Hate to Date You

Fun story with secrets and angst. Hidden romance. Lies and coverups. Stella and Carter has a one night stand a year go. He left without a word never contacting her. When they meet again things are a little awkward and tense. No one knows about their night and they want to keep it that way. He is her best friend’s brother. When Carter needs a place to stay he ends up loving with Stella. Hate turns to friendship to lovers. They both have relationship/commitment issues. They must both find a way to trust in love or walk away.

This was cute read. I loved Stella and so wanted to smack carter upside the head so many times but I grew to love him as the story progressed

I very much enjoyed Monica Murphy’s “Hate to Date You,” a charming, funny, and sweet story that was every bit as delightful as the previous installments in the Dating series have been. Main characters Carter Abbott and Stella Ricci were quite likeable and well-developed, and their back-and-forth banter made me laugh.

I really liked Stella when she was introduced earlier in this series, so I was happy to get to know her better in this story. She was in a tough spot with her family because they placed so much value on traditional gender roles, which is why she felt the need to rebel when she was younger and hide parts of her life from them as an adult. It was nice to see her family start to open up with each other near the end of the book, and especially to see her father and brothers make an effort to listen to what Stella, her mom, and her grandmother had to say.

Carter was also a great lead character, and I appreciated his efforts to get his life and career on track after moving back to Carmel from Los Angeles. He didn’t seem to be very happy as a real estate agent, however, and it’s a shame he wasn’t able to land on a different career path before the end of the story. Hopefully his happy relationship with Stella plus the benefits of living closer to his sister and future brother-in-law will be enough to make up for any dissatisfaction he may still have with his job.

In addition to Carter and Stella, I really enjoyed getting to know Stella’s grandmother, Grace. She was a perfect matchmaker for Stella and Carter, giving them just enough of a push without being overbearing. It was wonderful to catch up with the other members of Stella’s friend group too, especially Caroline and Sarah.

I look forward to reading Stella’s friend Eleanor’s story next! She was so sweet and funny in this book, and I can’t wait to see what fate has in store for her.

*ARC provided by the author via Social Butterfly PR. All opinions expressed are my own.

4 1/2 STARS FOR HATE TO DATE YOU!! Wow, what a great story!!! I loved Carter and Stella they were fun to watch. These two will keep you on your toes with their bantering. Looking for a book to escape in for a couple hours here you go.

I have been reading Murphy’s “Dating Series” since book one, Save the Date. This is book four, but you do not have to have read the previous three books to follow along. This book revolves around Stella Ricci and Carter Abbott, Carter being the brother of Stella’s best friend Caroline (from Save the Date). Stella comes from a large, overly protective Italian family (is there any other kind?) and Carter didn’t have the greatest upbringing with a flaky mother. After Carter moves back home after impulsively quitting his job, he’s in need of a place to stay. With Caroline getting married, she’s about to move out of her apartment with Stella. So Stella needs a roommate, and Carter needs a room! It seems like the perfect situation… except Stella and Carter had a rather hot one night stand a year ago. A one night stand where Carter slipped out in the morning without so much as a goodbye. So yeah, things are a bit tense there. Carter goads her into letting him live with her, and from there it’s basically a countdown to the moment where they fall back into bed together.

I really enjoyed this entry in the Dating Series. I think Carter’s character development was done well, though I would have liked to have learned more about his life pre-Stella. There are mentions of his job in L.A., and of having lunch with his mother, but I think having more of those scenes would have really pushed Carter into becoming a fully fleshed out character. We get a lot more of Stella, including how she interacts with her brothers, father, and grandmother. The men in her family have some very old fashioned, outdated views of women which was a bit frustrating, but understandable. Maybe we’ll see one or two of Stella’s brothers in future books. Hopefully they won’t be macho, sexist Italian stereotypes, because I would like to see more from them! And, of course, I loved Stella’s Nonna. I’m a sucker for any story with large, noisy families.

