USA TODAY BESTSELLER • New York City’s hottest bachelors are stirring up trouble in this fun, flirty Oxford Novel, as a love triangle forces a feisty beauty to choose between winning back Mr. Right or giving in to Mr. Wrong. Taylor Carr has it all—a sleek job in advertising, a stunning Manhattan apartment, and the perfect man to share it with: Bradley Calloway. Even after Bradley dumps her for a … Even after Bradley dumps her for a co-worker on move-in day, Taylor isn’t worried. She’ll get her man eventually. In the meantime, she needs a new roommate. Enter Nick Ballantine, career bartender, freelance writer—and longtime pain in Taylor’s ass. Sexy in a permanent five-o’clock-shadow kind of way, Nick knows how to push Taylor’s buttons, as if he could see right through to the real her.
Nick’s always trying to fix people, and nobody could use a good fixing more than Taylor. Sure, she’s gorgeous, with mesmerizing silver eyes, but it’s her vulnerability that kills him. Now that they’re shacking up together, the chemistry is out of control. Soon they’re putting every part of their two-bedroom apartment to good use. Then Taylor’s ex comes crawling back to her, and Nick figures she’ll jump at the chance to go back to her old life—unless he fights for the best thing that ever happened to him.
Praise for I Knew You Were Trouble
“Lauren Layne is one of a handful of authors that can break your heart, while keeping you smiling the whole time.”—I Love Romance (five stars)
“It is a fun and flirty battle of the sexes that will leave you giddy over the sheer romance of falling in love.”—All About Romance
Lauren Layne’s New York Times bestselling Oxford Novel series can be read in any order:
IRRESISTIBLY YOURS
I WISH YOU WERE MINE
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE
I THINK I LOVE YOU
Don’t miss any of Lauren Layne’s hot reads:
The Love Unexpectedly series: BLURRED LINES | GOOD GIRL | LOVE STORY | WALK OF SHAME | AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS
The Sex, Love & Stiletto series: AFTER THE KISS | LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH | JUST ONE NIGHT | THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE
The Redemption series: ISN’T SHE LOVELY | BROKEN | CRUSHED
The I Do, I Don’t series: READY TO RUN | RUNAWAY GROOM
Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
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As always, a Lauren Layne book keeps me up all night because I simply can’t wait to see what her characters are going to do, go through, and wind up with!!! Love this series. Love this author. Love these books.
I loved getting to know Nick and Taylor, esp the hot and cold sentiments between them because of their attraction. It was so tragic how they kept having such bad timing but it built up the angst well and it all finally came together for them in the end. Lauren Layne expertly crafted the plot esp bringing it full circle back for the final conflict.
I’m a big fan of Lauren Layne’s work so I knew this would be an enjoyable read. What I didn’t know was that I would pretty much drop everything and DEVOUR this book in less than 24 hours!
Taylor Carr and Nick Ballantine are captivating characters. I love the prickly ones that have a bumpier past. And these two really were like oil and water! Lauren Layne did an amazing job capturing the tension between them and playing it up. But they’re still good, kind people underneath it all; I’d happily be friends with both of them!
I’ve read these books out of order (started with #5), so I had a rough idea of what was going to happen. That didn’t spoil my enjoyment one bit, though. It was entertaining taking the journey of their tumultuous relationship with them and seeing how it all happened. My only complaint is stylistic: characters would repeat information in what seemed to me to be an unnecessary fashion. I wanted a bit more trust that we readers were following along and got it without that extra bit of hand-holding.
I’d happily recommend this book to anyone who:
– needs a purely enjoyable read
– is looking for a good beach book
– has enjoyed other books by Lauren Layne
– is new to the romance genre
I’ll read anything Lauren Layne writes! I’m always waiting for her next book.
Loved the characters; got angry with them and cried with them and laughed with them. The story was fun and very relatable (I worked in corporate New York for many years). Read it in two days, which is good considering I work a fulltime job.
I really liked this book. I especially liked Nick as the hero. He was quirky and followed his own drummer. I think their chemistry was great, and their back stories believable, except for maybe Taylor’s aunt. Her aunt sounded too much like a robot to be a real human being, but all the living characters were well rendered. It was a cute story, and one I enjoyed.
Really like the characters and the chemistry they had.
Loved this book. Good story line. Was fun to read
Two opposites come together despite a rocky beginning. Another couple in the Oxford series.
