This book was a pleasant surprise after a bit of a reading slump. If you love slow burn, enemies to lovers then you will definitely love reading I Hate You More!

A former beauty queen, Ruby has spent the past decade working in a retirement community. When of her favorite residents expresses her “dying wish” that Wheezy, her portly golden retriever, win a dog show, who better to help carry Wheezy across the finish line? Enter Spencer, the grumpy vet and show judge who doesn’t think they have even the smallest chance.

This book was full of tropes and I loved them all. Enemies to lovers? Check. Grumpy/Sunshine? Yes, please. The banter between our main characters Ruby and Spencer was cute, charming and believable. Though the premise reads a bit like a Hallmark movie, there is plenty of tension and steamy moments - one in particular involving some a crossed line and “push ups” challenge. Oh my.

All of the secondary characters in this book were developed and interesting. Spencer’s relationship with his brother added another element of tension to the story and the resolution was a happy one. I loved the erotic book club at Ruby’s retirement community and loved seeing Mrs. Orson team up with Ruby’s mother at the end. I loved that Ruby and Spencer both stood up for what they wanted and were able to do that together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this review copy.

definitely enjoyed this book, it was a fun, easy, short read that I think any lover of the enemies to lovers trope will enjoy.

Tropes:
- enemies to lovers
- slow burn
- great chemistry & banter
- strong heroine
- grumpy, hot veterinarian hero

"Life is so much better when you live it on your own terms."

I would like to thank the author and Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an e-ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nothing will entice me more like getting into reading any book that features a dog in it, and also heavily surrounds that dog too. I Hate You More is that typical enemies to lovers, opposites attract rom-com novel that I always enjoy reading, and I was definitely laughing (and also sighing) from start to finish. I actually listened to this on its audiobook, so the entertainment factor was at its very best, since both narrators did a splendid job in bringing these characters to life.

I just love how ridiculous this entire book is from the very start, and it was ridiculous in a lovable sort of way. This book was just so full of funny contradictions - from the characters themselves to the situations everyone suddenly finds them into - that it just made the entire book even more enjoyable. And the amount of screen time Wheezy (yes, he's the main character here) was such a delight, because it isn't always a good smart boy/girl who will steal the show. The amount of times I said "Oh, Wheezy" was probably along the same lines as the characters. But I adore him to death, just as I do with all the other characters.

While I actually find the title itself a bit misleading, since the enemies-to-lovers trope didn't really extend very much - maybe just at around the 20% mark - it was still a very entertaining read, and maybe might make it to my top favorite romances for this year.

I would really love to see a book surrounding Caleb (the other Wilson twin) in this same world, because that I can predict would even more chaotic and hilarious.

I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers story. There was great interaction between characters that kept me intrigued. Definitely will read again.

This was a cute little enemies to lovers book that lost its way towards the middle for me. At first, it reminded me a lot of Well Met, with the grumpy guy in charge of an event that could be “ruined” by this woman, and so they clash sometimes but also there’s banter. This started to shift for me when the pacing went all over the place - such as their first ever even admitting of potential feelings ends in a mutual masterbation scene?! Later followed by a kind of out of place visit to his parents? And yet another book where the miscommunication trope and act 3 breakup just does not make a ton of sense and brings the book down for me. Cute premise but not executed well.

Unfortunately this book was just okay for me, I wanted to enjoy it more but it just seemed okay, loved reading about puppies but wasn’t convinced with Ruby and Spencer, overall I forced myself to finish it more than I enjoyed reading it.

❤️❤️❤️❤️ out of 5
Slow burn, enemies to lovers, grumpy hero and sunshine heroine, and a dog pageant? Yeah I’m all in! There are certain tropes I’m a sucker for and this mix was too good to pass up.

Our heroine has been tasked by an elderly lady to enter her dog into a pageant and make him a winner. The only trouble? The dog is the furthest thing from pageant material and is unruly and untrainable. What’s a girl to do but hire a dog trainer? Well the dog trainer’s brother happens to be hot as hell and one of the pageant’s judges…. This should be interesting.

I am a sucker for a grumpy strict hero, because we all know that a sunshine heroine is going to completely change up his staid life. This is exactly what the heroine does- she gets under his skin (and gets some real skin to skin contact too 😉). Now the slow burn did drag quite a bit but when they finally got there it was totally worth it! Overall I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebookscasa for sending me an E-Arc. The book released on November 2, 2021.

