Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC

3.5
It wasn’t good, but I had so much fine.
Plot was mostly absent, and it was mostly an argument scene followed by an hook up, followed by argument and so on.
But I never hidden the fact that I love trash. I love reading things just because they sound bonkers. I like having fun and I listened to this audiobook in record time

Micah is an analyst. She determines who keeps their jobs. She meets Aiden, a professor at the Kentucky University Micah is auditing. Aiden and Micah share a love for Shakespeare fan-fictions where tragedies are given a new life and HEAs. This book was sweet. Aiden and Micah make a cute couple and they worked through their issues well. The ending was a little rushed, I felt like it need about 50 more pages. That is the only thing bringing my rating down. I will defiantly read more from this author. Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook for an honest review.

This was a fun, spicy enemies to lovers romance with a Shakespeare twist! I really enjoyed the chemistry between Micah and Aidan, lots of sharp banter, tension, and heat. The fanfic element was a cute surprise and added a fun, modern layer to the story. Micah was a relatable, confident main character, and I loved how openly she communicated her desires.
That said, Aidan’s behavior at work early on crossed the line into bullying for me, and it was hard to fully root for him after that. He had good moments, but I wish we’d seen more growth or remorse. The pacing was also a little fast, especially their emotional connection, which didn’t feel fully earned by the end.
Still, it’s a smart, steamy romance with a unique setup, and if you like fanfic, academia, and Shakespeare, it’s worth checking out!

Very grateful to the publisher for my copy through NetGalley, opinions are my own

Much Ado About Hating You is a fun and VERY STEAMY enemies to lovers work place romance. Micah is an auditor hired to audit the college that, our MMC, Aiden works. Aiden is also an anonymous spicy fanfic writer that coincidentally, Micah LOVES. I love that they had a connection through the online forum! I thought it was really cool how they met and fell for each other anonymously, while hating each other in person. It reminded me of You've Got Mail.

I enjoyed the duel POV narration on the audiobook. The narrators did a great job!

This book was an unexpected delight, I enjoyed it far more than I anticipated! The romance was undeniably steamy (let’s just say, if I end up with a baby in nine months, this book might be the reason). Beyond the heat, the characters were thoughtfully developed and experienced meaningful personal growth throughout the story. If you're a fan of spicy reads with substance, this one is definitely worth picking up!

An enemies to lovers romance complete with Shakespeare references, fanfic, and spice.

I wanted to like it... and I DID like a lot of it. However, there was one thing that I couldn’t overlook that ruined the story for me - our MMC engages in outright workplace bullying and he’s mostly unapologetic - even after they get together. Overall, it’s a good read for the spice but I’d skip it if you’re looking for a swoony MMC.

If you like:
- Dual POV
- Enemies to Lovers
- Hate to Love
- Forced Proximity
- Shakespeare
- Fanfic
- Spicy Romance

"Much Ado About Hating You" by Sarah Echavarre Smith was a book I recently read, and it was a bit of a mix. It's an enemies-to-lovers story set against a Shakespearean fanfic backdrop, which is a pretty unique idea. You have Micah, a financial auditor, clashing with Aidan, a literature professor, while she's auditing his department. The twist is, they're unknowingly connecting online through spicy Shakespearean fanfic.
I thought the concept was clever, especially the secret identity aspect of their online interactions versus their real-life animosity. The workplace romance and forced proximity elements are definitely there. It's supposed to be a rom-com, and there are some humorous moments as they navigate their mutual dislike and growing attraction. However, while the idea was fun, I felt that some parts of the execution were just okay. If you're looking for a romance with a unique premise and some academic vibes, it might be worth checking out, but it didn't completely blow me away.

this was a spicy good time. i really enjoyed the narrators on this one and the story was so fun!! i really enjoyed it

This is the first book I’ve read, rather listened to written by this author. I love a good enemies-to-lovers theme. Both narrators were amazing, I mean J. F. Harding…*swoon. The story flows really well and the characters are multi dimensional. This was a fantastic book and I’d love to read more from this author.

THAT COVER drew me into this one! SOOO GORG! This was a fun rivals to lovers workplace romance. Definitely a fun read!

