About the Book

A new contemporary romantic comedy from USA TODAY bestselling author R.S. Grey.

Hate turns to heat when a literary grump meets his deadline savior.

My assignment is simple: trek to a remote English cottage and convince Nathaniel Foster to let me work with him.

Too bad he’s a complete and utter jerk.

Who slams the door in a poor stranger’s face, leaving them shivering out in the snow?! So much for a warm welcome.

Nathaniel is God’s gift to readers everywhere. My publisher is desperate for his next book, which in turn makes me desperate to help him complete it. So what if he doesn’t want to play nice? I have no choice but to live and work with him in this snow-covered cottage, suffering under his piercing blue stare until it feels like I might combust.

Our heated exchanges by day give way to torturous tension at night. I can’t clock out from his all-consuming presence. I can’t escape my unwanted feelings. When one of our arguments nearly ends in an angry kiss, I worry the writing is on the wall.

But I can do this. I can clench my teeth, ball my fists, and focus on this damn book. If I can just keep the fiction and fantasy between the pages and not between the sheets, I’ll be the hero of the publishing world.

So pick up your pen, Nathaniel—and please, please, stop looking at me like that.

Review

This was a solid book with the typical R.S. Grey traits that begin to seem repetitive if you were to binge all her books close together. For the most part, I was entertained. I enjoyed that Summer was such a big fan of Nate’s books and let her fiery side show when he tried to be closed off. In fact, I think I enjoyed their relationship the most within the book.

Both characters were their best when they were with each other. As other characters were introduced, the book started to unravel. For example, Summer and her older sister—Emma. For most of the book, Summer talks about how much of a black sheep she is compared to her family. She’s only keeping her ex close because of her family. She has an especially hard time with Emma. Emma makes a brief appearance at the end of the story, and as much as Summer talked about her family, I expected the scene to pack a punch. It was fine at best and felt mostly like filler. Then, there is whole ex-boyfriend, Andrew, of it all. He didn’t need as much focus as he got.

Final Thoughts

Fighting Words works best when it’s just Summer and Nate. I enjoyed the scenes where they were talking about his writing process and how the romance within Nate’s book mirrored their relationship. Their relationship within the latter half was my favorite, and I thought the author shined there. Unfortunately, the book tries to introduce dynamics with the leads with other characters that don’t fully feel flushed out nor do they add anything to the story. I would have been fine if this simply had been a story about Summer traveling to England to help Nate without the ex-boyfriend and family drama. I think if both had been omitted then the author would have had more time to focus on Nate and Summer’s relationship.

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