Dating You/Hating You
By:
Christina Lauren
Publisher:
Gallery Books
Published:
June 6, 2017
Source:
eARC from Publisher for Review
Add to:
Goodreads
Book Synopsis:
All’s fair in love and work. The first standalone romance by New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Beautiful Bastard) is a sexy, compulsively readable romantic comedy that dives headlong into the thrill and doubt of modern love.
Despite the odds against them from an embarrassing meet-awkward at a mutual friend’s Halloween party, Carter and Evie immediately hit it off. Even the realization that they’re both high-powered agents at competing firms in Hollywood isn’t enough to squash the fire.
But when their two agencies merge—causing the pair to vie for the same position—all bets are off. What could have been a beautiful, blossoming romance turns into an all-out war of sabotage. Carter and Evie are both thirtysomething professionals—so why can’t they act like it?
Can Carter stop trying to please everyone and see how their mutual boss is really playing the game? Can Evie put aside her competitive nature long enough to figure out what she really wants in life? Can their actor clients just be something close to human? Whether these two Hollywood love/hatebirds get the storybook Hollywood ending or just a dramedy of epic proportions, you will get to enjoy Christina Lauren’s heartfelt, raucous, and hilarious romance style at its finest.
My Thoughts:
I was excited to read Dating/You Hating You because I am a big Christina Lauren fan. For some reason this story was initially difficult in grabbing my attention, which was very surprising for me! However, I'm really glad that I stuck with it, because I ended up enjoying it!
Carter and Evie meet at a Halloween party, when their best friends try to set them up, without letting them know. Everyone else is coupled up, and they are the only two singles at the party. Ironically, Carter comes dressed as Harry Potter, and Evie comes dressed as Hermoine Granger. From the start these two hit it off, and you know that they are meant to be.
Carter is an agent for television and Evie is an agent in the movie industry. Both are married to their job and agree that it wouldn't be a good idea to date because they'd never see each other. However, these two can't stop thinking about one another and start texting, flirting, connecting and eventually dating. Everything goes south when there two companies merge, and they both end up competing for the same position.
Dating You/Hating You was a fun romantic comedy, that had the signature laugh out loud, feel-good humor that I have come to expect from Christina Lauren. I enjoyed the chemistry and romance between these two leading characters. The hijinks between these two, as the each kept trying to one up each other, had me laughing out loud! I loved the supporting cast, and the amazing friendships that Evie had with her girls and that Carter shared with his best friend as well.
Christina Lauren also did an amazing job of highlighting the challenges women still face in the workplace with not getting equal pay for equal work, by demonstrating this perfectly with Evie and Carter's boss Brad. His character completely set me on edge, and made me so angry, with the way he would talk down to Evie and belittle her!
I was cheering on Evie and Carter the whole time, and desperate for them to find their way back to each other, despite being put in a position to compete for the same position. I loved both of their characters, the way they just "got" each other and the chemistry that they shared. These two complimented and balanced one other out perfectly. The ending was fabulous and left me with a big smile on my face!
Christina Lauren also did an amazing job of highlighting the challenges women still face in the workplace with not getting equal pay for equal work, by demonstrating this perfectly with Evie and Carter's boss Brad. His character completely set me on edge, and made me so angry, with the way he would talk down to Evie and belittle her!
I was cheering on Evie and Carter the whole time, and desperate for them to find their way back to each other, despite being put in a position to compete for the same position. I loved both of their characters, the way they just "got" each other and the chemistry that they shared. These two complimented and balanced one other out perfectly. The ending was fabulous and left me with a big smile on my face!
About Christina Lauren:
Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right). Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, a Lambda Literary Award finalist and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as Forbes, The Washington Post, Time, Entertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in 2017 to critical acclaim, followed by Roomies, Love and Other Words, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating, and the Publisher’s Weekly starred My Favorite Half-Night Stand, out in December. Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.
Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you can find her at her desk, writing or watching BTS videos. She grew up in Utah and is absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 17 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter.
You can follow their shenanigans at: @lolashoes (Lauren) & @seeCwrite (Christina) on Twitter. On Tumblr! where we post kissing gifs and writerly stuff and Wattpad for short stories and sneak peeks!
For official information about their books, events, interviews, movie/TV news and more, follow @christinalauren.
I did read it when it was released in French and liked it even if it's not my fave of the authors
ReplyDeleteI agree Melliane! I enjoyed this story, but it wasn't my favorite of their books either.
DeleteI bought this one a while back, but like most of the books I own, it is unread. I need to push it up, though, because ever since every book they have been writing in the past two years has been fabulous for me. I will be saving this for when I need a rom-com. Glad it was great!
ReplyDeleteChristina Lauren are my favorite for Rom-Coms, along with Emma Chase and Alice Clayton :)
DeleteThis sounds like another fun one from Christina Lauren! I am so so so behind on their books but hopefully one of these days haha. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks Teresa!
DeleteThis will be perfect when I want an office romance. Their boss sounds like a real jerk. Love that they were great friends with so much in common that it's easy to believe they are good for each other.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun romance!
DeleteI came to this author duo after this release, but have it on my wishlist. I am glad you ended up enjoying it despite the slow start.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim!
DeleteHonestly I don't think I could read this book. I can't stand when we see workplace abuse. I know it happens and that its real but I just can't take it. And competitive love interests don't interest me either. I'm glad that you ended up enjoying it though. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThe author duo are auto read for me. No matter what the story is about, I'll read it if they wrote it, because they are amongst my favorite authors :)
Delete