Tag: Cara Tanamachi

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin

Date of publication: January 30th, 2024

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Adult, Adult Fiction, Chick Lit, Humor

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sometimes, when you ask the universe for your soulmate, you wind up with your hate mate instead.

On Nami’s 30th birthday, she’s reminded at every turn that her life isn’t what she planned. She’s always excelled at everything – until now. Her fiancé blew up their engagement. Her pride and joy, the tech company she helped to found, is about to lose funding. And her sister, Sora, is getting married to the man of her dreams, Jack, and instead of being happy for her, as she knows she ought to be, she’s fighting off jealousy.

Frustrated with her life, she makes a wish on a birthday candle to find her soulmate. Instead, the universe delivers her hate mate, Nami’s old high school nemesis, Jae Lee, the most popular kid from high school, who also narrowly beat her out for valedictorian. More than a decade later, Jae is still as effortlessly cool, charming, and stylish as ever, and, to make matters worse, is planning a hostile take-over of her start-up. sharp elbows and even sharper banter as the two go head-to-head to see who’ll win this time. But when their rivalry ignites a different kind of passion, Nami starts to realize that it’s not just her company that’s in danger of being taken over, but her heart as well.

First Line:

I hate birthdays like most people hate toilet paper hoarders.

The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: The pace of The Takeover is fast.

POV: The Takeover is told from Nami and Jae’s 1st person POV.

Trigger/Content Warning: The Takeover has trigger and content warnings. If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book. They are:

  • Death of a parent (mentioned)
  • Bullying (adult and workplace)
  • Grief

Sexual Content:  There is moderate sexual content in The Takeover.

Language: There is moderate swearing in The Takeover. There is also language used that could be offensive to some people.

Setting: The Takeover is set in Chicago.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

Nami is dreading her 30th birthday. Her life hasn’t gone the way that she planned. Her company, a tech company that she poured her blood, sweat, and tears into, is about to lose funding. Her ex-fiance has moved on quickly, getting engaged almost immediately after the breakup. And her sister, well, her sister, is planning her wedding to the man of her dreams. Nami wonders where she went wrong. So, on the night of her 30th birthday party, Nami makes a birthday wish for a soulmate.

Instead of the soulmate she wants, Nami renews a rivalry with her childhood nemesis, Jae Lee. She hadn’t seen Jae since high school, but he was the same annoying jerk who had one-upped her at everything. Now, he is part of the acquisitions company looking to buy her company. Desperate to save her company, Nami finds herself going head-to-head with Jae. No one is more surprised than Nami when their hatred turns to passion. And just when she dares to let herself believe that she could have love, it is smashed, leaving her heartbroken. It is up to Jae to show Nami that she is his forever. Can Jae do that? Can he win Nami over and have their happily ever after? Or will Jae’s actions (or inactions) hinder that?

Characters:

The main characters in The Takeover are Nami and Jae. I found them to be well-written, well-fleshed-out characters. Their interactions had me laughing out loud while reading. Their enemies-to-lovers trope was interesting, and I liked how much history Nami and Jae had together. The sparks were apparent from the beginning, and as I read the book, I couldn’t wait to see those sparks ignite.

I did go into The Takeover with a preconceived notion about Nami. In The Second Your Single, she is portrayed as a Bridezilla with control issues. It wasn’t until the end of the book, when Sora needed her, that I saw who she was. So, I was a little shocked by how much I initially liked her.

I wasn’t a massive fan of Jae. Honestly, he came across as super arrogant. I wouldn’t say I liked how he got enjoyment over taking over Nami’s company. But then he started hanging out with Nami and became more human (if that makes sense).

I loved the secondary characters in this book. They were excellent, and they had Nami’s back. There was an amusing secondary storyline involving Del (who was a dink), his costly office chair, and a chair napping by someone on staff. It was hilarious, and I loved how it ended (and everyone in the company got involved). The lesson learned from this: don’t piss off your employees because they will get you back.

My review:

As I stated above, I went into reading The Takeover gingerly. I remembered Nami from the previous book and was very interested in how the author would portray her. It took me about a chapter before it registered that this wasn’t the Bridezilla from The Second Your Single. I decided to drop anything I felt about Nami then and went into this book, determined not to hold her to the first impression I had of her. I am glad I did because Nami in this book was excellent.