I love the Oxford/Stiletto series, so much I’ve read it twice. The characters are wonderful, I miss them when I finish each book.
Loved it. The entire series is fabulous fun. They can be read as stand alone but I enjoyed reading them in sequence. The characters are so much fun to visit and play with. Fun, witty and clever. Sexy too.
Another fun, sexy, sweet and flirty book in this series. I have enjoyed all the books in this story. I definitely recommend the author, the book and this series.
Lauren Layne is a new to me author in the past month or so. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Walk of Shame and I just fell in love with the writing and the story itself. So when I Knew You Were Trouble became available, I jumped right in. I will admit that despite being told that it is a standalone, I still went back to the start of the Oxford series simply because I wanted to read more by this author. After doing all that, I can 100% say that this can be read as a standalone. In fact, we don’t get as much as the Oxford team in this one as we do with the others.
This story was super fun for me because I really love the enemies to lovers stories. Taylor and Nick have been at each other’s throats since they met. Snarky comments here and there, they quickly become enemies. Of course, those of us from the outside can clearly see the sexual tension. It’s alway a fine line between love and hate!
I really enjoyed how strong Taylor was. She is feisty, sarcastic and stubborn. She’s been taught to never show weakness or vulnerability so when she actually starts to show that with Nick, I really started to connect with her more. Deep down, all Taylor really wanted was someone to love her. To show her the love and affections that she never really got growing up.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would have enjoyed getting a bit more of some of the past Oxford people in it but that’s just me being selfish. I actually like that we are starting to see a bit more of the “other side” of Oxford and are being introduced to knew people. If you like a light read with some fun, snark and just a tiny bit of emotions, then this is the book for you. And if you haven’t read anything by Lauren Layne yet, I encourage you do it. Like now. I’m so happy I’ve discovered her and her work.
Since the day that Taylor and Nick met at Oxford magazine, they’ve essentially been mortal enemies. When they aren’t avoiding each other, they’re being as snarky as possible. So when it gets around the office that the two of them are going to be roommates, their coworkers are concerned. But it’s a smart move for both Nick and Taylor. She was supposed to be moving into her new apartment with her boyfriend/coworker but when he breaks up with her on their move-in day, she’s left needing a roommate. Nick is utterly fascinated by Taylor and happens to also need a new place to live. And if living with Taylor means he gets to stick it to her ex a little bit, that’s just an added bonus. The more time they spend together, the more they realize that there are much better uses for their chemistry than just fighting all the time… She may be more than a bit prickly and definitely used to getting her way, but Nick is willing to fight to show her that perhaps he’s actually the right guy for her.
I’m used to immediately loving everything about Lauren Layne’s Oxford/Stiletto series, but this one fell a little flat for me. Was it still fun and easy to read? Absolutely, I finished it in one night. But some parts just felt like they were a bit trite and overdone.
I enjoyed Nick from the very beginning. I was intrigued by his backstory and found him thoroughly charming, though I felt a bit like his characterization was off when it came to his behavior in the climax of the novel and he wasn’t quite as endearing as some of the other men in this series. Taylor was harder for me. I could understand why she behaved the way she did, I appreciated that she had a history that actually gave credence to her feelings towards love and other people, but I didn’t find her very likable at the beginning and sometimes really questioned her judgement. She so desperately wanted her ex back and it was hard to see why, even a little bit. My feelings towards her were sort of the reverse of mine towards Nick- I wasn’t a big fan at the beginning, but by the end, I found myself really liking the person she’d become.
The best part of the book for me was all the supporting characters, both ones introduced previously in the series and ones that will inevitably get their own down the line. Nick and Taylor each had a great support system of friends and I liked seeing the dynamic between them and other people, especially at the beginning of the book when most of the Nick and Taylor interactions were definitely bordering on cruel and volatile.
Favorite Quotes:
She hated being the newcomer— hated feeling vulnerable in any way for fear that someone would see right through her shield of confidence and call her out as a fraud. To expose her as what she really was on the inside: lonely. Maybe a little unlovable, if she wanted to get melodramatic about it.
We talked. That was it. Why is it that everyone seems to think carnage will follow whenever I have a conversation with someone?
I’m not seeing anyone else, Taylor. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You consume me.
I’ve got three sisters and four nieces, and my best friend is a woman. I’m fluent in the language of lady tears.