🅜🅨 🅣🅗🅞🅤🅖🅗🅣🅢:
Wheezy is a spoiled but lazy dog, Sam the broody yet handsome Veterinarian, Ruby, a former paegant queen with a lot of sass and a dog show on the horizon. What's not to love? And the cherry on top is that the Vet has an equally handsome twin, Caleb. So there's trouble and lots of slow burn! And it's my favourite enemies to lovers trope.
I absolutely loved the energy Ruby carried into a room and was an adequate equal to Sam's ego. It was enjoyable to read how Ruby wasn't just a pretty face, but a smart and intuitive woman eho handled Caleb like a pro. I wish there was more steam and yes, we need more on Caleb. Maybe a second book please?!

✨I don't understand why books keep handing me hot doctors while having the audacity to make them fictional✨

This book is described as a mix of The Hating Game and Best in Show and I think that is a great description of this book.

I definitely enjoyed this book, it was a fun, easy, short read that I think any lover of the enemies to lovers trope will enjoy.

Tropes:
- enemies to lovers
- slow burn
- great chemistry & banter
- strong heroine
- grumpy, hot veterinarian hero

Before I even begin the review, there is a group of old women in here who read erotica. If that doesn't have you picking up this book, I don't know what else to say to you.

I had initially requested this book because I love the artist who made the cover and I will read any of the books she illustrated. I am so glad I picked up this book.

It is a great slump buster. I have been in an awful book slump because I just keep getting sick and I have been having a really rough college semester. So when I picked up the audiobook for this, I really needed a pick me up. this book gave me exactly that.

It is chalk-full of humor and wit while also being emotional a real a times.

I loved all the animals in this book. They were so stinkin adorable.

Ruby was such a wonderful character. Normally, I am very apprehensive about reading about stunningly perfect white women as main characters because they are so different from who I am and everyone around them is always singing their praises that it honestly begins to pluck at my insecurities. But Ruby was so self aware and so badass. I never felt out of place or insecure when I read this book. I loved her as a main character.

And Spencer. Ooooh Spencer. His forearms and grumpiness had me blushing. I love emotionally constipated men who learn how to open up and be loved.

I enjoyed the steam in this book, it definitely made it more enjoyable when I was listening to it on audiobook.

While I did enjoy the book, I will admit that the book had many meh parts. I think I enjoyed this book because I really just needed a simple, uncomplicated book. It definitely was boring at some points. There were some subplots and conflicts that I felt were unnecessary as well.

I would definitely recommend this book, just keep in mind that it can get a little meh sometimes. But for me, the meh parts of the book actually worked at times because I was in such a bad reading slump, I needed something that wasn't doing the most.

If you can pick up the audiobook, I would suggest that route of reading the book as it certainly made the book more entertaining for me.

⭐⭐⭐.5/stars | 🌶🌶.5/ 5 steam

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, NetGalley, and Lucy Gilmore for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion ❤️

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for my copy of I Hate You More by Lucy Gilmore in exchange for my honest review.

I was very excited for this one after I had seen it compared to The Hating Game and that it has dogs in it. But the romance feel flat and felt forced for me. I had planned to push through it and finish it, but after that steamy scene in Spencer's house about half way through, I just couldn't do it. That scene felt to awkward and there was not enough build up for it for me. It turned me off from finishing it.

I will not share a review on retail outlets since I was not able to finish the entire book.

When you see a cute cover with dogs, start reading, and then bam the surprise steamy romance. Loved that part and how it was unexpected.

Loved the insight to the pageant world and how she recovered post that, and the relationship with her mom. I think my only issue at the end is she got SO mad at Spencer and blew up at him instead of talking to him in the moment. Which I know drama is essential at that point in the story to break them up, so then they can come together at the end. I just feel it was out of character for them as they had grown to be pretty honest with one another.

Really enjoyed and will definitely recommend to all my romance reading friends!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 Stars
🔥🔥🔥 3/5 Steam Rating
📝 Alternating POV; Enemies-to-Lovers

This was a cute story full of dogs, some great banter and a decent amount of steam. I also appreciated that each of the MCs seem perfect from the outside, but have insecurities of their own.

While there were some great parts to this book, there were also some things that just didn’t work for me. The biggest was how they went from enemies-to-lovers with little effort, I honestly felt like I skipped pages in between sentences. I also really struggled with how Ruby had so much attraction towards Spencer he treated her so poorly to begin with; I wanted to see Spencer redeem himself more and earn that attraction as they moved from enemies-to-lovers.

𝖳𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄 𝗒𝗈𝗎 @netgalley 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄.

