The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

Title: The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy 

Author: Brigitte Knightley

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Dearly Beloathed # 1

Publication: July 8, 2025, 416 pages

Source: Personal Library

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When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.

Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.

As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.

MY THOUGHTS

The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I want to start this review by saying I did read the original fiction this book was inspired by and absolutely loved it. So, saying I was looking forward to this release would be a massive understatement. With that said, The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is nothing, absolutely nothing like the original story. The world, the characters, the plot; none of it is remotely close or similar.

As I mentioned earlier, because this was a highly anticipated read for me, I had very high expectations and unfortunately, it just barely missed the mark. It fell short across the board. It took me nearly 50% of the book to start genuinely enjoying it and feeling invested.

That said, I did like the plot and the writing style. Honestly, the plot saved the book from crashing and burning; it was just interesting enough to hold my attention. Having read Knightley’s other fiction, I was already familiar with her writing, and I actually love it. It’s unique compared to what I usually read. However, because she was building a completely new world here, the flow felt a bit off. Even so, I could tell her word choices and dialogue were intentional and clever. There were quite a few moments where I caught myself chuckling at just how brilliant some of the writing was.

Now, onto what didn’t work for me: the characters and the excessive vulgarity. Aurienne was incredibly unlikable for most of the book. She came across as a stuck-up B—who seemed to hate everything and everyone. It wasn’t until about 60–70% into the story that she started to become tolerable. Osric was slightly better than Aurienne, but honestly, not by much. There was zero chemistry between them. When they did start catching feelings for each other, it felt forced and disingenuous, almost like Stockholm Syndrome. They saved each other, and that somehow turned into romance? It just didn’t feel natural. The vulgarity in the book was overkill. It was unnecessarily raunchy and, at times, straight-up gross. I’m not sure if Knightley was trying to be edgy or funny, but I found it to be neither. Every time I came across a brilliant passage, it would be followed up with something crude that completely ruined the moment for me.

But like I said, thank goodness for a solid, well-thought-out plot. That was the book’s saving grace. Despite its flaws, I do plan to finish the series. Personally, I think this would’ve worked better as a standalone rather than a duology but oh well. This book is clearly written for a very specific audience. What audience that is, I’m not quite sure but it’s definitely not for everyone. I recommend checking out a sample chapter first to see if it’s your style before you commit to buying it or reading it.