Ok so this book was so much fun for me!! I’m a huge Shakespeare girlie at heart and anything that has anything to do with Shakespeare I’m completely sold!! This was such a fun enemies to lovers workplace romance book and I thoroughly enjoyed it! This follows an English professor Aidan and Micah a financial auditor assigned to assess the English department at his university and potentially aid in terminating jobs of some of the professors in the English department. Tension runs high between the two, but aside from the hatred they share during the audit, they find they have much more in common than they expected. This book has it all the tension, the banter, the spicy scenes and a little humor and fun theatrical relief. I love how this book incorporated slight references to the works of William Shakespeare especially the name which is one of Shakespeare greatest play in my opinion and definitely one of my favorites. If you are not a huge Shakespearean fan don’t worry this isn’t a Shakespeare play with the old English jargon not at all it’s just slight references to him. What made me enjoy this book the most me that it such a fun way to incorporate some great Shakespearean literature and combine it with a new age narrative and some fun theatrics which to me made this so unique. If you enjoy a good Workplace romance book with enemies to lovers trope, with closed proximity and some really spicy scenes and some fanfic you will really enjoy this book!

Thank you so much at NetGalley and Harlequin for the advance listeners copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Enemies to lovers ✅
Work Place Romance ✅
Forced Proximity ✅
Secret Identity ✅ ✅
Academia ✅
Lots of Spice ✅ 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

This was such a fun listen. The spice was spicing right from the beginning and throughout the entire story I was smiling and connected to the characters. I loved the secret identity aspect of Aiden and Micah with the twist of a classic retelling through their alter egos.

Cindy Kay narrated with passion that kept my ears begging for more and J.F. Harding did not disappoint with his captivating voice.

Thank you to the author, Harlequin Audio & Netgalley for this ALC in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this this much, but wow—what a fun, fast-paced read! I binged it in one sitting and had an absolute blast. The chemistry? Off the charts 😮‍💨 It might’ve gone from zero to 💯 real fast, but I was so here for it.

The enemies-to-lovers banter was top tier (I cackled), and the softer moments? Adorable. Aiden’s secret identity as a Shakespeare fanfic writer? Iconic. And his brother? I need his book next, please 👀

The writing could use a little polish—some telling over showing—but it never took away from the fun. The ending dragged just a bit, but overall this was a spicy, smart, bookish rom-com that totally hit the mark.

Okay I A. Forgot I had requested this book, and B. went into this book blind. I REALLY liked this book 4.5 ⭐. This book was so cute and fast paced. I loved the chemistry and banter between these two MCs. The enemies to lovers, forced proximity and workplace romance was just so well done. This was my first book by this Author, and it will not be my last.

The narration by both Cindy Kay and J. F. Harding was great. They did a wonderful job bring the characters to life and getting the chemistry from paper to audio.

Thank you NetGalley for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to love this, but it was a miss for me. The narrators were amazing and gave great performances, but the story was...not great. The dialogue between characters was natural sounding, and I appreciated the amount of tension between Aidan and Micah. Beyond that, it just felt like they clashed a bit too much, their connection was shallow at best, and I did not love Micah as a character.

The published date for this ALC is May 27, 2025.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for an advanced listening copy of Much Ado About Hating You by Sarah Echavarre Smith.

Much Ado About Hating You is fun and steamy book. The chemistry is off the charts from the first chapter, even though Mica and Ayden do NOT like each other at first. However, they don’t realize that they have connected online on a steamy litfic website.

The dual narrator’s make this an extremely fun listen. I’d highly recommend wearing AirPods while listening to this book because the 🌶️ is 🔥. If you’re a spicy romance fan who likes enemies to lovers with Shakespeare as a side plot, then you will definitely enjoy Much Ado About Hating You!

From the very first chapter, I was drawn in by the author's writing style—smooth, witty, and immersive. The pacing was just right, and the dialogue felt natural and engaging, making it easy to get fully invested in the story. One of the biggest highlights for me was the chemistry between the main characters. The tension was palpable from the start, and the classic enemies-to-lovers dynamic was executed so well that I found myself eagerly turning pages to see how their relationship would unfold.
The workplace setting added an extra layer of complexity and intrigue, making their interactions even more charged. And let me just say—this book does not hold back on the spice. The steamy scenes were frequent, vividly written, and seriously intense. If you enjoy a romance that leans heavily into the heat, this one absolutely delivers.

Of course, no good romance is complete without a little heartbreak, and the third act breakup brought just the right amount of angst. It was emotional without feeling forced, and the resolution felt satisfying and true to the characters' journeys.

