I don't read many romances, but the tension in this sounded too good to resist.
I was pleasantly surprised to find such strong representation for neurodiversity.
Read this for a refreshing, modern take on childhood enemies to lovers.

I'm dead. Deceased. RIP me.

Chloe Liese never disappoints, and Better Hate than Never is no exception. In fact, I would say it's one of my all-time favorites, and that's saying something. BHTN is a modern-day reimagining of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, and it's full of nods to not only the original but also the movie 10 Things I Hate About You (which made my elder-millennial heart so happy).

Katerina Wilmot and Christopher Petruchio were childhood nemeses, and they've spent most of their adult lives actively avoiding each other. But then when Kate unexpectedly finds herself back home if not for good than for a good long while, they can't avoid each other anymore. That simmering tension reaches its boiling point, and neither of them is prepared for what happens next.

Let's talk representation. Chloe is a QUEEN for a reason. Her characters are always so complex and real, and it is their personal struggles and foibles that make them utterly compelling. BHTN has ADHD rep, demisexual rep, and chronic migraine rep. As someone who has ADHD and who is demisexual, I connected with Kate on an incredibly personal level. Her experience with ADHD is weirdly similar to my own, and seeing it on the page was so cathartic and also affirming. While I don't have chronic migraines, I live with chronic pain of a different kind, so I could empathize with Christopher as well; pain we can't avoid does affect our quality of life, and we can't always do what we want to do, and it can make us feel like a burden to those who care for us.

While on the surface their love story looks quite different from mine and my husband's, it still felt very familiar...and then toward the end, when we learned their zodiac signs, I literally laughed out loud. Mine and my husband's and Kate and Christopher's star signs are the exact same. They aren't supposed to work--they're complete incompatible on paper--and yet, for some reason, we work, just like Kate and Christopher.

Thank you, Chloe, for writing such incredible, inclusive romances. Everyone deserves to experience love, to know what it is to be cherished, and seeing love stories like this in print is always so amazing. I'm a forever fan.

I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series, but this one really hit the spot. It was basically the book form of the "My emotions!" Troy Barnes gif. Also, I'm a sucker for a Taming of the Shrew retelling. This book made me realize that I really only like enemies to lovers when there is significant backstory between the characters.

4.5 Stars rounded up

Did I expect this book to be good? Hell yes. I’m a huge Liese fan so I expected a lot and I was absolutely not disappointed.

Quick Synopsis: Christopher and Kate have a mutual hatred. Kate has been traveling for her work as a photographer for years. Christopher has rarely left his home town after his parents death and has found a family in Kate’s. When Kate returns to gather herself back up and figure out her life once again, Christopher and Kate are forced into each other’s company regularly. Only now, the two can figure out where this hatred stems from, and resolve it hopefully.

Trigger warnings: Chronic migraines; broken arm; sexism and misogyny;

What I liked:
-I loved how within 30% Christopher has identified the root cause of the issues between the two and immediately takes steps to fix it. Think Mr. Darcy after Elizabeth tells him off.
-The spice? The SPICE?? Liese outdid herself there. There isn’t a lot, but what is there is real good.
-At the end we almost got a third-act breakup (not a fan of those) but Liese subverts it. Instead, we get rational, adult conversation between the two that is healthy and I loved that.
-Some of the scenes were just so unbelievably romantic between these two. I know we get romance in Two Wrongs Make a Right, but for some reason, this romance just hit different.
-We get demi-sexuality rep which I loved.

What I struggled with:
-I couldn’t get into the book, like fully sink in, until around 40%. Once the party happens however, I was very much in it.
-I do think the pacing was a bit off. There were some scenes where I was very bored throughout but they were always bookended by other glorious scenes, so I’m ok with it.

Another banger from Chloe Liese that only continues to cement my love of her writing and storytelling.

Rating: 4.5/5
Warnings: death of parents (in-past), chronic migraines, ADHD rep
Steam: 3.5/5
Tropes: it's always been you, childhood frenemies to lovers, slow burn, age-gap

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for access to this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

What an absolute delight this book was.. he brought her flowers and pastries, made her homemade pasta, and admitted when he was wrong. Can I marry Christopher?

What started off as a fiery enemies to lovers book faded into a tender love that was absolutely beautiful. It was so vulnerable and raw, and absolutely relatable. I loved these two together and all their chaos. Fantastic steam per usual. The best part? No 3rd act breakup!

I'm biased; I honestly believe that Chloe can do no wrong. This is an easy 5 star for me. I love seeing the characters from the first book and I love a good enemy to lovers trope. Both main characters were likeable and relatable and I loved the fact that chronic migraines were a focus of this book. I suffer from chronic migraines and I have since I was 8, so seeing it represented the way it was made me feel seen. Chloe does a gr at job of that; she brings focus on those who don't usually get the focus or attention. Thank you for this and giving me the opportunity to read this early.

