This book does not release in the US until April 2020 so I’m not going to write an in-depth review quite yet. But I devoured it in one day and I hope other reviewers give it a shot. It’s a relationship-in-trouble romance with two people who rush headfirst into a relationship and an engagement and then find themselves drifting further and further apart the closer they get to walking down the aisle.

Things get mean and petty but there were no lines crossed that I couldn’t believe they could walk back from. Just when I was worried they they wouldn’t be able to dig themselves out, they started to bond again and I loved every second of it. I also loved that the reconnecting doesn’t wait until the very last act to happen. It’s a slow burn of sorts but by the time they get their shit together, I was completely on board with team Naomi and Nicholas.

This is a debut book from an author that I really hope we see more of in the future. I highlighed so many passages that just utterly delighted me. So many.

I LOVED this book! There’s nothing better than reading a book that keeps you laughing and wanting to turn the pages. Such an adorable love story! Will definitely be looking for more titles from Sarah Hogle.

I received an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review. This opinion is my own. Thanks, NetGalley!

I loved this unconventional romance. It was both hysterical and heartwarming. The things these two do to each other had me laughing. They got pretty creative. It reminded me of War of the Roses and I loved when it was actually mentioned in the story. I had to feel sorry for both of them dealing with Deborah. This one will stick with you. The ending was perfect. I will definitely read this author again.

Main characters have the typical cute life, cute names (Naomi and Nicholas, ugh), and cute future. Or maybe not? Hogle describes a fear we might all have - about feeling stuck in a relationship and not knowing what to do. So what do you do? Make your significant other hate you, of course! You'll heart will ache with sadness but laughter heals everything. And there's plenty of that in 'You Deserve Each Other'. Funny, cute, and uniquely romantic.

DNF. Whoever wrote the book description on Amazon should edit this book. I hate the whole "basic bitch" description too. Just watch Friends, drink your pumpkin spice, etc. and be ok with it already.

I really enjoyed this book. Naomi and Nicholas were both so crazy and emotional I felt like I was right there in their minds. Reading about them trying to destroy each other made me kind of sad, because it was so obvious how much they cared about each other, but the end was so satisfying. Quite a page turner and really funny!

This was a great read! I was pleasantly surprised by the twits in the story. I would never have guessed they'd be so perfect for each other. But it was cute. I liked the ending a lot!

I finished this book almost in one sitting. This book had me in all the enemies to lovers / hate to love feels.

But it’s really love to hate to love isn’t it? Ughhh this book.

TO START. THE PETTINESS OF NAOMI AND NICHOLAS GAVE ME LIFE.
Oh my god. I burst out laughing multiple times because it was just so ridiculous and real.
I connect so much with Naomi and she was a fabulously flawed and wonderful human being. I get her feels and seeing them in her made me feel validated.
And Nicholas. Ahh. I loved him soo.

10/10 would recommend!!!!

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book gave me all the hallmark vibes, it was such a cute book! You are going to want to add this to your TBR list when it releases!

The book is from Naomi’s point of view. From the outside it may seem like Naomi and Nicholas have the perfect relationship, but that is all a front. In reality, their relationship is suffering and they may have to call off their wedding. Naomi and Nicholas are hilarious, as they battle to see who will call of the wedding first.

Naomi and Nicholas are both relatable characters, and so is their relationship. Naomi is such a fun and hilarious character, you will end up loving her. It also goes to show how important it is to be honest with one another about your feelings.

I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this book. I only wish the ending had a little more to it, or that there was an epilogue. I would highly recommend this book, it’s a quick and easy read!!

This book was odd for me. I was originally intrigued because it was compared to The Hating Game but I think that advertising is misleading. The hating aspect was similar but the rest not so much. I just didnt connect with the characters and the story fell flat for me. I also really struggled to like Naomi at all. 2.5 stars.

I loved this. It was such a nice departure from the usual story of girl gets swept of her feet after a fleeing a mistake.

I was excited about this one because of The Hating Game comps & who doesn't love that book?!?

After reading, I understand why it was labelled as similar, but it just fell short for me. Not to say I didn't enjoy it! I couldn't put it down & flew through it in a matter of days. But something about the characters were flat & I couldn't connect with Naomi at all. It's hard to master the balance between "light & fun" and "deep & thoughtful" and for me the balance wasn't there.

