'The Hating Game' Review...

Am I writing this review because it's the first book I read for pleasure in years?

Yes.

Am I writing this review because I believe, if you're a stickler for romance, you should read this book?

Yes.

Am I writing this because the book leaped off the pages, right down my throat, into my stomach, absorbed through the lining, passed through my arteries and is still rushing through my veins?

Y E S.

Help me. I have a problem.

I'm going to split this into 2 separate sections. One without spoilers and one with. That way if some of you need convincing as to why you should buy this book immediately, you can read part of my thoughts.

Part 1: UN Spoiled

The Hating Game is a romantic comedy written in the POV of main character, Lucy Hutton. She is a pipsqueak of a woman, loves wearing electric red lipstick, grew up on a Strawberry farm and moved to the Big City to achieve her childhood dream of working for a Publishing House. She works at B&G (Bexley & Gamin Publishing), which was previously known as 2 separate entities having merged as one. There are 2 "types" of workers, the Gamins and the Bexley's. There is luring tension between both sides since the CEO's despise each other.

With the merger, came Joshua Templeman, Lucy's grown-to-be arch nemesis. They sit opposite each other and play mocking games, like The Staring Game or The Copycat Game, and have no reserves when it comes to knocking each other down with their words. Joshua calls Lucy "Shortcake", an adorable reference to her height, especially since he towers over her, and poking at her childhood home among the Strawberry Fields.

Right off the bat, the relationship between Josh and Lucy is catty. They are intelligent and thrive off the banter between their tongues. I found myself immediately loving Lucy, but being intrigued by Josh. I love how Lucy mentions he's good-looking in passing, but tries really hard to play it off by remarking a satan-like connection. They challenge each other, and the dialogue is absolute *chefs kiss*. Delicious in every way.

Lucy and Josh both work directly under the CEO's, Lucy is Helene's assistant (Gamin) and Josh is Richard's (Bexley). Lucy refers to Bexley as "Fat Little Dick", which makes me chuckle. At an all-staff meeting, the CEO's announce a new job opening for Chief of Operations at the company, thus throwing in kindling to the flaming rivalry between the two assistants.

I won't give much away at this point, but the banter between the two MC's is perfectly witty, and you easily fall into the pace of the book and their chemistry. It's hot. They are spicy and, frankly, it's distracting. I think that's what made me fall in love with the book so much. The rich, snappy dialogue is hard to come by. You can just hear each character's voice in your head. There are parts of Lucy's inner dialogue that made me truly laugh out loud. I don't think I've ever done that with a book before. Josh is enigmatic and you wish you could "juice his head like a lemon" to really know what he's thinking.

Hopefully, that convinces you enough to pick up the book and enjoy. Moving forward...

Part 2: SPOILED

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I think it was obvious from the get-go that Josh would have something lingering under the surface for Lucy. The elevator scene where he pushes the emergency stop to kiss her made my toes curl, in an exciting way. Him following her into the bar and realizing how much his "games" have wrecked her, leading him to send her flowers is the first "soft" side of Josh we see in the book.

Danny was well written and made Josh's jealousy bounce off the page. Weirdly sexy. The paintball scene was beautifully executed in print. Having Josh organize all the teams and putting him and Lucy together each round was a sweet touch.

We dive in a little more into Josh's soft side when he takes care of Lucy as she falls ill. That's the start of the new game Lucy loves where she tries to make him laugh. I think they wrote Lucy perfectly. I am all about a woman who is adamant on getting what she wants once she realizes she wants it. First it was a publishing job, then this new COO position, which then transformed to wanting Josh. But Josh's reluctance, and constant reference to "Nice Guys" can frustrate the readers' end. Like dude, please, let Lucy have sex with you so we can imagine it because you are unbearably, imaginatively, fictionally, HOT. But this adds so much to the book.

The part where they are shoved in a Janitor's closet, Lucy tells him to put his hands on her and he responds:

"Put them on yourself"

Ugh. How?! You can just imagine the soft whisper of wit leaving his lips at that moment. Followed by Lucy trying to knock him down, while pushing his hands onto her in different spots:

"So this is what sex with you would be like." I can't resist teasing him. "I was hoping you'd participate a little more."

