it will be better. But once we got to her POV it was so much worse.

I’ll read the next book in this series, to see if I like that one more, or maybe I jump ahead and read the two books I got approved for, because they sound awesome and I’m still hoping that the author can redeem herself in my eyes.

[millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this book is a new comfort book for me because it was so predictable but in a really good way and I feel like the simple storyline made it very enjoyable as it was an easy read.
So many books like this are done wrong but with this the characters were loveable and relatable in some places which meant that it was impossible for me to hate it.
Overall I would definetly recommend for a lighthearted read :)

[Andrea ☾ [is inconsistently consistant] · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️ This man would be in jail...

or at the very least he would find himself without a license to practice and penniless on the street.

This is going to be a rant/review because I can't think of anything else.

This book started up cute. Basic, but there's comfort in the basics. So, when this turned into a sh!t show, exactly, I couldn't really pin point it, but omg...

Can you imagine dating a fool that, under the guise of being your teen daughter's psychologist straight up LIES to your face about his whereabout and goes to pick up your drunk daughter from a party? And stands you up from your first ever date while doing it! And when he gets there he says he can't tell you under "patient confidentiality". B!tch, you went to pick up a drunk minor from an high school party and lied to her only legal guardian about it...

And the worst part! SHE APOLOGIZES FOR BREAKING UP WITH HIM! She tries twice to get him to explain why he stood her up and he brushes her off, but after her daughter confesses everything, SHE has to apologize? Unreal.

Also, the whole thing with the ex/daughter's father should've tipped me off into the shit show this would turn out to be. In what world do you make plans to leave the f*cking state with a minor without the parent's express consent? And then force said parent into a situation where disagreeing would've made everything worse!?

Yeah, I was really feeling this book, and then the whole crappy therapist side of it took ALL my enjoyment away.

Would recommend if you feel like hate reading the last couple of chapters.

Also, the ending is so incredibly underwhelming for so much angst.

0🌶️/ 5 - I didn't know, but this is a clean romance. They kiss twice. That's the hight of passion here. Ugh, this book was such a disappointment

[rachel jayn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vivian and Lucas’s first impressions of one another? Pure, undeniable hatred. Lucas is a couples therapist and Vivian a divorce lawyer, when they move in next to one another, they must learn to deal with each other. Vivian is a single mother to Tegan. Vivian and Lucas challenge one another to a bet through a dating company, and the first person to fall in love doesn’t move out.

I’m so disappointed, I went into this thinking it was gonna be super cute and what not but we got the absolute bare minimum. But props to Lucas though he’s very much husband worthy.

[Angel Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vivian is a bully. With everyone.

Tegan is a teen, acting like a teen. With Luke's gentle support, she took responsibility for her actions.

Luke is okay, but I didn't warm up to him either.

There were moments of amusement.

[Sofi (sofi.bookshelf) 🩷✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Este libro es buenísimo. De verdad me encantó desde el primer momento hasta el final.

La trama es sobre dos vecinos (una abogada de divorcios y un psicólogo de parejas) que se llevan pésimo porque tuvieron una discusión el primer día que se conocieron. De ahí vemos cómo va creciendo la relación entre ambos.

Los personajes me encantaron porque se sentían muy cercanos. Vivian es una madre soltera que se nota la dedicación y amor que tiene por su hija. La adora sin dudarlo. Lucas es un hombre honesto y muy bueno. Se nota eso apenas lo conoces porque se preocupa por personas que no conoce.

Me encantó todo en este libro, pero no le puse 5 estrellas. ¿Por qué? Siento que me faltó un epílogo que esté en el libro, no quiero tener que suscribirme para poder verlo.

¿Lo recomiendo? Sin duda alguna. Es muy ligero y slow burning.

[Evelyn Grabas · Rating 3 out of 5]

In truth, it is not worthy of the 3 stars I gave it. The story could have been worth it if the "heroine?" was in the least bit likable. But, she was the proverbial bitch and having reached the age of 34, she was not likely to change. Leopards really never change their spots, mellow them a little, but never change. I feel sorry for Luke as he has learned to manage his feelings and control himself, but that is never going to happen to Vivian. She will never be able to love him enough, to have blind faith in him and trust him, which is essential to a continuous, loving relationship and marriage.
I most certainly did not enjoy the book insofar as all I did, it seemed like, was to berate Vivian and I am sorry to say I did it out loud. Good thing I live alone or people would think I was crazy talking to a book.
But the author killed the book before it really even got started. Vivian did, in fact, push in front of Luke and made him miss his train (making him late for his viewing of the office he wanted to rent), was rude, condescending and scornful of him and, when then, late, when she would not move her truck so he could exit his, thereby making him have to climb out of the truck window to get out, ripping his pants in the process, she really showed her true, vile personalty and what a rotten person she was.. And Leslie, the erstwhile real estate agent, now there was a piece of work. Gives Luke, who was her boyfriend's friend, the address of an available office to meet her at that she was sure he would like and then rents it out to a friend of her own (Vivian), minutes before he arrives to see it. The author really stuck it to him, which only made you hate Vivian that much more. No one enjoys a book when you hate the heroine (or hero, as the case may be) because you have no one to root for, only someone to root against.
I know that I, for one, will never read another book by this author again.

