Five years of rivalry. Four weeks on the road…
IF NOT YOU by Ellen O’Clover was a workplace romance about rival copywriters Mattie French and Campbell Porterz. The workplace rivalry trope immediately caught my attention, especially because Mattie and Campbell already have five years of history behind them. And then you add a month of traveling together, a major career opportunity, and all those unresolved feelings hiding underneath the competition? I was very curious to see how Ellen O’Clover would turn all that rivalry into romance.
I liked getting to follow Mattie and Campbell from place to place while they worked on the pitch and slowly started seeing each other differently. This is a slow-burn romance, and there are quite a few flashbacks to their earlier years together. I liked getting those pieces of their history because they helped explain how this rivalry became such a huge part of Mattie’s life.
The chemistry between Mattie and Campbell was competitive, sharp, and packed with years of history. They know exactly how to get under each other’s skin, and watching that rivalry slowly shift into attraction was a big part of the fun for me. I especially liked the change once they started letting their guards down. The banter was still there, but suddenly they’re noticing the things they had spent years overlooking. Once the walls started coming down, the yearning really kicked in, and I loved seeing two people who had spent so long competing finally figure out what was underneath all that tension.
IF NOT YOU brought together a workplace rivalry, forced proximity, travel, and a very slow-burn romance with YEARS of history behind it. I especially loved Campbell’s ridiculous amount of yearning and watching Mattie slowly realize that the story she’d been telling herself about him wasn’t necessarily the whole truth. Add in the career drama, friendships, family dynamics, and all that competitive banter, and this was a romance with plenty to dig into.
TROPES & VIBES
😈 Rivals to Lovers
💼 Workplace Romance
🔥 Forced Proximity
🐢 Slow Burn
💕 He Falls First
💞 Mutual Pining
🌤️ Black Cat x Golden Retriever
✈️ Work Trip Romance
💕 “It’s Always Been You”
Book Info:
Publication: September 15, 2026 | Berkley |
Five years of history. Four weeks on the road. Two rival copywriters learning love is the hardest sell of all.
Mattie French has always known how to tell a good story. It’s why she stopped at nothing to land her dream career as a copywriter at a scrappy independent advertising agency. In fact, if it weren’t for one person, Mattie would probably be the most-talked-about rising star in town.
Campbell Porter is a senior copywriter at Chicago’s slickest agency. Absurdly talented, incredibly aware of it, and the bane of Mattie’s existence since they were interns together, Campbell is always just…there, with his golden-boy smirk and the familiar gaze that never fails to taunt her across a crowded room.
Mattie would love nothing more than to avoid Campbell forever. But when their agencies are pitted against each other to compete for a luxury resort account, it’s her chance to prove she can beat him—and earn the promotion she covets.
During the month of travel required for the pitch, Mattie and Campbell are thrown together as fierce competitors and, slowly, as unexpected witnesses to each other’s hidden wounds and softest parts. As their trip barrels toward its final pitch, Mattie is forced to confront the increasingly obvious truth: the story she’s crafted for her and Campbell over the years might need a new ending.
