I really enjoyed this one! I found the characters to be realistic in their assumptions of each other when they first met. It almost had a bit of a modern Pride and Prejudice vibe to it. The enemies to lovers trope is strong in this one. Their witty banter back and forth gave me a lot to look forward to also.
The darker tone to what was going on in the background of the story with their church and culture rounded out this romance into a great story. I felt like I was there, and invested in the journey with these characters.
I felt like all of the decisions that they made felt realistic to the situation. Each reaction is met with the consequences of each which was really well done for me. Can't wait to read more stories from this author, and I hope that they spend some more time with the characters that we met in this one!

DNF at 16%. I appreciate a good hate to love story but wasn’t connecting with this one. I felt like Liya took her independence to a point of being rude and hurtful. And I really didn’t like the way Jay spoke to her in a meeting in front of her coworkers. I know they will probably both make some changes through the rest of the book but this one isn’t for me right now. Thank you Forever for the free book!

“The Trouble with Hating You” by Sajni Patel is an enemies to lovers office trope infused with Indian culture, feminism, and rising sexual tension. Smart and quick-witted, this is a fresh take on the traditional “office romance.“

Blurb: Liya’s parents are trying to force her into an arranged marriage, and when they set her up with a charming lawyer, Liya runs for the hills. Little does she know, she’ll soon come face to face with the same man she ran away from. He is none other than Jay Shah, her soon to be co-worker.

Liya is jaded and independent and rejects all advances from Jay, but she soon realizes there’s more to Jay than meets the eye.

This is a charming and emotionally charged novel that tackles issues like sexual assault, breaking cultural traditions, and verbal abuse. Liya and Jay are deeply layered characters with tramatic pasts and even though Liya was a little “extra“ in the beginning, I started to understand her defensiveness. Jay, on the other hand, completely won me over.

The sweet and dashing Jay pulled out all the stops. He is the perfect book boy friend and left me swooning from beginning to end.

This is a fast-paced, multi-faceted romance that is timely, adorable, and entertaining

This book didn't start out great for me. But after it hit 30% mark, I was hooked.

So, the story is about Liya and Jay. Liya is our "badass bitch" who is defying conservative Indian traditions. IMO, the culture portrayed in her family who lives in America was even more conservative than families living in India (both of the same socioeconomic class). Yes, the conservative culture, the arranged marriage setups, the going to temple, all exist in India for a lot of people. Having said that, I haven't seen such a culture in any of my relative living in America. We go to temples, but during some important festivals and such. And its definitely not the huge social event that it is depicted to be.

I've been to temples in the US too. They do have great celebration of festivals but even they don't have this huge weekly get-togethers. Yes, all the negatively shown traditions are accurate but I wish they weren't portrayed so negatively. And to be honest, I wish the Indian culture was shown in a more positive light. I missed that.

All the aside, once all the culture heavy descriptions stopped at about 30%, I started to enjoy the book. I really loved the banter and the relationship development. I absolutely adored Jay's family. The romance reminded me of Hindi TV serials and not in a bad way. I had missed those longing glances, and heavy staring and slow makeouts.

It was at about 60% that we were told that Jay was 6'4". And it's hard to believe in my Gujarati genes so much coz I've never scene a hot 6'4" Gujarati guy in my life. ANd I've lived and grown up in Gujarat for 23 years of my life.

Do I wish it had more steam or at least one descriptive sex scene? Yes.

Overall, I was absolutey hooked . I did scoff at a lot of cultural references. But, I chose to ignore those because the banter was good, the relationship development was good. I loved seeing Liya's tough exterior cracking and her softer side making appearance.

Tolerate the first 30% and you won't regret reading it.

I do recommend it.

I am so glad that I picked this one up! I’ve stayed up too late to finish it but once I got to the halfway mark there was no way I could put it down.

This take on hate to love was so well done. The thawing of the hate, the discovery of the backstory, the COMMUNICATION between the characters.
My biggest pet peeve in romance books is where they don’t just talk to each other and this book ended up surprising me with two people who actually talked, showed emotions, let each other in. Also I loved the romantic side of Jay taking it slow and showing himself to be trustful not just “saying it”

The supporting cast of characters make me really hope that we will see some more books for Liya’s group of girls friend.

I was really excited to read this book. The premise was so promising. At first I was a little disappointed. I thought the writing style was too elementary and the character development too fast. Over time, I grew to really enjoy how the story was told and Liya started to grow on me. There were a few things that I really liked and wanted to point out. The book gave an inside look at Indian society in the U.S. Different elements of the culture were explained and used to bring the story to life. I loved Liya’s friends and how they supported each other. Also, I loved Jay. He was so sweet and persevered through Liya’s tough exterior.