I love Chloe Liese’ books. They are so refreshing. And after reading Two Wrongs Make a Right, discovering these new characters, is something special.

I love the writing, and the characters’ development is awesome. Here in Better Hate than Never, we see Kate and Christopher fall in love with each other. Although at first they “hate” each other, they bicker and fight when in within them, they’re hiding how they really feel. The author does a great job unraveling those feelings, while also creating this loving environment of special friends and family. It’s the little things Christopher did for Kate that made my heart flutter, he bought her flowers, cooked for her, all the little things. They each have their reasons for hating each other and it really shows just how much they really care for one another. Such a great book!

Kat and Christopher have been arch-enemies since they were kids. When Kat has to go home after years away traveling for her photography work, she immediately runs into Christopher (literally) and the fighting begins. But things seem to shift the more time they spend together. Can Kat and Christopher really get along? Or maybe even more? The book was a fun read. Definitely some spicy scenes. I found the jump from enemies to lovers a little too quick on Christopher's end but I appreciate how his character grew throughout the book.

This book was a delightful retelling of the Taming of the Shrew, one of my favorite Shakepeare plays. It incorporates a main character (Kate) who has ADHD. The author did a masterful job of demonstrating daily life for someone with this diagnosis. The romance was sweet, as Christopher and Kate begin to understand each other, and show the art of compromise and opening up about thoughts and feelings. Would highly recommend, and will purchase for our library!

An engrossing new romance that pulls from Shakespeare and classic tropes. Childhood neighbors to enemies to friends to lovers, it’s a well crafted journey with excellent mental/physical health representations. It also takes a dive into multiple relationship dynamics; familial, friendship, and of course romantic. The banter is on point, the push and pull exciting, and the emotional wounds are poignant and then healing.

The pace stalls a bit here and there after the thrilling contentions early on, but overall it’s a delightful romance. It also touches on differing forms of attraction and manifestations of love and lust. It’s smart and highly entertaining. I definitely recommend.

This book is hilarious, sweet, funny and a perfect second book for the Wilmot Sisters.

I love Shakespeare and Taming of the Shrew is one of my favorites. The snarkiness of Kate and Petruchio's relationship is so perfect, and if you love 10 Things then you will love this. It's got smarts and sass and sex and passion.

With that being said, this is getting billed as enemies to lovers and it is not. It is more of a second chance romance than anything. They have loved each other since they were kids but for a variety of reasons felt they couldn't pursue (and honestly shouldn't have with the 6 year age difference!). It's more like lust and snarky to friends to lovers. But their switch from "hating each other" to becoming friends to making out was honestly such a good progression. There is great demisexuality rep, great inexperienced sexually rep, and their first few sex scenes, as well as the penetration sex scene, were so well done. Plus there is face-sitting so there you fucking go.

.5 star off for a few things: Kate was a little immature for being 27 at times (she literally stomps her foot in the beginning lol like why). Christopher's change from being standoffish to all of a sudden being all in and lovey dovey was a little over the top.

But this all is made better by the fact that there is no third act breakup. There is a line: "I am going to communicate like a goddamn adult" and folks I SCREAMED. I said PRAISE THE LORD LFGGGGG. And I love that for us romance readers. They had such beautiful communication once they decided to be honest and truthful with each other.

I cannot wait to find out who Juliet is going to be with.

CW: parent death

Hopefully Chloe Liese had as much fun writing this book as I had reading it. Kate and Christopher had a somewhat rocky past growing up together which led to an antagonistic adult relationship and great banter. I loved how their relationship developed throughout the book. Liese did a wonderful job showing the thin line between love and hate. She made me want these two very different characters together. Plus, this romance was filled with all these really fun moments. I especially loved the paintball scene and the one in Christopher's office. 

I did have two small issues with this book. First, the age gap. Six years is nothing as adults, but it rubbed me the wrong way with this couple at times simply because they grew up together. He can remember holding her as a baby, everything about their relationship over time, and he has a picture with her family on his desk when she's fourteen and in headgear. I get that there wasn't any spark until he saw her as an adult, but it was still uncomfortably close to crossing a line for me and I was reminded of it every time their past was mentioned. The second thing that bothered me was all the nicknames. Pick one for a character and stick with it, please. Katerina goes by Kate, but is called Katerina, Kate, Katydid, and honey by Christopher. Her sister calls her KitKat. It seems like if they all grew up together, Christopher would have the same nickname for Kate that Bea has. 

Overall, this was another fun book from Liese. I'm excited to find out what's next for the remaining Wilmot sister.

ugh this book was so good. thank you to berkley publishing for this arc!

i loved this book, it's romance, its representation, and everything about it! chloe did an amazing job showing healthy queer and mental health representation, i also love how she included bits of Jamie and Bea's time together (from book 1) because i missed them so much😭

i loved how wholesome and healthy kate and christopher's relationship was with such open communication and understanding! they were adorable, and i cant wait for chloe's next book!