You Deserve Each Other is rom-com that could be anybody's relationship. It's rare to find in this genre a book about falling back into love and how it can be just as wonderful, if not more so, than falling in love for the first time. Funny, heart wrenching, and thoroughly enjoyable.

A great new take on romance! I loved it so much, I couldn't put it down!! Great characters, great dialogue, totally believable while also whimsical and fun!! Highly recommend it!!

At first, I wasn't sure if the heroine was meant to be as psychopathic as she comes across in the first half. Nicolas being portrayed as awfully as he was was off-putting, but I needed to finish just to make sure he didn't murder her.

"His eyes are so black, I think I can see hell in them."

This book is officially my child. I want to hold this book, squeeze all of the contents in this book, and read it over and over. I had no idea of such a concept, but this is definitely one of my favorite books that I've ever read. I took my time reading every word, and yes, it made it a longer read for me, but I really grasped everything that Sarah Hogle was writing.

This story starts out with an engaged couple, Naomi and Nicholas. They try to show that their relationship is picture perfect around their friends, but when they get behind closed doors, all bets are off. It's really a game of who will end the engagement first. The problem is, whoever ends up ending the engagement, has to pay for the wedding items they already purchased (which was an enormous bill). With only three months until the wedding, Naomi and Nicholas do whatever they can to get each other to call off the wedding. By these childish games and showing their real selves to each other, they start to see who is actually who and how much fun they have together. A true lovers to enemies to lovers. Absolutely amazing.

"I tried to keep him at a safe distance where he could only see the decent parts of me, and it made us both miserable."

In the beginning of this novel, it just seemed relentless. The almost childish games that Naomi plays with Nicholas. I didn't know what was going to happen, as most of the mental problems were with Naomi. It seemed almost as she was picking on him, which I didn't think I would approve of and like this novel for it. HOWEVER, when Nicholas starts going back at her, phew this novel became hilarious. Some of the stuff that they would do was laugh-out-loud funny. You could feel the annoyance and stress through every page. I think that this definitely is one of my favorites because of all of the different emotions you feel yourself as the reader. Comedy, Romance, Cringe-worthy moments, ARE YOU KIDDING ME moments, both happy & sad moments. It was just an amazing ride from start to finish.

I don't care if you aren't a fan of romances, you need to read this book. I literally could not put it down. I kept reading and reading and when it was over, I was actually sad. It's been a long time where a novel has made me feel sad because it was over so I knew that this was one of my favorites ever. A great story and a great debut by Sarah Hogle!

holy cow! Amazing book showing how relationships require communication, how parents should keep their noses out of their children's relationships, and how to rebuild when all seems lost.

I really enjoyed the banter and antics of this book but it did cause the two main characters to come off as quite unlikeable at times which was hard to come back from.

Thank you, Penguin Random House, for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I TRIED TO KEEP HIM AT A SAFE DISTANCE WHERE HE COULD ONLY SEE THE DECENT PARTS OF ME, AND IT MADE US BOTH MISERABLE.

Cheers to my second 5-star book of 2019! If you added this novel to your TBR just because of its adorable cover, that’s okay. Do yourself a favor and read the book when it comes out next year. I’ve read fewer than 15 New Adult books since I became a bookworm, and this one is tentatively my most favorite. I can’t recall any other story featuring lovers who become enemies and then lovers again. I guess I now have an ideal literary formula!

You Deserve Each Other is told from the perspective of Naomi Westfield, a headstrong woman engaged to Nicholas Rose, a successful pediatric dentist. Supposedly, they have a perfect relationship. But in reality, they’re suffering from cold feet. Since calling off their wedding might be super costly, Naomi and Nick engage in a hilarious battle of wills. The rules are simple. The winner can back out of the engagement without strings attached, but the loser will have to cover the enormous bill. Have you ever encountered such a clever premise?