That’s actually what I really didn’t like. Unable to meet her society’s standards, Liya struggles with making her way in the world and breaking free of the constrictive ideals for women. Although she presents herself as not caring what others think about her, deep down she’s desperate to be accepted and loved unconditionally (aren’t we all?). However, Liya is a man-hater. Seriously. The so-called feminism of hating and distrusting all men is messed up, and exactly the logic Liya holds to. This only highlights her own personal problems with men in the past, but it doesn’t excuse the way she pushes away and instantly demonizes men. She does this most of the book and it gets annoying real fast. I think it was partially justified after learning the truth about a traumatic experience she went through, but it wasn’t easy to read nonetheless.

Overall, pretty good. I don’t think I’ll ever read it again, but I don’t think it was a waste of time. It covered some heavy topics like sexual harassment and domestic abuse; some interesting topics like Indian culture; and some fun ones like female friendships.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

REVIEW | The Trouble With Hating You
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Liya is a successful engineer who doesn’t need a man. But when her parents have plans for an arranged marriage with lawyer, Jay, she may be forced to re think her stance on love.
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What I loved:
💗I’m always here for romances featuring POC characters.
💗The infusion of culture was so vivid and the food descriptions seriously had my mouth watering
💗Loved Jay as a hero. He was so adorable
💗Addition of difficult topics such as sexual assault
Thank you to Forever Pub and netgalley for this lovely ARC!

I had no trouble loving this one!

The Trouble with Hating You is a beautiful story about a woman who refuses to bow to tradition after that tradition betrayed her in the most heartbreaking way and a man so full of grief that it takes a sassy woman telling him not to see what he really wants and what is worth fighting for.

I absolutely loved the way that Liya and Jay come to terms with their pasts, presents, and the possibility of a future together by supporting each other. Even as they are still blinded by the things that have hurt them they are willing to stand up for and defend the other - that’s the mark of love.

The family and friend circles were full people that made the story richer and helped us get to know Liya and Jay even better. I can’t wait for more of the girls’ stories!

You should absolutely read the authors trigger/content warnings as so much of the book is tied up in them but the way that Liya and Jay fight it so affirming and rewarding and Jay’s Ma’s speech toward the end! Pure gold standard of feminism at its finest!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

This was such an interesting enemies to lovers book, especially since it started out with a meeting arranged by our main characters' parents. Liya, who has no desire to get married, leaves a bad first impression on Jay, who she then runs into at work on Monday, and they keep crossing paths with. The book started out a bit slow, but after about 3 awkward meetings I started to see the sparks between our main characters and was hooked from that point on.


Liya was sassy, stubborn, and at times drove me crazy, but I appreciated her strength and enjoyed discovering her story and how she came to be the confident, successful woman she is today. Jay was an amazing male lead, who was persistent in his attempts to get Liya to give him a chance. And if that wasn't enough, he is an absolute sweetheart to his mom and sister-in-law. I enjoyed watching Jay and Liya's relationship develop through this story, and was so drawn into their culture. The supporting characters really helped round out the story, especially Jay's lovable family and Liya's loyal friends.


Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a contemporary romance with some added depth.


Thank you Netgalley and the author for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man, did I love this book!!! Enemies to lovers is my absolute fave, it’s done a lot and I’ve read so many of them. This book is probably my favorite enemies to lovers since The Hating Game! 😱

This book had so many laugh out Ioud moments including use of the word asshat (my fave) and threats of a throat punch. But, there were VERY serious topics of sexual assault, death of a loved one and emotional abuse. I loved learning about Indian culture through the author’s words. I loved Liya’s fierce independence and while her sass was extreme at times, I felt it was so warranted. She underwent a very traumatic experience as a child and this independence as born from necessity and her need to protect herself when no one else would.
Now Jay..... omg. The swooning I had over Jay. Holy cow this guy is everyone’s dream boyfriend. Loyal to his family, sweet and patient. HOT. 😍😍😍 The supporting characters were wonderful! I hear there will be another book about one of Liya’s best friends and I will be waiting in line for it and anything else from Ms. Patel!!

This was such a great story, I loved it from the very start till the end! Jay and Liya were both fantastic, I adored them!The storyline was fantastic with one of my favorite tropes enemies to lovers!

I connected with both characters and I find them cute and sweet.Liya is an amazing heroine, and Jay is swoon worthy!

The trouble with hating you is full of emotions , a great romance and the perfect amount of drama!I'm looking forward to read more books from this author!

