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Member Reviews

I read this story in one sitting, because I was enjoying the angsty back and forth between our two protagonists, Jay and Liya.
The plot was centred around a trope I enjoy in romance, that is enemies to lovers. The characters were fun and relatable, even though both had trauma from their past that they were still dealing with, it did not take over their storyline.
Ultimately this story is one about following your heart, and not letting what other people think of you affect what makes you happy in life.

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Wow!! Such a great read. I loved everything about this book. The characters were so relatable and the storyline was not like your usual romance stories. Looking forward to getting a print copy of this book 💕

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Really appreciated that author mentioned some of the triggers at the beginning of this book so readers could better prepare before they started reading this.
I've been on a Indian romance binge lately and this one was pretty. Were dealing with really hurt characters, both the H and h have had horrible things happen to them in the past. Liya does come off as a standoffish and mean character so some readers are not going to find her likable. But what she's gone through, she has had build up her walls so she can protect herself. Same with Jay. He has PTSD and you read in this book how he deals with.
Was this best enemies to lovers book I read? Nope. But I think it is an important book to read though, especially reading about a culture and it's norms how they differentiate from your own.

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As a reader, it took me a while to engage with Liya. I understood her feelings about being blindsided when she realizes the quiet dinner with her parents is really a set up to an arranged marriage. Her defensive emotional walls were high and her initial abrasiveness made me wonder why Jay was even trying to defend her. But then you see her with her besties and when you read deeper into the book, you learn what she has endured. These revelations were worth the investment of continuing reading this complex romance between Liya and Jay.

I liked the friendship and support network that Liya had. I hope Preeti gets her HEA with her one and only lost love.
I absolutely adored Jay’s family. His mother, brother and sister-in-law were the opposite of most of the judgmental elders in their mandir.

Both Liya and Jay were damaged and went through life navigating as best as they could. He denies himself happiness because of survivor’s guilt. She has a take no shit attitude because of the misogyny and sexism within her mandir community.

This is a good debut novel and that has many engaging characters with potential for a series.

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Liya, who has been estranged from her father since an unspecified bad event in her youth, is horrified to discover that her parents were trying to arrange her marriage to Jay, an up-and-coming lawyer. Jay is handsome, yes, but cocky, and exactly what Liya doesn't want -- a traditional man with marriage in mind. Jay is appalled by Liya's rude manners, and determined not to speak to her anymore. But when they're thrown together at work, as well as in temple preparations for the wedding of mutual friends, Liya and Jay find themselves drawn to each other.

Nuanced and interesting, I really enjoyed THE TROUBLE WITH HATING YOU. Both Liya and Jay had believable developmental arcs, and their relationship is really sweet. I also really enjoyed the setting. I've read a few other books set in Indian culture -- but most of them were in London, California, or India itself. The intriguing mix of Hindu + Houston culture made for a fascinating blend.

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I loved this book! It was a wonderful enemies to lovers with sassy and smart scientist Liya, and a tall and handsome Jay. They meet when her parents arrange a dinner for them to meet, but without asking Liya first. This leads to a wonderful meet-cute with her literally running into him as she escapes the house!

One of my favorite parts of this book is that Jay realizes Liya is strong enough to rescue herself, but stands by to make sure she feels safe as she does so. Their banter and chemistry are incredible and the relationship builds over time in a believable way.

The writing is sharp and tight with excellent dialogue, and a wonderful set of supporting characters. I already messaged the author to ask her to write her next book about one of them!

I read this book in one sitting and it was a total delight. I highly recommend it!

Be warned - it has detailed descriptions of yummy food that will make you hungry.

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This book tackles sexual assault, particularly assault by a prominent respected leader in one's own community, with a deft and serious hand. It's heartbreaking to see how much the strong Liya is ostracized from her community, with all the slut-shaming and gossip.
This said, Patel does a fabulous job of treating these hard-hitting topics with the seriousness they deserve, with simultaneously allowing the romance between Liya and Jay to develop and flourish. I loved Liya as a badass South Asian feminist, and Jay's acute sense of her boundaries and needs from the very very beginning of the book!
Also, the supporting characters were wonderfully strong! I loved how nuanced and different all the parents were (so often, parents are flattened to have one type of personality), and Liya's group of girlfriends were the BEST!!!

We need more explicit conversations about consent in the Romance genre, which is only one of the many reasons I am so so excited to be among the chorus of voices welcoming this fantastic debut into the Romance Book world!!!

