Dear Enemy by Kristen Callihan

Summary of Dear Enemy:

As kids, they hated each other. Macon Saint was beautiful, but despite his name, Delilah knew he was the devil. That he dated her slightly evil sister, Samantha, was no picnic either. When they broke up, it was a dream come true: Delilah never had to see him again.

Ten years later, her old enemy sends a text.

Delilah’s sister has stolen a valuable heirloom from Macon, now a rising Hollywood star, and he intends to collect his due. One problem: Sam has skipped town.

Sparks still sizzle between Macon and Delilah, only this heat feels alarmingly like unwanted attraction. But Delilah is desperate to keep her weak-hearted mother from learning of her sister’s theft. So she proposes a deal: she’ll pay off the debt by being Macon’s personal chef and assistant.

It’s a recipe for disaster, but Macon can’t stop himself from accepting. Even though Delilah clearly hates him, there’s something about her that feels like home. Besides, they’re no longer kids, and what once was a bitter rivalry has the potential to be something sweeter. Something like forever.

Length:

386 Pages

Reading Speed:

6 hours and 5 minutes

My Opinion of Dear Enemy:

Can we start with the obvious? He dated her sister.

Her. Sister.

And not like, one or two dates where they decided they were better off as friends. No, no. High School Sweethearts. It is repeated in the book over and over again. They were important to each other. Their relationship is undermined by Delilah and Macon, making it seem fake and shallow. Sam shows her hand when she surprises Macon by knowing his next step before he had figured it out himself. That shows a deep knowledge of her ex-partner. If the relationship was shallow for Macon, it wasn’t for Sam.

And now as someone who does have a sister and a brother-in-law.

Just ew.

It will never not be weird to me. I mean, the guy would know what you and your sister like in bed. He can literally compare notes. It is and will always be disgusting.

Trope:

This story has the known-each-other-since-childhood and enemies-to-lovers trope. Combined, I’m not a fan. What happens to us as kids always affects how we act as adults. Macon’s insults over Delilah’s looks as a teenagers effected how she saw herself as an adult. And why would you want to be with someone who has put you down so much in the past?

Also, he calls her Tot the entire time. Which is reminiscent of when she was bullied in high school. By him. The book keeps hinting back at their past and how aggressive and cruel they were towards each other. Delilah took the worst hits and just because she didn’t cry in front of him and insulted him back, somehow they are even?

There are so many people in the world and the main characters going after the person who brought out the worst in them when they were kids, is just bad writing. And a write-up for a toxic relationship.

Characters:

In every “apology” this guy has uttered, he blamed the fact that she got under his skin and that he was a kid/teenager. But to me, his pride was the size of the Titanic and Delilah was the iceberg. Throughout the book, he goes from being nice and being her friend to yelling and putting his pride before their developing relationship.

He wasn’t the only one.

Delilah seems protective and strong at first. Putting her family above her own wants. And for the most of it, she was okay. But again, dating her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Weird. Not to mention, when Macon would tell her something about his tragic past (Of course he has one, otherwise how will we forgive all the horrible things he has done.) Delilah somehow managed to make it about her. Why he didn’t tell her sooner.

Why should he? You guys weren’t even friends at that point. It was like she felt that she was entitled to his every thought and experience. That relationship was doomed from the start. The one redeeming quality about her is that her priorities didn’t change much. Her family was more important than her career, but she didn’t neglect it. Her dreams and ambitions were present every time she cooked.

Plot/Writing style:

One of the things that I hate in books is a badly-written original idea. I mean, you had it and just stomped all over it.

There were multiple original ideas in this book, all went unused and were thrown in there carelessly. There were so many subplots, none of them explored properly. It was like the author had too many ideas and just shoved them in there.

The writing style wasn’t bad, there were some scenes that I found we written nicely, like every conversation she had with her mother. I always appreciate dual point of views. I feel like a nice bonus would have been one chapter from North’s point of view (the bodyguard). He could describe how they see them as an outside.

I got a feeling the author changed her mind about a major point in the plot. At like, the third of the book, Macon started saying things that don’t really correspond with what we have seen with his point of view so far. I’m pretty sure a rewrite was in order.

It was just the looming fact of him being her sister’s ex that kept me from enjoying this book.

And everything else I mentioned.

Recommendation for Dear Enemy:

Honestly, the only people I would recommend this to, are the ones still trying to one-up their sister. The “underdog” sister wins in this one, so have at it.

Oh, and if childhood-enemies-to-lovers is your favorite trope.

If not, put this back on the shelf and walk away.