Meet You in the Middle

4 ⭐️ !!!I enjoyed this book far more than I thought but honestly 3.5 stars alone go to Mr. Ben Mackenzie. I was in love with him from beginning to end & honestly, I struggled to enjoy Kate through a good portion of this book… she was a hot button for me (& let’s just say i’ll leave it at that to avoid spoilers), however, she did redeem herself for me for certain reasons. One, I ended up feeling a bit of a connection to her because of some of her insecurities.but truly, Ben was the winner in this book, absolutely. I did enjoy the story too, the plot was good, but I hated how it took so long for certain realizations to come forth & it wasn’t even miscommunication or anything, purely insecurities holding parties back from what could have been amazing.overall though, this book was good, witty, I laughed a lot at the back & forth debates & banter between Kate & Ben.also I loved her mom Bev to pieces & almost wish I would have gotten to see her throughout the book more!!!

A grin-worthy workplace romance perfect for fans of THE HATING GAME. The chemistry sizzles and the prank war is a crowd pleaser, but what brings it home is the characters' hard-fought mutual respect.In the first chapter of this book, I wasn't too sure about Ben, but then they have a major confrontation where all the insults fly, each character letting them know what they think about the other's political party, and it was the funniest, most gasp-and-cover-your-face kind of scene ever. It felt spot-on for what each political party would say about the other! From there, they descend into a prank war that had me grinning for whole chapters, and it never crossed the line into mean or cruel. I really loved the way Ben treated her through the middle of the book, even when they disagreed, and I liked the way he showed that their political views weren't always as different as they appeared at first glance--a lot of the time, they were born from similar values but different approaches to how you'd accomplish that politically.I picked up this book because of the political rivalry- because I had to see if a cross-the-aisle romance could be pulled off in today's world--but I kept forgetting about that piece as I was reading because the romance was just so irresistible. I was hanging on every exchange of the banter, and the chemistry raised the temperature in my apartment by several degrees. It reminded me a lot of the dynamic in the Hating Game, where the hero appears forbidding (physically and psychologically) at first, but turns out to be a giant marshmallow for the heroine.Toward the end, I loved that Ben not just paid lip service to their shared values but DID something concrete to build stuff Kate cared about into a bill he was working on. I wish she would have done the same for him, to show that she also understood some of what was important to him, and could find redeeming value in some of his political stances. Nowdays, it's become gasp-worthy to say you could find any common ground with someone from the opposing party, but I loved what the author said in her author's note about how "we're all much more committed to finding common ground than the loudest voices in the media would have you believe." I enjoyed how this book showed people as individuals, not stereotypes, and showed that you can have the same core values while differing some in public policy, rather than perpetuating the false dichotomies of dividing political parties into "good" and "evil" and assuming everyone on the opposite side is the same person. If you identify as an open-minded liberal, I think you have to agree that avoiding stereotypes is always a good idea, whether you're talking about about matters of race, sexual orientation, or yes, even political party. I can disagree with their party's policies, and still find individuals of that party who I have common ground and some shared values with, which is an ideal that's gotten lost in the last few politically contentious years. One of the reasons I think fiction is important is it builds empathy, which is always preferable to dehumanizing the opposition.At the end of the day, though, as important as the issues underneath this book were, I have to admit I purely just enjoyed it for the romance! It was a lighter and much more fun read than I might have expected, and I hope to see more in the future from this author!

Although the story of this is cute, i find that the politics of characters to be lacking conviction, stinking of the “moderation” that only straight white upper & middle-class people can afford.

Loved this book! I loved the hating game and this was perfect!!! Fun!!!

📚𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚃𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎: Meet You in the Middle𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛: Devon Daniels𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Contemporary Romance𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎: Physical𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Currently in American history individuals are so focused on their differences instead of what they have in common. In this story there are great examples of seeing past those differences. What I really loved about this book is that Devon did a great job keeping politics out of a book that has a political setting. This book is written for all readers and I loved that so much.This book was a slow burn, while for me slow burns are not my favorite but I do see why the author did it this way, it helped set the setting and it worked well.The banter between Kate and Ben was absolutely amazing and I found myself laughing out loud during a lot of this book. The romance in this book is top notch and I think the banter really helped set the sexual tension both Kate and Ben felt.Read if you like the enemies to friends and then enemies to lovers trope.Also, Ben freakin Mackenzie… that is all. 🥵.

I remember seeing this Title pop up on my amazon so long ago, I immediately added it to my wishlist because i thought the cover was so cute, thanks to Bookstagram I finally ordered it last week. I am SO glad I did.In Devon Daniel's debut novel we follow the life of Kate Adams, this hard working Democrat wants nothing more than to pass meaningful legislation, unfortunately this isn't an easy thing to do. Especially not with a handsome, broody Republican like Ben Mackenzie getting in the way.In this hilarious enemies to lovers book we get to watch two polar opposites start a war of wit and humour. Is the attraction between them just an opposites attract situation, or is it possible that they aren't opposites at all? Maybe there are more important things in the world than political party.I really loved this book. I could not believe this was Devon Daniel's debut novel. Enemies to lovers is my all time favourite trope, and Devon really hit all the marks with this one for me. It was hilarious, romantic, steamy and still relevant to today's events. This has quickly become one of my all time favourite books, I loved it so much it gave me an almighty book hangover and I had to message Devon just to tell her i thought her book was utterly fantastic.I have seen quite a few poor reviews of this book on GoodReads, I don't know if it's because I am English, and I don't then have a huge wealth of knowledge on American politics, but I thought this was a really enjoyable plot and shouldn't be taken as a political statement in anyway. If you are looking for a entertaining and romantic read, I would definitely recommend.

This book was clearly written for a very particular type of American woman. The type who voted Republican. The type of woman who ignores the political views of her own family members because she doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers. The kind who pretends to be an ally but puts herself first. This book is ridiculous but also ignores the very real reality that people of colour and minorities face every single day and ignores that they are affected by the politics of hate. It’s a book about politics and there are no people of colour in this book. There is however one line in which people of colour are mentioned. This book was hard to read. The female lead is embarrassingly pathetic by the end of the book, happy to shoot guns when she supposedly opposes them or shouting at her friends they need to be less narrow minded and think about the feelings of people who don’t care about anyone that doesn’t look like them. I get it’s fiction but I couldn’t stomach it. It’s propaganda for republicans. Will be deleting this off my kindle.

I think it may be my one of my favourite books of the year so far!! Ben is my new book boyfriend! 😍This is a story of two people on opposite sides of the political spectrum falling in love. Ben and Katie are both senate staffers - one Democrat and one Republican - but can they put party politics aside?I really enjoyed the chemistry between these characters - their fire and fight. This book doesn’t deny the real struggle it is to find some middle ground with someone you disagree with. But within that, I also loved their tenderness and heart-felt desire to find a way to make it work.This is a book I will reread, for sure! ❤️🤍💙

I loved this book. Ben and Kate work on opposing sides of the US political system in DC. Their first meeting and the hate mail that ensues from that is brilliantly written. The banter between them keeps you turning the pages. Their chemistry is off the charts. This is the first book I’ve read in a long time where I was completely invested in both characters, hurting for both of them and cheering when things were going well. A fantastic read.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good enemies to lovers trope with a LOT of funny banter. I finally found a good romance novel after ages of reading regurgitated clichés! The best part was that this novel had the enemies to lovers trope without making the characters unbelievable or childish. I could imagine this being a story about real people and oh my Godddd!!! THE FEEELSSSS!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVEDDDD IT WITH ALL MY HEART. A MUST READ😍😍😍