The Porthkennack stories can be enjoyed in any order — jump in wherever you’d like!First impressions can doom second chances.Bran Roscarrock has been living in the closet all his life. As heir to an expansive family legacy in the town of Porthkennack, old-fashioned ideals of respectability and duty were drummed into him since childhood, and he’s never dared to live — or love — openly.Sam … live — or love — openly.
Sam Ferreira, an old friend of Bran’s brother, Jory, is a disgraced academic desperate to leave his dead-end job. When Jory asks him to take over as curator of a planned exhibition on Edward of Woodstock, the fourteenth-century Black Prince, Sam leaps at the chance to do what he loves and make a fresh start.
But Bran’s funding the exhibition, and though sparks fly between the two men, they’re not all happy ones. Bran idolises Prince Edward as a hero, while Sam’s determined to present a balanced picture. With neither of them prepared to give ground, a hundred years of war seems all too possible. And if Bran finds out about Sam’s past, his future may not be bright, and their budding romance may be lost to history.
Word count: 86,000; page count: 325
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I’ve enjoyed every one of the Porthkennack stories, and the differences between them all is a large part of the draw. In Love at First Hate Merrow pulls out an excellent friends to lovers tale by making the animosity between the main characters just as believable as their eventual romantic connection.
The pacing is slow, but I couldn’t put it down and found myself craving to know more about the story than the romance, which I’ve gotta say, J.L. Merrow crafts a good one here. These men are both in their thirties and have the baggage to prove it, plus they both are immersed in their lives and there is so much more going on than just boy meets boy.
A very well written, creative, and addictive read.
I’ve read a few books in the Porthkennack series, however, Love at First Hate is my first by J.L. Merrow. I’ve really enjoyed her other works, so I just had to see what she was going to offer to Porthkennack. I honestly don’t think not having read the previous books has affected my ability to keep up with the going on of this book because at no point did I feel lost. A bit let down but never lost.
It’s kind of hard to get into a book when you’re not really into one of the main characters and Bran was very hard to like. At moments I found him quite childish at others, frustrating especially when that stick up his butt would rear its stubborn head. Sam on the other hand was completely likeable. Despite really enjoying the book, I never quite felt a romantic connection between them. I mean I know one eventually developed but it had more of affection feeling to it than true attraction and romance.
There are a few secondaries that I find are worth mentioning. First up is Bran’s twin, Bea. I really do question what happened between her and Alan. My brain keeps thinking maybe it wasn’t quite on the up and up and possibly that is why Bea is the way she is. Then again, her brother isn’t quite that lovable, so it could just be a thing about them. I just adored Jory and Mal! I know they have their own book which I must go back and read. Really it was these two, either together or separately, that kept pulling my attention back when I felt it wandering away.
So what Love at First Hate lacked in the romance department, it made up for in redemption. Sam gets to finally clear his name with the ones that matter. Bran finally loosens up and stops taking life too seriously. And along the way, two unlikely characters somehow end up together and get their HEA. Not a big emotional read but it did make for a pleasant one.
I received this book from The JeepDiva with the express purpose of an honest review. The opinions, contents, and rating of this review are solely mine
Stars – 3
–3.5 stars–
As much as I love the Porthkennack series collection, some of the books haven’t been as much of a hit as I would hope and I have to admit that I really struggled at times with Love at First Hate. Though this series is billed as a standalone, the collection of stories within the Porthkennack universe by Miss Merrow definitely overlap and should really be read in order to understand all the minor plotlines and references. Although there were definite pockets I enjoyed in this book, including some fun dialogue that livened things up and well-flushed out, interesting characters, Love at First Hate failed to capture my attention fully until the latter part of the book.
Starting this book, I was hoping for a lot more insight into Bran and for those waiting for the same thing, rest assured it comes…eventually. However, the first half or more of the book focuses more on Bran and Sam’s animosity to each other as well as their individual issues and conflicts. Although I was happy to actually see a true enemies-to-lovers plot wherein you could feel the tension and repeatedly saw the main characters clash, the pacing and included details bogged the story down too much and it became painful waiting for something to happen in this slow burn romance. Every time I though Bran and Sam were making headway in their relationship or work partnership, it would backtrack and after a while it simply became tedious. Additionally, I really didn’t feel many sparks between the men, and that combustible chemistry is part of what makes enemies to lovers stories so appealing for me. So yeah, the first part of the book was a bit of a letdown. However, I’m really happy I stuck with it because the latter part of the book came together much better for me. I liked finally seeing Bran soften and was really pleased to get answers to some of the questions raised in Miss Merrow’s previous Porthkennack books. I also liked Bran and Sam together, and even though I didn’t get as much time seeing these two as a couple as I would have liked, they did have a nice bond as the book ended. All in all, Love at First Hate was an okay read that was saved by a good ending. I think those that have read the past two books in the series will be happy with the answers they get, and for that reason, I’d recommend the novel, but I can’t say this was a favorite within the collection.
*eARC received via Netgalley*