Keep This Off the Record

by Arden Joy

Abigail Meyer and Freya Jonsson can’t stand one another. But could their severe hatred be masking something else entirely? From the moment they locked eyes in high school, Abby and Freya have been at each other’s throats. Fifteen years later, when Abby and Freya cross paths again, their old rivalry doesn’t take more than a few minutes to begin anew. And now Naomi, Abby’s best friend, is falling for Freya’s producer and close pal, Will. Both women are thrilled to see their friends in a happy relationship – except they are now only a few degrees of separation from the person they claim to despise… and they can’t seem to avoid seeing one another. After their encounters repeatedly devolve into warfare, Abby and Freya’s friends decide their age-old rivalry can only mean one true love. Will their friends bring them together? Or will Freya’s refusal to admit who she is keep them from discovering their underlying passion?

Keep This Off the Record is a fun and fresh LGBTQ+ story about the freedom to be who you are, even if that means falling for the person you hate.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Queer, Audiobook, Jewish, Lesbian, Fiction

327 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2024

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be a fun enemies-to-lovers sapphic rom-com with some Jewish representation, but it just didn’t work for me. The main characters are in their late 20s but they talked and acted like high schoolers. Their behavior was just too juvenile to keep my interest, starting with the opening scene of Abby throwing a drink at Freya at their high school reunion, and followed by Abby’s decision to spy on Naomi while on her first date with Will. After 27%, I decided to DNF this one. “Too many books, too little time.”

The publisher’s blurb does not include this information, but I’ve seen other reviewers mention that this is a retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Collective for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the lookout for a new author/easy read, the book cover and blurb looked good so I took a chance.
You know, high school rivalry, high school reunion, best friends, ultimate happiness, etc. - Abigail/Abby and Freya reconnecting at the Reunion - it all looked promising. Then things started to bog down as I read. The back and forth, meddling friends became too much. I wanted more of the lead characters, the background, what made them tick. I got lots of friends stuff and it's a pity the hate to love was so speedy. No build-up. This is MHO but I'm sure the book may appeal to other readers.
Ultimately this is 2.5 stars upgraded to 3 stars to encourage the author.

[Clara Addicted to sapphic books · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is definitely funny and witty, its strength is in the banter and the ride or die dynamic between the characters. The fact that there are only two characters on the cover is a bit misleading, because the side characters have a huge part in the book, they deserve to be on the cover. They are fun and very colorful. Now let's talk about the romance side between Abby and Freya. The blurb was a promising enemies to lovers but in the end, the romance side was barely there for me. By 50% of the book, they had 4 tiny interactions and the way they were brought up together reminded me of what 12yo classmates would do, it was funny but a bit immature. Then, they go from 0 to 100 without barely real interaction or talk. My problem was I barely knew the characters and the lack of background prevented me from getting attached to them or seeing any character growth.
If you are looking for depth, like me, romance wise, this book might not be for you. If you are in the mood for something light, fun, a bit crazy not really emotional with some twists in a romcom style this book is for you. It's fast paced and easy to read.

[Brenda Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stayed up so late last night to finish this! Worth every moment.
I enjoyed this book so much - it was just the right time in my life to read it. A need for something light, a little low brow humor and high school drama as adults.
This group of friends - where can I find my own? The support characters of Becca and Riley - massive need!
The romance, the HEAs, the drama - loved it all!

[Yves V.H. [Slow reading] · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't feel the romance between the main characters AT ALL. The supposed subplot (Will and Naomi's love story) has more impact. In fact, it felt like it's their story, not Freya and Abby's. I didn't feel the enemies-to-lovers bit either which I think was supposed to be the main trope of the story.

Besides that, I do find Arden's style of writing quite engaging. It really helped me reach up to the end of the book. I just wished that the problem with Freya wanting to keep her sexuality a secret was expressed even more because that was her big secret but it felt like it was just glossed over and moved on to the next problem and then suddenly everything is okay.

The middle part of the story felt stagnant too. It was hard to read and somehow I found myself skimming through some parts because it was that uninteresting.


💎 Thank you Netgalley and author for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's fitting that the author of Keep This Off the Record has the last name Joy because this book is full of joy! This was a fun enemies-to-lovers story, with LGBTQ+ and Jewish representation. I read it for The Jewish Joy Book Club (in the Jewish Women Talk About Romance Books group) and it was such a great choice! There was even a fun discussion with the author.

