Thank you Penguin Random House International for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

You Deserve Each Other is one of my most anticipated romances of 2020. The blurb seems promising and right up my alley (enemies to lovers gives me life). I was ecstatic when I received an e-arc and as soon as I've finished it, I ended up disappointed.

Truthfully speaking, Nicholas and Naomi have a toxic relationship. Couples have imperfect relationships but these two are petty and immature. I can't stand their arguments over little things when it could've been resolved easily if there's no miscommunication. Nicholas is a self-entitled douchebag. I dislike insulting his future wife and just because he grew up in a wealthy household, it's an excuse for him to belittle Naomi.

While Naomi, she didn't graduated in a university but she's smart in her own way. I find her resourceful but her insecurities gives her an unhealthy mindset. She becomes prideful, arrogant and selfish. She bottles up everything inside her and she gets impulsive.

The first half of the book tested my patience. While the ending gave me hope for them and somewhat redeemed themselves, I was too consumed with annoyance. I prefer they broke up and get back together when they're ready for marriage. There's a lot to figure out for both of them.

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle was a nice surprise. It was a fun and witty read. Naomi and Nicholas are set to have a wedding made of dreams. The wedding that is lavish and costly. She wants out, but whoever calls off the wedding will have to pay for all of it. She needs Nicholas to be the one to call it off, but what happens when she realizes he wants out too? 

What follows is a story that had me laughing out loud because at the end of the day only two [people who care about each other could drive each other as nuts as these two did. They did everything they could to get the other to call off the wedding, but at the same time they began to see each other in a different light. Definitely a fun read and an author to keep an eye on. 

Happy reading!

Naomi Westfield and Nicholas Rose are the “perfect couple.” Nicholas is a dentist and comes from a wealthy family. Their wedding is in 3 months. The only problem: Naomi wants out. However, whoever calls off the wedding has to pay for all the nonrefundable wedding costs. Naomi quickly learns that she isn’t the only unhappy person in their relationship. Both refuse to take the financial hit, so they engage in a series of pranks to urge the other person to call off the wedding first. Along the way, their defenses come down and they are the realest they’ve ever been with each other.

Overall, I really liked this book! I’ve been all about the light reads lately after not reading for almost 2 weeks. I’m still struggling to find books that hold my attention. I would definitely classify this as an enemies to lovers book. Both Naomi and Nicholas had things to work on, but I absolutely detested Naomi for half the book. She was a horrible communicator who would rather snipe at him than actually share her issues. I found the pranks hilarious and was eager to see what each person came up with next. 

Perfect for fans of:
-The Unhoneymooners
-Red, White, and Royal Blue 
-Get a Life, Chloe Brown

Rating: 3.75/5

Overall, this was a funny and cute book and I think a lot of people will (and already do) love it, but I just couldn't fully get into it. The title kind of explains why... the main characters aren't exactly loveable people, but they do kind of fit with each other? And the pranks were funny but, and maybe I'm lame for saying this, a lot of stuff could have been prevented if they would have just talked to each other 😂

But yeah it's definitely a solid romance, which a lot of people would love! It just wasn't exactly for me 🙈

You Deserve Each Other starring Nicholas and Naomi, two of the most detestable characters I’ve read about in a long time. But are they really detestable? Are they just misunderstood? Underappreciated? Or maybe they've never opened up to each other and have never developed any trust? No matter what, their wedding is just a few months away and they both are the unhappiest they've ever been. So instead of one of them calling off the wedding and taking the high road, they both attempt to not so gracefully get out of their engagement with pranks, jabs and a vindictiveness that become comical. Nicholas and Naomi with the help of "Nicky's" mother, slowly unravel their relationship until all that is left is a minuscule thread to hold onto. Will their relationship end in a pile of destruction and furry or can they come together and rediscover what they first loved about each other?

Don't miss this binge-worthy book. It was funny, emotional and absolutely sweet!

I really liked this book.  It was extremely entertaining and a very fast read.  I kind of get lost a little bit at the end when the video gaming scene shows but it is only briefly, after that I'm immediately engaged again. The snarky remarks between Naomi and Nicholas are so cleverly written that I was laughing out loud for most of the book.  It really made me think of how important communication is in relationships and how easy it is to take one another for granted.  Highly recommend if a reader is in a slump and looking for a light quick read that they can just plow thru in no time at all that really pulls at all of your emotions.

It was an ok read. There were moments that I was entertained. I wish it was dual POV. It could have made the whole book. 


I voluntarily read an early copy.

