There’s a fine line between love and hate. And these two can’t decide which side they’re really on. . . . Poetry professor Naomi Price is loved by her students, happily works around the clock, and has credentials no one could deny. Except, it seems, for her arch-nemesis at Hainamor University. The man never has anything polite to say, and now the two of them are competing for a prestigious honor … for a prestigious honor that just so happens to come with a cash award. With every move Naomi makes to impress her colleagues, her rival is right there beside her, elbow to elbow, making it impossible to ignore how devastatingly hot he is—even if he is a total bastard.
Sebastian Blake knows what Naomi thinks of him, and he’s trying hard not to care. Maybe he’s been grouchy with her in the past, but she isn’t making his life any easier with her crusade to win over the Personnel Committee and earn an honor that is rightfully his. Naomi just doesn’t quit, and though he’d never admit it, there’s something sexy about her. Something that has him tied up in knots. Something that makes him want to move beyond his painful past and take a chance—at least for as long as it takes to kiss her silly and see what happens next.
Warning: Intense bickering leads to intense sexual chemistry!
This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Praise for I Hate You, I Love You
“With smart, plucky heroines and the swoon-worthy men who fall for them, Elizabeth Hayley never disappoints!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Meredith Wild
“Every time I open an Elizabeth Hayley book, it’s a moment of excitement. I know I’m going to get every important feel on my list—sighs, swoons, laughter, love—in a tale I won’t be able to put down. Smart, sexy, bold, and brilliant—Elizabeth Hayley brings it all to the page! I worship their mad storytelling skills!”—USA Today bestselling author Angel Payne
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With smart, plucky heroines and the swoon-worthy men who fall for them, Elizabeth Hayley never disappoints!
Every time I open an Elizabeth Hayley book, it’s a moment of excitement. I know I’m going to get every important feel on my list — sighs, swoons, laughter, love — in a tale I won’t be able to put down. Smart, sexy, bold, and brilliant — Elizabeth Hayley brings it all to the page! I worship their mad storytelling skills!
There’s a fine line in between love and hate…or so they say. I Hate You, I Love You is a cute enemies to lovers romance with the added bonus of it being a workplace situation.
Two “broken” people hiding it all inside. They feel the connection but…
He’s always pushing away and she can’t help but fire back. No doormat heroine here. Naomi is feisty and fun while Sebastian is a cranky ass. It’s a fun read.
Sebastian is very, very lucky that Naomi has an easy going personality with the patience and tolerance of a saint! Their love/hate was set from the get go, fortunately for Sebastian, Naomi didn’t drag his ass to the HR department and get him fired! At least she smart enough to realize that her feelings were starting to change, while Sebastian kind of had to be hit over the head, or get stupid drunk to realize what the driving force was behind his open bitterness and hostility towards Naomi.
Enemies to lovers is one of my kryptonite genres. I just love the buildup of sexual tension between the two main characters, but it can be hard to pull off well. I will say that Naomi and Sebastian were *so* antagonistic towards each other at the onset, I wasn’t sure how they’d ever get past it. However, the author managed it in such a way that despite that initial, intense negativity, their gradual changeover seemed believable. And when I say gradual, this is a slooooow burn – lots of building of tension before anything “exciting” (wink, wink) happens. This story was angstier than I’d anticipated but not overly so. This was my first book by the author, but I’ll definitely be checking out her other titles.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
This was my first time reading these authors and I loved this book! So many times I found myself smirking at the back and forth between Naomi and Sebastian. I’m not one for recapping the story so just know that I thought this was a great story and I am interested in reading everything else they have written! I find that I’m not that drawn to the book cover but don’t let that stop you from giving this book a try. I received an free copy from NetGalley and this is my honest, voluntary, review.
This is my first book by this duo and it definitely won’t be the last!!
Naomi and Sebastian are colleagues in the English Department at a Vermont university and have been at odds since Naomi’s first day. When they are tasked to compete against each other for an award from the school, the competition hits new heights but so does their explosive chemistry.
I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers books but there were times in this one that I had to remind myself that these two were old enough to be college professors. There was an immaturity to their interactions that I had a hard time believing. I did love the back stories of both Naomi and Sebastian and how once they got past all the sniping, they were actually pretty perfect for each other. I hope Naomi’s friends get HEAs too! This world is definitely one I’d love to revisit.