This novel was inspired by Much Ado About Nothing, which I know nothing about, so it was full of surprises for me. There was a level of playfulness throughout, which I enjoyed. She also touches on a serious topic involving one of the supporting characters and I'm glad that was explored and given some weight. (Trigger warning below.)

I really liked all the supporting characters in this novel. Their interactions with the main characters and their own parts in the story were so entertaining. I'm glad to know that one of the supporting characters will be featured in Arden's next novel.

My only concern is that the romance between the main characters felt a bit rushed compared to everything else that was going on. There wasn't as much time to explore it while focusing on the drama that was happening.

I look forward to reading more by Arden Joy in the near future!

Movie casting suggestions:

Abigail: Alison Brie

Freya: Ali Liebert

Naomi: Kat Dennings

Becca: Hanna Stein

Will: Ben Feldman

Riley: Ruby Rose
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TW: Domestic abuse (happened to a supporting character in the past, but the perpetrator is still around)

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this, but I can't even get past the first scene because of the derogatory language towards fat people. Disappointed in both the author, and the editorial team who let this through.

[ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

every single character in this book was insufferable. they were just horrible and toxic people.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Advanced reader copy

In the words of SNL's Stefon, this book has everything: girl enemies-to-lovers, wedding drama, Judaism, cats, therapy, best friends, Chi-town, social media, public declarations of love, a nosy old lady neighbor, wine, texting which turns to sexting which turns to naked ladies in bed, sneaky friends, and most importantly, put upon older sisters.

But in all seriousness, this book was such fun to read from start to finish. The alternating POV gives insight into the emotional world of our two main characters while fleshing out the often hysterical supporting cast of friends. And the ending! That's all I'll say on the matter you'll have to read it for yourself.

[Anas Attic Book Blog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keep This Off The Record by Arden Joy
Narrated by Mara Wilson and Gail Shalan
Sapphic (Lesbian) RomCom. Stands Alone
3.5 Stars.
affiliate links

I have been wanting to try a lesbian romance for a while now, and I found Keep This Off The Record by Arden Joy while I was compiling a list of books with Jewish characters. It was available in audio and on Hoopla (bonus!), so I grabbed it. Right after that, my book club chose this book for February as well.

"You know who you are. You are royalty. Put on your crown and fight for your kingdom."

For Abigail and Freya, it was hate at first sight in high school, and apparently, 10 years later, that hatred has not waned at all, as we see from an awful Mean Girls type of confrontation at their High School reunion. They each brought their best friends to this reunion: Freya’s producer of her TV show Will, and Abigail’s best friend Naomi, who ended up falling for each other, keeping Abigail and Freya in the same orbit.

Abigail’s cheating sister Becca and the very funny gender-fluid Riley rounded out the group of friends. They were all caricatures but they were still such fun I was able to just go with it and I think they saved the book for me.

I was looking forward to my first “Sapphic romance”, but I found the romance between Will and Naomi to be much more compelling than the simmering hatred-to-love between Freya and Abigail. When Will and Naomi decide to get married on Freya’s TV show, Abigail and Freya are the Best women/Matrons of Honor and have to plan some of the wedding together.

Here is where it gets weird: these two have hated each other for years, never giving any indication that we can see that they feel any other way. Abigail is openly gay, but Freya has never even hinted that she is anything but straight, and her conservative network would not accept it anyway. Still, the friends make elaborate schemes to have Freya and Abigail overhear fake conversations about how one is in love with the other. Suddenly they look at each other differently and the next thing you know, they’re together and in love in a closed-door romance.

I never saw the slow burn and I felt the hatred but never felt the love. Will and Naomi’s romance and wedding had me more invested than the supposed main character’s romance because I never actually felt them falling for each other.

Likes:
•I laughed out loud several times.
•The LGBTQ+ representation.
•Jewish representation as passing mentions, not as a main focus (I love this!).
•Riley was so funny!
•The dynamics of the friend group and how fun they are together.

Dislikes:
•Becca’s cheating.
•I never felt the connection between the main couple.

The Narration:
Mara Wilson and Gail Shalan did a great job with the narration and I think their acting added to my enjoyement of the book.

The Down & Dirty:
Keep This Off The Record by Arden Joy was a fun listen. I wanted to dive into a lesbian romance though, and this was barely one at all. I don’t even think the romance started before 70% and I never really felt the chemistry. But the friend group was so much fun and I loved the secondary romance which was way more interesting than the main FF one.

Rating: 3.5 Stars, 0 Heat, 4.5 Narration

Purchase Keep This Off The Record by Arden Joy
Amazon | Audible


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[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enemies to lovers romance. Freya Jonsson and Abby Meyer were archnemesis in high school. They met again at a reunion and things didn’t go too well. But now, they are forced to interact frequently as Abby’s friend (Naomi) is dating Freya’s associate producer (Will).

