Will They or Won't They: A Novel
Onscreen, they’re in love. Offscreen, they can’t stand each other. From the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood comes “a sexy lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance that smolders then bursts into flames” (Abby Jimenez, New York Times bestselling author of Part of Your World).
“Wilder takes readers behind the scenes of a television shoot in this fun contemporary romance. . . . Fans of Emily Henry and Christina Lauren should check this out.”—Publishers Weekly
A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love—at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, Lilah and Shane spent years pining for each other onscreen . . . until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a movie star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which Lilah and Shane’s characters will get together at last.
But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of season one, the two of them have despised each other.
Now reunited on set for the first time in years—with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line—they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they might just get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.
“Wilder takes readers behind the scenes of a television shoot in this fun contemporary romance. . . . Fans of Emily Henry and Christina Lauren should check this out.”—Publishers Weekly
A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love—at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, Lilah and Shane spent years pining for each other onscreen . . . until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a movie star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which Lilah and Shane’s characters will get together at last.
But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of season one, the two of them have despised each other.
Now reunited on set for the first time in years—with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line—they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they might just get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Will They or Won't They by Ava Wilder follows on-screen love interests Shane and Lilah as their TV show comes to an end after nine years. Following the classic enemies to lovers troupe, this novel switches between the two character's POVs throughout the novel as they film the final season.
This was a 3/5 star read for me.
A few things I loved about this book:
1. It avoided some of my least favorite romance book cliches. The main character is a tall woman who is driven, confident, and talented (although a little cold and calculating). At no point does this novel talk about how teeny tiny she is or how she's quirky because she looks like she dresses in the dark. Truly two of my least favorite cliche's in romance heroines out there.
2. While it follows the typical enemies to lovers troupe, the reason that Shane and Lilah are enemies actually makes sense. Through following both of their POVs you learn how different misunderstandings have caused them both a lot of pain and that pain has turned into anger toward the other person.
3. I loved the world building. I particularly loved the story line of the show they are on, though I loved it so much I often wished I was reading that story instead of the one I was.
That leads into some things that didn't work for me.
1. It is a SLOW BURN. And by slow I mean it took me what felt like forever to read this. The book is made up of VERY long paragraphs and I would find myself having to re-read things over and over because I kept getting distracted.
2. The main character has an on-page panic attack toward the end of the book, but I felt like her anxiety was very much an afterthought. It is mentioned in the book but as a person living with an anxiety disorder, it just felt like she rarely, if ever, seemed all that anxious.
3. Along with long paragraphs, the chapters are really long and the POV shifts within the chapter. This caused a lot of confusion and I would have to double-check to see who's POV I was actually in.
4. I felt like the story just went on and on and on. The last 150 pages felt really repetitive and slow to me and I was just wanting to be done with it. If I'd based my review on the first 100 pages of this book it would have probably been a four star read by the last 150+ just felt like a sludge to get through.
5. Maybe it is the nature of writing about celebrities, but I found both of the main characters to be a little self-important. I especially hated the ending of the book and found myself rolling my eyes A LOT in the last chapter.
Overall, I think that romance fans and especially those who love a good enemies to lovers story will eat this book up. For me, it wasn't terrible, but there were some general things with the writing that made it just meh.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
This was a 3/5 star read for me.
A few things I loved about this book:
1. It avoided some of my least favorite romance book cliches. The main character is a tall woman who is driven, confident, and talented (although a little cold and calculating). At no point does this novel talk about how teeny tiny she is or how she's quirky because she looks like she dresses in the dark. Truly two of my least favorite cliche's in romance heroines out there.
2. While it follows the typical enemies to lovers troupe, the reason that Shane and Lilah are enemies actually makes sense. Through following both of their POVs you learn how different misunderstandings have caused them both a lot of pain and that pain has turned into anger toward the other person.
3. I loved the world building. I particularly loved the story line of the show they are on, though I loved it so much I often wished I was reading that story instead of the one I was.
That leads into some things that didn't work for me.
1. It is a SLOW BURN. And by slow I mean it took me what felt like forever to read this. The book is made up of VERY long paragraphs and I would find myself having to re-read things over and over because I kept getting distracted.
2. The main character has an on-page panic attack toward the end of the book, but I felt like her anxiety was very much an afterthought. It is mentioned in the book but as a person living with an anxiety disorder, it just felt like she rarely, if ever, seemed all that anxious.
3. Along with long paragraphs, the chapters are really long and the POV shifts within the chapter. This caused a lot of confusion and I would have to double-check to see who's POV I was actually in.
4. I felt like the story just went on and on and on. The last 150 pages felt really repetitive and slow to me and I was just wanting to be done with it. If I'd based my review on the first 100 pages of this book it would have probably been a four star read by the last 150+ just felt like a sludge to get through.
5. Maybe it is the nature of writing about celebrities, but I found both of the main characters to be a little self-important. I especially hated the ending of the book and found myself rolling my eyes A LOT in the last chapter.
Overall, I think that romance fans and especially those who love a good enemies to lovers story will eat this book up. For me, it wasn't terrible, but there were some general things with the writing that made it just meh.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for giving me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I just remember hating this book every step of the way. It was overwritten to death, I couldn’t connect to either of the characters and I just wanted to scream to them to stop sleeping together if it makes this much mess. I did finish it - wrapped up neatly - but I still found myself flipping through the slow parts….so lots of flipping.
Ever wonder if the actors of your favorite show are actually “together”? Well then this is the book for you! This story follows Lilah and Shane, two actors who have been the main stars in a television series for the last nine years. You get to see what happens when on screen chemistry bleeds over into their personal lives as well as what happens when everything implodes.
This is one for those who love a cutesy hallmarky romance. It’s not my typical choice when I reach for a book but I have to say, I wasn’t upset about it. The writing made this an easy fast read. For me, the characters were loveable yet irritating at the same time. But that didn’t take away from the storyline. This is one of those slow burn romances where you are turning the page to see if they finally move out of their own way. The characters were believable and the author used flashback chapters to further develop the characters and show what happened in the past that led them to where they are.
I would recommend this to those who love a cutesy slow burn romance.
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