This enemies to lovers romance was a little different with the arranged marriage storyline. Campbell and Slade know they are going to be married to each other since they are young kids. They exchange letters as a way to get to know each other and they really just send hate mail . We get flashbacks with their letters, but most things are set in present day leading up to the wedding, and post wedding life. Parts of the book are cringy with Campbell. who was a virgin, immediately knowing how to ride her husband on her wedding day and going back to Slade sleeping with another girl in college just because she looked liked Campbell, even though he hated her at that time. Overall, it just felt like there were too many topes in here and the twist at the end didn't even fit anything that had been going on in the rest of the book. The twist was great, but just couldn't turn the whole story around.

Hate Mail had so much that should have been great fodder for a really fun story, but it just... missed the mark. Completely.

The book is:
1. Mary Sue x Misogynistic Alphahole
2. Enemies to Instalove
3. Purity culture

I should have known what I was in for when, right at the start, our protagonists describe how hot their bodies are *in first person narration* like it's just part of their regular, daily thoughts to think about their flawless hourglass figures and devastating good looks. Grooooaaaaaan.

Instead of the slow build that readers enjoy from enemies to lovers, this was enemies to instalove and it just wasn't convincing at all.

Finally, our misogynistic alphahole's interest starts picking up around the time that he learns she's a virgin (he, in contrast, has hooked up with so many women he can't remember the number, and absolutely uses them - in his journal he writes that he hooked up with a girl just because she looked like the FMC). But okay, fine, maybe that's a coincidence... then he says he wants more because she's hard to get. Okay, fine... not the healthiest approach, but whatever. THEN he slutshames a young woman for having sex with him!! With absolutely no self-awareness of the double standard, nor is there any narrative awareness of the double standard - the story seems to agree with him that yes, the other girl is disgusting because she enjoys sex and wants to have sex with him. Gross.

Further along the purity culture grossness, his virginal wife is a borderline nympho from the very moment they get married, with complete sexual confidence, the ability to initiate, skill in "riding" him, etc, etc. That's SO realistic and not at all going to set some harmful expectations for awkward mid-20s virgins expecting to be porn stars on their honeymoon...

This book was just very problematic and, beyond messages I just couldn't support, it wasn't very engaging. Even the twist, which theoretically was a HUGE twist, was glossed over in an unsatisfying way and felt sort of tacked on, like the author hadn't't met the word count yet and needed to toss in an extra bit of story.

I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book. I wanted to give two stars, because one is so harsh, but I just couldn't find anything to justify the second star.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy Winter Renshaw’s characters and the way she writes romance. The spice level is always just right when I’m not in the mood for seriously heavy petting. This book was just a tad too tropey for me.

I’m not against arranged marriage in romance, and the end result was good, but the getting there and the other people surrounding the arranged marriage were a little off for me. Who at 8 or 9 years old writes concise and snarky letters to each other, which is kind of the premise for the book. We get our two main characters in the current timeline and we get their penpal letters to each other here and there to add some context to their hatred of each other. They do get a little better as the two get older, or I’d at least say, more realistic.

So, ultimately, this one was just okay for me, but I did enjoy the narrators for the two characters.

2.5

This book features letters that Campbell and Slade exchanged from the age of six. They go in chronological order. So early one, we have the letters they wrote in kindergarten/first grade. While they were by no means romantic, it was creepy to read letters between two betrothed six year olds. I guess I never got over it. It was in my head the whole time.

Then we get to the pace. Excluding the epilogue, it takes place over at least 8 or 9 months. Yet it is just a brief thing here, skip a month, a brief event, skip a month, etc... It just felt underdeveloped to me.

I feel like there was potential here (minus the letters), but it was missed.

Oh, the names. Ick.

This book is dual POV. The audiobook is narrated by Nick Mondelli and Fiona Aarington. While in terms of voice and tone, both are fine. But in terms of pacing, I struggled with Nick Mondelli's chapters especially. It was the dreaded pause- long pauses, so that if you speed it up to overcome it, the actual words are too fast. So you have to suffer through it.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not typically one for a slow-burn romance but this one was different. It didn’t feel like it dragged on at all like slow-burns usually do for me. However it was also an enemies-to-lovers and I felt like the jump from enemies to lovers was extremely sudden, like literally one page they hated each others guts and the next they couldn’t stay away from each other? Despite that, I did really quite enjoy this.

Hate Mail by Winter Renshaw - as an audiobook - was an easy listen to for me with dual point narrators who embody the characters well.

I rarely leave a bad or mediocre review - but I didn't enjoy the story as much as I thought I would.

The story of Campbell and Slade who have an arranged marriage by their wealthy parents is told in present time and in flashback letters they wrote each other throughout their lives through their marriage.

They despised each other all of their lives, until they didn't. It seemed that they went from hate to love quickly and it made it unbelievable.

The best part of the story for me was the letters they wrote each other and I think that if the entire book was just letters written to each other.

This book was given to me by NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The hook of this fizzles quickly. I love the idea but this fell flat for me. Half of it wants to be what the blurb promises but there isn’t enough enemies, no groveling, and not enough steam. The Fmc quickly switches to wanting love with him. Then it becomes a cozy read, with a side plot that you kinda see coming. It feels like it can’t decide what kind of story it wants to tell then concentrate on that one before breezing into the next.

Triggers:
Parent with cancer
Parent death

Fmc virgin trope
Forced marriage

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to listen to Hate Mail by Winter Renshaw in advance in exchange of an honest review.

"Hate Mail by Winter Renshaw presents a compelling premise of two characters, Slade and Campbell, caught in an arranged marriage with a deep-rooted dislike for each other. The book shines in its portrayal of their entertaining banter and the contrast between Slade's hardened exterior and Campbell's charming personality. However, the story falls short in terms of character development, leaving readers yearning for a deeper understanding of their inner thoughts and motivations. Despite this, Hate Mail remains an enjoyable and light-hearted read, perfect for fans of enemies-to-lovers romances."

This one is 3.5 stars for me.

First off let me say I loved the premise of this book. I have read a similar book in the past and really enjoyed it. This one fell a little flat for me. I didn't feel the chemistry between the two main characters. I didn't like the "plot twist" near the end. I felt the first half of the book was really slow and then bam, stuff starts happening. It just felt a little disjointed to me.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Winter Renshaw for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.