This was a good book and a quick read.  It basically comes down to how you get so caught up with wedding planning and trying to please others that you forget about the most important thing.  The couple that is getting married!  Throw in a meddling, soon-to-be, mother-in -law and you have a recipe for disaster.  The writing was clever and sometimes lough out loud.  The characters were very likable, you'll find yourself rooting for them.  Glad that I took the time to read this book.

This book is what Romcoms are all about!!! Its witty, insightful and entertaining.
 
After reading the blurb, I was thinking him how is this going to work out. The writing was incredible. The story captures you from the very first scene all the to the ending.

Naomi and Nicholas made an interesting pair. The way they battled against each other, man was it funny. It's a sweet love story that will stick with you.

This contemporary romance/rom-com debut started out a bit rough for me, but I hung in there and the second half totally payed off.  Naomi and Nicholas are engaged- but they can't stand each other.  Whoever breaks the engagement is stuck with the bill. Instead of communicating, they are petty and cruel to each other. Albeit it entertaining to a point, I  wanted more backstory of how they got to that level of mistrust. But, SURPRISE, once they actually start communicating it's so much better. ⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
WHAT I LOVED:
COUPLE: An already established/engaged couple. Lovers to Enemies to Lovers.  PLACE: Wisconsin. It takes place (fictionally) in my part of the state. I specifically loved the shout out to Eau Claire, my alma matter. SUPPORTING CAST: The soon to be MIL is something else. 
PACING: Issues aren't solved in a day and I appreciated how they worked their way back to each other.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
TONE: It was really, really funny. There are a couple scenes that made me laugh hard enough to get the "You're crazy Mom" look from my kids. 
EGGPLANT SCALE: It has one slightly steamy scene (Ch 19) so  I’d rate it 1 1/2 

If you're looking for a solid, sarcastic yet sweet satisfying rom-com, pick this up. 3.5 stars

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle was fantastic. The plot was so different from your typical romance novel and I could not put it down. Naomi and Nick were perfect. Perfectly frustrating and absolutely perfect together. I can't wait to read more from this author!

The second half of the book was charming, but I thought the relationship in the first half was too toxic.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an ARC of this book! (Even though they sent it to me after it was released. Not exactly an ARC anymore, but still thank you!)


I read book this as part of the "Friends Who Read" reading challenge: APRIL - Humor


This was such a cute and funny love story. I seriously loved it, it had me laughing out loud so often! It definitely fit my humor theme this month, I highly recommend if you’re in the mood for laughs. It was such a unique love story, I have literally never read another book where the characters start off engaged but hating each other, and do everything they can to sabotage the relationship without actually being the one to break it off. This made for some really hilarious moments!

BUT, don’t be fooled by the funny moments and the cutesy cover. It’s actually got some serious and emotional moments too. Because in mutually conspiring to break it off and truly being themselves, Naomi and Nicholas actually start to have fun in their relationship. This dynamic was SO GOOD. It was nowhere near instalove or lust or all of those things you find in a lot of romance books. It was so natural and realistic and I just came to love these characters. 

I got some vibes of The Bromance Book Club, because that was also a funny book about salvaging a broken relationship. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a book that is funny, sweet, and just a great story. 4.5 stars

Ugh this book! I loved it. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes. Such a simple, familiar premise, but the relatable voices, humor, and heart had me from the very start. 

This book is hilarious and I immensely enjoyed the writing style. The thoughts and wording are so relatable and quirky and far out. It captures the craziness that everyone's brains go through. This reads like a classic rom-com. I could totally see it as a movie. Major "Monster-in-Law" or "Bride Wars" vibes.

Both main characters, Naomi and Nicholas, start out sounding like some really crappy people. I was only 5% in and already rolling my eyes left and right. And I mean that in the best way possible. I mean they are really hard to love and I think thats the point. It is written so well and I'm sure we are supposed to feel the annoyance. At first you really side with Naomi and then at some point you start understanding Nicholas and then side with him. As you read, you begin to see both their frustration and needs and it really captures how important communication and understanding is in a relationship and that both parties are responsible for the failure or success of it.

I couldn't put this book down once they move into the new house and my eyes are definitely worse for wear because of it, but it was so good. Ugh, I couldn't help but tear up when Nicholas walks to the dumpster and deliberately throws away the last wedding invitation. Such a poignant, meaningful moment.

Congratulations to Sarah Hogle on a wonderful debut. I would love to see this book written for a movie. Absolutely LOVE it! Highly recommend this book to all rom-com lovers and readers.

