You Deserve Each Other: The perfect escapist feel-good romance Paperback – 11 Feb. 2021

REVIEWcw: brief mention of bullying, mention of cheating (by supporting characters), body-shaming, manipulative parentingNaomi Westfield and Nicholas Rose seem like the perfect couple. Due to marry in three months, Naomi has been feigning contentment while their wedding plans have been usurped by Nicholas’s overbearing mother. Resentment has been bubbling and she's barely tolerating her fiance.When Naomi realises Nicholas is just as discontent as she is, the gloves come off. They’re both utterly miserable, but in order to ensure she's not loveless, jobless, AND homeless she needs Nicholas to be the one who calls off the engagement. Diabolical pranks, as well as emotional warfare ensue.But when they finally stop pretending everything is fine, their walls come down, and they start to remember why they fell in love.When they define enemies-to-lovers second chance rom-com, there should be a picture of this book next to it! I've had this book on my TBR for the longest time. I WISH I'd read it sooner! My only regret is reading it with a rib injury.The way I CACKLED laughing repeatedly at each diabolical observation and scheme. It was SUCH a clever twist on the second chance/enemies-to-lovers romance tropes to have them start the story engaged. If miscommunication were a book, this would be it. But underneath it all lies hurt feelings. Was it realistic? Absolutely not. Did I care? Absolutely not!The prologue was hilarious, perfectly capturing all the nerves and second guesses of dating. Both Naomi and Nicholas were people-pleasers in their own ways. Naomi had lost her sense of self and in doing so, mentally checked out of the relationship. Meanwhile, Nicholas just seemed to want a quiet life, so had long bowed to his domineering mother's every whim. There's a fine line between love and hate, and somewhere along the line, Naomi tipped over. The first half of the story read like high farce, in the best way. Naomi's acerbic observations of Nicholas and his family made me snort with laughter The snark was utterly fabulous, although sometimes more than a little mean. It was viciously razor sharp and each new way they taunted each other became more diabolical. Their dinner at Nicholas’s parent's house after Naomi declared war took me out, especially the 'handyman' conversation. As for Naomi and her co-worker's reaction to the 'oleander'? Hilarious. Speaking of which, I LOVED Leon and Brandy.Just when I thought It couldn't get funnier, chapters 9 and 10 happened. The entire car debacle felt like a scene from the BEST rom-com movie, and as for the 'farfaccine'? I almost choked (just like they did), I was cackling so much.But as much as I laughed, I also wanted to hug them both. The fishing incident and the aftermath in chapter 13 were beautifully written, perfectly capturing all of their vulnerabilities and fears. As for the revelations inside Nicholas’s bedroom, and then Naomi's realisation about everything he does for her in the following chapter? I wanted to give him the biggest hug. What a cinnamon roll. As was Naomi with her own demonstrations of love. I loved it when they started to truly open up, and spoke more freely. Naomi was perpetually self-deprecating. I LOVED the confrontation with Melissa and their teamwork towards her and then Nicholas’s mum. My heart broke anew with Nicholas’s revelation about their favourite eaterie, and then Naomi's job rejections. Their bonding over Nightjar, and keeping Deborah out of their home was an unexpected delight, and chapter 18 made me swoon. As for the following chapter, it felt so cathartic, and I haven't cried that much for a while (other than falling down the stairs!) The reveal of how they met was so stinking cute, and the end just tied everything up beautifully.Ultimately, this was a story about learning to become a team while being honest and open about your own needs, and I truly ADORED it.Utter perfection.Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Heat Rating: 🔥.5

I cannot express how much I loved this story! This was an absolutely great book. Sarah Hogle is definitely an author whose work I plan to further explore.The first 15% of the book was a bit slow paced, but after that it was a whirlwind. I didn't expect to like it because I'm not a big fan of the already married/engaged trope, however, this second chance romance between an already engaged, incredibly petty couple was absolutely brilliant.Although it was an enemies-to-lovers trope between an engaged couple, enemies-to-lovers is not exactly the right expression to describe the characters’ relationship. The couple had too much history for that.At the beginning I couldn't see how the MCs could sort out their relationship, especially with all the drama that came about later on. I thought it would be quite dark with past hurt coming up in every corner, but it wasn't. It was funny, the characters had incredible chemistry and I ate the banter up. The characters had struggles, but it was delivered in a light-hearted way without it being condescending.The miscommunication/ lack of communication trope did bother me a bit, but it was absolutely amazing to experience the way they fell in love with each other all over again, realised the issues in their relationship and relearned each other.The characters were hilarious. They were both petty and adorably vindictive. Does that make sense? I couldn’t not love them. Sure, I wanted to strangle them sometimes, especially when Naomi made assumptions, but the chemistry between them, not only when they hated on each other and crossed each other, but also when they were together, was absolutely brilliant. They were flawed, but realistic. The way they got to falling in love with each other again from trying to destroy their relationship provided hilarious scenes, actions and conversations.I just loved it. It was an absolutely amazing book. Other than the slight pacing issue and my personal dislike for the miscommunication trope, it was brilliant. The romance, the plot, the premise, the characters, I just adored it all. Therefore, You Deserve Each Other got 4/5 stars from me.