The Enemy by Sarah Adams Book Review

“I’m not your enemy. I never was.”

(pg. 72)

About

Author: Sarah Adams

Genre: New Adult Rom-Com

Series: It Happened in Charleston book two

Click to buy book

Click to read other book reviews

Other It Happened in Charleston Book Reviews

The Match

Other It Happened in Nashville Book Reviews

The Off Limits Rule

The Temporary Roommate

Synopsis

Enemies should never get a second chance. But this one might…

It’s been twelve years since I’ve seen him. Twelve years since he won our war of wits by outsmarting me with a tactic I didn’t even know was allowed. But tonight…I resurrect the battle.

Ryan Henderson is back in town for our best friends’ wedding, and I plan on showing him exactly how much I don’t care about him—or the almost kiss he ruthlessly dangled over me after graduation. A lot has changed since our feuding days. I’m a successful bakery owner now, and I plan to rub every delicious detail of my life in his ugly face. Just one problem: his face is gorgeous. He wasn’t supposed to look like this or pursue me like a sexy guided missile. I must stay strong until the wedding is over and Ryan scurries back into whatever alternate universe he escaped from. His interest in me is nothing but a continuation of the games we played in high school…right? 

But the longer he stays, the more I wonder if I’m wrong and his tender smile and heated attentions are genuine. Maybe it’s not a game. Ha! Who am I kidding? This is Ryan we’re talking about. Of course it’s a game. A game called war. And this time, I will win.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To our enemies we love to hate,

If you know me, I am a big friends to lovers, second chance, slow burn, one bed trope kind of gal. Contrary to popular opinion, enemies to lovers is not my favorite, but I do like the trope when done well and it’s interesting.

And The Enemy was enemies to lovers done well.

“They do say love is war.”

(pg. 152)

I really did enjoy The Enemy because it had more depth than a typical enemies to lovers and there wasn’t just two characters peezing each other off to get each other’s attention *cough cough I’m looking at you Jessie (if you know, you know)* What was different about this enemies to lovers was the fact that it was also a second chance romance between two people who hated each other in college and one of them moved away to begin his own life. But one of them stayed. Naturally, they both grew up and matured and the hate wasn’t as strong, but when they saw each other again, they still had the embers of what was there.

The thing is, we all know that when two people have a strong hate for each other, they are just fireworks waiting to go off—–there’s obviously something there. I liked how we got both perspectives of their past hate because it made me understand how they came to be where they were today. Ryan always was infatuated with June but played the whole pull-her-pigtalis game in high school with June because June saw Ryan as the enemy. Ryan always seemed to mess with her or do something to make June angry when really Ryan had been looking out for her in his own way, so he wasn’t really the enemy. June just cast Ryan as the enemy in her life because deep down she probably liked him too.

On their graduation night, Ryan was going to kiss her, but then didn’t. Instead he walked away with the tantalizing broken promise of a kiss. He flew on a red eye that same night to Paris to study at the finest culinary school to pursue his dream of being a chef. However, what June didn’t know was how much Ryan did want to kiss her, but he didn’t want to go through with it only to leave her the next day; he didn’t want to start something that he couldn’t keep when he already decided to go to school across the country. I understood and respected why he didn’t kiss June that night because at least he was being thoughtful about her feelings. But then again, he shouldn’t have leaned in and acted like he was going to kiss her when he wasn’t because then that only teased her when she really liked him. And gosh knows not kissing her made her even more peezed off down the line because he led her on.

But I understood why he didn’t.

I genuinely believe they were the right couple but the wrong time.

They both needed time apart to focus on their dreams/goals and to achieve them before they could be with each other. I also think having that time apart was necessary for them to mature and grow out of their hate for it to be something more. Additionally, they both needed to see how much they missed the other person to want to find their way back to them—-you know, a distance makes the heart grow fonder kind of thing.

When Ryan did return for his best friends wedding (who also happened to be June’s best friend who was the fiancé), it reignited old feelings for sure.

Some good, some angry.

“Mistake number one was looking away from Ryan. Mistake number two was ever underestimating my greatest opponent.”