This is my favourite trope. However, I found this book quite hard to get into initially. It was a rather slow in the beginning in trying to see why the 2 main characters would eventually like each other. The later half of the book picked up and was a lot better. The romance (when it eventually happened) between Freya and Abby was great but a long time coming. The 2MCs are easy to like people.

And what I also liked is that this book is about friendships. It gives us glimpses of Freya and Will’s friendship as well as Abby and Naomi’s (and Riley’s and Becca’s) friendship. I also enjoyed the romance between Naomi and Will. And the book was also funny…there were a few laugh out loud moments.

So if you are picking up this book, hang in there, it gets better. It is a rather sweet read. Love the ending!

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[HB. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another lesbian romance that felt too juvenile for me to be able to enjoy it. I don’t mind “enemies to lovers” but it didn’t feel worth caring about in this case. Everyone felt like a caricature and I couldn’t take any of it seriously. If the writing was different, it might’ve been able to carry the plot better, but I couldn’t keep reading when a cherry was described as being the colour of a cherry. The beginning was hard to get through and I lost faith in the writing when someone’s accent was compared to “a stripper slowly, seductive sliding down a pole”. Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me.

[currentlyreadingbynat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keep This Off the Record is an engaging and witty read, filled with banter and a strong ride-or-die dynamic between abby and her friend group. While the cover suggests a focus on the two main characters, Abby and Freya, the colourful side characters play a significant role in the story and add depth to the novel.

Unfortunately, the romance between Abby and Freya fell flat for me. The enemies-to-lovers trope promised in the blurb did not fully deliver, with minimal interactions between them until halfway through the book and a rushed transition from animosity to affection.

Despite the fun and humour, the story's pacing and the quick shift in the romance made it feel less believable and emotionally engaging. The subplot involving Will and Naomi seemed to overshadow the main romance, which was a missed opportunity to explore Abby and Freya's dynamic more deeply.

Overall, while Arden's writing style is engaging and kept me reading until the end, the book lacked the emotional depth and development I was hoping for. If you're looking for a light, fun read with a bit of craziness and don't mind a less developed romance, this book might still be enjoyable. However, for those seeking a more profound and mature enemies-to-lovers story, it might fall short.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

This is a contemporary romantic comedy retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

This book alternates POVs between Abby (a therapist) and Freya (a global journalist).

The book features Jewish Rep, a Sapphic romance, and fun comedy.

Abby and Freya were enemies in high school. Naomi is Abby’s best friend. Will works as a producer for Freya. And Riley (Abby’s friend) and Becca (Abby’s sister) are the comedy in this book.

This book is so much more than just a romance or a retelling. There are two couples in this book. There is some fun reality tv drama. There are so many funny scenes. And so much drama. If you aren’t familiar with Shakespeare read a summary of Much Ado About Nothing when you’ve finished this book. The modern take on this classic makes for an incredible read. I’m super excited to discuss this with the Jewish Women’s Book Club later this month. And I absolutely cannot wait to read Naomi’s side of the story in Leave This Off The Books.

[Jessica Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐

This was a good read. It was quick and easy to read, with laughable characters and an alright storyline.

The premise of the book really was about the wedding, and how relevant social media is these days, and how friends can make people change their minds about a person when they over hear lies.

The only time it had made heart beat go up was the bit at the end that Naomi and Abby found in the apartment, but besides from that it was an ok sapphic read.

Queer rep was good with lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, non binary, sex positive but no spicy scenes.

Thanks to netgalley and Rising Action Publishing Co for a copy of the ebook.

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be a little fair to this book, the first book I read after Iron Flame was always going to pale in comparison. But I almost DNF'ed it, and I skimmed the last 25% and things went even more off the rails, so I think this book did that all on its own.

The main two characters, Abby, a therapist, and Freya, a hot shot journalist, are high school enemies who are seeing each other for the first time at a high school reunion (10th? 15th? Not sure). Why are they enemies? I think just normal high school drama. But their first interaction in at least a decade results in Abby throwing a drink at Freya and Freya's girl squad from high school acting like teenagers. I always have a hard time with childhood enemies in books, because why are you still so hung up on this so many years later? Why have you kept thinking about how much you hate the cool kid in high school when you are several years out of college? That is extremely weird!!