With Stella, I enjoyed her a lot, although I’m not sure I really bought that she was a commitment-phobe. She kept saying she was anti-relationship, but I didn’t really get that from her at all until things came to a head with Carter when he admitted he had feelings for her. I think the fact that she had sex with Carter and then no one else for an entire year speaks volumes on that one. But I know there has to be some conflict there to force them apart for a while.

There only parts I didn’t really get into were when Stella forced one of her friends into flirting with Carter at dinner. I couldn’t think of why this would be a good idea. It felt a bit high school and maybe a tad manipulative. And I am always wary of books that reference a lot of pop culture. It instantly dates the book, which I get isn’t a bother for most people. But I always love reading books where I can get lost in the story, rather than spend it thinking “that song hasn’t been popular in a decade…” This is especially true of books I like enough to want to read again.

Hate to Date You has a lot of fun, witty banter, and I love that Murphy isn’t afraid to get dirty with the sex scenes. Stella and Carter have a lot of fun chemistry together too and I enjoyed them a lot, from the initial prickly move in to when they finally let their guard down to be vulnerable with each other. It’s always nice when a male lead isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve!

All in all this an entertaining ride from Monica Murphy. Hate to Date You is perfect if you want something light and fluffy to distract you from all of the uncertainty in the world right now.

I love a good second chance romance – and Hate to Date You is that and so much more.

Monica Murphy does a fantastic job developing her characters not to mention she writes fantastic dialog and has great secondary characters to help support the story. Carter and Stella’s romance is filled with angst on both sides that makes it interesting and a fun read. More importantly, it’s a great escape when you need it (and boy do we need it). Oh, and you will fall in love with Nonna – trust me she is the best!

This is such an adorable story! Carter and Stella know each other and after one night of passion one year ago, Carter up and left. «one year later he is back in town and needs a place to stay. For Stella`s best friend Caroline she will do her best to tolerate Carter her brother. He is in ust with her, but she hates him, Can either one of them commit to something, can they get over what happened a year ago??? This romantic comedy is a page turner and I can’t wait to see what’s next in this series honestly volunteered to review this story.

This series just keeps on getting better and better.
The lives of this group of friends as they find love is such a brilliant read. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but I never knew Stella had so many insecurities! Not once when she appeared previously would I have said she had ‘issues’. She’s always together and confident so seeing her hidden depths is heart-warming in this story as she finds her feet with Carter. He’s got his own hang ups but he’s quick to realise that its Stella who needs the coaxing to get her to where she can be honest and open with herself, family and friends.
And sometimes a hot man can help with that 🙂
It’s not dark and serious and at this moment in time I wouldn’t want to read that. I need light, fun and readable.
If you haven’t read the previous books, you could get away with it but where would the fun be in that? Get them downloaded and treat yourself to a few days of friends and fit blokes 😉

Thank you, Monica, for being so kind as to let me sneaky peek this one. Lovin ya work!

Nous voici dans le 4ème tome de la saga Dating de Monica Murphy et ce roman peut bien évidemment être lu de manière indépendante. Nous retrouvons les anciens personnages des précédents tomes étant donné que tout le monde se connaît à Monterey et cette fois ci nous allons en apprendre plus sur Stella , la barista du café et nous allons en apprendre plus sur sa famille.

D’origine italienne, la famille de Stella Ricci a une grande place dans sa vie. Elle se sent obligée de lui cacher certaines choses pour ne pas envenimer certaines choses car ils ont parfois des avis assez arrêtés sur certains sujets. Celle que j’ai adoré dans cette famille c’est la nonna alias Graziella. Elle n’a pas sa langue dans sa poche et n’hésitera pas à dire le fond de sa pensée. Elle a vraiment envie de vendre sa demeure mais certains membres s’entêtent à ce qu’elle le rénove pour continuer de vivre dedans… quand je vous disais que les Ricci sont assez bornés. Stella mène donc sa barque et quand sa colocataire et amie Caroline va partir pour emménager avec Alex , elle va désormais vivre avec Carter , le frère de son amie mais aussi celui avec qui elle a passé une nuit sans lendemain. Elle semble le détester et le sentiment semble partagé mais s’ils se laissent un peu le temps de discuter , les choses pourraient s’apaiser.

