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The Trouble with Hating You, Book 1

From the publisher:

A fiercely independent engineer walks out on the man her parents have set her up with — only to start working side-by-side with him at her job in this laugh-out-loud debut with “delicious banter, deep wounds, heartwarming friendships, and a path to love that often feels impossibly hard, and [a payoff] satisfying enough to give you a book hangover the size of Texas” (Sonali Dev, USA Today bestselling author of Recipe for Persuasion).

Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.

Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late-night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?

I read the second book in this series, First Love, Take Two and I loved it, so I dug around my Kindle and sure enough I found this book. I was so happy I did – this was also a really good read and a good introduction to the characters.

This book is all about Liyah. She is a very successful engineer; in fact, so successful, she just got promoted to management. Except what her boss didn’t tell her is that the company is facing a ton of lawsuits, and everyone’s jobs are in jeopardy. Determined to work hard and help push the company past this bump, on her first day she is late to the meeting with the lawyer in charge of settling the lawsuits. He turns out to be Jay, who she met briefly a few days earlier when her parents tried to set her up with him. She has no interest in marriage, much less parent-matched marriage, and she flees. Unfortunately, she crashes into Jay right on the front lawn, taking them both down. She really hates his smirk as she sprawls on top of him, and she just takes off. And now it’s time for payback.

After a few snarky comments about her tardiness, they end up working together to try and save this company. But all they do is argue, and the chemistry between them just can’t be denied. Jay is intrigued for sure, but Liyah is playing hard-to-get – or actually, impossible to get.

Liyah has a terrible reputation. When she was a young teen, she accused the leader of their Hindu church of sexually abusing her. Her father called her a liar, and their relationship has been strained ever since. Her mother may have believed her, but she is completely submissive to her psychologically abusive husband. Not exactly the great role models for a good marriage, and Liyah is really destroyed by her father’s refusal to believe her. She starts sleeping around, moves out of her parent’s house after college which is frowned upon in this community, and she develops this bad reputation. So she has a hard time believing that this man and his good family would be accepting of her.

But Jay isn’t giving up. He has his own issues – his father died in a fire, and he was injured, but he feels responsible for his father’s death. He is very close with his mother and brother, and they don’t blame him but he can’t get past the guilt.

Despite their pasts, they keep growing closer. Jay is patient – extraordinarily patient – with Liyah and eventually he breaks down her barriers. Until the man she accused of molesting her starts threatening her and even tells Jay and his family that she tried to seduce him. It’s a mess, and Liyah takes off. But Jay tracks her down and they work through their issues together.

I loved these characters and learning about the Indian/Hindu culture. The hate-to-love trope works really well here, and there is a lot of humor despite the seriousness of some of the issues. I think everything is handled with sensitivity and that really added a lot to the emotional resonance of this story. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next from Patel – she is on my must read list for sure.

10/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE TROUBLE WITH HATING YOU by Sajni Patel. Forever (May 12, 2020). ISBN: 978-1538733332. 352 pages.

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From the publisher:

Nothing like a rocky start between enemy coworkers stuck together on location to prove that love isn’t just a ploy for ratings—it’s a force of nature.

Alia Dunn has finally gotten her big break. After years of working her way up at TV’s top outdoor travel channel, she gets the green light from network executives to bring her dream project to life: produce a series about Utah’s national parks. It’s a touching tribute to her late apong, who sparked Alia’s passion for travel and the outdoors as a kid.

Alia is thrilled—until she meets her newest crew member, Drew Irons. The same Drew she had the most amazing first date with two weeks ago—who then ghosted her. The same Drew who has the most deliciously thick forearms and who loves second-guessing her every move on set in front of the entire crew. It’s not long before the tension between them turns hotter than the Utah desert in the dead of summer, and their steamy encounters lead to major feelings.

