Micah is tasked with auditing a university where Aidan, a professor, teaches. Their animosity turns to passion as they each write steamy essays on reading site. This book was not for me. I have read many spicy romances, but this was too much. It seemed like the author tried to get as much spice as possible. It was hard to invest in the characters.

I was unsure based on the synopsis if this would really be for me. But it did sound interesting and I’m always open to new things. That being said. I LOVED this. It took me maybe two hours to binge. There was so much chemistry and was such a fun read.

they you netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an arc in exchange for my honest review.

this was a really great read. i feel like they were a great enemies to lovers (while needing out over Shakespeare) but very fast paced. and the spice was just PERFECT and top tier!

The bickering and then getting so hot and bothered they 😏😏 ya know. chefs kiss. a really great read and i would suggest that you try it out!

there were some bits that seemed cringe but overall it didn’t effect the story line.

I did not enjoy this book. I found it to be poorly written which really took away from any story line. The text is just jarring, doesn't flow well, and feels juvenile and unedited. The actual plot was lack luster but a good concept.

Micah Mila is a financial auditor called in to a university to assess the English department and identify potential cuts. She’s used to people being wary, being a bit chilly or unfriendly. But the reception she gets from Professor Aiden Scott is unlike any she’s had yet. He makes her days so unbearable the only relief is her favorite spicy Shakespearean play fan-fictions. But when she finds out the author she’s been DMing is the same infuriating professor she’s been plotting revenge on, how will she react?

Unfortunately, I’ll never know because I had to call this one a DNF (Bummer!) I was so intrigued by the description and the cover but unfortunately felt the story was lacking. I liked Aiden and Micah in their own chapters when they were alone or talking with friends but together? I felt they lacked chemistry and I wasn’t a fan on the fact that the central strain between them was potential workplace sexual harassment. So I called it when they finally kissed and although both sides seemed to reciprocate there was no verbal consent. Paired with the fact that 37% of the way in we never learn why Micah likes Shakespearean fan-fiction?

Overall, this one wasn’t for me but it might be for you if:
- You love an enemies-to-lovers set up, no matter the circumstances that established the ‘enemies’
- You wish Ali Hazelwood’s books took place in the humanities not STEM
- You want a set-up for the next book in the series to be a hockey romance

Thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow Books for the Advanced Readers Copy.

A male MC who writes romance/erotica fanfic, yes please! This was a very fun and steamy workplace romance!

I’m sad to say that I did not enjoy this like I had hoped. There is a lot of telling and not showing which makes the story feel long with unneeded information. The mmc was also just kind of an ass and I found myself not liking him- their chemistry just wasn’t there for me.
The premise of this was good and I loved the idea but it just fell flat for me.

3 ⭐️

This is total cringe if you’re not into it. Fortunately, I was into it at least 50% of the time. If you’re looking for plot over spice, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a rushed ending with insta-love, you will find it here. Despite the insta-love, I have to say these two main characters reallllly found each other.

I found it reminiscent of Ali Hazelwood and Tessa Bailey (both of whom I’ve read and enjoyed on plenty of occasions)


Thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A riff on Much Ado About Nothing between a Shakespeare fanfic-writing English professor and a harassed, repressed financial auditor who’s just trying to do her job - which might mean putting the professor out of his? And it’s got a dollop of You’ve Got Mail (née The Shop Around the Corner) in there as well, with the two protagonists swooning over each other’s anonymous prose. Sign me up for this nerdy tropefest, am I right? I’m pretty much the target audience for this premise, which underscores my disappointment in the reading. There was some banter in this book (gotta get those Beatrice/Benedick vibes in), some hot scenes, and the main characters actually had independent lives (key in an enemies-to-lovers narrative where they spend so much time not together). But the protagonists also acted incredibly childish, I would have liked to see the narrative voice differentiate more between POVs, and I couldn’t buy the ending. Have a couple free evenings and want to be a luxurious Shakespearean bed-presser? You may find the passing fancy of this book enjoyable enough.

I’ve been obsessed with everything Sarah Echavarre Smith has written for years now, and this book is no different. Much Ado About Hating you combined the tension of enemies to lovers with two fanfic writers online flawlessly. We love a man who can write fanfic for women, and Aidan definitely can.

Listening to Aidan and Micah complain about each other TO each other was so funny. I love the use of technology and anonymity. It always adds a fun layer of entertainment when the characters are forced to rectify the person they know in person with the person they know online.

And of course, as a self-proclaimed Shakespeare girlie, I looooooved all the references here!! It fully tracks to me that these two Shakespeare nerds would ultimately fall for each other, despite their initial resistance.


Thank you to Harlequin - Romance and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the opportunity to read and review this book! I received a free advance copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I wanted to like this. Enemies to Lovers? Yes please! And this cover is beautiful. But the story just wasn’t it. Gave up after 30% because it was so boring. Zero chemistry between Micah and Aiden. They were both childish. There was so much unnecessary exposition about the most boring things that didn’t move the story forward. And the writing was not great. Someone will like this, but it just wasn’t for me.

Well that was quite a delightful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I could not put this down. The hate tension, the clandestine pen pals, the workplace prank shenanigans, the fanfic aspect, the bossiness (iykyk), SO GOOD!