Stella a évidemment été blessé de l’absence de communication après cette nuit de folie mais elle semble aussi très hermétique aux relations ce qui rend la situation un peu ironique. Heureusement ,elle pourra compter sur son groupe d’amies pour pouvoir lâcher un peu de leste et pouvoir parler à coeur ouvert. Elle se voile la face si elle pense qu’elle est immune au charme de son colocataire et elle devra bien finir par se rendre à l’évidence. Le fait de devoir absolument taire leur passé pourra conduire à des situations très délicates mais nous n’en sommes pas encore là. Stella a t-elle vraiment le temps d’avoir quelqu’un dans sa vie? Elle voit ses amies trouver leur moitié et vivre heureuses à deux mais est ce quelque chose qu’elle désire vraiment pour elle même?

Carter Abbot est aussi à un moment de sa vie où il se pose de nombreuses questions. Il a quitté une vie palpitante à Los Angeles pour venir se terrer dans une petite ville plus calme mais il ne semble pas savoir ce qu’il veut professionnellement parlant. Avoir un endroit où loger est donc un moyen de souffler même s’il s’agit de vivre avec Stella. Les non dits ont laissé de grandes traces et il serait temps de prendre son courage à deux mains pour tenter d’aller de l’avant. Il a eu une relation un peu chaotique avec sa soeur donc il ne veut pas prendre le risque de se disputer de nouveau avec Caroline. Il va donc devoir tenter de renouer un lien avec notre héroïne tout en faisant en sorte que le passé reste bien ancré dans le passé. J’ai bien aimé ce personnage car il ouvrira les yeux sur la situation avec une certaines lucidité et une bonne dose de maturité. L’eau a coulé sous les points depuis cette fameuse nuit et il semblerait qu’il sache désormais ce qu’il veut ou ce qu’il ne veut pas. Pourra t-il obtenir ce qu’il désire? Parviendra t-il à se recentrer sur lui même?

Bref, un nouveau tome toujours aussi sympathique. C’est toujours agréable de revoir les anciens personnages de cette saga et Monica Murphy sait parfaitement nous donner des nouvelles tout en préparant le terrain pour le prochain tome qui sera sur un personnage qu’on verra assez bien dans ce roman. Une comédie romantique mignonne qui se lit avec plaisir.

I love this world and group of friends that Monica Murphy has created at Carmel by the Sea. I read book one of the series, Save the Date, but have not read book 2 or 3. All of the books in this series can be read as stand-alone books. I have always been a fan of Murphy’s books; however these books have a different feel then her previous offerings. These are fun, lighthearted romance. You still get her dynamic independent women characters going up against these know it all dominating men they just have an easier readability about them.
I fell in love with the character of Stella Ricci when she appeared in book one as Caroline’s best friend. She has a strong and feisty nature. You just know when you get her story there are going to be sparks flying. What I wasn’t prepared for with Stella was her self-doubt and lack of confidence to standing up against her dominating Italian Family. Stella seems a bit lost and unsure of what her future looks like.
Enter in Carter Abbott. Carter is Caroline’s older brother. He left the Carmel area 10 years before to escape his unhappy childhood and make a future and name for himself. Carter went to Southern California and became a real estate agent with hopes of earning a fortune and successes in selling property. A blow up with a girlfriend/co-worker and feeling at odds with his current situation has him moving back to the Carmel area at the instance of his baby sister. Unsure of what his future looks like he is just drifting.
Stella and Carter had a one night stand a year previous that was hot and sexy and fun, but to much intensity for Carter so he totally ghosted Stella. Now that Carter is back in the area and slightly aimless his sister comes up with the brilliant idea that Carter should take over her roommate duties at Stella’s apartment. Stella wants nothing to do with Carter. These two are fight against their feelings so hard. Both seem to lack the confidence to make the first move. Plus, you add in a tiny Italian Grandma, 3 overbearing Italian bothers and a baby sister who is a scammer and you just know this story is going to be great. This is story has passion, laughs and great characters. It was a fun easy flirty read. This is was 4/5 read for me.