Title: The Trouble With Hating You

Author: Sajni Patel

Publication Date: 12 May 2020

Genre: Romance

Number of Pages: 384

Summary: From Goodreads: “Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.

Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also arrogant and infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?”

Review: Thank you Forever and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Liya Thakkar has been telling her parents that she does not want to get married and that she has no interest in meeting any prospective husbands. Despite all this, her parents invite her to dinner, and they ambush her with Jay Shah and his mother. Liya decides that she’s not dealing with this, so she slips out the back door, runs straight into Jay, and knocks him over. They exchange some choice words, and they hope to never see each other again. Unfortunately, Jay has just been hired to help save the company Liya works for from a mountain of impending lawsuits, and they’re going to end up seeing a lot of each other.

My favourite thing about this book is that it falls into the enemies-to-lovers category. Liya and Jay despise each other at the beginning of the book. Liya thinks that Jay is cocky and that if he wants to get married, he must want a traditional and obedient wife. Jay thinks Liya is the rudest person on the planet, especially after she snuck out the back door without an apology. The book is full of their banter, arguments, and their constant challenging of each other and I loved it. At times I did get annoyed with their banter because their arguments were repetitive.

I really liked the two main characters in this book. Liya is smart, strong, independent, straight-forward, sharp-tongued, quick-witted, and she has a huge heart. She also has a vulnerable side, and it’s clear that she’s built up walls to protect herself. Jay is smart, kind, caring, and quick-witted. He also has a vulnerable side, and it’s clear that his past is weighing him down. I thought that these characters balanced each other out quite well, and I liked that they were eventually able to lean on and confide in each other.

I also really liked the side characters in this book. I adored Liya’s group of girlfriends, and I loved that they would drop everything to support each other. I liked that they all had their own personality and views, and I loved all the scenes where they were together. I loved Jay’s family, and his mother was my favourite side character because she was so kind, accepting, and strong-willed. I also liked getting a glimpse into the characters’ community, traditions, and beliefs.

I also liked that this book dealt with a few serious topics, including sexual assault, death, and trauma. I think that these storylines were handled well, and I liked that they were included in this book.

Overall, I loved The Trouble with Hating You. It’s classified as a romantic comedy, and it does have its funny moments, but it also has some serious things going on as well. I loved the main characters, and I thought they complemented each other well. If you’re looking for an enemies-to-lovers book to read, I recommend picking this one up.

Rating: 4 Stars!