This is one of those book that you will love but ouch it hurts to read as well. Liya has a background that has made her strong, smart, sassy, lover of designer clothes and shoes, and trying to help her company stay afloat. Love love she is a biochemist - yeah for lady science nerds!! But she hates her parents trying to set her up with men, she runs away from one said dinner right into her date, Jay. Later finds out he is the lawyer trying to help save the company as well. This is a true enemies-to-lovers romance that also deals with workplace drama, family, cultural traditions, abuse but has strong female friendship, family drama-good, birth, love, chemsity and the HEA(now), This books shows you have to work through as a couple your past traumas to grow together towards more love for each other and theirselves.

Jay is the strong, smart, sexy, kind, and stands besides his lady type that will make you love him. Not to spoil too much but he is perfect book boyfriend/husband! The ending will make the reader happy as they come together with love from his family.

Loved the aspects of Indian culture that are in this book. This is a wonderful debut and can NOT wait for the next book in this series.

Overall, 4 stars and 3 steam

Thanks to Forever, Netgalley, and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book has a lot of potential but it fell into a trap that many enemies-to-lovers do for me: too much enemies and not enough love.

Included in May New Releases blog post (link attached)

This book was so cute! I loved it front to back and strongly recommend. I loved the story line and love a book with a strong career woman in the lead.

I was very highly anticipating this book, but, unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me.

First, the good, the friendships here were delightful. And Jay's family was great. I would fight for his mother. What a beautiful woman. She's traditional but not judgmental. Soft but strong. I adored Jay's Ma.

But Jay and Liya were not particularly interesting. Liya's entire personality felt shaped by her sexual assault. And then the narrative continued to assault her. Jay existed as mostly a reaction to Liya. Their sparring was presented as banter. But it mostly felt mean. I wasn't given a reason to root for these characters. And I wasn't given a reason to root for them together. I did not believe their chemistry. Some of this may be due to how the split first person POV is handled, but I want to be rooting for these characters even while complicating how they come across. Usually this structure allows for us to see how something happens in one POV and better understand motivations/justifications/feel for the other character in the other POV.

This is another book that involves sexual assault. And, I may need a break from them. Here it was frustrating because it felt like. a device even while the reader was constantly forced to deal with this. This often did not feel like a romcom as much as a book about Liya dealing with the continued fallout from being assaulted and no one believing her (and then she is assaulted again within the course of the narrative by someone else while still being harassed). As I have said on other books, I cannot speak for how a survivor may respond to this. And, all survivors are different as they are unique individuals not a simply an awful thing that happened to them. I do know I had trouble reading this.

On the more nitpick side of the scale, there was a lot of brand name dropping on Liya's side that was distracting. We get that she's successful. I don't need Prada thrown in to remind me of that.

This book comes out next week and I hope you add it to your reading list as soon as possible! This was such a fun read and I couldn't put it down!

Liya is an ambitious biochemical engineer in Houston whose recent promotion has her working around the clock to ensure her company stays afloat. Ostracized by her rumor-mongering and very conservative Indian community for being too "American", Liya finds solace in her job and her close-knit group of girlfriends, each of whom faces expectations of her own. One evening, Liya's parents' invite her to a family dinner that turns out to be a meeting with a potential suitor. Upon discovering this, Liya sneaks out the back door to literally run into the suitor himself before making an awkward exit. 

Jay is a lawyer who was recently hired to advise Liya's company. When their awkward dinner meeting proves not to be their last encounter, he finds himself wanting to spend more time with her despite the tension between them.  He doesn't let the rumors in their community bother him, and their morning breakfasts and late dinners in Liya's office gradually turn into something more. In getting to know one another, they both must grapple with their past traumas before finally accepting the true feelings that blossom along the way. 

Heartwarming and thought-provoking, Sajni Patel's debut novel features close friendships, moments that will make you laugh and others that will make you cry, and two very lovable and complicated protagonists. Liya and Jay work through their conflicts together, going from acquaintances to friends to lovers and transforming side-by-side into the people they're meant to be. Most importantly, their story explores the idea that falling in love does not erase past traumas, but it can help you face and work through them towards a brighter future. 

I found this book so refreshing, from the slow-burning romance to Liya's and Jay's gradually overcoming their past traumas together, with a lot of self-doubt and guilt in between. Neither expects the other to change for them, nor does their love magically make them forget their pasts; rather, it results in two satisfying characters arcs and a finale that made my heart soar. Yes, there were some cheesy moments in this book, and Liya's and Jay's repartee in the middle could get a bit repetitive at times, but overall I would highly recommend this book and I can't wait to read Preeti's story in book #2! 

