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Review
5 stars!
Hating someone feels disturbingly similar to being in love with them.
What a pleasant surprise! I love when I read a book from a new author and it turns out to be excellent. I loved everything about The Hating Game – the sweet moments that will make you swoon, the hilarious banter that will make you laugh-out-loud, and a little bit of sexy time that turns up the heat. The storyline is fantastic and I absolutely adored the relationship between the main characters. This book was attention grabbing from the beginning and I loved it!
Lucy is sweet, smart, funny, gorgeous, and all around hardworking woman. She is determined to make something of herself and pays close attention to her boss and mentor. She was happy with her job before small publishing house merged with another one, but now she is in a position where she works closely with Joshua, the assistant to the other boss. The two can’t stand each other. At least that’s what they tell themselves.
I type my password: IHATEJOSHUA4EV@. My previous passwords have all been variations on how much I hate Joshua. For ever. His password is almost certainly IHateLucinda4Eva.
Josh is handsome, funny, and driven, striving to be the best at his job. He also does everything to piss Lucy off. Or so it seems. We only get Lucy’s point of view so we don’t know what is going on in Josh’s head but he matches her “hate” with his own. They get on each other’s last nerve and frustrate the heck out of the other. Always fighting and playing games, things seem like they will never change.
I should mention that the ultimate aim of all our games is to make the other smile, or cry. It’s something like that. I’ll know when I win.
Then a major company reorganization comes about and Josh and Lucy find themselves fighting for the same job of Chief Operating Officer, and the games become more intense. But even as the fighting continues, things start to shift between Josh and Lucy.
The world explodes apart as he begins to laugh.
He’s the same person I stare at every weekday but lit up. He’s plugged into the mains and electric. Humor and light radiate from him, making his colors glow like stained glass. Brown, gold, blue, white. It’s a crime I’ve never seen these smile lines before. His mouth is in an easy curve, perfect teeth and a faint dimple bracketing each corner.
…
When Josh smiles, he is blinding. My heart is pounding and I frantically catalog this moment.
What happens when the tension between the two becomes too hot to handle? Who will win and who will lose?
I really enjoyed this book! Lucy and Josh are fantastic together, and I loved how they craved each other and understood one another even while they played their games. At first glance they are complete opposites, she is small to his tall, soft to his hard but they are both incredibly bright, snarky, funny and enjoyable. They fit together perfectly and their interactions left a smile on my face. I loved the different “games” they played, and the banter and exchanges between them was hilarious. I knew that the pent up sexual tension strung tight would finally snap and when it does, it was steamy. Though the sexy time is limited, I didn’t feel like this book needed more. The progression of the relationship was perfect just the way it was written.
Lucy is a wonderful character. She is so sweet and enduring, everyone loves her, and I found myself wanting to be her friend. I loved her quirky train of thought and her POV is fantastic. She is hilarious, silly and completely naive at times. There were times when she was so blind to the truth that I wanted to yell “open your eyes,” but it was funny watching her realize the feelings between her and Josh.
I didn’t love Josh in the beginning but by the end I was definitely hooked! He comes across as Lucy’s nemesis but little looks or comments left us wondering what his end game really was. He was so sweet to Lucy when they weren’t playing games that I was left me with a huge smile on my face and swooning several times throughout the book. When he opens up to her about his feelings I was so giddy. I also felt so bad for the turmoil in his family and wanted to scream at the people who put Josh down.
I loved how Josh and Lucy supported each other. It was perfect when Lucy stuck up for Josh and was there for him when he needed it most, and Josh’s encouragement for Lucy to put her foot down to stop people from taking advantage of her made me smile. They worked really well together both professionally and in their private life, and their relationship was wonderful.
I wished we got some of the book in Josh’s POV because I needed to know what he was thinking at certain times, but even without it, this book was still stellar. It was an enjoyable read that was easy to get lost in. This funny, lighthearted enemies-to-lovers story was perfectly done and it left me beaming by the end. I recommend it to everyone!
All I want to do is kiss you until I fall asleep. I want to slide in between your sheets, and find out what goes on inside your head, and underneath your clothes. I want to make a fool of myself over you.
*Side note: I listened to the audio version of The Hating Game and it was phenomenal. When I first started listening to audio books it took some time for me to get into them. I tended to want to pick up the book and read it myself rather than listen to the story. This is not the case with The Hating Game. Once I heard the narrator, she sucked me in and I found myself reaching for my headphones whenever I could. I loved this audio version.