I was very invested in the plot because it made me think of my big brother, who plans to propose to his girlfriend soon. Because of this association, I sometimes imagined Nick and Naomi as my brother and future sister-in-law. Gleaning from the book, courtship indeed entails putting your best foot forward. Sometimes, it’s like wearing a mask or building a facade. And then when you take your relationship to the next level, you unintentionally (or deliberately) show your true colors. That’s when the misunderstandings or fights begin. Then, you might wonder how on Earth did you end up with your husband or wife. Was Shakespeare right when he said that love is blind?

I’ve never seen my brother and his girlfriend argue. I’m often their third wheel, so I always observe them as they hold hands and speak to each other in Motherese (baby talk). James, my second brother, loves to make fun of them. Haha. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but I bet that things will change between Maui and Kyleen when they finally marry and live in the same house.

Couples cannot avoid conflict forever. Fortunately, you can use conflict as stepping stones to a stronger relationship. I know this because I’ve witnessed a lot of arguments in my family. My parents and grandparents have been married for decades, but they aren’t immune to petty quarrels. Ugh, I should stop before this review becomes an essay on marriage.

Deborah Rose, Nick’s mom, reminded me of my own mother because of them had a lot of opinions regarding their children’s romantic interests. The only difference was that Deborah was more of a control freak, whereas Mama was more of a counselor. I disliked Deborah because she was an insufferable stage mom. She doted on Nick like he was still a child and basically took over his and Naomi’s wedding plans. Harold, Nick’s spineless dad, made things worse by letting his wife take charge of everything. I deeply understood why Naomi was scared of becoming a member of Nick’s family.

Naomi and Nick’s “competition” was the best part of the book. If this novel became a movie, it would be an epic rom-com. The characters resorted to the most childish tactics just to annoy each other. I’ll never forget how Naomi tried to make Nick wet his bed by putting his hand in a bowl of water while he slept. Her plan failed, but it was funny, nonetheless. It was delightful to see their pranks evolve from malicious to playful/flirty.

The reasons for the couple’s mutual hate were mostly valid. Naomi resented Nick for staying silent whenever Deborah insulted her; Nick resented Naomi for limiting his career growth. There was much miscommunication between them because their engagement was built on a facade of perfection. They might have avoided this dilemma if they had acted genuinely from the start. Who knew that courtship could have an element of deception?

Overall, I highly recommend You Deserve Each Other because it comically illustrates how honesty and familiarity are prerequisites to a happy and fruitful marriage. However, please know that I’m not an advocate of cohabitation. If you want to know your partner’s true colors, you don’t need to emulate the protagonists and live together before your wedding. Perhaps by staying true to yourself during the dating period, you could avoid lots of unpleasant surprises after marriage? I know that it’s easier said than done, so don’t roll your eyes at me. xD