*This is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*
This one was just okay for me. I like a good enemies to lovers story, it’s probably my number one jam. There was pretty much no sexual chemistry between Naomi and Sebastian. Usually there’s build up and sparks fly and you’re rooting for them to finally rip each other clothes off. Yeah, there wasn’t any of that. Everything, besides Sebastian being a giant sarcastic dick, is just nice. There were some parts that I skimmed over because I felt like it was dragging on way too long. I didn’t hate this book, it just really didn’t do anything for me in long run.
I Hate You, I Love You by Elizabeth Hayley is an enemies-to-lovers romance with great banter and bickering! Naomi Price and Sebastian Blake both work for the same university and cannot stand each other. But when they are both nominated for the same award, all bets are off. But can you really hate someone you have so much chemistry with?
I laughed at their childish antics, but both were determined to win the award. There were actually times I thought there was no way these two would get over the hate part of their relationship, but somehow they worked through it when forced to work together. This was a bit of a slow burning romance as they worked through their issues.
Happy reading!
*Swipes the last page, thinks how happy and sad I am at the same time this fantastic fictional getaway ended!*
Where do I begin?
Digging into this war of words storyline, right away I was emersed in Vermont and campus life by its well-detailed scenes coupled with the brilliant banter between Dr. Namoi Price- the English Lit professor and the bane of her existence Professor Sebastian Blake.
That quick wit ( I may have highlighted some lines for myself to use at later dates.) An intense connection, turbulent emotions coming from both sides, sweet heat intensity that cannot be beat layered in between their sparking connection – with something regarded as “let’s just see where it goes” Made it impossible not to fall hard for both of them – rooting for a spectacular HEA.
A once I start I could not stop type story, soo many beautiful passages, mixed with heart-aching ones!
My absolute FAVORITE is at the end of a sonnet
Sebastian:
“I’ve lost the battle, but not yet the war,
As long as you hate me but love me more.”
#swoonville #butterflys #goosebumps
A mash-up of brilliance, heartbreak, heart mend, pulsating pleasure and humor-laden love blooming in spite of hard they try!
Elizabeth Hayley is new to me author (s), but after this magnificent book, I plan to check out more of their work!
I highly suggest reading this one for yourself!
Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes in the romance genre, so I couldn’t resist this one. The book certainly delivered on that in the beginning. The sarcasm flowed like water between these two as they exchanged barbs at every opportunity. Granted, most of it was rather juvenile and not what I would expect from college professors, but it did induce a laugh here and there. In fact, I enjoyed the story right up until Sebastian and Naomi finally get together. That should’ve been the part I liked best – a heated kiss here and there, a slow-building anticipation, and they finally admit to an attraction. However, the story changes at that point and becomes quite angsty. Given the backstories, the angst makes sense, but it doesn’t hold with the romantic comedy theme. Plus, the romance slows down considerably and the chemistry just sort of fizzles. There is some steam, but the scenes are somewhat stilted. It almost felt like I was reading a book written by two different people. I did enjoy the first half, but the last half left me with a meh feeling.
This book left me questioning why I spent so much time reading it when I had such a headache when I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I should have. Naomi Price and Sebastian Blake are English professors at a small liberal arts college in Vermont and they have had a rocky (to put it mildly) co-existence for the past couple years and fight and spare and exchange insults on a daily basis and now they are in the running for a Distinguished Faculty award and basically pitted against each other. Now the gloves are off. Their fighting suddenly turns to something more. Hate is such a strong emotion and eventually it turns to more and slowly things turn to love. The fighting and snipping got on my nerves and was so junior high it made me cringe and if I had not been reading this as an ARC I may not have finished it. Although I am glad I did, the poem at the end was worth it and the final two lines wrap this entire book up nicely… “I’ve lost the battle, but not yet the war, As long as you hate me but love me more.”
There’s nothing really obnoxiously wrong with this book. But it’s supposed to be a rom com. The cover is super rom com-y, and it’s listed in the rom com category on Amazon. But there’s one big problem with this as a rom com.
It’s. Not. Funny.
