Week Fifty: Rival Radio

Author’s Note:
Everything from this post through to July 2021 was originally written for a book reviewing project that I did for my previous blog, fiftytwo.blog. I wrote one book review per week for fifty weeks back in 2022. I’m moving those reviews here, unabridged and unedited, just so they…still exist. Somewhere. But, I am not updating them at all. So. Here’s the first of fifty little time capsules. 

Kathryn Nolan wrote one of my favorite romance books of 2021, the sublime On the Ropes. A witty, heartfelt, steamy love letter to Philadelphia, and to community and found family, I really, really loved it. 

So, expectations were high for this one. 

These two on-air enemies can't stop rubbing each other the wrong way in the booth...and the right way in bed. 

Theo
Whoever said "keep your enemies close" never had to share a small, dark sound booth with her. Daria Stone is the infuriating host of "Choosing Yourself." The name is almost as ridiculous as the concept. Permanently single? Please. The woman's made a career out of rejecting everything I stand for.

I'm looking for the one. The right woman who's ready for marriage and a lifetime together. Not some sultry, stubborn vixen who makes my life a living hell and insists a husband can be replaced by a curated collection of bedroom toys. And I know she's wearing those skin-tight leather pants just to annoy me.

Daria
Dr. Theo Chadwick is a professional pain in my...workplace. Sure—on the outside, the man is gorgeous. But he's also obsessed with finding his better half and getting his radio show, "True Romance," syndicated so he can give false hope to lovelorn listeners everywhere.

He keeps pushing my buttons with his arrogant "expertise" about how wrong I am. I just want to see him snap. Maybe that's how I ended up here, pinned against a wall with my legs wrapped around his waist...whoops...

Can these enemies put their feud on hold and play nice in a shared timeslot to save their popular beach town radio station? Or will their sparks burn everything to the ground?

Daria and Theo are both radio hosts at a struggling indie station. They both do “relationship” shows, but they approach from diametrically opposed viewpoints. Daria believes that one should not need a romantic partner to live a fulfilled life, and has gone on record as saying that she will remain single for life, preferring to focus on herself and her different brand of self-aware joy. Theo is a romantic, believing in soulmates and happily-ever-afters. They could not be more different, which is part of the reason that they rub each other the wrong way off the air, too. There is a sense that each thinks that the other is a complete idiot for believing the things they believe. 

Of course, what’s really going on is more complicated than that. This becomes clear when the station, struggling financially and facing a buyout, puts the hosts together on a combined show. 

This was a fun book, funny and steamy, but also just plain FUN. However, there are more serious themes at work, themes of what happens when someone comes along and alters the way you perceive yourself, alters the life you knew you were going to have. Is that person ever worth the risk of everything you thought you believed in?

I really liked this one. I believed in the relationship, and fought with them for their well-earned HEA. Highly recommend for everyone, but especially those that like a well-done enemies-to-lovers story.