(pg. 9)

The hat was strong with these ones.

Honestly, my initial thought was they needed to stop with this whole hate-love game they had going and mature the heck up. Ryan could have said from the get go that he always liked her because maybe it would have thrown her off guard in her reaction to him and they could have actually began a healthier a relationship. They were so much better than the five year-old let-me-mess-with-you-for-attention tactic. I mean, Ryan’s initial plan was to let bygones be bygones, which was very mature of him, but that plan went out the window when he saw June’s fury and that sparked all these past memories they and. I understood that the tension was there and it was easier to fall into old patterns, but my gosh, if they didn’t screw around with each other os much before they could have been screwing each other sooner🙈.

Not going to lie. I mean, the liked each other but they were just playing games.

But Ryan did get points for at least wanting to be mature.

I have to say June made me laugh.

She was HILARIOUS.

I felt bad how much I laughed at how many awkward situations she found herself in 😂. Gosh, June really humbled me because I knew I have awkward moments but my gosh she really won the prize. Walking out of a toilet stall with TP on her high heels after wanting to really stick it to Ryan? I was in hysterics 😂. Naked in a wedding dress dressing room because her clothes were outside and Ryan happened to be there and she had to answer questions for him to give her a piece of her clothing? I knew that was going to happen, but it wast still funny. I especially loved their banter during this scene because it seemed authentic and playful.

“‘Number two. What’s your biggest fear?’

‘That I’ll have to see you again tomorrow.'”

(pg. 51)

Or when the drunk bridesmaids stole her clothes from the bathroom and she had to make a paper towel dress and do the walk of shame down the hall back to the bridal suit. We all knew Ryan was going to catch her in her paper towel dress 😂. Honestly, a sis needed some good luck on her side because she was not thriving.

But it was cute when Nick found her in her paper towel dress, he gave her his coat for her to cover up and feel comfortable. Or when he told her she was beautiful 🥺.

He always saw her at her most awkwardest and I liked that that made him like her even more.

I freaking loved her Nick Lachey obsession 😂. I didn’t grow up in that era to be obsessed with Nick Lachey, but I know what it’s like to be a complete fangirl over something and I could relate. I also just loved what Nick Lachey meant to her.

“I figured if you’re not gettin’ marry today, you might as well have your favorite man in the world to snuggle with.”

(pg. 34)

We love that for her.

June was about to marry this guy named Toxic Loser Ben. Just kidding his name was Ben, but Toixc Loser Ben feels like a more fitting name 🤪. They had the wedding planned and everything that was until June found out he was cheating on her and she called off the wedding last minute.

Here’s my bone to pick with Toxic Loser Ben.

One, we don’t tolerate cheaters around here! Two, the FREAKING fact that everyone painted June out to be the bad person in this situation, blaming her for having a wedding and then calling it off like it was her fault that she was so flippant to want to marry someone and not marry them the next second. No one knew the real story and honestly I was so freaking peezed that the whole town had basically assumed that she was insouciant and didn’t deserve Ben. I’m sorry, no, Ben didn’t deserve her. I was SOOO MAD. And third, the fact that Toxic Loser Ben straight up told her he cheated on her because he was “not attracted to her anymore” like somehow that’s her fault 😡. HE WAS A LOSER.

He doesn’t understand the concept of love because you chose to love someone each day and love all their parts and it was obvious he didn’t love her as much as June thought he did because he didn’t choose to love her. He chose to cheat because he was an unfaithful pig with no class and respect. And attractiveness is subjective and there will always be someone who is more attractive than you, so my PSA to all the Ben’s out there is that you have to choose to love the person you are with because there will always be other people, but real love is a choice. And this guy can take a stick and shove it up his but because he was a pain in my a**.

HOW DARE HE make June feel like she was the problem or like she wasn’t beautiful enough for him to stay. As a curvier woman too! I couldn’t stand Toxic Loser Ben and we didn’t even meet him in this book. But gosh, his comment sure packed on a lot of trauma and hurt. If I were June I would have felt the exact same way and the exact same insecurity because whenever someone makes a comment about your body, especially as a woman, it freaking slices you like a knife across the throat and gets deep into your brain and heart and festers there until it turns rotten and gross. It makes your thoughts turn negative and hurtful and you end up hating yourself because you think you aren’t enough when that’s not true. I just FREAKING HATED that Ben was so disgusting in making that comment because it hurt June in innumerable ways. It made her even more insecure about her body in feeling like no one would ever want to be with her because she would never be “attractive” enough. I could not 😡. I was so mad for June.