But when the series host goes rogue one too many times, jeopardizing the entire shoot, Alia realizes that she’ll need to organize one hell of a coup to save her show—and she’ll need Drew’s help to do it. It’s the riskiest move she’s ever made. If she pulls it off, she’ll end up with a hit series and her dream guy . . . but if it all goes wrong, she could lose both.

This was a fun romance in an interesting setting, the National Parks in Utah. Alia’s Phillipino grandma had taken her there when she was a child, and it was one of the most amazing vacations she ever had. She pitches the idea to the travel channel where she works and is shocked when she gets the greenlight. It will be her first time working as showrunner and she’s excited. That is until she hears who her boss has selected as the host of the show – Blaine, a reality star known for drinking and drug abuse. But Blaine’s agent is a friend of her boss so she’s stuck. The rest of her crew she hand picks and they are fabulous. The only one she doesn’t know is Andrew, who her mentor highly recommends, so she feels like he will be a good choice.

One night Alia is riding the subway home when she spots a good looking young man giving up his seat for an elderly woman. She takes a pic and puts it on social media. He ends up standing next to her and flirting like crazy. She agrees to go out for a drink with him and tells him her name is Lia, thinking it is a safer option than giving her real name. He tells her his name is Drew, and they have the most amazing first date. But then he ghosts her. Of course Andrew, her mentor’s choice, turns out to be Drew. He has a good explanation but she’s not interested. They fight their way through the first few days of filming before she realizes that dealing with Blaine is going to be the big issue.

Drew and Alia finally make amends and start working together. They are both really good at their jobs, and when he has to step in for the inebriated host, he does a fantastic job. He’s always wanted to host but has terrible stage fright. Somehow, Alia gets him through it and a coup is hatched. They will film both Drew and Blaine, when he shows up, and not tell Blaine he is being replaced. Alia only hopes the network doesn’t go ballistic when she presents her final cut.

Everyone gets their happy ending here and it was a fun ride to the finish. Utah sounds like an amazingly beautiful place and I wouldn’t mind seeing some of those parks…someday. I liked these characters and the story and highly recommend this book.

9/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

ON LOCATION by Sarah Echavarre Smith. Berkley (September 21, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593201657. 352 pages.

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From the publisher:

In this witty and heartfelt rom-com debut for fans of Jasmine Guillory, Emily Henry, and Tessa Bailey, an Indian American woman signs herself and her boyfriend up for a matchmaking site to prove they’re a perfect match, only to be paired with her ex instead.

High school sweethearts Rita Chitniss and Milan Rao were the golden couple, until the day he broke her heart. Now, six years later, Rita has turned her passion for furniture restoration into a career and has an almost-perfect boyfriend, Neil. The last thing she needs is for Milan to re-enter her life, but that’s exactly what happens when her mother, an unfailing believer in second chances, sets them up. Milan is just as charming, cocky, and confident as he was back in school. Only this time, he actually needs her business expertise, not her heart, to flip a hard-to-sell house for his realty agency. 

While Rita begrudgingly agrees to help, she’s not taking any risks. To prove she’s definitely over him, she signs herself and Neil up on MyShaadi.com, a Desi matchmaking site famous for its success stories and trustworthy enough to convince everyone that she and Neil are the new and improved couple. Instead, she’s shocked when MyShaadi’s perfect match for her isn’t Neil…it’s Milan. Ignoring the website and her mother is one thing, but ignoring Milan proves much more difficult, especially when she promises to help him renovate the beach house of her dreams. And as the two of them dive deeper into work—and their pasts—Rita begins to wonder if maybe her match wasn’t so wrong after all….

Milan dumped Rita in a voicemail while she was flying to meet him for their trip to Europe during college. He never shows and she is heartbroken, but determined to go on their trip anyway. Six years later, Rita met Neil on Tinder and they hit it off. It’s been a few months of him spending the night a couple of times a week. But his life is ruled by his mother, and she wants him to find a wife, an Indian wife.