Overall, this book was a delicious blend of tension, passion, and emotional depth. Perfect for fans of trope-heavy romances with a lot of heat and heart. It is a little bit spicier than my preference, but I know that will really appeal to others!

I loved the idea of this story but it just fills like they had hate sex, and then fell in love. Right away i found the mmc kinda porblematic with looking down his co workers shirt, and the way he "sexualized" her. There really wasnt much to do with shakespeare either

4.25 Stars...

Loved this story. The writing was good kept me engaged. I was really routing for this couple . Love a good enemies to lovers troupe. Never read fanfiction in my life after this book started dabbling.

I always wish I had an audiobook to listen to while I read, because this absolutely added an extra layer for me! Narration was done so well.

It was so FUN and hot??? 🥵

Chemistry off the charts, bickering and banter galore. I was eating up every second of it.

The writing can be a bit clunky, I’ll admit but that didn’t take away too much!! I think it’s a great story with a good execution and I can’t wait to share more.

This had zero depth - insta love at its worst and just such a weird way to try and sell a relationship to the reader. It might be decent for someone who does not read romance often and needs a palette cleanser but otherwise I kind of hated this

Not subtle at all in its crusade against pretentiousness in the book world. This hits you right away with calling out literary communities for looking down upon and excluding romance and fanfiction writing as legitimate. It’s heavy handed in its approach… but it’s not wrong.

Glad I listened to this as an audiobook instead of reading physically, otherwise I’m not sure I’d have made it through. This book stands best as concepts, and while I liked the smutty Shakespeare enemy turned lovers idea, there were occasional moments where it felt unrealistic and a bit immature. The flow of the audiobook really helped keep it moving

A book mainly just filled with hate sex. Yes I said it! This book was an okay read with no high stakes or any filler really. Besides having the love for writing I don’t understand what either of these characters had in common or how they fell in love. Instead of communicating they had hate sex until it became “love”. I wish there was more depth to this story and that the characters had more to them than what was perceived. Overall was an okay audiobook as well.

3/5 ⭐️
3.5/5 🌶️
Audiobook 🎧

-ARC-

Thank you for the ARC!

Micah is a financial auditor who’s used to being known as the uptight bad guy.
Aidan is a literature professor who writes spicy Shakespeare fanfic in secret.
When Micah puts Aidan’s career on the line, and he fights her on every turn, her only escape is reading smutty fanfic…not knowing that it’s her enemy #1 who’s making her work days bearable with his stories.
But the more Micah and Aidan fight, the hotter it gets and soon they can’t resist each other.

This was your standard enemies to lovers and while the spice was good, the FMC was honestly pretty insufferable. I did like that it was Aidan writing spicy fanfic though 😅

Much Ado About Hating You by Sarah Echavarre Smith is an enemies-to-lovers, workplace/forbidden love romance. Micah is a financial auditor whose most recent assignment is the local university’s English department, and she is determined to remain professional and get her job done. Aiden is a literature professor at the university who secretly writes spicy fanfic in his free time. They hate each other from the beginning despite each noting a mutual physical attraction, while inadvertently forming an online friendship on a writing platform under anonymous names. The book got off to a little bit of a slow start for me and I struggled with the level of disrespect and hate that the characters had for each other (mainly Aiden towards Micah), however as I got further into the book and learned more about their background, I really became invested and enjoyed this book. Narration was performed by Cindy Kay and J.F. Harding and they did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life! I think my favorite parts of the story were the different fanfic pieces that were written by the characters, it was fun to view the story through that lens.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Audio, and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review

2.5 rounded up.

I hoped to enjoy this book more, but I had a very hard time liking the main characters, especially Aidan. Micah was initially portrayed as independent and confident, but as the story developed, I felt she lacked depth. Aidan is arrogant and dismissive. I was very disappointed with how Aidan treated Micah in regard to her simply wanting to do a good job with her work assignment. I love a good work enemies to lovers trope, but Aidan was more disrespectful than I would tolerate.

On to the spice - if you like descriptive sexual content, you’ll enjoy those portions of the book.

Although I didn’t find myself loving this particular story, it wouldn’t deter me from reading another work from this author. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a chance to listen to this ALC.

This was so cute! I loved that they were both fanfic authors, and laughed out loud during their pranks on each other. It def gave me”star crossed lovers” but they got the happily ever after. So fun!