I’ve run into enough unfunny rom coms lately to suggest that, perhaps, authors and publishers are confused as to what a rom com is. See, folks, the “com” in rom com stands for COMEDY. If your book isn’t funny, it’s not a rom com. It’s just as simple (and complicated, apparently) as that.
(*takes a deep breath for composure before carrying on*)
Now that my mini rant is out of the way, about this book…
This is an enemies-to-lovers romance. I normally really love that trope. But in most enemies-to-love romances, the main characters don’t REALLY hate each other that much. Especially in workplace enemies-to-love romances like this one. They’ll usually take little swipes at one another, but it doesn’t generally get super hateful or downright mean because, well, they’re supposed to eventually love each other. Naomi and Sebastian, the main couple in this story, REALLY hate each other. They’re HORRIBLE to each other. They say stuff to each other that I’d never forgive if someone said it to me. They don’t even mind sniping at each other in front of their co-workers and boss (which I found totally unprofessional). I found their eventual relationship to be really unlikely. It tripped my bullshit meter, frankly.
Other than that, this isn’t a bad book. The writing is fine, the sex scenes are fine, the characters’ backstories are interesting. The book’s pacing is decent. Dialogue has a nice, realistic feel to it. But since this is a romance, and the biggest problem I found with the book was that I didn’t find THE ROMANCE believable…well, I had to deduct a couple of stars for that. Romances must have a good romance at their core, just like ROM COMS SHOULD BE FUNNY.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Full disclosure: We received a free ARC from NetGalley.
And don’t forget to follow the Romance Rehab blog for more rants, raves, and other fun romance-y stuff: http://www.romancerehab.com/
This enemies to lovers story checked every box for me! The banter back and forth was the absolute best foreplay.
When these two college professors find out they’ve both been nominated for a prestigious teaching award that could helped them realize some of their dreams….the gloves come off. It’s game on.
Sebastian and Naomi were witty, laugh out loud funny and so much fun to read.
I highly recommend this book!!!
Reviewed by: Heather S.
Naomi Prince loves her job, she spends her days teaching students English at Hainamor University, and she is pretty darn good at it too, her students and colleagues love her… well except one colleague that is! From the moment she met fellow Professor Sebastian Blake something felt off about their encounter, he had a huge chip on his shoulder and for some reason he seemed to dislike her, even being a little rude too. From there each time they crossed paths the hatred between them grew, and it was not uncommon for him to go out of his way to point out her shortcomings, and embarrass her in front of others. He is a jerk, with a capital “J”, and she tries her best to avoid him as best she can, but now that they are both up for the same award, the University has found it necessary to force them to work together… and that just adds fuel to the fire, in more ways than one!
This was an entertaining take on the enemies to lovers trope, from the moment it started I could tell there would be lots of heated banter ahead, and boy was there ever, these two went rounds at every turn. One moment they were fighting the sparks bouncing around between them, the next they were battling over their credentials and the competition for the award. It took me a while to warm up to Sebastian, the man could be a real jerk, and I couldn’t help but feel for Naomi, she never really had a fighting chance with him, he ran so hot and cold. But little by little he started to grow on me, and I could see there was actually a good guy there, it just took a little while for him to make an appearance. Once he finally started to come around, tensions seem to lesson, the sparks took hold, and from then on it was watch out!! This was a fun little battle to watch unfold, it had moments to weaken the knees, moments to make you laugh, and of course moments that put a good squeeze on the heart, overall I’d say it was a nice well rounded tale. Highly recommend!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.
It was a great story and I enjoyed the characters. It had humor and romance with a side of antagonist flirting.
Naomi and Sebastian are professors in the English department at a University in Vermont. From the first moment they met, the barbs flew. Sebastian is Naomi’s nemesis and she tries to make his life miserable in small ways. When the English department nominates them both for a prestigious award, they are forced to interact. Eventually the hate becomes something a little friendlier. Both characters have to get over past traumas to move on with their lives. I really enjoyed the angry interactions and the fact that they continued with the smart aleck jabs even when they developed feelings for each other. I wish that Naomi’s friends were a little more developed, as the scenes with them felt tacked on. I also wish that there had been an epilogue as the ending seemed a little abrupt.