I understood why June didn’t want to tell anyone what really happened between her and Ben because she was embarrassed and ashamed. She had nothing to be embarrassed about, Ben did. Also, it wasn’t anyone’s business to care, let alone ask what the heck happened between her and Ben. So June didn’t owe them an explanation whatsoever. What I did appreciate so much was June’s mom unflappable support and being there for her, no questions asked. The mom gave her Nick Lachey as her right hand man to remind her daughter that she did have someone. I also loved how the mom never pressured June to open up and understood June would tell her when she was ready.

Towards the end of the book, June did open up to her mom about what conspired between her and Ben. It was a simple, but necessary phone call because June needed to open up to heal and move on from the hurt Ben caused in her life. I smiled to myself though when the mom said she knew Ben cheated and how the dad and brother shook Ben down to ask what happened. We love that they literally went to his house to beat him up for the loser he was 😂. I mean, don’t mess with her baby girl. Mother’s intuition knows best, I kid you not. In that moment, I also liked what the mom said about how it wasn’t too late for June to tell her because people process things differently at different times, and there’s never a wrong moment to finally come to terms with something that happened—days, weeks, months, years. It’s all in our own time and what we accept, let go, and try to heal from.

Inadvertently, I believe the pain and insecurity she felt form Ben translated to her work life.

June needed to give herself soooooooo much more credit. She opened up her own donut business, Darling Donuts by herself and created this whole shebang that was successful. That is not easy 👏🏼!!! She even branched out to hire people and get her name out there. She sold herself short many times like starting a business meant nothing compared to being a Michelin star chef; those are just two different types of successes and in my eyes, June was hecka successful.

When Stacy was going to move away to be with her fiancee in California, Stacy offered to give June half her shares in Darlin’ Donuts. However, June was hesitant and adamant about not wanting to buy half the company even if she basically ran and started the company herself. June was really just scared about failing again from all her other businesses that she did start by herself and that closed down—-like her food truck. In none of those situations was she the deciding factor of her business not working out, it was probably the wrong thing at the wrong time. I believe she was resilient and a star for even trying to open up a business and pursue something that she was passionate about. Many people have lofty goals and all they ever do is sit on it and write the plans of how they are going to get there. June? She went out and did it. And going out and trying is going to mean failure sometimes, and it’s not about the person per say, but just maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Failure is not a bad thing.

It’s a learning experience and a chance to grow. Also, sometimes failure is a good thing because it leads us to where we do need to be. If June hadn’t failed at her past businesses, she would have never had the successful business she had today.

Nevertheless, I could also understand her fear of running her business entirely alone without no one to creatively help her or bounce ideas around with. But she would never be truly alone because she would always have her friends and family to help her. But I get it. I thought for sure she should buy Stacy’s share of the company because she could do it and she needed to believe in herself because everyone else did.

Speaking of business, Ryan was the Michelin star of the hour.

Not going to lie, I couldn’t stop picturing the big marshmallow dude from the car commercial 😂. I am a child.

But let’s go Ryan—-top tier chef. He had a restaurant he ran with a whole staff in Chicago where he now lived. Even though Ryan was uber successful as a chef, it didn’t mean he was happy.

“I’ve been working my butt off to get to this exact place in my career, but it doesn’t feel like I thought it would now that I’m here. Turns out, it’s lonely at the top.”

(pg. 61)

When Ryan said that, I wholeheartedly agreed; that was exactly what I was thinking.

I was going to say that he seemed lonely at the top.

This is a saying I heard a while ago, but sometimes you can be successful and achieve what you wanted, but if you have no one to share it with you, it gets lonely. Success can be lonely because you realize how many people you pushed away, ignored, or hurt to get to where you are now, that when you are where you are now, you have no one to cheer with you or celebrate how far you’ve come—-your success.