I really enjoyed this book, even though I wanted to smack both the characters (several times) throughout reading it. (Why is communicating so hard!?!) I loved the idea of falling in love, then out of love, and then back in love with the same person. Overall, this book was well written, funny, and most importantly it had my attention from the very beginning (which sometimes you have to sludge through a few chapters before getting hooked, so being hooked from the first chapter was awesome). 

The one thing that is missing from this book that I desperately need is to know is what Deborah's reaction was to how things ended! I need a sequel or at the very least an epilogue!

Happy ever after becomes tricky when your fiancé has become your nemesis. In Sarah Hogle’s hilariously tender debut, You Deserve Each Other, see if love can be found again amidst some seriously underhanded pranks.

Oooooh this one was spicy! Sarah Hogle, bravo! There is so much spiteful tension and a slew of really childish antics, and I was cracking up. Hogle brings the tension and bitterness almost to the point of overwhelm. And THEN – right when you’re thinking that this book is just being too much of a jerk and you might break up with it – Hogle reels in Naomi and Nick. Then she gives you such a tender and open relationship. It’s a slow burn back to being in love, and the journey to find out if they really make it in the end is SO worth it!

I feel like the extreme build up to almost quitting the book perfectly mirrors the relationship between Nick and Naomi. I really felt pulled into their annoyance and desperation and wanted it to JUST. END. And then, while Nick and Naomi start being honest and real with each other and feel this immense tease of hope and relief, you’re right there with them.

I love this one. I really do. You Deserve Each Other is in the enemies-to-lovers category of romantic comedies, sure, but it’s so much better than others I’ve read. It’s equal parts wickedly hilarious and desperately vulnerable. It’s got snark and sass and sauciness and all other spectacular S-words that make it shine.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I try not to give out 5 star ratings to every book that makes me laugh and/or cry. I like to preserve them for the books that really yank my emotions around. 

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle is a 5-star book. 

I read it mostly in one sitting, and I binged it late into the night. I could hear my mother snoring in her room down the hall, and I was desperately trying not to laugh too hard and wake her up. That is how hilarious this book is.

Naomi and Nicholas are engaged and their wedding is fast approaching. The problem: they don't love each other anymore. Nicholas has stopped any sort of romantic gestures, and Naomi is deeply unhappy with their relationship and with Nicholas's overbearing mother. Naomi doesn't want to be the one to end it all - she's not one to rock the boat - so the best thing is to convince Nicholas to end it.

By starting a prank war.

The first part of this book is deeply unsettling. The state of Naomi and Nicholas's relationship has gotten pretty bleak, and Naomi is very obviously stuck in a horrible situation. Once she decides to start the prank war, the tone lightens up a lot. The situations these two get into are some of the funniest scenes I have ever read and had me laughing until I had tears running down my face.

The eventual emotional connection that brings them back together was really well-written and believable. I was worried in the beginning because the relationship written from Naomi's perspective in the earliest chapters was so bleak and hopeless, but Hogle really brought it back around in the end. I loved to see these two characters work on themselves and each other, and I loved seeing them support one another by the end.

Such an amazing book.

Naomi Westfield and Nicholas Rose are engaged, but shortly before their wedding they realize they have both fallen out of love. Stubborn, and not wanting to deal with the financial and social drama of calling the arrangement off, they start prancing each other to convince their betrothed to call it quits first. Buuuut as in any delightful rom-com, Naomi and Nicholas might be catching feelings all over again as they show each other their devious and goofy sides.

A new twist on some classic tropes, this book had me laughing out loud! I just love reading about a couple pranking each other in ridiculous ways! This was absolutely the escapism I needed right now.
Book was published last Tuesday (4/7/20)! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I like to review ARCs before pub date, but experienced some delays due to ongoing family issues during the pandemic. Hope all are doing ok and maintaining good mental and physical health.

Naomi Westfield is engaged to the perfect guy and planning the perfect wedding.  She should be blissfully happy, right? Wrong. 

She’s miserable.  She’s tired of being utterly invisible to her fiancé.  It seems that he would rather spend the day shoveling his parent’s driveway than spending time with her.  It would be better for both of them if they called everything off and went their sperate ways.  But she’s not going to be the one that ends it.  

If everything goes as she plans, he’ll throw in the towel and she’ll be the wronged party. Maybe someday soon she’ll find love again.  And maybe she won’t even have to look very far.

 “This is what happens when you date a guy for eleven months, then get engaged six hours before finally moving in together and learning who the other person truly is on a day-to-day basis.  Signing up for Boyfriend Nicholas and inheriting Fiancé Nicholas later on was some legitimate bait-and-switch business, let me tell you.  I thought I’d won big-time when I landed him, but after sliding a ring onto my finger he relegated me to Eternal Second Place.”

