My Beautiful Enemy

by Lyssa Hahn

Freya
Toby Knight is the man I loathe most in the world. He’s rich, arrogant and too handsome for my own good. Between his daily insults and smouldering glares, he drives me crazy in more ways than one.

I don't have time to deal with him. I have a sick mother, a leaky apartment, a vengeful ex-boss and missing underwear to deal with. I don't have time for his shit, even if he’s decided I’m his next charitable project.


Toby
Everything I thought I knew about Freya turned out to be wrong. By the time I found out the truth, I had hurt her badly and made her cry.

Now all I want to do is make things right. Freya needs someone in her corner. She needs someone to make her smile again. I’ll gladly be that someone. My only problem is getting her to let me.

This is a steamy, slow burn, enemies to friends to lovers romance featuring a protective golden retriever hero and a wounded bird heroine. Can be read as a standalone novel.

Genres: Romance

411 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2024

Reviews

[SassypantsReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Beautiful Enemy was a sweet book, but it wasn’t my favorite. I did not feel the chemistry between Freya and Toby AT ALL. I would’ve been perfectly happy if they ended the book as friends because their relationship felt forced. This was a pretty emotional book; I felt so, so bad for Freya. TWs for some pretty intense emotional abuse and bullying, including some by the MMC, unfortunately. It is rectified once the MMC is enlightened by the truth, though. I like the side characters, and I might go back and read the first book in the series. If you’re looking for spice, you’re going to be waiting a loooong time (not until the 80% mark) and it’s minimal. Overall, a cute read.

I received an advance review copy of My Beautiful Enemy for free from BookSirens. I am leaving this review, which is entirely my own, voluntarily.

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by this new author, but it is the second book in the series. I picked this book up because I thought the blurb of the book had an interesting plot and also I love an enemies to lovers and slow burn romance. I thought this book was a great palette cleanser, especially after I just DNF a book, so I really needed this. And it exceeded my expectations.

In the beginning of the book, we meet Freya, who is currently down on her luck working as a barista because she was fired after speaking up about her boss stealing money from the company. Her ex boss is now out to get her and is blacklisting her for other jobs, ruining her reputation, and suing her. Then we meet Toby, who is a kind hearted and admirable rich billionaire who at first gets the wrong impression about Freya and then once he figures out what has been going on, he does everything in his power to make things better for her. Slowly, you see the characters go from enemies to friends and then more.

Freya was such a strong heroine and no matter what was thrown at her, she took it in stride and never asked for help. I loved when she finally was forced to accept help from Toby and began to trust him. She slowly allowed herself to ask for help. She was very protective of Toby and always stood up for him. Toby was the sweetest and loved to assist Freya. His love language was definitely doing things for others. He had such a good group of friends who were also protective of Freya. I enjoyed the relationship between these main characters, especially how they got to know each other first, as it was a pretty slow burn. Toby needed Freya to trust him first! Also, loved the end. I think I cheered so loud when Freya told her mother off!! Best scene ever. I am excited to see what is next to come and I’m hoping it will be a story about Toby‘s sister!!

[Abby Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Beautiful Enemy by Lyssa Hahn is a contemporary romance that really centers around the hurt/comfort trope. It is the second book in the Cerberus Heads series, but can definitely be read as a standalone, which I did.

The plot follows Freya, whose life has been destroyed by her vengeful ex-boss after she called him out of stealing money from the company. She is struggling to get her life together, but has been blacklisted and is really struggling. Toby is a business owner who believes Freya’s ex-boss at first, and then feels awful and tries to help Freya get back on her feet.

This book is fantastic for anyone who wants a hurt/comfort read, but the story really leans into this trope. Freya comes across almost as feeble and naive as she just takes all of these awful things that come to her. There is also an unbelievable amount of fraud that happens in literally every company in this book except Toby’s that results in Freya’s downfall. The romance is sweet, but I would not consider Freya a particularly resilient character, she kind of just takes what comes to her, even though it is all incredibly illegal.

Overall, I would give this book 3/5 stars and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a hurt/comfort book. I read it all in one sitting, so it definitely flows nicely. It also made me cry, but I think that was probably because I was already in a mood. I did enjoy this book, even with it’s flaws and predictability, I just feel like Freya could have been more of a strong character.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Michelle Frater · Rating 4 out of 5]

