Book Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Media Type: Print Book
Title: The Hating Game
Author: Sally Thorne
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: Paperback; 384
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Source: TLC Book Tours
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Genre: Romantic Comedy
HDB Rating: 4 Keys to My Heart
Recommended to: Readers who enjoy sizzling rom coms with believable characters.
Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | BookLikes
Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua TemplemanLucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.
Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.
If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.
Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.
Pardon me while I fan myself, because this book is sizzling! How to describe The Hating Game? It’s fun, it’s hilarious, and it’s full of the type of sexual tension that makes the pages smolder. Insta-love and I have never been friends. Give me a struggle, and an awkward love story though, and I’m yours forever. Sally Throne has written my absolute favorite type of story right here. The one where supposed hate turns to steamy love, and the whole ride is just too enjoyable for words.
First off, Lucy is absolutely adorable. At a toppling 5 feet tall, Lucy is just a ball of gawky and lovable energy. She’s the type of character that has no problem making people adore her, but unfortunately craves that attention. Which means she gets stepped all over a fair amount of the time. That just endeared her to me all the more though. I could see the lioness within, and I was so rooting for her. Enter Joshua, her nemesis, and the exact yin to her yang. Joshua is perfectly polished. He’s proper, and cold. He’s the type of character that people actually fear disappointing. So what happens when you put these two in close quarters? So much. So, so much.
The banter was my absolute favorite portion of this whole book. Watching Lucy and Josh banter, watching the delicious sexual tension slowly unfurl between them, was just wonderful. This whole book is a slow burn. It has perfectly paced romantic moments, interspersed with struggles, to make this a much deeper book than I expected. Lucy and Josh don’t just get one another. They have to fight. They argue. They’re petty. At the end of the day though, it’s still that slow burn towards the ending. I can’t express enough how perfectly paced this romantic comedy is! I laughed, I cried, I smirked. So many emotions.
There were a few small things about this story that made it fall just shy of a perfect five star rating. Josh’s personality, while absolutely necessary to the story, could be a bit grating at certain times. I’m so glad he had Lucy to set him back on the right track. Overall though, I can promise you that this book is the whole package. The Hating Game is a ton of fun to read! It’s well worth a spot on your reading list.
FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.