I could tell Ryan was missing connection in his life and someone to celebrate with because it seemed like he didn’t have anyone who cheered him on when he finally achieved what he wanted. I mean, he should be incredibly proud he opened up a stunning and accomplished restaurant and that he was on the brink of expanding his name, but he didn’t seem like he wanted it anymore. That all that loneliness and scusess made him realize success wasn’t worth it to be unhappy.

I would say it’s not.

I could also tell that Ryan didn’t really want to take Noah up on his offer to open this new restaurant in Chicago because if Ryan really wanted that job, he would have jumped at the first chance to grab onto it. Instead, he went to Charleston to get away and give him space to think about the offer. Deep down, he was really thinking about how he could get out of the offer without seeming ungrateful or letting anyone down. I also feel like he needed that space to distance himself from something that wasn’t a passion anymore to see if it still was.

” . . . just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it’s what you were made to do.”

(pg. 206)

I really liked what was said here because sometimes we love something and it becomes a passion because we’re good at it or we just love it, but then when we do it all the time, we kind of lose love for it. It’s kind of like the sentiment too much of something is not really a good thing. Because he worked his butt off cooking to prove to himself he was the best or to be where he was, he lost some of the original joy of what made him love cooking in the first place. I loved that special moment where he shared with June how he got into cooking. His mom used to cook a lot and when his mom passed away, cooking was a way to remember and honor her 🥺🧡. I loved his reasoning behind what he did, it just goes to show how big a heart he had. But the reason he cooked got lost in the background of climbing to success and that’s why I think his joy for cooking also got lost and crumbled in that climb.

It was apparent that Ryan was an excellent cook, but I agree. Just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean it something you were made to do. What you’re good at can just continue to be a passion or a hobby and that’s that. Not everything has to be tied to monetary value, but enjoyment. I think that’s the best kind of love to have—-something you love to do solely for yourself and no one else.

So before Ryan even knew it, we all knew that he wasn’t going to accept the job offer. I don’t think going back to Chicago changed his mind, only cemented how alone he was there and wasn’t really living a life he was happy with—just going through the motions. Also, returning to Chicago with June made him realize how small his world was in Chicago and how much he had back home that he could look forward to—-his friends, family, and June. It really did feel like Chicago was a transitionary period for Ryan like he wasn’t fully there. I understood how he felt because it was the same way I felt when I dormed in college like I was living but not really because I felt like there was more for me back home or afterwards.

I also really enjoyed when June went with Ryan to Chicago because he seemed more excited to show June his world rather than his actual Chicago world. But I’ll talk more about that later.

June and Ryan had many cute moments that built up to finally understanding each other.

What I appreciated so much was when Ryan straight up told her that he loved her and wanted to be with her and didn’t want to play any games anymore. I mean, he didn’t do that in the beginning, but better late than never. Also, I guess someone had to make the move first. I just loved how much he loved her and wanted to be with her and wasn’t trying to hide that anymore because they could have gone on and on with pranking and hating each other and getting absolutely nowhere, but we skipped all of that to be truthful. See what communication can do 🤪.

I also loved how much of a softie he was for June. and Not him literally following Darlin’ Donuts account for years just to see what June was up to. I loved that he secretly supported her this entire time 🥺🧡. I also loved how he went over to her house and cooked for her. This is why you marry a chef 😆.

They also had to work together for the wedding because Stacy needed a last minute chef so Ryan’s terms were that he would cook for the wedding if June helped him and he could use her kitchen. Doing so was a way to get closer to June and get to know who she was now. I mean, forced proximity at its finest. I liked how they did have more civility when cooking and baking together and we could see a healthy dynamic.

“And over the next hour, as we work side by side, rolling and cutting dough and flirting with flour like a cheesy Hallmark movie, I feel my heart physically crack a little.

It’s both painful and healing.”

(pg. 95)

This quote got me more than it should have 🥺.

This moment cooking and baking together felt cathartic because they were acting like friends. It was healing because they weren’t messing with each other or thinking the worst and they were healing towards a new dynamic.

