Make Me a Double by Raina Joy Wilder

This is a pretty standard tale of enemies to friends (or at least rivals to more) with a bit of extra when it comes to the characters themselves. Two people with completely different lives end up opening extremely different bars next to each other. They share a wall, and although they do not have a common clientele, they end up rubbing each other the wrong way. That last part may be more on one side than the sentence, which may lead the reader to believe. For once, we have an annoying female lead who is still likeable underneath it all. She just has a lot of preconceived notions to give up. Isadora has worked hard to get where she is and is not willing to let anything stand in her way. She is a little prejudiced against a lot of ‘popular fiction’ and ends up needing more than a little push in order to open up and try newer things and not be extremely stuck up. She does learn to work on these and does acknowledge the presence of such thoughts even before she works her way through them, which is a bonus. Chuck is a more common character. He has had an easy life because his parents’ lifestyle has paved the way for things to go a certain way for him. He has to face his choices in life, not least because his neighbour keeps throwing it in his face. He is restless and wants to redefine his life but has trouble figuring out where to start. By the end of the book, the two of them find a common path they can walk, making it a fun read. There were some unexpected twists in the story, and I would recommend this to fans of the romance genre (especially those who like turbulent starts). I would read another book by the author if and when I get the chance. I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.