The main storyline follows Nami and Jae as they battle it out over the acquisition of her company. I enjoyed the witty and often snappy dialogue between Nami and Jae. But I also liked the personal relationships that Nami had. She cared for her employees, and if that meant dipping into her savings to pay for Breakfast Monday to make them happy, she did it. Her reaction to Jae was what I thought it would be (big rival from high school). I was surprised, though, when she started having feelings for him. I shouldn’t have been because this is a romance, but I was.

The romance angle of the story was interesting. Like I said above, I was surprised at and by it. Mainly because Nami was so nasty to Jae and vice versa. But hate is often a cover for love, and that was the case here. I liked the gradual build-up in their relationship (it wasn’t sudden or a surprise). The same goes for when they started their sexual relationship. It wasn’t a surprise (I knew it was coming). I wasn’t a massive fan of the sex scenes. It didn’t do it for me, which is the only complaint I had for this book.

The end of The Takeover was interesting. I loved how the author resolved Nami’s company issues. It was something I should have seen coming (the reason was mentioned a few times), and it delighted me! I also liked the resolution to Nami and Jae’s relationship. I can’t say anything except they did get their HEA.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Cara Tanamachi for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Takeover. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

If you enjoy reading books similar to The Takeover, then you will enjoy these books:

Other books by Cara Tanamachi

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The Second You’re Single by Cara Tanamachi

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin

Date of publication: January 31st, 2023

Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Womens Fiction, Chick Lit, Fiction, Humor, Adult, Adult Fiction

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | Alibris | Powells | IndieBound | Indigo | BetterWorldBooks

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cheerfully irreverent, bitingly funny, and filled with romantic charm, The Second You’re Single is all about navigating the most romantic month of the year, and how love always seems to arrive when you least expect it.

Freelance writer Sora Reid believes in inertia. She’s the odd one out in a close-knit family of go-getters, including her Japanese-American mom, who hints about her need to lose weight, and her soon-to-be married, overachieving younger sister, who needs her to have a date for the wedding, since a wedding party couples’ dance with their Scottish great uncle Bob simply won’t do. For Sora, minimal input, minimal expectations is the way to go. She’d rather stay at home with her insufferable neighbor and her adorable pitbull.

The one thing that disrupts her inertia: an intense dislike for Valentine’s Day. What is it with the commercial love machine? Why do we pin our hopes on one romantic day, when staying home with a package of bacon and a bottle of tequila would be way better? Sora’s been betrayed and disappointed more than once and her heart is starting to feel like her Grandma Mitsuye’s antique Japanese ceramic bowl, with its many gold-filled cracks.

When her pledge to stay single in February inspires readers to #gosolo, Sora has a responsibility to empower her readers. But relationships aren’t built to last, so it shouldn’t be that hard. Right?

Enter Jack Mann. A muscle-bound baker who looks like he lifts logs on the weekends, Sora hasn’t thought of Jack since they were in elementary school together. When they see each other at the local grocery store and the attraction hits hard, Sora knows she has to shut it down, quick. She can’t #gosolo AND get the guy. She can’t let down her readers. And relationships always end, so why should Jack be any different–even though he’s confounding all her long-held expectations of love?

First Line:

Valentine’s Day has snuck up on me like a porch pirate.

The Second You’re Single by Cara Tanamachi

When I first read the blurb for The Second You’re Single, I didn’t like it. I am not a huge Valentine’s Day fan, but I am not an all-out hater. So I sat on this invite for a while. I wanted to make sure that I wanted to read a book about a bitter woman complaining about Valentine’s Day. I was confident and glad I did because this book was nothing like I thought it would be. It wasn’t a book about a bitter woman complaining about Valentine’s Day, that’s for sure.