[Micky Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun twist to the enemies to lovers trope pits a divorce attorney against a marriage counselor until the sparks start to fly. It was a great listen and the narrators on the audio book do an outstanding job of bringing the story to life. If you think dating is difficult whether you go the old-fashioned route of meeting in life, via app or a dating service then you'll enjoy the laughter and tears that follow the misadventures that these two have in the dating world. For those of us out of the dating world, then we find it confirmation that working on that marriage and keeping it is definitely the way to go if at all possible...provided the mate in question isn't an unsalvageable jerk.

[ari 🪷 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.22 stars

look, the book wasn’t really bad yk? it was just that one rushed date and ending and the single parent trope- god i loathe that trope whether the parent has a teen kid or a toddler, especially when the parent is like vivian

i didn’t really hate vivian but there were parts when i just wanted her to shut up and think well
and lucas, i’m sorry buddy but your jokes were just 😑😑😑 sometimes but were a fun character otherwise

the writing was good and the narration was even better 😮‍💨 the enemies part was likeable but the lovers part was just rushed and meh

tropes:
•enemies to lovers
•office romance
•single parent

[meg *ੈ✩‧₊˚ (semi ia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is not my typical read i must say, but ah, i'm so in love. i will say it's a romance novel, but no spice included (besides thoughts) but all in all was still a cute little quaint book about how two totally different people (a couples therapist and divorce attorney) who meet in the worst circumstances and forced to share offices side by side. i think the fact the fmc is a single mother makes it even more appealing as she's trying to find love, while the psychologist who helps couples reunite is also struggling in the love department lolz

all around this book had me literally laughing out loud along with noticing myself smiling and rooting for them at the same time

[Susan Jerdee McDougall · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I couldn’t get past how unlikeable Vivian was, I tried to keep going but had to give up. This was my first book by Camilla Isley; I am willing to read another one her books. This particular one was not for me.

[Grumpy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5


Je crois que c'est ma 1ère rom-com 🤭

Bon en vrai, c'était cool. Pas incroyable mais c'était plutôt sympa, ça va.
Le début était génial, j'étais à fond ! Mais arrivée vers la moitié, je me suis un peu ennuyée, en fait j'avais un peu perdu l'enthousiasme du début 😅
C'est assez court (même pas 200 pages sur ma liseuse), donc ce n'était pas hyper développé.
Autre chose qui m'a un peu dérangé : je n'ai pas trouver ce côté vraiment addictif que j'espérais (bon après je le lisais vraiment de temps en temps, ce n'était pas du tout ma lecture principale, je l'ai traînée sur plusieurs mois).
Dans l'ensemble cela reste assez cliché et rapide. L'alchimie entre les deux personnages n'était pas aussi intense que je l'avais espérée. C'est un ennemies-to-lovers donc mon trope préféré, mais là, je ne sais pas...Ce n'était pas mauvais mais juste pas exceptionnel. Pour mon trope préféré je trouvais ça un peu moyen et surtout : je n'ai pas eu les papillons dans le ventre, je voulais rêver moi ! 🤧
Bref, ça fait le taf on va dire et ça se lit plutôt rapidement, mais rien de memorable pour moi 🤷‍♀️

Après ça m'a fait du bien de sortir un peu de ma zone de confort, je ne lis que très rarement du contemporain ou de la romance 🥳

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opposites Attract was a fun romcom to jump into. In it, you will meet Lucas and Vivian. Now these two don't really start off on the right foot. Which kind of leads them to a little dating bet. They have to go on these dates and if they fine true love, they win.

Well, let me just tell you the dating website that they signed up for was hilarious. I mean they had to fill out so many questions before they even got to go on a date. Then the dates were even more hilarious because they were so freaking awkward. I mean the one where the lady said she was witch and like night hikes was adorable. As for the guy who brought his mom to the date to see if they were combatable had me dying.

The thing is, these two had such great chemistry and banter. It took them so long to figure out that they had feelings for one another. Once they did, well, we got some drama and things started to fizzle out. Luckily, they ran back into one another and gave it another go.

In the end, this made me laugh, smile, and was very enjoyable. I'm very happy that I randomly found this book and dove into it. Now I need to find the sequel!

[Ed Davis]

DNF I made it 22% of the audiobook. If Amy McFadden can’t make me like the main character, then there is no chance for Vivian. This was my third book by Camilla Isley and I’ve decided it will be my last. She’s a good story teller but I just don’t like her main characters. I just think three strikes and I’m not doing either one of any favors by leaving less than stellar reviews.

[Shanequa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely hilarious. Especially the description of the dates. This was my first Camilla Isley book and it won't be my last.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just 2 people throwing insults at each other for 85% of the book. She’s too high strung. He’s a questionable psychologist.