This was a good but not great entry in her new series of Shakespeare inspired books. I like a slow burn, but this one took a bit too long to connect. Still quite enjoyable, but I think she was struggling to incorporate the neurodivergence of the lead character.

On a positive note, I did really like the characters. It was so funny how two people trying so hard to avoid each other just kept getting thrown together. I love when opposites attract. Kat was carefree and adventurous while Christopher was more cautious and a planner.

I love a cute, cozy romance but this just didn’t quite do it for me. It had all the makings of a great book…enemies to lovers, sweet boy, quirky girl, and fall vibes. The struggle was the dialogue. Sometimes the banter was funny and cute. Other times, it just wasn’t believable. I will definitely read more from this author though because I’ve heard such good things and I was impressed with the characters development.

I like Chole Liese and I enjoyed this book a lot. It usually takes me some time to get into books with the enemies to lovers troupe but I really enjoyed the relationship between Kat and Christopher. I could understand where they were both coming from and really liked how they ended up getting together.

This started off great but at times I found the female character a little *too* annoying. Spice scenes were 4/5 though.

I was so lucky to receive an arc of Chloe’s newest romcom, BETTER HATE THAN NEVER, the next in the Willmot Sisters series. I may have screamed when I got the email and then literally devoured the whole book in one sitting. Yes, it was THAT good. This book had everything I loved in a romcom. Enemies to lovers, secret pining for each other over the years, ADHD rep, the perfect spicy scenes paired with adorable fluff…the easiest five stars!

I was nervous going into this book because I loved the first in the series so much and didn’t think anything could live up to Bea & Jamie’s romance…but this did easily. This book is definitely going on my comfort reads list and I’ll be enjoying it again and again whenever I need a pick me up.

I think the highlight of this book for me was how self-aware the characters came to be over time. They start out with walls around their hearts and a lot of anger towards each other, but as soon as they start communicating clearly with one another their relationship takes a turn for the better. Chloe continues to be a romance master and I’ll continue to buy everything she’s ever written ❤️

Chloe never disappoints and this may be a new favorite. Kat is a chaotic, messy character that wants to feel like she fits into the puzzle of her family and friends but instead of risking being the odd one out, she takes herself out and travels the world as a photojournalist. I really loved how Kat's personality and motivations were all woven together; she is complicated and also relatable but most importantly all of her actions really fit into who she is as a person even when from the outside they are in conflict. Then, Chris, who lost his parents as a kid, is terrified to care enough about someone only to lose them. Especially if that person is the youngest daughter of his found family who is off galavanting across the world. The absolute tension, yearning, and sparks between these two are glorious.

BHTN took its time building up the foundation of the animosity (and emotions) between Kat and Chris before moving toward friendship (then lovers) and I appreciated that pacing and build-up because the reader really gets a great sense of them as individuals before them as a couple. It set the groundwork for Kat's need to belong, ADHD, insecurities, and Chris' fears and chronic migraines to showcase their character growth but how when they do come together, they really build each other up. It was beautiful to read.

That last 5% had me groaning expecting the worst only for Chloe to be a master storyteller and completely surprise me with a glorious conclusion.

Better Hate Than Never was written for people who not only love classic literature, but classic 90s rom-coms as well. As an ode to 10 Things I Hate About You and other retellings of The Taming of the Shrew, Chloe Liese hones in her craft: creating down-to-earth characters with real problems and treating them with the utmost respect and care.

In the second installment of the Wilmot Sisters, Katerina (Kate) Wilmot, and her childhood next-door neighbor, Christopher Petruchio try to make peace of their long-standing animosity. But when peace gives way to something much more vulnerable and tender, the two must work together to put to rest their feud and decide if giving up their control and giving in to love is worth it.

Chloe Liese is at the top of her game. She excels in creating unique characters who have realistic struggles, never straying from the central theme that people of different abilities and identities deserve to be the center of their own love story. As someone with ADHD, I was able to relate to Katerina’s struggles and I appreciated even more so how they were simply part of her, nothing that people tried to change. After my lukewarm first read of Two Wrongs Make A Right, I was hoping that Liese’s second book with her traditional publisher would sweep me off my feet, just as the Bergman Brother series did. I am pleasantly surprised at the sheer joy I felt while reading this, even if times I felt the story dragged (re: the sex scene that lasted for almost 5% of the book, with extensive internal dialogue). I also appreciate the lack of a third-act breakup – with Liese instead choosing active communication and trust for her characters, rather than a miscommunication-driven break-up.

Spice level: 2/5
Rating: 4/5
Tropes: Shakespeare retelling, childhood next-door neighbor, enemies to lovers (in which both parties care too much about each other in the first place)