How do you recover from misjudging someone so badly, because Toby couldn’t have been more wrong about Freya and all based on a slew of lies from Brett, a vindictive little turd. Okay, so Toby couldn’t have known, but his snap judgement was based on no evidence at all. Considering his later investigation, he could have done the same at the start and I was disappointed he didn’t go with his gut feeling, which he was so proud of in the business world. When he finally discovers the truth, he wants to help Freya, but earning her trust will be an uphill battle. While they weren’t shy with their insults when still mortal enemies, it was almost as if they became tongue-tied when the battle was over. It soon becomes clear that Toby had a tendency to throw money at any problem and Freya has a problem accepting any help. It’s only when Freya’s apartment becomes a disaster zone, and they’re forced into close proximity, that they start to let their guards down and slowly become friends. However, Freya’s upbringing makes her wary of accepting help despite Toby’s assurances there are no strings attached. This is a really slow burn romance, but all the more realistic because it takes Freya a while to accept there’s someone finally in her corner and she doesn’t have to stand alone. I also liked the secondary characters at the Bearded Bean, especially Candace, who stood by Freya through thick and thin.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Beks · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I initially felt sympathetic towards Freya and enjoyed the banter between Freya and Toby, i quickly grew annoyed with both characters' immaturity. Also the supporting characters in terms of Lina, Tim, etc. They all give off high school vibes and not successful businessmen and businesswoman. The lead characters didn't captivate me and I found myself skipping through a lot of text just to get to the end of the story.
Toby's rich knight in shining armour character could have been displayed a lot better and Freya's naivety was down right annoying.
The description was spot on with the "slow burn" blurp, however the last few chapters were so rushed in comparison. So much wasted time at the beginning of the story with nothing really happening other than banter, only to have the last few chapters go by quicker than Lightning McQueen.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve really enjoyed this series! The reason why Toby hated freya seemed extremely forced. He thinks Brett is slimy but then instantly believes him and shits on freya for months. The angst and heart wrenching was more prevalent in the first book of this series but I loved it in here as well. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book. Freya is such a hard worker, Toby is a romantic who goes out of his way to right his wrongs AND recognizes that there’s a power imbalance between the two of them so he doesn’t make the move despite wanting to. It’s the little things in my billionaire romance books, ya know? Also Brett’s commupance was chefs kiss and wxactly what I wanted and the third act drama not being around a fake breakup but still involving “breaking up” was a nice twist. I only wish we had gotten some sort of better closure on Freyas mom but other than that, no notes!

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in Hahn's Cerberus Heads series but the first I've read of this series or this author. Our main characters are Freya and Toby. I was drawn to this book because of the blurb. I enjoyed the plot and banter between our characters, but these characters just didn't resonate with me. While initially my heart went out to Freya and her situation I found after a while the characters just felt immature. The middle of the book took a bit of a lul for me - this is a slow burn...very slow romance but still a good read if you're looking for a friends to lovers, comfort kinda romance. I'm definitely curious to see what Hahn will be writing next!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book, I thought it had potential. Then it was slow go for a bit with so much background information and a lot of repetition about Freya and Toby's characters. Then when there were about six or so chapters left, the story started to wrap up loose ends one by one. Not sure all those chapters were really needed to get the story across.

I did find some of the wording interesting, since it was based in Australia. Not being from Australia and familiar with certain slang terms, I had to reread some of the sentences over and over, to figure out what was being said.

Once it got going though, the banter, the chemistry, the steam and humor was good. I just found it hard to pick it back up when I had to put it down.

[…Welcome to My World &#x1f30e.. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very good. From the beginning it had me hooked and on edge wanting to know what was next. Freya had been through so much and I loved how Toby made up for his mistakes and worked to tear down her defenses. I also loved how Freya took up for Toby and supported him. These two were the perfect couple I really enjoyed this book. It was filled with humor and love as well as the perfect friendship dynamic between friends. I hope Lina gets a story, if so I will definitely be reading more. I do wish that there were more steamy and intimate moments between Freya and Toby , they definitely deserved it.

I received an arc copy and I’m voluntarily leaving my review.

[Berta Greenleaf Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. It was the first book I read from this author and now I am looking for more from her. I really liked the authentic Australian feel to the book; the cities, towns, words, slang and the people. I have never been there but with this book I feel like I have. Brett made a great villain along with Tim, both characters you love to hate. Freya was a wounded FMC and all her wounds were so realistic and painful. Toby was a gentle giant who always wanted to fix things. I highly recommend this book to all romance readers.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Dilelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light-hearted good read overall. The starting was really great. It didn't take me much time to get invested into the book. I absolutely loved the banters and the enemies part. However the mid part became a bit boring for me and difficult to go through. But the ending made up for it all. The plot was satisfying enough but I had some better expectations from the romance. I would say it's a nice little romance to read when one is bored.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving an honest voluntary review.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Beautiful Enemy by Lyssa Hahn is a good, and enjoyable steamy coffee shop slow burn enemies to friends to lovers romantic comedy read with dual point of view. The story has a good entertaining world building story line. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry. This story is an entertaining slow burn romance read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freya & Toby: Cerberus Heads Book 2: Standalone in an interconnected series. Slow burn enemies to friends to lovers. Lyssa Hahn did a great job with the character development. I read this book first, but I plan on reading My Backup Plan (Book 1) next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Maja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first read from this author. I liked Freya from the start. I loved reading her point of view in the first person, it was very realistic. I really enjoyed the story and I will be reading more from this author in the future.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kaitlyn Raasveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freya and Toby are precious when she finally lets him get close. He’s got a lot to prove to make her trust him and I love that this was slow burn, sometimes it’s nice to not have an instant connection but still get the satisfaction later that it all might work out. The story flowed really well and I loved the ending.

[Doodle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was both a heart wrenching and warming book to read. I'm glad Freya finally sorted out her things with her mum and managed to get her old life back, if not even better. Toby is such a sweetheart, good for him that he isn't bored at work anymore. c:.

[Isha Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaker full of push and pull moments. My Beautiful Enemy speaks from the emotions of it's characters. It's beautiful, messy, frustrating and heartbreaking. A sweet temptation that sneaks up on your soul.