There was also the shower scene, which served chaotic energy at its finest. But I LOVED it.

I could see how many people would think Ryan putting June under a freezing shower head was insane, and it was. But I also sort of loved it because he could see through her excuses of running away and he wasn’t going to let her hold everything anymore, not with him; he challenged her to face her problems and he confronted them with her together. So he put her under a freezing shower head to corner her into confessing how she really felt or what happened with her ex. Even though the means of blasting her with water was not ideal, it really did break down a wall between them to know each other’s feelings.

Because the thing was, Ryan was never the bad guy. Sure, like any enemies to lovers romance, it was always the hate or the perception of hate that translated horribly into actions that seemed like the enemy shot fire. But it was never that way for Ryan. He alway liked June. He just did things to get her attention. When they had the friends dinner, I will say I did laugh that June brought a date to make Ryan jealous because Ryan would always do the same for her. I think it was an attention thing like if Ryan brought a date and June was jealous, he would know that she had deeper feelings. I loved how at the end of the friends dinner, June wrote Ryan a text about how she was always jealous, aka how she always had feelings for him.

Ryan also always looked out for June’s best interest. I liked the. moment that he talked about how he was the one who slashed one of her exes tires. But he didn’t do so out of spite or to screw with June, but because he overheard her sleazy boyfriend saying he was going to take June’s flower. I freking laughed when Sam, poor cute Sam, asked, “Why would a boy want to take Aunt June’s flowers?” (pg. 121) 😂.

I don’t know, why do boys want to take girls flowers, hmmmm 🤪? YIKES.

But his confession just emphasized how he was always protecting her and looking out for her best interest. June just perceived all his actions the wrong way.

“You were never the bad guy, were you?”

(pg. 122)

No, MA’AM 👏🏼.

*Cue Billie Ellish*

He was a good man, a really nice, thoughtful, sweet man. Who knew how to cook 🧑🏼‍🍳.

There was also the cute moment where Ryan found the note he gave June in high school. My heart practically melted like a popsicle on a blazing day when Ryan saw that June kept the note he wrote her tucked in her mirror. On that day June had spilled soda on her and everyone laughed at her. however, Ryan passed her a note that said she looked cute covered in soda. At the time, I don’t think it was meant as a jab, but a genuine compliment. Ryan complimenting her in an embarrassing moment was comforting and kind. But also, the fact that she held onto the note all these years obviously meant that his words stuck with her/meant a lot.

You know, I liked that they finally did kiss, but gosh darn, did they have to kiss in the middle of their best friends wedding 🙈?? I mean, it was their friends special day, not there’s. I’m just going, but I was happy they finally got o together. But I did think it was pretty darn steamy that Ryan saw all these guys checking June out and he got super jealous and terrified at the thought of losing June again, so he kissed her. Jealousy does work wonders.

I loved how supportive Stacy was with making June feel comfortable sharing how she felt and like June wasn’t crazy. I think Stacy always knew June’s feelings ran deeper than hate.

“Being independent doesn’t mean you have to be lonely.”

(pg. 191)

I liked what Stacy said here because June was freaking out in Ryan’s closet and called Stacy because she needed her best friend to calm her down. But June was so used to being alone—-being the boss bi*** that she was— and doing things by herself that she felt alone. But I liked this reminder because being independent doesn’t mean you are alone or that you have to face things alone. Being independent means knowing you have the freedom to do what you want when you want to and doing things for you, but it’s always always always okay to ask for help. Always.

Also, in the context of a relationship, just because you are independent or single, it doesn’t mean that you always need to be alone or to relish in that. It’s okay to feel alone or to want company or help. People rely on people, and that’s okay; it’s okay to balance independence with dependence.

I also freaking loved how her whole family was onto her and knew that she liked him.

“He’s the boy from high school that June was always swearing she didn’t like, but we knew better.”

(pg. 143)

I was CRYING 😂.