*~* Best Workplace Romance *~*

Aidan is basically a literary girls dream guy. A hot, sensitive professor who is protective of his friends, and secretly writes fan fic stories. Micah is a financial auditor who doesn't deal with people's crap but is secretly an aspiring writer who's dreams were stomped on by a jerk of an ex.
The journey this book took us on with chemistry ---> enemies ---> forced proximity ---> deep conversations ---> romance and unbelievable chemistry.
Was it realistic? No. Would this have been a complete HR nightmare? Yes. But was it fun to escape into this world for a while? Absolutely!
I listened to an audio of this book and the narrators did a great job with the dual POV. I really enjoyed listening.

Thank you to Net Galley, Harlequin Audio, and Sarah Echavarre Smith for an ALC of this story.

༺ALC 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠༻
ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
sᴘɪᴄᴇ: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: May 27th
ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ɪɴ KU: No
ᴘᴀɢᴇs: 288
Audio: 7h 38m
Narrators: Cindy Kay and J.F. Harding

Much Ado About Hating You is a fast-paced, fun, and seriously spicy enemies-to-lovers romance. Micah Mila is a tough financial auditor sent to review a university’s English department. She’s smart, focused, and not afraid to speak her mind—even when it means putting Professor Aidan Scott’s job at risk. They argue constantly, prank each other, and can’t seem to agree on anything during the day. But at night, they’re unknowingly bonding over some very steamy Shakespeare fanfic.
Micah loves reading the fanfic. Aidan is the one secretly writing it. Once they figure it out, the chemistry between them gets even hotter—and yes, the spice level is high both in the fanfic and in their real-life story. There’s also a great snowed-in scene, strong banter, and some surprisingly sweet moments as their relationship grows.
The audiobook is well done, with Cindy Kay and J.F. Harding handling the dual narration. Both bring a lot of energy to their characters, and the back-and-forth between chapters works really well. Harding’s chapters stood out the most for me, but both narrators made it easy to stay hooked.
This is a great pick for anyone who likes workplace drama, secret identities, and books that mix heat with humor. It’s not super deep or emotional, but it’s entertaining, fun, and hard to pause once you start.

᪥ Shakespeare Fanfic
᪥ True Enemies To Lovers
᪥ They Unknowingly Meet Online
᪥ Office Pranks
᪥ Spice in the story and in the fanfic
᪥ Dual POV

First of all thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me an audiobook copy via NetGalley! Honestly was in need of a fun and sexy read after my last read (a dystopian horror). Micah and Aidan had such sexy banter and chemistry. I really appreciated how much this novel modeled open and clear discussions about sex, sexual acts, vulnerability and intimacy. Personally, I have always struggled expressing sexual feelings or desires due to a lifetime of Catholic socialization. Seeing Micah communicate her wants and needs clearly while maintaining the romance of the story honestly helped loosen some of the hesitancy in my own brain regarding openly communicating desire. In addition, the characters’ discussion and appreciation of romance as a genre and mutual validation of their love of the genre was incredibly cute and comforting to read. However there were a few sticking points for me. First, the minimal conflict: even the third act break up was over so quickly over, I felt like it didn’t really make itself felt. Second, (I’ll be vague so as not to spoil the plot) some of the final actions of Aidan and Micah seemed like they could have been written in a slightly more realistic way (especially some of Micah’s big life shifts) that made more sense with Micah’s chosen path without sacrificing the HEA. Finally, this is tiny thing but there was a lot of repetitive language that started to wear on me like the use of “I can’t help it” or referring to his eyes as glacial and icy.

Steamy romance novel about an auditor and a professor who moonlights as an erotica writer, this book really delivered what was promised.

3.5 stars (rounded to 4) – 4 chili peppers – 2 very spicy fan fic authors

- enemies to lovers
- spicy fan fic authors
- hot English professor who plays hockey
- auditor who refuses to back down
-workplace romance
-public spicy time
-shakespeare retelling
-lots of foreplay and build up
- tons of tension
-poc rep
-dual pov + multiple narrators :)
-secret situationship
-no contact with family members

This was such a fun spicy ride! We immediately walked into spicy time – there are multiple times when we are reading the fan fics that the main characters are writing – which took me a second to adjust to. The story line was really good with lots of angst and some straight up hatred in the first half. I do think that both the fmc and the mmc were extremely dramatic in some of their choices. The fmc for the first 20% of this book was really not someone that I enjoyed but she does grow on you and you come to realize that her choices while annoying are justified in her mind.

