hate to love trope – LairOfBooks

Spoiler Free Review: Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

Title: Hello Stranger

Author: Katherine Center

Pub. Date: July 18th 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: DRC

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Pages: 323

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☆☆ARC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

It’s been some time since I finished Hello Stranger, my first read by Katherine Center which has for a long time been on my radar under authors I had to check out. I started the audiobook sometime in the morning and didn’t realize I had basically finished it by the end of my work day, that’s a sign of a good time. Our Protagonist Sadie is funny and what seems to be accidentally charming, everything seems to be going well when we meet her until it’s not. Living in her bestfriends parents studio space that really was never intended to be lived in, Sadie is trying to accomplish some goals and if that proves her dad wrong along the way then so be it. She’s a Portrait Painter finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition and is on task to produce the painting that will get her a win. It seems attainable until she develops Prosop

Fast forward to Sadie needing to take her dog Peanut to the Veterinarian where she meets Dr. Addison who we really don’t know much of but hey, he’s a Doctor so that checks off Sadie’s box. This is where I started feeling a way about our MC even while still fully enjoying seeing her navigate through all of the things being thrown at her all at once. The one moment I was able to connect with Sadie and feel empathy for her character was when she was experiencing a cold front from her father. She doesn’t have a good relationship with her step mother or step sister which leaves her isolated from family. She has this one in a million best friend who has become found family but otherwise she’s alone. Since that aspect of the book really landed with me, I was not left satisfied with how quickly and neatly the family issues were squared away. I wanted more for Sadie even though she wasn’t my favorite Contemporary Romance protagonist. That being said, there’s no denying how hilariously entertaining this was or how compulsively readable it is. I’d be down to give this author another go, I’ve heard great things about The Bodyguard which is on my TBR.

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Spoiler Free Review: Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Spoiler Free Review: Love, Theoretically

Author:Ali Hazelwood

Pub. Date: June 13th 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eARC + ALC

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Pages: 389/12hrs 33 min

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☆☆ARC + AlC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER, netgalley, and librofm IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

*•.¸♡ “𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝” ♡¸.•*

Theoretical Physicist Elsie Hannaway is an adjunct professor hoping to make tenure in order to pay her bills and get medical insurance. Her day job(s) don’t cut it despite what her family thinks and as a type 1 Diabetic, she doesn’t have the privilege of slumming it. Elsie and her quirky roommate Cece have joined a fake dating site which works for Elsie who is comfortable as a people pleaser. She learns her client and their situation in order to convert herself into whomever they need her to be at family functions, parties, or corporate events. This all changes when her favorite client’s older brother begins to suspect that something just isn’t right, he’s not buying their relationship and begins to press Elsie. The hate to love trope is activated and we see Jack Smith truly get under Elsie’s skin simply for seeing right through to her. Navigating family functions becomes a game of cat and mouse as they circle one another. Elsie tries to avoid getting caught not being able to answer questions about her client aka Jack’s younger brother. She’s sold everyone the story of her being a Librarian with no mention of what her career actually is but things take a turn and she soon sees herself exposed.

Elsie is about to begin an intense interview process for a highly coveted professor gig at MIT when she finds out that Jack Smith is on the committee in charge of hiring the candidate to fill the position. They are BOTH taken by surprise when they lay eyes on eachother and Jack now has more reason to believe his brother is dating someone he should not trust. Elsie who takes the privacy of her clients very seriously can’t speak freely so she decides to focus on impressing the rest of the board and getting the job.

I first started reading my DRC of this book when I decided to switch to the audiobook I downloaded as an ALC from Libro.FM, best decision I could’ve made! the narrator did their thing and I was fully engaged laughing, smiling and or grinning throughout the story. Having read all other books by Ali Hazelwood and thoroughly enjoyed them, I was really hoping this one didn’t follow the formula of its predecessors. Happy to report that certain things were scaled back a bit (obsessive ogling of male love interest’s body) and new themes were explored. Also, THIS is actually a hate-to-love! not a 5 second I thought I didn’t like you but really do love you type story. The first 32% of the book is cat & mouse and I enjoyed every minute of it. As a Diabetic myself, it was also cool to see it not being thrown around like a judgment call or joke. Our MC has type 1, she was born with it and brings to light the reality of just how expensive it is to be insulin resistant. On the academia front the author goes more in depth with the inner politics that have shaped STEM to be a field dominated by those who are cis white males. We see more women side characters in STEM who wish to see others also join the field and balance out the odds. I found the inner workings to be interesting, especially when the relationship between student and mentor is explored. The fact that not all mentors can be trusted drives home the point that the odds are def stacked high for the women interested in this field.