In a weird coincidence, Rita’s mom was a young woman when she fell in love with a man. But his family arranged a marriage for him and he broke her heart. Rita thinks her mother never got over him, and it turns out Neil’s father is that man. Rita doesn’t want to get any more involved with Neil that what they already are; he has marriage on his mind. She finally figures out that she can make this all public if the Indian marriage/dating app matches her with Neil. They coordinate their answers, but the 100% match for her is not Neil, it’s Milan.

Meanwhile, Neil’s mother “wrestles” his password to the app from him (she asks him for it) and starts arranging dates for him with the women from the site. And he goes. Rita is pissed but doesn’t really care and isn’t the least bit jealous. And Rita’s mom conspires with Milan’s mom to bring them back together. He is a very successful real estate agent, and she loves decorating and woodworking – she takes other people’s junk and turns the junk into treasures.

Milan has been sitting with a listing for this ultra-modern house for close to a year. No one wants it. So when the moms decide that Rita can fix up the place so he can sell it, they both agree to give it a try. It is very successful, and the house sells almost immediately for above list price. Milan had purchased an old B&B on the beach and has been renovating it to flip. He asks Rita to do the decorating and she agrees. The more time they spend together, the more they both realize that they are still in love. But Rita is leery; she knows she’s not the same girl he fell in love with, and she wants to make sure they are both going into this with their eyes wide open.

This was a really fun read. The families lent a lot of humor to the story, and the characters were all interesting and believable. I am looking forward to her next book – this was a debut novel (for adults; she writes children’s books, too!)

9/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE SHAADI SET-UP by Lillie Vale. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (September 7, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593328712. 368 pages.

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From the publisher:

The national bestselling author of You Had Me at Hola returns with a seductive second-chance romance about a commitment-phobic Latina and her childhood best friend who has finally returned home.

Hi Mich. It’s Gabe.

After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago.

It’s been a long time.

Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new marketing campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him.

I’ve missed you.

Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As they work on the campaign, old feelings resurface, and their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adiós again?

Michelle is a talented graphic artist and one of her marketing campaigns went viral. Gabe’s partner in the gym they own is pushing hard to expand to New York, and wants to hire her. He doesn’t know about Gabe’s previous relationship with Michelle. When his partner can’t go to NY, Gabe has to do it. And the only way Michelle is going to help them is if he agrees to stay with her. She has an apartment in the city, and Gabe agrees.

They have unfinished business. Best friends all through school, their relationship intensified the summer after they graduated. Except unbeknownst to Michelle, Gabe is planning on going to college in California, not NY where they both live. When she finds out she is livid. Feeling her temper got the best of her, Michelle reaches out occasionally over the years. She really misses her friend and can’t understand why he won’t respond.

But her apartment is being renovated and shockingly, the date to finish has past and there is no toilet in the apartment. Since her parents are away, Michelle moves back home to the Bronx, next door to Gabe’s family. But when she brings him to the Bronx instead of Manhattan, he freaks out.

What Michelle doesn’t know is that Gabe had a big falling out with his parents. He told them he was going to California, on scholarship, but his father wants him to stay and help out in the stationary store he owns. They have a big fight, and Gabe hasn’t been back or even talked to his parents for nine years. This is really Gabe’s story; he needs to resolve the issues with his family and his business, and learn who he really is. With Michelle’s help, he does that.

The only part of the book I didn’t love were the “interstitials;” snippets of fanfiction they had written together when they were in high school. I could have lived without that, it reminded me of my least favorite parts of Rainbow Rowell’s books. But it did play a big part of the ending, and I did like that!

This is a terrific romance with some humor and interesting, diverse characters. There isn’t a whole lot of sex but it is steamy. If you like the friends to lovers trope (and I do) then this is your book! It is the sequel to You Had Me at Hola, but while I highly recommend you read it (I loved it) you don’t have to for this book to work. Enjoy!

9/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A LOT LIKE ADIOS by Alexis Daria. Avon (September 14, 2021). ISBN: 978-0062959966. 416 pages.

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