I was looking for something a little lighter to read than the WWII nonfiction I've been reading lately, so I was excited when I was approved for an advanced copy of You Deserve Each Other. It has a cute cover, and, although I've never seen the movie inspiration for this story, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, the concept sounded like it could be fun. Maybe along the lines of Shakespearean romantic bickering. However, that was not the case for me. Did I hate this book? No, and in fact I found it engaging enough that I didn't want to put it down, and finished 70% of it in two days. I even laughed a time or two while reading this book. But much of the time I was reading I also spent wrestling with the characters, trying to sort out what was actually going on, because this book did not seem to align with its promotional description.
The fact that the book was not as advertised was probably my biggest problem with it. Had this been billed as an engaged couple with mental health issues dealing with personal issues and finding their way back into love and a stronger relationship, I would have enjoyed it more, because I would have known what to expect. As it is, this isn't even a normal love/ hate, enemies to lovers story, as the two main characters were already (engaged) lovers who then started to hate each other, before the story even began. (Much of this is told, not shown, which is another big frustration of mine.)
And yes, the characters seem to be dealing with some serious psychological baggage, especially Naomi, who appears to suffer from not only some kind of attachment disorder, but also incredibly low self esteem, and an imagination so active as to almost be delusional. As Nicholas points out, she copes with situations by disassociating with what is going on, too. She's honestly not very likable for most of the book, as she screeches and acts vindictively towards Nicholas in some pretty terrible ways, with an incredible amount of paranoia and suspicion. Perhaps this is part of why I struggled to see Naomi as a woman in her thirties...she comes across much more like a barely out-of-school new adult. Or a less likable Jenny Lawson. Or both.
Nicholas has people-pleasing and mommy issues of his own, but I honestly found him much more sympathetic than Naomi for the entire book. He could be really high-handed and somewhat condescending--usually just annoying, but he made A LOT of big life decisions without consulting the woman he was engaged to. I didn't blame her for being annoyed about that, although I didn't really blame him for not wanting to try to argue the topics out with her either. But, unlike Naomi, I was never in question as to his motivations. I was mostly confused why he was ever drawn to Naomi to begin with, much less why he stayed with her. Perhaps it really is a case of opposites attracting, as Naomi could not be more opposite from his dreadfully overbearing mother. That's easier to understand once we finally see them starting to reconnect in the second half of the book, when we also begin to see what about their personalities would have attracted them to each other and kept their relationship fun at first--but that's a long time to wait to understand the connection between main characters in a romantic story.
In general, the style of writing was just not my cup of tea. Everything is extremely descriptive, mostly written as Naomi's internal thoughts, in a way that blurs the line between what she's observing and what she's imagining COULD happen or be. (Ex-were the walls of one of the rooms in the new house really midnight blue with stars painted on them? Or was she seeing the room as it could be/ as she'd want it?) I kept having to reread passages to try to understand what was actually going on. These imaginative musings makes the narration confusing, and pads the book with unnecessary description so much that by the end of the book I kept catching myself skimming paragraphs to find where the action of the story picked up again. Descriptions were also extremely flowery without actually being helpful. What do eyes the color of the four horsemen look like, for example? Red, white, black, and pale? Perhaps we'll never know. The author did create a lovely setting for Naomi and Nicholas, as she details the new home and its rural setting beautifully. It was almost a third character, and sounded charming and lovely.
In general, there was little in the way of true friendship or even good family relationships in this story. Aside from the rocky relationship of the two main characters, all of their family is almost cartoonishly terrible (which does not necessarily make them unrealistic, sadly). There is absolutely nothing redeeming mentioned about any of their family members, or about most of their other relationships. This isn't a healthy way to live. Even friendships were separated into his and hers, mostly revolving around work, and most of them are not particularly healthy relationships. (Zach may have been funny, but he was cruel and honestly kind of a jerk. Melissa existed only as a nemesis with a grudge. Seth was an unlikable bully). At least they realized that themselves as the story progressed, and started focusing on the few friends that they had who were healthy, but it was still staggering how isolated they both seemed.
There wasn't much diversity in this story either. I realize that the setting is in the rural northern Midwest, so having one character being described as in a gay relationship (not shown. sigh.) and another who wants to move to Alaska because (possible?) native heritage was perhaps better than nothing. It was not clear, however, if Brandy was actually an enrolled tribal member, or just a DNA-test/ family legend pretendian. Not that is really mattered much anyway, I suppose, as she did not figure in the story often or for large sections, and her possible heritage only seemed to affect her decorating choices. Everyone else in the story seemed super white, straight, cis-gender, able-bodied, etc. So very white.
Aside from a cute cover, and a surprisingly readable, engaging story, however, there was one other noteworthy commendable aspect of the story for me. Naomi is presented as a formerly mediocre student who has not attended college and holds down a series of dead end, low paying retail jobs. That kind of existence is something that is not often represented in books, at least in romance novels. It's a snap of reality in an often highly unrealistic genre, and I appreciated the honesty about struggles like worn-out cars, limited budgets, and depressing job hunts, and even the camaraderie that is built by working with a team of people under those circumstances. Maybe it wasn't the most cheerful part of the story, but it gave Naomi a bit of authenticity, as her experiences align with that of so many of my friends and family. I also appreciated that Nicholas, while obviously financially stable, is neither a millionaire nor a blue collar worker who drives a pick up truck. I'm not sure I've read about a dentist as a romantic hero before, but a financially stable, educated working man made for a refreshing change of pace in a contemporary romance novel.
If you've read this review and thought, ooh, that doesn't sound bad, then this might be the book for you. If you can't stand flowery descriptions and/or unstable MCs, or a very white setting, perhaps look for something else to read instead. At least you have a better idea what to expect going into it than I did.
Thank you, #Netgalley, for a chance to read and review an advance copy of #YouDeserveEachOther