The ROMANCE my loves! steamy AF and fun! Jack is all about pleasing Elsie who has made a whole side hustle out of people pleasing. She doesn’t know how to be cared for and her frustration at not being able to figure out what Jack wants/needs is real. That last 30% of the book was LOTS of sexual tension and exploration, not for the faint of heart haha! I’ll say it here, Love Theoretically is better than Love On The Brain 🤷🏻‍♀️ and for those who love seeing their faves pop up in later books, I won’t say which couple but it is my fave duo who make an appearance! 💞

🔬🧪💞
*•.¸♡ ωнαт ι ℓσνє∂ ♡¸.•*
🧪Women in STEM
🔬Hate-to-Love that’s believable 🧪Diabetic female lead bringing awareness to the steep price tag on insulin/Glucometer
🔬ACE Representation from a side character
🔬Academic settings/inner politics of Academia
🧪discussion on post grad financial challenges
🔬Steamy slow burn romance/sex scenes

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Spoiler Free Review: Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese

Title: Two Wrongs Make A Right

Author: Chloe Liese

Pub. Date: November 22nd 2022

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley Books

Pages: 326

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☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆

*•.¸♡ “𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐.” ♡¸.•*

I love a good opposites attract romance but up until now I haven’t read anything that really gets the magnetic pull and irresistibility you feel when you meet your polar opposite. Bea is an artist who creates sensual cards for a stationary shop, she’s Pansexual, a twin, prone to accidents, a junk food lover, and an astrology loving Cancer. Jamie is a pediatrician, cat lover, health conscious, and non-astrology loving Capricorn. They’ve had a few run-ins that didn’t end so well but their meddling friends seem to think they’re perfect for each other. Bea and Jamie zone in on their schemes to make them date & are peeved by the intrusion. They hatch a plan to fake-date that includes a big break-up in hopes that it will dissuade their friends from ever playing cupid again. The thing is, they do connect in all the ways that matter. Bea is on the spectrum and Jamie has severe anxiety, they pick up on each other’s wants and needs very quickly. There’s a magnetic attraction and a desire to protect each other and create a safe space where they can speak their thoughts. Their dates are fun and different, from Chess matches to Sip & Paints they begin to fall hard. Soon it’s made very clear to them both that they’re not just pretending to like one another, they’re actually enjoying their dates.

I’ve heard the name Chloe Liese mentioned on every bookish platform I’m in and it’s always been high praise for delivering romance with neurodivergent rep. Having loved Helen Hoang’s Kiss Quotient series, I was on the hunt for more romance books with this representation. I kid you not my fellow book lovers, it was 1am and I had startled everyone in my home with my laughter within the first chapter of reading this book. The laugh out loud scenes were sudden and unexpected and as a fellow Capricorn I’d say it was the dry humor Jamie dished out lol. Jamie and Bea could square off any day and I’d grab a front row seat! the snark was on point. These characters are well fleshed out, it honestly felt like we’re getting to know them as they’re digging deep. There were times I wondered to myself why things were handled a certain way but understood the reasons as Bea and Jamie started to let each other in.

I LOVE Jamie, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t find flaws that contradicted the picture I had of him for the majority of the story. Without spoiling anything, I started to not love some of Jamie’s reactions or lack there-of to how a major side character was being treated, this is why I docked it half a star. Why only half a star? well because it could be argued that Jamie didn’t know the extent of how terrible a certain character was acting. Jamie is honestly the sweetest most thoughtful male MC I’ve read, he tunes into Bea’s love language very quickly. Bea on the other hand I instantly fell in love with! she’s quirky and artistic but also fiercely protective of her healing journey. Our girl went through some things and she is not about being rushed into anything, I loved seeing this on the page! Bea keeps the cutest little hedgehog in her room that I dare you not to make heart eyes over. We’re here for non-traditional pets haha! there are also a handful of side characters that really bring the friend circle to life. I’m anticipating Juliet’s story arc, she is Bea’s twin but also came across as three-dimensional and had me invested in her side-line story. In the meantime, I think I’ll join the Chloe Liese lovers & pick up the Bergman Brothers series 😉

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Spoiler Free Review: Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Love On The Brain

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Pub. Date: August 23rd 2022

Genre: Contemporary Romance/Rom-COM

Format: eARC

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Pages: 368

GOODREADS | BARNES & NOBLE | AMAZON | LIBROFM

☆☆ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review☆☆╮

*•.¸♡ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐁𝐞𝐞. 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 – 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐝 ♡¸.•*

Bee Königswasser has been given the opportunity to work as the lead on a neuroengineering project with NASA to create a helmet for astronauts that would improve their focus. She’s excited up until she finds out Levi aka the guy who she believes hates her, will be the co-lead engineer on the project. She feels he made his feelings toward her known during grad school and the last thing she’d fathom is having to work in close proximity with someone who loathes her. She asks herself what would her idol the French Physicist Marie Curie do if she were in her shoes? readily acknowledging that Marie would accept this opportunity no questions asked, Bee decides to accept. Soon after she introduces herself to the team (all dude bros), all sorts of hijinks occur to prevent Bee from actually doing her job. We see Levi begin to back her up as she’s presenting her ideas/suggestions and quickly turns into more of an ally than enemy. Bee is very aware of his presence and stolen glances so much so that she starts to enjoy their collaboration. All the while reminding herself that Levi still fundamentally hates her.