I loved how the mom was accepting of Ryan and how she gave him advice to ease into June’s life—- to give June some space to figure out what she wants because rushing into the relationship full throttle might scare her off. Ryan was really sweet by heeding the mom’s advice because he really did want the relationship with June to work. I thought it was very mature of him that he wasn’t jealous (that we know of) that June had a date with a guy. However, June couldn’t go through with the date because she really liked Ryan and didn’t see herself going out with anyone but him. However, to save face and look like she had a hot date, she took herself to the movie theater and pretended that she had a slinky black dress and everything.

What go me was when she tried to sneak back home and Ryan was in her house, which I have to say the guy needed to have some boundaries and not just make himself at home just because he had a key. Sis, literally had to army crawl through a window into her own house. I FREAKING was in HYSTERICS when she thought she was going to make it into her room, and then Ryan was over there like, “Hi, how was your date?” 😂 And he was like, I could hear your huffing and puffing 😂.

I could only imagine how stealthy she thought she was being. But also, if I was Ryan, I would have saw her too because it was a narrow hallway in a small apartment, it’s kind of hard not to notice a person crawling on the floor. We can’t say she didn’t try.

After that, they really developed something special and very nice to see.

Ryan really said I kissed you, and I have no boundaries to just waltz right int odor house to make dinner and put away all these groceries I bought. He said I give myself that right.

But it really was cute how he made himself at home because it felt natural to him—-like he had been going home to June and cooking dinner for her for years. I also loved loved loved their first date. Albeit it was kind of lackluster on the detail, but the sentiment was incredibly sweet.

“‘You don’t remember, do you?’ he asks.

. . . I shake my head. ‘Remember what?’

. . . ‘You looked me right in the eyes and said, ‘You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to date you, Ryan Henderson. Mark my words. One day, I will mov to this city and date a sophisticated man and—-

‘I’ll be a sophisticated, sexy lady and my man will pick up Chinese takeout after work and bring it back to our fancy apartment, and we will drink wine and watch my favorite movie.'”

(pg 216-7)

All those years ago, June had spieled this whole speech to Ryan about never wanting to date him, but this dream she had of her future. So on their first date, Ryan recreated the very image June said with the Chinese takeout and a cheesy rom com movie all in her cute apartment. Ryan really was a sentimentally sweet guy 🥺🧡.

What I really would have loved throughout the book or maybe like a past and present POV too was more of their backstory because I liked hearing about all these moments they had in the past because it gave context to their relationship. Also, it was nice to hear about all their flirty, cute moments. However, I wanted more of that so I could understand the cute moments and so the cute moments would have had more punch when I read them. Because at first, hearing about Ryan in a tux and how he ordered Chinese takeout, didn’t sound like much of a date. But when he explained the context, I was like, “Oh, okay, that’s actually really cute.” So a past and present POV or more backstory would have helped.

And, again, I felt like their date could have had more details or something because we only got to see how their date started, not really what conspired.

Towards the end, Ryan did choose to stay in Charleston with June, and honestly, I was so proud and overjoyed for him because I could feel a weight off his conscious and his shoulders from letting go of an opportunity he didn’t even really want. I freaking grinned when Ryan turned down freaking persistent Noah because it was about darn time Ryan was honest with himself and to do what made him happy.

I do think that he should have told June about his plans first, so she knew his intentions and where his heart always was because when June found out that Ryan wanted to move back to Charleston to be with her, she would at least know that it wasn’t solely about her and that he had been feeling dissatisfied and miserable for a long time. But because Ryan wasn’t upfront about his plans, I understood why June felt laden with guilt and responsibility that Ryan gave up his dream just to be with her. I would have thought the exact same way if I were June and didn’t know where Ryan was originally coming from.

Also, it didn’t help that she felt so out of place in Ryan’s world and like she was keeping him from that. Sis, no, you were doing him a favor 👏🏼!!!

What peezed me off was when Dumb Noah really drove him the guilt trip to June when she was waiting to go to the bathroom. Noah saw her and took that as his chance to make June feel like she was the reason Ryan was holding himself back from even more success when that wasn’t the case. Ryan wasn’t happy in the first place and June was actually giving him freedom and happiness, which was more than any amount of success could give him.

