Member Reviews

I wanted to like this soooo badly but I’m embarrassed to say it was a DNF for me. I got to about 42% and i just couldn’t get into it. I’m sorryyyyy

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I enjoyed this! Brynn commits an on air blooper and returns to her tiny hometown to rehab her image. She meets Sebastian, a newcomer, with a secret past.

Hate turns into like… turns into love. I liked the chemistry and how the story didn’t center a physical relationship to explore belonging together.

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The writing here was not great and the story kind of read like low-budget Hallmark movie. As a whole, it was a cute book but Brynn and Sebastian are two full grown adults in their upper 30s (Seb was 40!) with the maturity level of 15 year olds and I just couldn’t get over that.

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What a cute story of successes and failures.

As a Journalism graduate, I really enjoyed the plot of this book. Brynn was an interesting character who you at first feel like you can’t relate to, but when the story goes on and you learn about her past, her small town life and her struggles, you realize she is just as human as the rest of us. Coming from a small island, I can totally relate to her escape from her small town and staying away from it and the people for so long. It wasn’t so much that she hated the town, but she hated the life she had to endure because of her mother while she lived in that town. I love seeing her remember all the positives of her life there once she finally returned. The fact that Sebastian was a journalist too who had escaped that world and ended up in Adelaide Springs made for a good story. I enjoyed reading about his struggles as well and find out the reasons why he ended up in that small town in Colorado. Seeing these two characters, who seemed like total opposites, fall in love was heart warming and entertaining. I really enjoyed the double POV, but found it confusing at times. There were a lot of journalism references, which I appreciated, but it made the beginning half of the book kind of drag on, but once things started to pick up I just couldn’t wait to find out how everything panned out!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson and Bethany Turner for this ARC. #BrynnandSebastianHateEachOther #NetGalley

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i enjoyed most of this book but i think i liked the town of adelaide springs more than i liked the story of Brynn and Sebastien.

i wanted to slap Brynn for most of the book, all she thought and cared about was herself. i would have liked for a bit more of her back story to come out and for her to have a little more self awareness.

I felt like the switch from hate to not-hate happened a bit to fast for my liking but it was still a cute read. I did love Sebastien's character and Murrow!!

thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

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🎤🎞️🌙 brynn and sebastian hate each other by bethany turner

"i received a complimentary copy of this book. opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

this book follows brynn a host for a popular talk show host when she makes a huge mistake she has to go back to the small town she fled from over 20 years ago and revisit both the memories and people she left behind. while she’s there she meets sebastian whose protective of the town and slightly annoyed at her presence, through the story they find themselves and each other.

i really enjoyed the character driven plot of this book, particularly learning about brynn- the reason she hated the town in the first place and how she had a personality despite the fake smiles and voice she put on for the news. I also loved reading about sebastian even though it was in 3rd person you could see his personality shining through which made this read so enjoyable! i LOVED reading about all the people in adelaide springs and their connections with brynn.

i did feel that brynn and sebastian went very quickly from hate to love, it seemed one moment they were arguing and at each others the throats and the next minute they were kissing?! however, i did see it coming particularly form sebastian.. excluding that the tension and the bickering was top-notch and I really enjoyed their interactions.

their plot was just as interesting once i got into it.. and seeing what both brynn and sebastian were going through made me want to cry sometimes.

overall, this was a cute read and i loved the characters so much!

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I picked this book up because a friend recommended it as a fun rom-com. Honestly, I'd been disappointed with the last few titles I'd read by the author. But with Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other, I was pleasantly surprised.

It's funny, it's rather ridiculous--and it's very likely none of us will ever find ourselves the face of morning television like Brynn. But while she took awhile to grow on me, I was soon rooting for Brynn just as much as I was Sebastian.

What really made this book for me though was the surprising depth to be found in the pages of a book that's totally rom-com. It was the moments of insight from Sebastian and rare serious introspection from Brynn that made it a book I was glad I read.

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This was a low stake romance between two people a little lost in life. Can they find their way with each other?

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley.

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This comparison will make sense to a very select group of people, but “Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other” felt like “Hannah Montana the Movie meets Gilmore Girls” to me. In it we follow Brynn, a famous talk show host who begrudgingly goes back to her small hometown. As she spends time with Sebastian, a former renowned-journalist, she begins to realize she doesn’t hate what she left behind as much as she thought she would. The world of journalism, especially the side of it that involves being on the ground in dangerous areas, was a particularly unique aspect that I’ve never read about before in a novel!

I think the physical setting was done super well in this book. My hometown isn’t quite as small as this one, but it’s pretty darn close — the descriptions of the town and the people in it were aptly-done and capture the small town atmosphere. It definitely gave off Stars Hollow energy (or Mystic Falls, for the Vampire Diaries fans reading this).

The structure of the book was less appealing, and was the most consistent issue I had with it. We have two main characters, but one of their narrations is told through a first-person POV while the other one is third-person. This may have just been a stylistic choice, but it unfortunately kept taking me out of the story. I’d need to readjust, or acclimate, myself every time we switched between characters (and narration styles); I think being consistent with either 1st or 3rd-person would be really beneficial.

The characters themselves were the other issue I had. The foundation was laid-out so that they would hate each other, but their interactions felt immature and rather forced (as in, I didn’t buy that they’d immediately be acting so hostile towards each other when each of them in every other aspect was a genuinely nice person). I also think if their shift towards liking each other had been more gradual and consistent, rather than being in short bursts that would immediately be recanted, the first half of this book would have been less frustrating. I enjoyed the second half a lot more, veering towards 3.5-4 star range, as their dynamic started to feel much more natural and became more enjoyable to read. Their texts and conversations about pop culture were really endearing!