I’ll preface this part of my review by mentioning that I’ve seen many reviews since I finished my read and although I agree that there’s a specific formula to all of these “Steminist” books, I enjoyed this more than The Love Hypothesis. The biggest standout difference for me is that both leads/romantic love interests are thoroughly fleshed out making it easy to connect and root for this ship. I LOVED the insider look we get to the actual project and seeing Bee leave a lot of dude bros in awe as she strutted her knowledge in her area of expertise. I also loved seeing Levi go from silent bystander to someone in Bee’s corner who can’t stand when his male colleagues make it difficult for her to work. I loved the fact that Bee hates that it takes Levi backing her in order for the team to give her the time of day. She draws parallels between her current situation and that of Marie Curie who had to fight for an ounce of respect/recognition as a female Physicist during the early 1900’s. It’s not often that I end up LOVING the male lead but Levi has my whole heart simply because he’s a feminist that genuinely wants to see change in their field of work. If you can get past the many mentions of Levi’s large manly frame 😂 and Bee being overly oblivious, there’s a lot to love:

🧪Empowered women in STEM
🧪Tropes: Hate to love (kinda)/Close proximity
🧪Twitter threads/wars for entertainment
🧪feisty invisible 🐈
🧪Vegan love
🧪🧠 talk as they race to perfect a helmet for NASA
🧪Male lead is a feminist
🧪The humor was 👌🏽if it can get me to laugh out loud, then and only then it gets placed on my rom-COM faves shelf 😉

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Spoiler Free Review: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Title: Act Your Age, Eve Brown

Author: Eve Brown

Pub. Date: March 9th 2021

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format: eGalley

Publisher: Avon Books

Pages: 400 pages

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🖤eGalley provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review, all quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release🖤

Eve Brown hasn’t quite found her footing in life when her family decides to stage an intervention. The wealthy Brown family love their daughters but realize that Eve is a bit lost and hesitant to set off in the world. Cutting her off of her trust fund and pushing her to set some goals turns out to be the push she needs to discover some things about what is holding her back. She stumbles into a Bed and Breakfast that is looking to hire a Chef, the owner Jacob is an autistic man who is everything Eve has stayed away from. Organized, meticulous, a bit rigid and a stickler for rules Jacob sees Eve as a tornado come at the wrong time. Eve personally applies for the job because she thinks it doesn’t run the risk of being something she will fall in love with doing. For Eve it’s not just fear of failure, it’s also disappointing her loved ones. It’s why she’s floated in between careers and hobbies without ever truly setting roots even though she’s quite skilled and great at pretty much anything she tries her hand at.

“𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙—𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑢**𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑝. 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛’𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒. 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑑.“

Jacob has just suffered an injury (won’t say how cause spoilers haha!) and doesn’t have anyone that can help run his B&B the way he is accustomed to on such short notice. He gives in and posts a flier looking to hire a Chef temporarily and Eve is who comes in for an interview. We get a hate-to-love romance with plenty of steam to accompany the dishes they’re serving! + who doesn’t love the proximity trope? *wink eye wink eye* UGH! just when I thought it couldn’t get better than Dani & Zaf from Take a Hint, Dani Brown (my review) Hibbert swoops in with the next all star couple *heart eyes*

There’s so much we get to unravel with Eve as a main character, someone who is so giving of herself but doesn’t see much of a return. This was really a story of self worth and setting boundaries that I heavily could relate to. It’s also not a Talia Hibbert book without A+ humor and banter, Eve & Jacob had me laughing for the entirety of my one sitting read of this book. I created a playlist of songs Eve listens to while she works and enjoyed my time with these characters. Character quirks I loved: Jacobs maddening inner monologue on how Eve drives him up the wall had me giggling for hours. His need for control and icy reserve slowly coming apart whenever he entered the kitchen and saw Eve in her element. Eve who is completely oblivious at just how magnificent she is…I LOVE HER! I lived for those moments when Eve delighted in the joy she got from making Jacob blush with her sexual innuendos. I love all of the Brown sisters but Eve is just so full of personality and a nurturer in ways she herself hasn’t acknowledged. Eve is a multi-talented, plus size, sexy, fun tee-shirt wearing woman with great taste in music and a big heart.

“Your abilities lie in the places people usually overlook, so you’ve been convinced you don’t have any at all. But you’re smart, and you’re capable, and if people struggle to see that, it’s their problem, not yours.”

Jacob is 100% supportive and in doing so helps Eve come to the realization that she is a phenomenal woman. They also share a lot more in common than meets the eye, won’t say what cause that would definitely be spoilery. I just honestly believe Talia Hibbert knows how to deliver a male love interest you can’t help but love! They’re in no way perfect but Red from Get a Life Chloe Brown, Zaf from Take a Hint, Dani Brown and now Jacob from Act Your Age, Eve Brown Come close to ideal when thinking of a life partner This is the conclusion to the Brown sisters and although bittersweet, I am beyond happy to have met all of these characters on the page. These are character driven stories filled with humor and strongly independent female leads paired with awesome male partners. Best of all is the humor, diversity, and body positivity they all carry within💜

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