Hate to Want You
Forbidden Hearts
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4.0 • 117 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Alisha Rai, one of contemporary romance’s brightest stars, makes her Avon Books debut with the first novel in the sexy Forbidden Hearts series!
One night. No one will know.
That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies.
Until the night she didn’t show up.
Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?
Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.
Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.
One of Amazon's Best Romances of the Month & Best Romances of 2017!
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We were blown away by Alisha Rai's compelling and intense modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet (minus the tragedy). A business dispute between their families makes Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler forbidden to each other, but once a year they meet for a night of illicit passion, all the while denying that they’re in love. The complex (and convincing) conflict between Livvy and Nicholas' families makes their affair all the more scandalous, while the heat between them made us turn up the AC.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Rai's emotional contemporary series launch, dysfunctional families, mental illness, and true love vie for center stage. After a protracted absence, 30-year-old Olivia "Livvy" Kane rolls back into her hometown of Rockville, N.Y., setting everyone's teeth on edge. Her childhood friend and later occasional lover, Nicholas Chandler, has particularly mixed feelings about seeing her. The formerly inseparable sweethearts have only rendezvoused of late for an annual night of passion. Otherwise, each has ostensibly participated in an ongoing feud between their two families. Livvy plans a longer stay than usual as she helps to nurse her passive-aggressive mother back to health after hip surgery. The visit acts as a catalyst for deeply entrenched bitterness between and within families to surface, though hit-or-miss characterizations sometimes lessen its impact. The story line is complex but the ending feels rushed as Rai concludes with a much too easy almost flippant dismissal of the blood feud she spent so much effort building up.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic
While the ending was somewhat predictable, the book was fabulous. The storyline was well written and reminded me a little of a modern day Romeo and Juliet with a twist. I was completely engaged throughout and couldn’t put it down. I recommend this love story to anyone.
Boring
Couldn’t get into this book and quit early.
So. Good.
Confession: I started reading romance novels in the 80's in my teens. I don't know if it was due to my age (hormones!) or the over-the-top writing, but back in the day I would have the FEELS reading romances. Think Kathleen Turner at the beginning of the Romancing the Stone. Flash forward to today: I'm older and realize many romances written in the 80's have err.... PROBLEMS. Briefly, Hate to Want You gave me all of the feels of my youth (it's a "our families hate each other" trope) with none of the 80's problematic issues.
(And full disclosure: I received an eARC, yada yada yada.)