This is a clean romance with very minimal spice and will definitely appeal to readers who don’t seek out smut in their romances, as the character dynamics are more than enough to keep you invested in their relationship!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC!

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The story was ok, the news background was interesting. Loved the fact that it was mostly in Colorado, and I could imagine all the scenery.

But the "hate" between the main characters was not convincing, and their chemistry was also not very good.

All in all, it was enjoyable.

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A charming story of love, community, and authenticity! This grumpy sunshine romance didn’t quite deliver the sunshine that it talks about though. Brynn is Americas Ray of Sunshine, but we don’t see much of her showing that off. I liked the background that we got on her and it explains how she acts, but we didn’t hear it from her until about 70% of the way through. The story approached mental illness in a refreshing way and didn’t make it a stereotypical plot point or critical to the characters storyline; it just existed, which is the way to include it in romances. Overall, it was an engaging read that I would recommend for anyone wanting a romance focused on finding one’s true self.

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This author is so much fun to read with her references to popular tv and movie shows! Sebastian was swoon worthy and the citizens of Adelaide Springs made me want to go there to visit!



Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

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Bryan Cornell is at the top of her game when it comes to her career. That is until she makes a massive mistake on live television that has her packing her bags and heading to her hometown to make amends. Not only does she have to face all her demons and past decisions she also has to face Sebastian Sudsworth a man who, to put it simply, does not like her.

I found Bryne absolutely insufferable to begin with which I think is really the aim but by the end of the book her character had developed so much and I truly liked her and I liked the way hers and Sebastian’s relationship grew from enemies to lovers and the amount of trust they had in each other.

It was a book that I wanted to keep reading and was easy to get lost in,

I did however, find that the change from first person in Brynn’s chapters to third person Sebastian’s chapters a little jarring but overall I enjoyed the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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4 ⭐️’s. Great rom com, easy read.
Loved the banter and the small town feel. This will definitely be a reread when it comes out.

Excited for the physical copy to come out and I can’t wait to share this one with my Bookstagram family.

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This was really a cosy read. I especially liked the writing; the story has a nice flow, the humor was unexpected and fun, and the references were all over the place - from the members of OneDirection to Kate Middleton, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to George Clooney - the author really had some names up their sleeves, and I really loved their wit with each and everyone of them.

That being sad, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was no real urgency in this book. The stakes weren’t that high, and there was no real serious crisis to be resolved. That isn’t necessarily bad. Not all stories need capital D drama, but it makes Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other on the soft and sweeter side, rather than explosive and exciting. Not to say that it wasn’t an eventful book. There were a LOT of scenery changes and the story moved at a fast pace, and I could totally see Brynn and Sebastian turn into a movie script and work really well on the big screen.

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I’m feeling conflicted about this book. The story premise was fun and Doc & Orly as supporting characters provided much needed sage advice to our hero/heroine. Sebastian was a good leading man, although I wish more time was spend delving in to his past, Brynn was truly the most annoying character for 75% of the book. I felt like her superficial motives stretched for far too long and her character redemption happened across a few pages and she was all of a sudden redeemed. Her backstory was alluded to so often but I didn’t think it was explored enough for me to sympathize with her. I liked the ending chapters and especially enjoyed that there wasn’t a third act break up, it felt like more of a fresh story.

Over all the author has a nice writing style, though occasionally she used repetitive phrases in quick succession that got on my nerves. (For example “The PTA ladies… behaved respectfully when you met them in the street” and two paragraphs later reusing most of the same buzz words “Those ladies may have been respectable when you met them on the street”).

If I could give half stars, I would give Brynn and Sebastian Hate Eachother a solid 3.5.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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"Brynn and Sebastian Hate Eachother" is the first novel I have read by Bethany Turner so I had no expectations going into it. I enjoy all sub genres of romance and most levels of heat, from clean to spicy but this novel didn't even rank on the heat scale. There was zero chemistry. There was no fun witty banter, there was seemingly no way these two should ever of had feeling for one another and it was boring. Brynn was completely unlikeable and rude for no reason. I couldn't justify her reasons for how she treated people. The pace was off too and I hates how the dual character POV was written. Brynn was written in 1st person and Seb was written in 3rd. It was jarring to read, not my style.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this book in advance. The cover was so cute I couldn't help myself to request.

I will give it 3.5 stars. It was a nice story but not the best. It could be a cute rom-com movie though. If you want to read a nice, easy read this one is for you.

I wish the ending was better though, I would like to read more. I feel like it was rushed and as if the writer wanted to finish it so much so rushed the ending. It was still a cute read though.

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The premise of this book sounded nice: A daytime tv personality puts her foot in her mouth and has to go crawling back to her hometown and sparks fly with a guy there. Unfortunately, the romance did pretty much nothing for me. The insta love was a bit lame, in my opinion and Brynn just wasn’t a likable character for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for review.

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First of all, thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

While I really wanted to enjoy this book - the premise sounded cute and I love a good enemies to lovers trope - it unfortunately just didn’t do it for me. I found the main female character to be quite annoying, and the romance was pretty much nonexistent. The book was also very slow with lots of extraneous information that had no importance to the story line. I agree with others that the story picked up a bit at the end, but there was no tension, zero steam, and I just didn’t really enjoy it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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