2017 was not a good year for romance. Pretty Face by Lucy Parker was by far the best, and while I read a bunch, I literally couldn’t tell you a single thing about most of them. And on top of that I had major issues with Pretty Face and the boss/subordinate romance. But then Hate to Want You was recommended by both Emmalita and Malin. And then it went on ebook sale. So here we are.
Hate to want You is a second chance romance. Livvy and Nicholas dated as teenagers until a family tragedy tore them apart. For the past ten years they have only seen each other once a year on Livvy’s birthday for a night of steamy, sexy times. Until Livvy comes back to their hometown to take of her mother with a broken hip. Nicholas can’t seem to stay away from her, while Livvy is just trying to put the pieces of herself back together.
And it was fine. It wasn’t life changing, but it was solid. The sexy times were good and the characters were well drawn in general. There was too much sturm und drang for me personally on the family tragedy side of things, but it didn’t put me completely off. Livvy and Nicholas were real people with real issues they both have to confront before being together. I overall appreciated it, although I’m not sure if I will search out the next in the series as clearly the family tragedy is not fully dealt with yet.
So if you’re looking for a recent solid romance, here you go. But first go read some Lucy Parker.
There was a lot of sturm und drang. I understand from Malin’s review that the second book has less focus on the family drama, but having now read a bunch of Alisha Rai’s books, she likes a good drama.
This may be the platonic ideal of a three star review.
The second book is a lot less soap opera-ish, and more focused on the personal development of the two protagonists, both of whom have some fairly major issues to work through before they can get to their happy ending. Wrong to Need You made me cry, this book didn’t.
Good to know! It’ll be a wait till it’s on sale purchase, but if there’s less drama I’m in.