Unfortunately for Abby and Freya, they can't seem to avoid each other. And that's because Freya's associate producer Will, who went with her to her reunion, is smitten with Abby's best friend from high school, Naomi. But Abby doesn't trust Will because he's friends with Freya, and Freya doesn't trust Naomi because she's friends with Abby, so when they go on their first date, obviously Abby and Freya try to hide to see what's going on. And somehow, Abby brings along Riley, her other best friend, and Becca, her sister.

A sidebar about Becca -- she's introduced as someone who is married but continually unfaithful, and then when her husband calls her out on it, she is all of a sudden remorseful and wants to fix things with him. Which, fine, but it was the weirdest subplot to have Becca constantly showing up on her way back from trysts with a different person every time.

Abby and Freya keep not getting along, which OBVIOUSLY (to their friends) means they have feelings for each other. Which, it's not clear as a reader that they do. The POVs alternate, and at no point up until now do either Abby or Freya think something like "ugh she's so annoying and so hot and that's even more annoying." Naomi and Will and Becca and Riley engineer absolutely batshit wild scenarios so that Abby and Freya separately "overhear" them saying that the other one is in love with them. And all of a sudden, Abby thinks Freya is in love with her, and Freya thinks Abby is in love with her. This is such a stupid way to get the characters together. First of all, at no point has Freya ever indicated that she's interested in women. Second of all, at no point did EITHER Abby or Freya voice this to their friends. Third of all, even if their friends wanted to set them up, their first instinct was to engineer scenarios, including a fake pocket dial, for them to "overhear" this conversation.

The plot continues as eventually Will decides to propose to Naomi. But because of how he proposes (Freya helps him propose "on air"), the network decides to make a whole story of it, and they offer to pay for the wedding if they get married in one month and let them film everything. Which is a dumb idea, but for some reason, Naomi and Will go along with it. And a note about the network -- the network is "traditional," whatever that means, but Freya continually thinks about what her image is and how she needs to seem. And this is a dumb plot point too -- in 2023, I don't need to be reading about how a news network isn't interested in having gay people be out and on camera.

At this point, the plot goes completely off the rails. The rest of this is spoilers, so be warned. When they finally get to Naomi and Will's "big day," chaos ensues. Another piece of backstory is that Naomi was previously married, but she has since gotten divorced, and her ex-husband (Simon) threatened and stalked her. She never told Will about him, which Abby thinks is a bad idea, and Naomi knows it is too, but by the time they get to the wedding, she's in too deep. Anyway, a "rival reporter" somehow gets into the wedding, and during the ceremony, he interrupts to ask Naomi "what she was doing with her ex-husband last night" because they received an anonymous tip with photos. The photos aren't actually Naomi (the woman's face isn't visible, though it's definitely Simon), but because Naomi never told Will about Simon, he's understandably shocked. He leaves, or Naomi leaves, and the wedding is off and everyone is pissed.

At this point, I truly almost DNF'ed because that is a bonkers thing to happen and not fun to read about. But, I decided to skim just to make sure there's a happy ending.

Abby and Freya start to get in a fight because Abby is defending Naomi and Freya is defending Will and then all of a sudden they are making out. NO. I'm all for them getting together, but I hate when authors decide to have characters get together at inappropriate times, like when they should be looking for their friends whose wedding just blew up.

If you can believe that it gets even more batshit crazy, eventually, Naomi and Will forgive each other and decide to get married again for real as quickly as possible. So Abby and Naomi go home to get ready, and Simon shows up WITH A GUN to win Naomi back?? Abby knocks him out with a bottle of wine but not before he fires a shot at her and it grazes her head??? So then they end up in the hospital to treat Abby's gun wound which is where Naomi and Will get married???? I honestly was skimming her and then saw Simon show up with a gun and backtracked, but why was that necessary to the plot? It wasn't. It does cause Freya to have her big realization, after the day before she broke up with Abby because she says she can never be publicly out because she has to protect her journalism career, and she rushes to the hospital and proclaims her love for Abby.

None of this was enjoyable to read. All of the characters were annoying and juvenile and made dumb decisions and the scenarios they found themselves in were absolutely bonkers. The only points I will give this book is that there's good Jewish rep (Abby and Naomi kiss her mezuzah when they enter her apartment. That's fun to read in a book!). But really... that was the only good thing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co. for providing me with an eARC of Keep This Off the Record in exchange for my honest review (and boy was it honest).