Before I get into the review, I want to let you know that this book has several trigger warnings. They are body shaming (multiple people shame Sora about her weight throughout the book), fatphobia (ex’s new girlfriend and Jack’s ex both make comments), miscarriage (Sora and her ex), cancer (Jack’s niece had leukemia as a toddler), cheating (both Jack and Sora’s exes cheated on them. Also Sora’s sister gets cheated on by her fiancee), bullying (Jack was severely bullied by classmates growing up, Sora experienced online bullying towards the end of the book), death of a parent (Sora’s father dies before the book starts but she is still working through grief), verbal abuse (Sora’s father verbally abused them), neglect and its repercussions (Jack’s ex), stalking (Jack’s ex), and depression (Sora). If any of these trigger you, I recommend not reading this book.

The storyline for The Second You’re Single was funny and interesting. Sora had just found out that her ex was lying to her. He was married with children….not the single DJ she was led to believe. Disillusioned with men and the holiday that caters only to people in relationships, Sora writes an article for the online magazine she works for promoting #gosolo for February. What she wasn’t expecting was how much it resonated with people. She wasn’t expecting Jack to walk into her life right as #gosolo took off, and she certainly wasn’t expecting to fall in love with him. Can Sora keep her promise to her readers about going solo for the month of February? Will she be able to keep her relationship with Jack under wraps? What about Jack’s blonde model ex-girlfriend? Will Sora be able to compete with her?

The Second You’re Single was a fast-paced, hilarious romance that takes place in Chicago. Let me clarify that it takes place in winter in Chicago. I was cold even reading this book.

The characters in The Second You’re Single were well-written. I was able to connect with all of them, even the “villains” (aka Jack’s ex and Sora’s neighbor). Some characters I wished had more page time, and others I wished were scaled back.

  • Sora—While I loved her character, I thought she was a hot mess for most of the book. I did think that she was depressed for a good part of the book, and guess what? She had reason to be. She had a tough few years with some awful things happening to her. I would have been surprised if she wasn’t depressed. She couldn’t trust her feelings when it came to Jack (because his ex was semi-stalking him), and she needed to be single until March 1st. Again, I wasn’t surprised when everything blew up in her face. But it was after that made me impressed with her. Oh, and her love of bacon. I think she and my 9-year-old would get along great. She also cut through the BS when it came to her sister. But I wish that it had been sooner.
  • Jack–Did he have his issues? He did. He comes across as too needy and a little desperate at the beginning of the book. He was also too kind to his ex. He took everything that woman did with grace and understanding; that was amazing. I also liked that he understood Sora’s situation with solo February. But I didn’t think he got how big it was until he was forced to the side and hidden away. I didn’t blame him for feeling the way he did. I would have done the same thing.

The Second You’re Single fits perfectly into the romance genre. It was a friends-to-lovers trope with a healthy dose of Instalove thrown in. I am not a fan of Instalove but I did like it in this case. Because Sora and Jack knew each other in elementary school (Sora was Jack’s only friend, and she stood up for him against bullies), Jack loved her back then. So, it wasn’t hard for me to imagine them falling for each other within a few weeks of their meeting. Oh, let’s not forget the comedy angle of this book too. I was dying laughing at the one-liners that Sora had.

The storyline with Sora, Jack, their relationship, the #gosolo challenge, and Jack’s ex was interesting. I didn’t know how anything would end except Sora and Jack’s relationship. As I said above, I thought Jack was too nice to his ex, and it did come back to bite him in the butt, big time. Their breakup wasn’t unexpected (it happens in all romances), but what was unexpected was Sora’s come to Jesus moment with her best friend (who is a therapist) after. Everything said was true, and I liked that Sora took what she said to heart. The #gosolo challenge was fun, and I could see it happening in real life (maybe it has?).

There were several secondary storylines that I enjoyed reading. There are some that I hope the author follows up on (Jack has several unmarried brothers and Sora has a sister).

The end of The Second You’re Single was your typical HEA. I was surprised at who was instrumental in pushing Sora and Jack back together. But, considering what happened and the talk this person had with Jack, I should have seen it coming. I loved seeing Sora and Jack’s changes, both together and separately. But, it was the scene on the playground that got me. I was laughing and crying at once.

I recommend The Second You’re Single to anyone over 21. There are sexual scenes and situations, language, and mild violence. Also, see my trigger warnings above.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Cara Tanamachi for allowing me to read and review The Second You’re Single. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

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