Puppies and romance. One ex-beauty pageant queen turn medical assistant at a nursing home. One serious and reserved vet with a passion for dog shows. And adorable misbehaving non-obedient, non-pedigreed dog called Wheezy. All ingredients for a light, fluffy, at times steamy read. My thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebook Casablanca for gifting me a copy of this book.

This has been a year of many rom-coms for me. I think it's my reading brain's way of escaping the annoying realities of the pandemic. So in that regard this story did its job. It was a pleasant distraction, a quick, fun ready. I also think really great romantic comedies are much harder to write than people realize. So in that regard this one wasn't one of those unforgettable ones for me.

I enjoyed the romance portion of the story between Ruby and Spencer but it was the side characters that really made things fun. Obviously Wheezy was my favorite. Closely followed by the old (but very fun) ladies at the nursing home who have their own steamy romance book club and in general live life without caring what other people think. Overall a decent choice for the fans of the genre.

Meh. This was just okay. It was a quick listen - the narrators were fine. I didn’t really like the characters, and the love story was unbelievable. It just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to @NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media for my ARC!

I Hate You More was such a fun romcom! This book is about Ruby, a former pageant queen, and Spencer, a grumpy veterinarian, who meet when Ruby goes to sign Wheezy up for this dog show and Spencer is the judge of it. Since the beginning, they really get very competitive towards each other. They love a good challenge! They bicker constantly and it's so funny to see everyone just thinking "pls just kiss already".

I love a classic enemies to lovers/ sunshine and grump trope so this one was right up my alley!

Rubys character was stubborn and very likeable, especially taking on the role of getting Wheezy into the dog competition.

Spencer and Caleb were wonderful additions to the book and I loved their petty games they played with each other.

While I loved the chemistry between Ruby and Spencer, the book just felt pretty slow for me. I especially think the buildup between Ruby and Spencer was very rushed and felt a little forced.

That being said, this was a cute romcom with one of the best MCs ever- Wheezy!

This was such a fun enemies to lovers romance. It had the sunshine and grumpy trope in it as well! I really enjoyed this book and found once I started it, I was hooked!

I found the romance between Ruby and Spencer to be very realistic. The banter between them was so fun. I also loved the side characters in this book, especially Spencer’s twin brother, Caleb. I loved the premise of the dog show in this book, I thought it was super unique! I also enjoyed how the chapters had alternating POVs. I thought this was a really fun book, and I would recommend it! There are a few steamy moments in this book. So if you’re a fan of steamier romance books, you will love this one!

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

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Guys, and dogs, should I say more!

This is another great enemies to lovers romance! I did not expect to love this one as much as I did!. I literally laughed out loud a few times. This story follows a beauty queen, Ruby, and her a little overweight golden retriever, and Spencer, the vetinarian/ dog whisperer! Loved the chemistry with the main characters, and loved all the cliches mentioned in the book.

Seriously cannot recommend this enough!

I Hate You More by Lucy Gilmore tells the story of Ruby, a former teen beauty queen, and Spencer, a veterinarian and dog show judge. When a resident at the nursing home facility Ruby works at asks her to train her dog Wheezy to compete in the West Coast Canine dog show, Ruby knows it is a most likely impossible task, but that doesn't stop her from trying. Despite his reluctance to let her join, Spencer lets Ruby and Wheezy train with his twin brother to get them ready for the competition.
I love grumpy/sunshine stories, so I was so excited to start this. It is adorable and a cute read but the romance missed the mark for me a little bit.
The positives: Wheezy. That dog is the true star of this story. I loved how the author made him into a character in this book while still writing him like a dog and not like a person, a problem I've seen in other books. I also loved the strength of Ruby's character. She's tough and sweet and someone who is willing to fight to get what she wants. I admired that about her and was rooting for her the entire time.
The negative: It's not that I didn't like Spencer, it's that I needed more from him. This was an enemies to lovers book but I needed more context and explanation behind both why he disliked her at all to when exactly he started liking her. It seemed like their relationship was based more off of an instant mutual attraction rather than any real chemistry. I also disliked how he acted during the conflict of the story and felt he viewed Ruby more as a pretty trophy than a real person.
Overall, this was a fine story but I wanted more realism from the characters in it. Also more Wheezy but that's just because I love him a lot.

I Hate You More by Lucy Gilmore is a fun romantic comedy that I enjoyed. I love this genre, there is something so exciting about falling in love. I enjoy the enemies to lovers story line, and the quirky people and situations in this book. I found this book to be a quick read, and a perfect escape from the world. I highly recommend it to all readers who enjoy a sweet romance.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.