title: Let's Call a Truce
author: Amy Buchanan
publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
publication date: January 14, 2025
pages: 336
peppers: 3 (on this scale)
warnings:
- parental, violent death (off-page, before story)
- parental abandonment
- alcohol
summary: Widow Juliana is excited to prove herself in her job in HR after her years staying home with her young daughters, but she's not excited about working with her nemesis, Ben, who doesn't seem to understand the demands of being a single parent with a full-time job. Though there's a clear frisson of energy between them, they spend most of their time engaged in a petty war...until they need to call a truce for a work project to start an intern program.
tropes:
- enemies-to-lovers
- work relationships
- our kids are friends
- recently widowed
- spouse who abandons the family
- work trip
- grand gesture
what I liked:
- There were some great scenes with the daughters and friends.
- Buchanan shows them getting to know each other, paying attention to the other.
- She integrated the death-of-a-true-love feeling into Juliana's present life well.
- The kids are cute and believable.
what I didn’t like:
- Juliana doesn't seem mature enough to be a thirty-five-year-old mother of two.
- She changes her mind too many times.
overall rating: 3 (of 5 stars) (some scenes were 4 or 5, but I found Juliana's arc too annoying to give the overall book more)