Not only is Nicholas Rose a successful dentist from a well to do family but he’s also unfairly easy on the eyes.  His greatest flaw is that he can’t seem to ever say no to his overbearing mother.  
   
She’s taken it upon herself to plan every aspect of the upcoming wedding while gleefully ignoring any input from the bride to be.  But if he and Naomi can’t find a way to salvage their tattered relationship, there won’t be any nuptials to celebrate.  

He’s going to pull out all the stops to show Naomi that they belong together including ditching his beloved khakis for jeans and their city rental for a house in the woods. Because when you finally find your one true love, you never let them go. 

 “Nicholas absorbs my attention so fully that I know I’ll never forget how this feels.  It’s a peace and a comfort I haven’t been able to find anywhere.  It’s how my heart pounds so loud I’m certain he can hear it.  It’s how his closeness makes my knees weak, and his skin brushing mine jolts me like a spray of hot sparks.  It’s how he knows me better than anyone else, and I never meant for him to. 
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.  I inadvertently let him in to see the ugly parts but instead of running away like I’d counted on him to do, he wrapped his arms around all of that ugliness and didn’t let go.”

On the surface, You Deserve Each Other appears to be the wittiest kind of Rom Com.  But hidden within the pages is a deeply satisfying love story.  Sarah Hogle wraps sharp wit with tender passion and the result is a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.  

The push and pull between Nicholas and Naomi is pitch perfect and holds readers enraptured to the very end.  Just be prepared to swoon for days…

4.5 Stars 

“You’re a demon,” I tell him
“And you’ve been a ghost,” he breathes

When asked to review You Deserve Each Other, the debut from Sarah Hogle, we read the synopsis and immediately said yes. Now, after finishing we can’t believe this is a debut novel! What a fantastic read with an interesting twist on the enemies to lovers’ trope! With Naomi and Nicholas hellbent on antagonising one another at every opportunity, it’s more a lovers to enemies to lovers’ theme and we lapped up all the funny, crazy, heartbreaking and beautifully emotional moments!

‘When you build a life with someone, so many of your building blocks prop up your partner, and you’re propped up by theirs until your foundations merge and walking away risks destabilisation for you both.’

Twenty-eight-year-old Naomi Westfield and thirty-two-year-old Nicholas Rose are engaged, and only three months away from tying the knot when they find themselves questioning their relationship, irritating one another, playing pranks on each and wondering if their wedding will, in fact, proceed.

Told through Naomi’s inner monologue we learn how utterly frustrated Naomi is with her relationship, her career and her family. Her insecurities intensify her antagonism towards Nicholas who has a stable career and is a doted-upon son. Naomi feels as though she’s been relegated to second place in Nicholas’ life, her feelings manifesting into her wanting to possibly call off their wedding.

‘There are hurts. I feel them all over, like stab wounds: the distance that we both allowed to settle in, ruining what should have been the happiest year of our lives.’

Nicholas’s overbearing mother, Deborah wears on every one of Naomi’s last nerve as she dictates every part of their upcoming nuptials, and her constant demands on Nicholas leave Naomi frustrated. But how does Nicholas feel? Can he see a point where their relationship can be saved?

“You stopped seeing me, Naomi. You stopped wanting me. “

Sarah Hogle delivered a debut filled with witty banter and some laugh out loud moments as Naomi and Nicholas try every trick in the book to ‘one-up’ each other in the revenge stakes! Some of their exploits were ingenious! The emotion certainly pulled at our heartstrings in a story that, beneath the wit and antics, is a beautiful romance/love story between two people who have lost their way.

“I don’t know where you’ve been all year, Naomi. Your body’s here, but your head’s somewhere else. You’ve gone and left me all alone.”

We did take a little while to warm to the story as we couldn’t get a read on Naomi and Nicholas, with Naomi coming across as the aggressor, however, once we became invested and the emotion of the characters came to fruition, we were held spellbound as Naomi and Nicholas navigated their troublesome relationship, through all the pent up hurt and miscommunication.

“Relearning you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

A little reminiscent War of the Roses/Mr and Mrs Smith (though without the violence!), we were completely dazzled by, and invested in the characters, the romance and the eventual outcome of Naomi and Nicholas’s story. Not to mention swooning crazily over Nicholas. This guy… we loved him! If you love the enemies to lover’s trope, you need to grab this book!

‘I wish I could see inside his head to know how he feels about me. ‘