Five years of history. Four weeks on the road. Two rival copywriters learning love is the hardest sell of all.
Mattie French has always known how to tell a good story. It’s why she stopped at nothing to land her dream career as a copywriter at a scrappy independent advertising agency. In fact, if it weren’t for one person, Mattie would probably be the most-talked-about rising star in town.
Campbell Porter is a senior copywriter at Chicago’s slickest agency. Absurdly talented, incredibly aware of it, and the bane of Mattie’s existence since they were interns together, Campbell is always just…there, with his golden-boy smirk and the familiar gaze that never fails to taunt her across a crowded room.
Mattie would love nothing more than to avoid Campbell forever. But when their agencies are pitted against each other to compete for a luxury resort account, it’s her chance to prove she can beat him—and earn the promotion she covets.
During the month of travel required for the pitch, Mattie and Campbell are thrown together as fierce competitors and, slowly, as unexpected witnesses to each other’s hidden wounds and softest parts. As their trip barrels toward its final pitch, Mattie is forced to confront the increasingly obvious truth: the story she’s crafted for her and Campbell over the years might need a new ending.
Read: April 13, 2026 – April 14, 2026
Final Rating: 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars; great read, I enjoyed it and would definitely recommend
What can I say, I will always eat up a rivals-to-lovers when done right! Up until about 40% of the book, Mattie truly couldn’t stand that man. And it didn’t feel out of place because the author did a good job of describing their history that the witty banter, dislike, and back and forth was natural. We are also in a yearning epidemic and Campbell, you really ate that. I love a good “he fell first” moment. I also like Ellen’s writing style, not flowery and it’s descriptive without being overly dramatic.
Mattie is a good strong FMC who is excellent at her job. Quick-witted, sassy, sharp-tongued… I love my female characters with a backbone. I like that she didn’t lose herself as she fell in love with Campbell. It felt very real and personal to her and I liked seeing how her thoughts about him changed as she began to like him more and more.
Unfortunately, I don’t really like a third act breakup and I didn’t particularly like how it was handled in this book. Without giving too much away, I should have viewed the ending as a big, romantic, yearning scene and I was overly irritated and waiting for the book to end. The time spent on the breakup could have, in my opinion, been spent on their relationship post-competition and seeing how they fit into each other’s lives as they both reconsidered what it meant to be in committed, long-term relationships.
Despite the ending, their chemistry was undeniable. I would recommend for anyone looking for real rivals-to-lovers, witty banter, and falling in love while being afraid of what it means because of past/family trauma.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC! This review is 100% my opinion and was left voluntarily.