Review: Enemies No More by Jimi Gaillard-Jefferson

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Enemies No More: An Enemies to Lovers Standalone by Jimi Gaillard-Jefferson
Published by Amazon Digital Services LLC on August 27, 2020
Genres: African American, Romance
Pages: 280
Format: ARC
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three-stars

Him:
She's the illusive part of a dream.

Blink and wonder if she's real. Can beauty be that vivid? Can a mind be that sharp? A mouth that bold?

She's everything I've ever been denied.

She's everything I'm too afraid to say I want.

She's here. Panther eyes. Hands on mine. In mine.

On me.

She's better than a dream.

Because she'll stay

If I give it all up.

Her:
He's the man I liked too much to pity and wanted too much to ignore

A harp played, a woman moaned her agonies and luxuries into a microphone and

He had chocolate and Scotch in his hands when I told him I wanted him

It was better than I imagined.

He wants to hide us and everything we've become.

Family, money, occupations, and career paths.

There's too much at stake, he says.

I am supposed to be his lifelong enemy. Not this.

But I am me, and I am his

Sacrifices will have to be made.

Dueling family interests? Sworn enemies since childhood falling in love with each other? The Days of Our Lives and General Hospital fan in me rejoices.

However, once I started reading Enemies No More, I was a little confused initially. Angelique and Derrick weren’t what I would consider enemies. Not really, anyway. Their families weren’t even enemies either, tbh. Derrick’s father, Drew, dislikes Angelique’s father because of the way he runs his business and how successful he is. He thought they should be doing things a certain way and didn’t really like anyone being seen as successful, or more than him and his family. Angelique’s dad didn’t really give a damn,

Because of that, and misplaced loyalty to his father, Derrick has stayed away from Angelique even though he is obviously into her. The feeling is actually quite mutual. Angelique made the first move and showed her cards to Derrick. What began as a way to scratch an itch for both of them turned into something more. It wasn’t a straight line and they both had a lot they had to sort through. From Angelique not believing Derrick really loved her and being a little flip-floppy to him having to devise a way to get from under his father’s thumb: happily ever after don’t come easy.

Derrick took a while to realize he didn’t need to tied to Drew when his dad obviously didn’t care for him or his wellbeing. Angelique had to learn to let people in and know that just because she didn’t need anyone in her life didn’t mean it wasn’t okay to have it.

Speaking of Drew, he was presented as the main villain here and while it was definitely present, I had hoped we would get a little bit more out of that subplot. He had the potential to be a Julian Crane (my soap opera fans will understand) and it fell a little short. There were some juicy secrets revealed that I was eager to learn more about. Overall, however, Derrick and Angelique were nice characters that I thought were developed pretty well.

The secondary characters were a highlight for me. It seems they have been featured in previous books and since this is my first read by the author, I’ll be taking a peek at the catalog to read their stories.

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Natalya

Natalya is an Account Manager by day and an editor and author's assistant to passionate creatives by night. When she is not adding to her enormous book collection or stationery supply, she is catching up on her favorite television shows.

Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.

You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.