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this complimentary review copy. All opinions are my own.

This story gets props for its diverse representation, and for attempting to tackle tough issues. I regret that I found the writing difficult to connect with and the storytelling skill underdeveloped and lacking voice. I wish this story worked better with showing rather than telling about issues, and I also could do without the many brand-name dropping. I don't need a woman to be rich and materially invested to be empowered. Show me the core of a person's strength, regardless of their financial success and status.

Let me start by saying that my feelings on this book are very complicated and personal for reasons I don’t wish to elaborate on and I’ll try not to ramble too much in this review.

The Author’s Note mentions this book as being a romantic comedy that also deals with sexual assault (non-graphic, off the page), death, and trauma. I would vehemently disagree with the first part of that statement.

Let’s start with the characters:

Liya Thakkar is a thirty-ish, professional woman from a pretty traditional Indian family. She’s well educated, has a job that allows her to drive a Lexus and feed her Christian Louboutin addiction and lives on her own, which is very much an anomaly in the Gujarati community in her hometown of Houston, Texas. In fact, the book mentions this a lot – Liya does not need or want a man to take care of her, she is more than able to do so on her own. She can provide for herself, she can cook, she can clean, and she can change the oil and tires on her own car. Much as I love a great, independent heroine, the idea of Liya being independent is sort of mentioned so much, it almost becomes a separate plot line. Don’t open doors for Liya, don’t offer to help Liya, don’t be nice to Liya. Liya was sexually assaulted when she was 15 by a trusted member of her community. When she turned to her parents for help, her father not only did not believe her but branded her a whore and stated that she must have caused the situation. Her mother, submissive and afraid of her domineering, abusive husband, did not come to Liya’s aid and as a result, Liya has a very difficult relationship with her parents, does not trust men, believes them to all have ulterior motives where she’s concerned, doesn’t believe in love and thinks marriage is a patriarchal construct designed to oppress women.

Jay Shah, the lawyer who is initially introduced in the story as a potential husband Liya’s father wants her to meet, also has a lot of baggage. He’s dealing with guilt from how his father died many years ago and this guilt has caused him to believe that he is not deserving of any joy in his life.

Their intended meet-cute goes off the rails and devolves into a series of increasingly hostile misunderstandings rife with misogyny and slut shaming. This is clearly meant to be a enemies to lovers trope but here’s the thing with this particular trope. It’s hard to strike that very fine balance between two people who are at odds with each other but clearly falling in love. The problem in this book stems from the fact that these two characters are so busy judging each other and making assumptions about the other, it’s difficult to determine when they could have possibly fallen in love.

Liya is downright mean and hostile, due to her painful past and the fact that her entire community has judged her as some sort of untouchable whore. Frankly, I can fully understand Liya’s outlook and in my opinion, she would do well to get some therapy before attempting any kind of a serious romantic relationship.

But it’s Jay who is the real problem. He’s judgmental and misogynistic and there’s a scene involving a pair of $1400 shoes that made me so mad that I had to put the book down for a bit. When he realizes he can’t judge Liya based on other people’s words, it’s already too late for me. And that in turn leads to the real issue with why I could not enjoy this book. At the end of a romance novel, the reader should turn the final page believing wholeheartedly in the couple, in their love and future. But when I finished this book, I had zero confidence that Liya and Jay would make it in the long run without significant therapy to work through all the baggage they each carried. I couldn’t even tell when exactly they fell in love amidst all the hostility and misogyny.

Who isn’t a sucker for an enemies to lovers romance?⁣
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Liya is an intelligent, beautiful, witty, sarcastic and feisty Indian woman who tends to go against her traditional religion, and is looked down upon in her community for this except for from a few close girl friends.⁣
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Jay is an intimidating, powerful lawyer who is a force to be reckoned with who has a super soft spot for his momma and a love of antagonizing Liya.⁣
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Both of these characters had a traumatic past that make them both standoffish but equally perfect for each other.⁣
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There were some funny and cute moments between Liya and Jay. Her banter with him and her funny conversations with her friends made this a cute, light read. I also really loved Jay’s momma in this, as a strong domineering woman who believed in her religion but also wasn’t as traditional as the other “aunties.”⁣
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Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for an ARC for my honest review.⁣
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#TheTroubleWithHatingYou #bookstagram #books #booklover #romance #romcom

Jay was such a gem in this book. I love that, despite their first meeting, he continued to pursue her even when she did not want anything to do with him. This book kept me guessing. I had no idea the secrets with either Jay or Liya were keeping. Both of them shocked me but made the book so much better. The ending was perfect and would make a wonderful movie!