And that whole story about how Noah was married once and that his wife left him because the sparks faded and he regretted to launch his career was a load of cow turd if I ever heard one. First of all, the sparks probably faded because Noah was the shiz form of a human being and second, he probably didn’t try hard enough to stay with his wife. And sparks fade naturally, it’s how you keep them alive that matters. So Noah needed to check himself.

I really wanted to slap that Noah dude silly because he was getting in June’s head. And I could feel June’s overwhelmed thoughts brewing the entire night because she felt out of her element and like Ryan was so popular and knew all these people and here she was taking him away from that. Noah also made June feel like Ryan would regret choosing her one day over his career, which was not going to be the case at all.

I don’t blame June for peacing out ✌🏼 of the restaurant because I would have done so too if someone got it into my head that it was all going to be my fault.

I loved that Ryan chased after he all grand gesture style to the airport. I have to say, she went to the airport pretty fast 😂. I didn’t buy it that she actually had a ticket because sis had to work wonders to make that happen in the span of half an hour or so. They really had a simple, easy conversation at the airport about how she missed her flight and how he was unhappy and was always going to choose her. And then something about how she was going to run back to him because she realized she was being rash. I genuinely wanted a deeper, heartfelt speech or something—-anything besides them basically already working out their problems in their head without really talking about what happened. It just felt like nothing was really done or said even though there was a bit of conflict and a grand gesture at the end. I appreciated the attempts at conflict and grand gesture but I felt like more could have been said or done to have them really fight for their relationship and prove their love. I just wanted more or for the conflict to have come sooner so they had time too reflect and change.

I did laugh when he carried her out of the airport, screaming how much she hated him. Honestly, I was highly concerned how no one stopped Ryan when June yelled that she was getting abducted 😟. We knew she wasn’t, but like if someone was screaming they were getting abducted, at an air port no less, you would think security would be on that or someone would help. Yikes.

“Our life together won’t be perfect. Far from it. We will fight every day. I will salt his ice cream, and he will draw more mustaches on me while I sleep. But I look forward to every bit of it. I raise up onto my tiptoes to brush my lips over Ryan’s as I whisper, ‘I win.'”

(pg. 237)

I liked that the ending came full circle to how they messed with each other and probably will always love to hate each other. But I really liked the last line of how she won because she won this game they had but she also won Ryan who was the real prize.

The ending wrapped things up succinctly. I liked seeing Ryan’s café and how that worked out for him. I also liked seeing Stacy again because what a great friend. We loved to see Ryan and June’s love was alive and well with their pranks. But I had a feeling when June kept giving vibes that she was going to blow chunks that she was pregnant because DUH 😆. I would have liked a proposal story to be honest, but it was casually mentioned they had been married for half a year, which go them. But also, I owed have loved to know how Ryan or June proposed. But Ryan was going to be a dad and have a whole home and family with June, which was such a stark contrast to his previous life. I was so happy for them 🥰.

The only thing I wanted more of was again, Ryan POVs or a past and present perspective with their backstory. I also wanted more with the conflict and grand gesture to really take the story to another level. I also would have liked to dive deeper into June healing from how Ben treated her. I think maybe some closure with Ben would have been cool, but I get that being with Ryan helped heal that hurt. But still, it would have been nice to get an apology or at least punch Toxic Loser Ben in the face. Kidding! I don’t condone violence. But I still don’t like Ben. I also would have liked more moments of June being the boss woman she was and how she came to find her confidence in running her business by herself (with support), but how she navigated that.

Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book? 

Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

What is your favorite kind of donut? I like a maple donut or a chocolate with sprinkles 🍩.

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Rating

4.32 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: I loved Ryan because he seemed like a decent and kind dude when he wasn’t messing with June. I also loved June for her spunk and her finesse because gosh knows she had her fair share of awkward moments, but she took them in stride.

Plot: The Enemy was a fun book that balance enemies to lovers, second chance romance, and love delicately and wildly. But I loved falling in love with their story.

Writing: I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers, second chance romance and with some CONFLICT and somewhat a grand gesture!

Romance: June and Ryan were super cute, not going to lie 🧡. High school would-have-been sweethearts-if they-didn’t-love-to-hate-each-other.