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This starts off with a very funny scene at a 15 year class reunion. Abigail Meyer is a licensed therapist with two bff’s, Naomi, Riley, and a wacky sister. Freya Jonsson is an award winning journalist for Nightly Global News. She brings her friend and associate producer Will to the reunion where hits it off with Naomi. Fast forward a few months and now with their friends involved Freya and Abby keep running into each other. With a nod to Much Ado About Nothing, the friends allow both Freya and Abby to overhear them discussing how their antagonist actually is in love with them.

The story spends almost more time on the friend group and their actions than on developing the relationship between Abby and Freya. Things go more bonkers as the plot moves forward and I don’t want to give spoilers. Usually with high school enemies there is some flashback or storytelling about how they came to dislike each other and that is missing here. Essentially Abby was jealous that Freya was the most popular girl and Freya was jealous that Abby could be who she wanted to be. So the beginning animosity scene seems silly and pointless given the background. The story is good and the friend group banter is fun. But I wanted more time with Freya and Abby. And being closed doors didn’t help in seeing their connection. I really enjoyed the beginning of the story but as it went on my interest waned. The author can write very funny scenes, characters and dialogue. (3.5 Stars)

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book but oh my was it a bad choice. I couldn’t finish it. The plot was so convoluted, the main characters didn’t like each other never mind had any romantic chemistry. The characters were all pretty horrible. I can remove myself from reality for a really good story but the chaos that the friend group caused was so ridiculous and unbelievable it prevented me from truly getting into this book. Not to mention that everyone just seemed like terrible people. Sadly this book is not worth the time it takes to get through it.

[Francesca]

I liked this book but I felt that there was little chemistry between the two main characters. However this was a fast pace romance that really helped me get out of my reading slump and is a good easy read.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy!

This was an absolute treat to read! I loved how much focus was put on the side characters and their stories.

[Robyn Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts off slow but does pick up. It's about 3/4 of the way through the book before you figure out who the story is about. I love how the cast of friends is diverse and makes a point to use the correct pronouns. Sometimes you need loose the love of your life to understand what is really important. All in all, this was a cute book about finding love.

[Sue Plant · Rating 5 out of 5]

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

school enemies Abigail Meyer and Freya Jonsson still havent gotten over their hatred of each other and at the school reunion things dont go well as abigail throws her drink over freya

but their stumbling block is that their best friends fall in love with each other and that only means one thing they have to somehow manage to survive in each others orbit as the wedding looms

but what nobody expected was for abbie and freya to actually fall for each other and for an ex of the bride to make an appalling scene

what a mish mash of characters there are but so lovable it was a joy to read and to read the exploits of all the main characters as they were all so funny

but its the characters of abbie and freya that have you guessing what is going to happen next and this one doesnt disappoint...

[Lake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Argh

I'm so annoyed. The MCs were actually interesting and had a nice tense complicated relationship, but there's sooooooooo much unnecessary nonsense with a bunch of side characters. It's the usual obnoxious romance bffs - a nice one, a quirky one, a horny one - constantly meddling with random shenanigans. I loathed them all.

It crammed the MC's bisexual awakening, threatened outting, subsequent freakout, and breakup into half a chapter but I got 10 chapters about the best friend's first wedding and second wedding and third wedding and. Literally don't give a fuck thanks!

There's a good book in there but it's buried under every single witty one liner and quip and corresponding character to say them the author has ever saved in their notes app over the years

[Rachel Kohlbrenner]

Stopped at 20%. I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn’t work for me. Freya was a character that rubbed me the wrong way and was taking too long for me to get her perspective. I also thought the side characters of the friends really meddled too much that it irked me. I love a good side character that adds humor, but these did not quite hit the mark. The enemies part of the trope I really felt, but not the chemistry of the lovers part at least not what I read of it.

[jess]

This was a dnf unfortunately. I got to 50% and more development was happening with the side characters than with the two main characters. The "romance plot" has barely been touched, and the reason these two hate each other all comes down to stupid high school drama and jealousy. I won't be finishing this one.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Meredith Schorr · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTF

[Frida Gundersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

antok det skulle være en sapphic love story (siden det står at det er det den handler om), men denne boken forteller kjærlighetshistorien til et hetero par fra perspektivet til to skeive kvinner. som også, tilfeldigvis virker det nesten som, blir sammen på slutten av historien.

[TheLisaD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good story, I love that it wasn't just the 2 main female characters that shined in this book but was a group effort just like all throughout the book. This was friends being friends as they met new people, fell in love and faced real life issues. It had a little heat to it as well but just the right amount I feel for a Rom-Com.

[Rey Hawke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[Hailey Alcaraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ensemble cast in this romance is *chef’s kiss*