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This is absolutely one of my new favorite rom-com books! It was so much fun to read, and I could not put it down. The chemistry between the leads is sizzling. I love that it brings forth the issues of culture and patriarchy as well as that of assault, trauma and women's role in society. Because of the characters and their backgrounds, these elements are important and are important to painting the reality of people. The book is witty, flirty yet makes the important point to focus on those serious points. This is a book that anyone fan enjoy, and the love story is such a perfect and fun journey.

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**ARC from NetGalley**
A sweet enemies to lovers story between a feisty yet broken woman and a confident yet damaged man. The two have a rough start, for good reasons. She went through sexual assault as a teen (which the author did an excellent job of informing the reader of without it becoming triggering) while his trauma involves his dad whose last moments were saving him from a fire so he blames himself for the death and thinks he's unworthy of love. The woman is smart and can handle herself in the business world while he is a lawyer and holding his own as well. Even from the beginning, before he knew of her trauma, he was careful to ask for her consent for every touch outside a handshake. It was BEAUTIFUL and quite endearing. Life throws them together and they slowly learn that maybe it's okay to love someone. The slow build was wonderful and felt true to life and the characters. The chapters flitted between the two main characters so it was nice to be able to see what each of them were thinking.

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It’s so incredibly satisfying to go into a read with high expectations and have them completed exceeded. This is everything I was hoping it would be, but it took me about halfway through to really latch on. But once I hit the half way point? It was game on! Overall, The Trouble With Hating You is funny and smart, and it tackles very serious issues of sexual assault and trauma. Liya is a self-assured, brilliant woman who faces relentless judgement and ridicule from her community and family for distancing herself from the Indian community and her troubled (re: traumatic) past. But Liya is such a fierce character, and the support from her friends and the women in her life is really what carries the story through its dark, difficult moments. That, and her ridiculously charming love interest. In true enemies-to-lovers fashion, Jay and Liya’s relationship started off super rocky. Not surprising considering this is an enemies-to-lovers romance, but the chemistry started off a bit flat, making it hard for me to become invested in their relationship. By the end of it though? I was absolutely swooning and cheering them on. I enjoyed the book overall, but it was the last half that absolutely sold me on this read. I am so, SO impressed with this debut, and I cannot wait to see what Sajni Patel does next!

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Liya has been burned by the sexism in her Indian community. She has a few select friends and ignores the rest of her toxic community. Her parents con her into having dinner with Jay, a single man only coming to the dinner to appease his mother. After making a horrible impression by running away from the dinner, she finds out that he's a lawyer who is going to save her job. Of course, their rough start doesn't stop them from developing feelings for each other.

I have no problem with this book. The main and side characters are well developed and interesting. The conflicts are realistic. Not once did the characters have stupid misunderstandings. Yet, Liya's and Jay's romance didn't make me feel anything. I had no problems with them getting together. They're likable characters who I wanted to find happiness. I just didn't jump for joy when they got together.

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This enemies to lovers romance is Sajni Patel’s debut novel. Despite the disapproval of her Indian parents and their community, Liya, a biochemical engineer, lives on her own, dates, doesn’t want to marry, and has a snarky streak a mile-wide.

Liya’s parents ambush her with dinner with a potential husband for her and his mother. Upset, Liya runs out, knocking Jay, the gorgeous would be suitor to the ground in her haste to get away.

The twist comes when Jay is brought in to help the firm Liya works for. So of course, they’re constantly thrown together. Romantic tensions rise but so does the apprehension because Liya and Jay both have traumas from the past shaping their lives.

Loved the descriptions of the celebrations and the food had me drooling. I enjoyed that Liyya and Jay helped and supported each other. Fun debut!

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC.

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There's no better feeling that seeing a book on NetGalley, getting intrigued, reading it with no outside opinions to bolster you beforehand, and falling in love with it on the spot.

That was the magic of reading Sajni Patel's debut novel The Trouble With Hating You.

The enemies-to-lovers storyline in this book was truly *chef's kiss* and didn't rush into things. The two main characters were wonderful and self-actualized adults who took time to sort through their problems. The fact that Liya was casually a biochemical engineer was even better. A little repetition aside, I was hooked from start to finish and read the novel in one sitting.

This was such an incredible debut from Sajni Patel, and I'm already counting down the days until her next book. She's got a fan.

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