Aidan really is a bit of a bastard, to the point where I almost had the ick, and I really didn’t know if he could redeem himself. But then his alter ego, ShakespeareInLust, stepped up and saved the day, being so kind, supportive and encouraging.

Absolutely loved Micah’s character arch as a budding writer. Can 100% relate to working a soulless analytical career, but secretly being a creative. And of course, since it’s fiction, happy endings are delivered on every level!!

Thank you Net Galley for ARC, this was so fun, short, and spicy.

Arc review for Much Ado About Hating You.

This book moved VERY fast. And unfortunately not in an enjoyable way. The characters just seemed to be very immature and focused on sexual attraction, that it didn’t make the ending feel legitimate. The premise is a great idea but sadly the execution just left so much to be desired. 2.5 stars

Unfortunately, I found the writing, character development, and plotting to be incredibly juvenile and lackluster. There were moments, mostly when the characters were arguing, that the writing actually flowed, but the rest of it was trite and read like fanfiction, and not the good kind. The idea was there, the setting and characterizations were there, but this fell short.

I gave this book more chances than I should have, but I loved the concept so I wanted to give it a fair shot.

My biggest issue with this is the undeveloped tone of the writing. There’s a lot of paragraphs that give a little too much detail for the moment they’re included. It reads as overwritten. There’s a fine line between too much and not enough that can only be found through practice.

Smutty books are something I am usually fine with, but I feel like there was more smut than plot substance and maybe that was the point, I just wish it was more story focused.

I really wanted to love this book, and I am glad that I got to read it, but it was a little disappointing for me.

Not my favorite romance. Cute concept but the pacing didn’t do it for me. Didn’t love the dialogue either. Honestly, maybe workplace romances aren’t for me,

I really enjoyed the premise of Much Ado About Hating You—the storyline had great potential, and the tropes used are some of my favorites (enemies to lovers, workplace tension, etc.). The pacing was solid and the setup kept me intrigued. That said, I struggled to fully connect with the characters. Their emotions and chemistry didn’t quite land for me, and some of their development felt a bit surface-level. Overall, it was a fun, easy read with a good plot, but I just wish the characters had a bit more depth to really pull me in. Thank you NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for gifting me with an advanced copy!

A huge thank you to Afterglow Books and NetGalley for early access to “Much Ado About Hating You” by Sarah Echavarre Smith. I absolutely loved the setup and premise of this book and found the characters to be sexy, fun, and at times difficult – basically your perfect Shakespearean retelling plot pieces ready to go. Also, steam from the get-go is something I can get behind! I honestly loved most of the book, until they walked away from the office and took their relationship to the real world (78% ish through). From there until the end, things felt hurried. The lovers’ weekend that changed everything, the “breakup” essentially the next day, and then the resolution that involves her giving up her career (albeit one she didn’t love) for a man who had a selfish enough motive to pressure her into it (reminding me a lot of the previous boyfriend who mocked her out of a creative career). It felt like it needed more time to breathe in the end. Which honestly could have been a trick on me because of the suggestion early in the book about the pace of Romeo & Juliet. So maybe it was supposed to mirror that? Either way LOVED the enemies-to-lovers setup and thought that the first ¾ of the book had really rich and fun scenes that I enjoyed.

Thank you to Harlequin/Afterglow and NetGalley for this ARC!

3.5 stars

I am an avid fanfiction reader, so when I saw the blurb for this book, I thought, “Yes, absolutely, I am the target market for this book!” I was really looking forward to reading it. And there were several parts of the story I enjoyed, but overall it unfortunately fell flat.

The banter and hatred between Aiden and Micah in the first half of the book was amazing. You could feel the animosity and tension, it was delicious! I loved the passion and was anxious to see how the tension continued to build between them before finally snapping. And while I know the line between love and hate is razor thin, it still felt like the flip happened very abruptly here. I felt like I wanted another couple of chapters building anticipation between the two, where the cracks are starting to show. Instead this turned on a dime and felt a little out of left field. That said, I did like how their post-intimacy argument got resolution. I’m a sucker for forced proximity!

The back half is where things really fell apart for me. I am all for books that are smut with little plot, but this book spent the first half building up a plot and then just left it there for most of the back half. It felt like the author wanted there to be emotional depth and complexity to the characters later in the book that the reader never saw on page. It made me think of the saying “it’s better to show than to tell.” It felt like we were getting a lot of telling, rather than getting to see things play out.

Because of that, Micah suddenly quitting her job (after understandably giving very practical reasons why she shouldn’t) didn’t feel believable. While I thoroughly enjoyed the spice and thought it was very well written, I wish we had fewer chapters of it and instead dedicated those to developing the characters more.

This probably feels like a really critical review, and maybe that I didn’t like it. That’s not the case. I actually really enjoyed the book, loved the premise, and felt the story had so much available to it. I just ultimately didn’t LOVE it the way I’d hoped to.

This was a fun, quick read!! I love the idea of shakespeare spicy fanfic and this perfected it! And those spicy scenes were HOT! Just a fun palate cleanser and I loved these characters! Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for my digital ARC!!