Keep This Off the Record by Arden Joy

3.5 stars

This was a very enjoyable read. Although it is marketed as primarily a FF romance, it is so much more. It's really an ensemble of characters with various romantic entanglements. You have a best friend (female) dating a character who is a producer for the other main character. Another best friend is non-binary (great rep), who doesn't have a romantic subplot, but mentions of their "conquests" occur throughout. The sister is having marital difficulties. All the characters are pretty fleshed out and you get a good sense of who they are. The comedic relief from the sister and the best friends are cute and made me chuckle a few times. All storylines are wrapped up nicely by the end and there are multiple HEAs.

My only gripe about the book is how the two main characters come together. It is clearly established that they have hated each other since high school. I normally love an enemy-to-lovers trope, but this one seemed too abrupt. It's almost like the side character relationships take such a center-stage that the resolving of differences is glossed over. There was little depth to exploring what caused the level of hate that each had for the other, and no real connecting of the dots as to how it was misplaced. They hate each other. Friends scheme to get them together. One minute yelling at each other, the next minute kissing. Literally. I get the sudden onset of desire to kiss, but would have appreciated more of a "stop, wait a minute, let's talk about how we got here". And the whole scheming of the friends to bring them together was totally glossed over with no fallout.

TL:DR: I did enjoy reading this and loved the characters and banter. Need a little more closure on the "main" romantic arc. 3.5 stars.

I received this title from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.