My Review:
I find I am rather conflicted in how to rate this book. While, as always, Ms. Layne’s work was amusing and well-written, I had considerable difficulty in appreciating the female main character of Taylor. Taylor was a cold fish and an aloof ice princess who was instantly and unnecessarily sarcastic and antagonistic toward the adorable Nick. Nick was a nice man – but she had disliked him on sight and turned him into her nemesis by going all mean girl. As the story and her childhood history unfolded, she began to thaw and I did too, and although I totally adored Nick – I could not find Taylor endearing. On the plus side, I found much of the storyline witty and amusing. I enjoy Ms. Layne’s snarky humor and always look forward to the clever and easy banter among the smart and feisty characters from previous books. I will recall this group fondly, and with a smile, whenever consuming a tuna roll.
Taylor Carr has everything she could possibly want, the successful career, great home, and a relationship with a good man… well scratch that last part. She a had a good man, but then he panicked on the day they were suppose to move in together and bolted… into the arms of his ex-girlfriend. Now Taylor is in need of roommate to share costs, so she posts an ad, and it winds up catching the eye of her workplace nemesis Nick Ballantine. The man irks her beyond belief, and she isn’t so sure they can survive being trapped in the confines of her apartment together, but she needs a roommate, so she reluctantly gives in and accepts his offer. Little by little she starts to see a side of Nick she has never seen before, and she likes what she sees… a lot!! But Nick isn’t about to just be her rebound, he wants it all and she isn’t so sure she is ready for all of that… or is she?
Nick Ballantine has had a little thing for Taylor Carr for sometime now, but her heart belonged to another man, so he ignored the urges that hit him every time they are in the same room together. They have this whole love hate relationship, and normally get on each others nerves anytime they are near one another, but Nick can’t seem to help to think that it is just the chemistry brewing between them. Then by a sheer stroke of luck, she becomes single, and just so happens to need a roommate, so he makes her an offer she can’t really refuse. He is not sure if it is the best idea he’s had, but he wants the girl and sometimes that means going to great lengths… he just hopes that it all pays off in the end!!
I loved this story so much, these two waltzed onto the page and I immediately felt the sparks bouncing around between them, but I also felt the resistance too, and that could only mean one thing, there were going to be serious fireworks up ahead…. and I couldn’t wait to watch them ignite! Without giving too much away I will say Ms. Layne did not let me down, their were some serious fireworks and a whole lot of feels to go with them, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the show!! This story took a hold of me and had me feeling the emotional intent behind every word, it stirred up the tears, and warmed my heart. Highly recommend this one, the moment you crack the cover these two wonderfully crafted characters will invade your world, capture your attention, and steal your heart all before the second chapter!
You know how you read some books and you just have this feeling in your chest? The feeling of something-is-gonna-happen to the OMG! feeling to the WOW, I didn’t see that coming? The story that makes you feel an array of emotions? If that’s what you need, I Knew You Were Trouble is the book for you.
In most books I’ve read, the couple meets, one chases the other, they have sex, they fight, fall in love, THE END. I Knew You Were Trouble tells you the truth, that timing doesn’t always work out between two people. It’s more of a real life situation.
Nick Ballantine and Taylor Carr have a love/hate relationship. There’s teasing, flirting, snarky comments…all until Taylor finally asks Nick to dinner. His response was not what I expected. AT ALL. Hurt from the rejection, Taylor asked someone else in the office out to dinner. Right then and there, everything changes between the two of them.
What follows from there on had me at the edge of my seat. The emotions, the tension, the frustration, the sorrow. It was an amazing read!
Taylor and Nick were such a wonderful couple. Their chemistry, flirting, sarcastic comments, while entertaining, were so very real. They were themselves with each other because they hated each other. No need to impress the person you despise…right? I enjoyed the emotional aspect of the book which I was just not expecting.
I truly appreciated where the author took this story. It was a REAL situation. One I’ve seen happen when I used to work in an office and this book brought me right back to that. Taylor and Nick’s story was fun, sexy and emotional. I had not read the other books in the series prior to this one and I felt that I could follow along without doing so, but I will be going back to read them all!
Nick Ballantine and Taylor Carr are so perfect for each other but it not only is the timing off for a while but they rub each other the wrong way. Watching these two circle each other along with the rest of the gang at Oxford was not only enjoyable it was so much fun! They started as enemies then reluctant roommates and then finding their way to friendship and finally to a relationship. The dialogue alone was worth reading this one!
This one can be read as a standalone.
I highly recommend this one!