Did Not Finish

By: Nicola Marsh

Narrated by: Kendra Murray, Connor Brown

Stranded…with my nemesis.

AXEL: It’s bad enough an unseasonal blizzard means I’m stuck with my PA’s annoying cat, but to make matters worse, Mia Samson and her poison pen are in my house too. The renowned reviewer has tanked enough books with her dreaded DNF and I need to teach her a lesson. But my enemy is not what I expect and if I’m not careful, I’m in danger of revealing my secret to the one person who can use it against me.

MIA: I know people in publishing call me the career-wrecker behind my back. What they don’t know is, I’m writing a novel, and when I’m lucky enough to win a week-long retreat with bestselling Axel Low in quaint Sugar Plain, Nebraska, I’m thrilled. Until I discover being snowed in with the reclusive grump is merely the first trope my life has turned into, and soon I’m sorely tempted to enact enemies to lovers…

Which one of us will lose the plot first?

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I wish I had DNFed this...

With enemies to lovers not being my thing, I knew that this was going to be a tough sell for me. And sadly I was correct in that assessment. I just couldn't stop rolling my eyes while reading. I went in hoping that with the cozy, snowed in forced proximity that we'd get some tension filled scenes and sweet moments before the characters inevitably give into their attraction and fall into bed together but that wasn't the case. They almost immediately have sex and then every time they think about having a conversation, they end up having sex instead. It ended up feeling highly repetitive in that regard. So with practically nothing but sex and two intimate conversations, I was finding the romance in this book to be severely lacking. It felt almost instalove in a way and while I'm not opposed to that, it didn't really work here. They go instantly from dislike to love so fast after their first few rounds off off-page sex scenes.

Though speaking of all of the sex scenes, I thought it was an odd choice to have all them be fade-to-black, especially given the all of the commentary in the book on how romance and erotica are misconstrued made fun of. It's kind of hilarious that Mia doesn't like the romance author Adele because she feels there's too much smut, not enough plot, and that her books are repetitive, because that is an apt description of this book, with the exception being that there's absolutely no smut in this.

Ironically, I came close to DNFing it numerous times while reading and it's a pretty short book. I kind of wish I had DNFed it. Overall, this wasn't for me and I'll be moving on to something I'll hopefully enjoy more.

Fun Enemies to Lovers Romcom

Did Not Finish by Nicola Marsh is a charming, low-angst, snowed-in romance. Did Not Finish is a clever & steamy forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers romance. I loved the banter and witty back and forth between Mia and Axel. Did Not Finish was my first Nicola Marsh book and it won’t be my last!

Kendra Murray and Connor Brown are new-to-me narrators and I really enjoyed their performances. Their pacing and tone for their characters flowed together nicely. Connor’s Axel is a perfectly broody, guilt-heavy, smoldering personality. Kendra gives a lovely performance as the optimistic, kind-hearted, persistent Mia. If you like a cozy, snowed-in romance with intriguing characters, Did Not Finish is a great audiobook to add to your TBL!

So disappointed

DNF was not enjoyable in my opinion. This was a DNF for me. Sadly. I love this author.