I don’t get it. How did Hate to Want You make it onto a Best of the Year list? Granted, 2017 was a disappointing year for romance readers, but even with that in mind, this is a surprising inclusion.

Plot Synopsis: A teen romance torn apart by family rivalries and agita, leaves the two lovers years later finding what solace they can in one night a year together. When the woman, Livvy, moves home, can she and Nicholas find their way to be together in all ways and always? Yes, but only in romance fiction.

This is what I did and did not like: about this overrated romance:

1. I brought my bias against reunion plots with me.
2. Livvy is a tattoo artist and she likes to draw on Nicholas. That’s cool.
3. There’s too much sex. I think I’ve only said that once before.
4. The sex was busy being crazy-mega-earnestly passionate and kinda naughty.
5. “This magical land of not giving a fuck was pretty cool” #lifegoals
6. The writing was really on the nose.
7. Their relationship shouldn’t work. They were right to break up.
8. I don’t like the “I shall never love another” trope. You were children. Move on.
9. It felt like an adult relationship written by a teenager.
10. The family drama was over-the-top and I didn’t believe for a second they could overcome it and move on.

That’s all I have for now. I haven’t posted a review in such a long time, that I’m working to get my mojo back.  Hate to Want You was facile and trite and, most importantly, overrated.

Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful which includes the aforementioned observations.

Tagged: Alisha Rai, Best of 2017, contemporary romance, romance reviews