He finally says something. "I'd participate. So well, you wouldn't walk straight the next day."

Sally Thorne, The Hating Game, pg. 148

(Sets book down and takes a deep breath.)

The elevator plus Janitor Closet settings both ignite underlying chemistry that has been bubbling between the two.

As we know, Josh tells Lucy to go on a date with Danny and won't move forward with whatever this is, unless she admits to him that "Nobody kisses me like you do."

My favourite part of the whole book I think, is after Josh takes a day off at work and Lucy realizes how much she missed him. She goes home and calls him in hopes of an invite over. He's at the gym and it turns into a quick racing game to see who gets back to his apartment quicker. When she sees him, she leaps onto him in the elevator and grips like a koala on a thick tree trunk. They hang out at his apartment, nothing having happened between them yet, but just watching TV and playing a questions game. This leads to one of my favourite exchanges of the entire book, and one of my favourite knee whacking lines from Josh:

"You're shipwrecked onto an uninhabited island. What three things would you take with you?

"A knife. A tarpaulin." He thinks for a long time on the last item.

"And you. To annoy you," he amends.

"I'm not an object. I don't count."

"But I'd be so lonely on the island," he points out. I think of him sitting alone in the all-staff meeting.

"Okay. So we're crawling up the beach and I'm cursing your name for pulling me away from civilization and hair-care products and lipsticks. What then?"

My shiver from the movement of his lips on my earlobe shakes the couch. When I feel the press of his mouth to my throat, I groan out loud.

He turns the TV off, and for a moment I'm certain he's about to walk me out. Or pick me up and throw me on his bed. It's hard to tell. He raises his hands into my hair, softly trailing his fingertips through it, until he reaches my scalp. My eyelids flutter.

"I'd build you a shelter and find you a coconut, and then we'd pass the time."

"How?" My voice is barely more than a whisper.

"Probably like this." He presses his mouth to mine.

Sally Thorne, The Hating Game, pg. 205

I'm pretty sure I needed a break after that. Not just the last ounce of dialogue, but the whole scene was like foreplay. Actually, the entire book was foreplay. Because, as you know if you read it, Lucy and Josh don't have sex until Chapter 26. That scene above was Chapter 16. Sally Thorne did an incredible job at creating an obsession between the two characters. And also, building a fascination for her readers. I think, she also, made us fall in love with Joshua Templeman. I believe that's why I'm so obsessed with these types of passages (as shown above). His charismatic words reflecting off Lucy's is the exact type of chemistry everyone longs for in real life.

So, anyone else develop feelings for a fictional character? Just me? Ok.

The walls of Josh's bedroom painted the same colour as Lucy's eyes is a tricky one. I've seen readers absolutely die for it and others thinking it's creepy.

I truly believed it was romance in the flesh. I melted.

The ending leaves you hanging. I envisioned a 2nd book titled "The Loving Game" that follows the life of Lucy and Josh as a couple now. Them moving in together and adapting to each others' quirks and habits. Shamelessly fighting, making erotic, passionate love. Josh going to Lucy's strawberry farm, meeting her parents. Lucy appearing at all family events of Josh's and helping Josh repair his relationship with his father. What would be the main twist in this type of story? I don't know. But maybe Sally Thorne made the best decision in not writing a sequel. I feel sometimes, they may ruin characters and chemistry.

But some of us can't get enough! Hello! (Waves neurotically into thin air)

The movie adaptation helped ease my obsession. Only, not really, because Austin Stowell looked EXACTLY like I pictured Josh to be in the book. I was sweating and blushing the entire motion picture. Lucy Hale as Lucy Hutton (haha) was excellent. She's beautiful, talented and perfectly cast. Can they just make a movie sequel? Sally Thorne, just hear me out, k?

It's a fluffy review, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Please read it if you're a contemporary romance fan. It's worth it, I promise!

If you're still here, I'm thankful for you!

J.J. Monique