If you love non-angsty enemies to lovers, you’ll want to pick up The Retreat by Natasha West. West combines the enemies to lovers trope with fake dating, forced proximity, and only one bed. It’s chaotic and funny, yet unabashedly real. The pace is quick (the majority of the book takes place over a single weekend), and I ended up reading it in one sitting. I forgot to eat dinner.
After Talia Knox catches her girlfriend in bed with another woman, she throws herself into her law career and swears off relationships. The problem is, the Monroe law firm puts a heavy emphasis on family values. Talia makes up a girlfriend, Alex, who conveniently never makes it to office parties. It works until the boss announces a weekend retreat and expects Alex to be there. With Talia’s promotion and career on the line, she needs a fake girlfriend, fast. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for her, the woman who she found in bed with her ex shows up to her workplace. And her boss assumes the woman is Alex. Left with no other choice, Talia bribes Imogen to accompany her on the retreat even though the two hate each other.
Over the course of the weekend, Talia and Imogen get to know each other better and overcome their past. Feelings develop between ridiculous team bonding activities in a way that feels authentic. The characters have depth and flaws. Proclamations of feelings didn’t put each other on a pedestal, but felt raw and human. The chemistry builds up nicely and the climax is oh so satisfying. The Retreat somehow felt hot even though it was fade to black.
This is my favorite book I’ve reviewed so far. It hit so many points for me. Feelings didn’t appear out of thin air and they didn’t get together halfway through (therefore no second act breakup either), characters weren’t perfect, and the romance felt genuine. I spent the whole book knowing exactly what was going to happen in the end but the sliver of hope that Talia and Imogen would somehow come out of this unscathed urged me to read on. I’ll be looking for more Natasha West in the future, that’s for sure.