Micah (fmc) is an auditor who is hired to help the college that Aidan (mmc) works for make some budget cuts. Aidan has the understandable response that Micah could be the reason that he loses his job. Micah doesn’t show any compassion about this situation and instead is incredibly defensive and upset with how the professors act. This is not the best start to a relationship, and they both go on to be incredibly petty towards each other – going so far as to physically mess with one another. Next thing you know they are shacked up together in a snowstorm and we all know how that ends.

I really enjoyed both of the siblings in this story. Aidens brother in particular was great for comedic relief. Hopefully we get his story at some point! Micah’s twin was great for her character development as she provided some much needed insight into her past relationships. It was nice to see Micah and Aiden both evolve into much nicer and well rounded humans.

I really enjoyed the audiobook for this one. The duel narration was great! Cindy Kay and J.F. Harding were both very easy and enjoyable to listen to. Cindy’s voice was clear and easy to understand. She was also able to show a wide range of emotions very quickly. J.F. Harding also had a great voice! Super smooth with just enough gravel to make you pay attention. My only complaint is that I wish that there would have been some way to realize that we were moving on to the fan fic section in the audiobook since if you aren’t paying super close attention you get lost very quickly.

Overall, I would recommend this for someone who wants a quick pallet cleanser or if you really like work place romances. It was a fun story and I hope to come back to see what happens with the rest of the gang!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for the Advanced Listener Copy in exchange for my honest review!

Much Ado About Hating You – Smart, Spicy, and Surprisingly Great

I don’t usually go for Shakespeare retellings, but Much Ado About Hating You caught me off guard—in a good way. The academic rivals-to-lovers setup is executed with sharp wit, great banter, and a fun twist (one of them writes fanfiction!).

The chemistry is undeniable and the spice is turned all the way up, but I’ll be honest—falling in love in just six weeks felt too fast for me. I wanted a little more build to make the emotional payoff hit as hard as the physical one did.

Still, I’ve read the author’s other retellings and this might be my favorite. It’s clever, fun, and knows exactly what it’s doing.

Much Ado About Hating You had potential but was ultimately let down by unlikable behavior and inconsistent morals. Putting potential allergens in someone’s food isn’t a cute prank—it’s dangerous and irresponsible. The accidental flashing scene was handled poorly, too; if the roles were reversed, the reaction would’ve been very different, yet Micah played the victim instead of acknowledging the discomfort she caused.

Micah herself was hard to root for—immature, hypocritical, and weirdly defensive about her (admittedly mediocre) writing. The workplace dynamic also fell flat.

On the bright side, the narrators did a great job (I’d pick up a book narrated by the guy in a heartbeat), and the cover art was 🔥. Sadly, the story didn’t live up to its packaging.

I really loved this book! The Shakespeare fanfic was brilliant, funny, and a wonderful vessel to continue the plot. It has been a hot minute since I read any Shakespeare, but this book has inspired me to revisit his works! The characters are delightfully awful to one another, really leaning into the enemies to lovers trope! I adored the back and forth, and "You've Got Mail" spin on this story, nothing makes me smile and kick my feet quite like online friends who are irl haters!

The narration was beautifully done. I loved both narrators voices, and thought that both really breathed life into the characters! Both Micah and Aiden felt human, with all the flaws and joyful quirks that brings!

An excellent read to jumpstart summer!

This book was okay. I didn’t always liked how Aidan acted. I did really like Micah’s sister. I also liked the setting of the story and that they wrote together

This was fun, entertaining, and quick. Perfect as a palette cleanser read. I will say both main characters drove me a little crazy for the first 1/3 of the story. They were very immature and unbending in their opinions. They refused to see anything from each other’s point of view and the. Played stupid pranks on each other. It got better but it almost felt like they just flipped a switch and stopped hating each other. Basically the relationship building could have been better. I did like their exchanges in the writing app though. There they showed some really character and it makes up at least a little for the in person interactions. I do think they showed a lot more maturity and compassion towards the end. The spiced bits were also quite good ❤️‍🔥
Cindy Kay and J.F Harding did a great job with the narrations. They were the highlight of this book in my opinion.