Woah HR violations galore, Batman! This story has all the right elements but the execution is a bit off. The narrators did a lot of heavy lifting and that part paid off.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Enemies to lovers in an academic setting! The cover and the description drew me to the book. Aiden is an English professor, and Micah is the auditor tasked with making cuts.

As great as it sounds, I was really disappointed with this book. There are blurbs from the fanfic that its author keeps saying is hot. The FMC says it’s so hot. All the comments say it. In reality, it is not. Beyond that, Aidan’s job is on the line and instead of focusing on his career, he’s writing short spicy blurbs on a website.

The characters aren’t likable. Their banter and rivalry are petty and childish. We are to believe these are professionals, but they act worse than teenagers. “Yeah it’s petty and unprofessional, but I don’t care” - Micah. Well, at least the author knows it.

All physical tension starts with a missed button. He tells her. She’s mad. Then it’s a main plot point. Who cares? It’s embarrassing, but it shouldn’t be some steamy catalyst. Micah tries to get revenge by messing with Aidan’s food. That’s not a petty revenge plot. It could have seriously harmed him. Let’s not do that.

As a lawyer, the FMC’s sister just irks me. I don’t like when authors just throw in a character who’s a lawyer for a career filler. Not only is some of the information she provides not accurate, but her dialogue is severely lacking. I must have missed using glitter bombs as a way to solve disagreements when I went to law school.

The final nail in the coffin is the narrator. This was my first book with Cindy Kay narrating. I found her voice annoying. Her voice did not change to differentiate between characters. Her attempt to narrate for Aidan’s dialogue was painful. I’ll be avoiding any books she narrates in the future.

Honestly, the cover for Much Ado About Hating You by Sarah Echavarre Smith is what sucked me into picking this up. Then, I saw JF Harding was a narrator and I was very excited to give the audiobook a listen. Unfortunately, this was a bit of good stuffed around immature and nonsensical plot/behavior and cringe fake fanfic.

While there was a spark between Aidan and Micah, and I think they would've made a really hot and great romance, too much noise got in the way. For the sake of creating over the top conflict, Aidan was turned from a fairly normal and smart guy, to someone that was an absolute idiot. Most of the professors were turned into buffoons actually. I just could not understand how they took out all their frustrations on Micah who is there at the behest of the university to do a cost analysis of their department. If it wasn't her, it'd be someone else. If it wasn't someone else, it'd be paycuts and pink slips. Like, why aren't they more upset at the university looking to quantify their worth? Why not organize and rally against the board in charge? It just didn't make sense and felt like it was thrown in to force conflict. It would've read smoother if the conflict was solely internal. Aidan freaking out over possibly losing his job and having his insecurities instill by an overbearing father reinforced. Micah having to decide between doing a good and thorough job that could potentially fire people she's grown fond of and a romantic partner she's grown to love. That would've been so much more effective, and in fact was the most effective part once we got there about midway through the book.

Then, we have the fanfic aspect. God, this was the worst and made me want to die. Reading fake fanfic within a romance story was just too much. It seemed like it was thrown in just to introduce spice and steam early on and it was just unnecessary. Then, we have the characters flirting and starting to almost fall for each other via fanfic website but it never seemed to address their ages. There are so many underage fanfic writers which made this just such a weird interaction. Neither Micah nor Aidan know how older the other's online alter-ego is. For all they know, they could've been chatting with a 14 year old. It doesn't seem like this was really well thought out.

Narration wise, JF Harding did a great job reading for our MMC Aidan. He really brought the tension and frustration to the forefront with that underlying yearning by the end. On the other hand, this was my first time listening to a book narrated by Cindy Kay and the direction she took Micah's voice was just not it. She did amazing portraying other characters during her sections (this was dual and not duet style narration.) When she read Micah, she really made her sound petulant and immature. It felt very valley girl, which didn't really feel like it fit with her character at all and was a bit of a turn off.

With all these negatives, you might be wondering how did this still manage to get three stars. Apart from the cringe fanfiction part and the childish antics of the characters, once they realized who they were, things got really good. It was great to see their relationship build up. I loved seeing Micah stand beside Aidan as he deal with his family issues. Plus, seeing Aidan support Micah's dreams and try to build her up was really tender to see. The romance, at it's core, was good and sweet. It did not need all of the extra stuff which only served to weigh it down.

Much Ado About Hating You by Sarah Echavarre Smith might be a book that I'd recommend checking out from the library rather than purchasing for yourself. It's got a solid romance but the fanfic and immaturity it gets wrapped in makes it difficult to get into at first and leaves a bit of distaste throughout.

review links to be updated. review to go live on website blog 05/26/2025