As soon as I saw a new Christina Lauren book available, I immediately snatched it up. I know it will be good. They’ve got the formula down for swoon-worthy characters, creative plots, witty banter, humorous scenarios, and great backstories.

I almost quit this book. It just felt like more of the same, and I put it down to take a break and had myself convinced it wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't pick it back up. But I love Christina Lauren and all that they do, so I knew I had to pick it back up and keep going - and thank goodness I did. By the end, this hit all the right notes for me, and the story played out so perfectly. I knew CL wouldn't steer me wrong, and I should have had faith from the very beginning. I had to purchase extra copies of this for my library system since it became so popular so quickly - and rightly so.

My Thoughts:

I was excited to read Dating/You Hating You because I am a big Christina Lauren fan. For some reason this story was initially difficult in grabbing my attention, which was very surprising for me! However, I'm really glad that I stuck with it, because I ended up enjoying it!

Carter and Evie meet at a Halloween party, when their best friends try to set them up, without letting them know. Everyone else is coupled up, and they are the only two singles at the party. Ironically, Carter comes dressed as Harry Potter, and Evie comes dressed as Hermoine Granger. From the start these two hit it off, and you know that they are meant to be.

Carter is an agent for television and Evie is an agent in the movie industry. Both are married to their job and agree that it wouldn't be a good idea to date because they'd never see each other. However, these two can't stop thinking about one another and start texting, flirting, connecting and eventually dating. Everything goes south when there two companies merge, and they both end up competing for the same position.

Dating You/Hating You was a fun romantic comedy, that had the signature laugh out loud, feel-good humor that I have come to expect from Christina Lauren. I enjoyed the chemistry and romance between these two leading characters. The hijinks between these two, as the each kept trying to one up each other, had me laughing out loud! I loved the supporting cast, and the amazing friendships that Evie had with her girls and that Carter shared with his best friend as well.

Christina Lauren also did an amazing job of highlighting the challenges women still face in the workplace with not getting equal pay for equal work, by demonstrating this perfectly with Evie and Carter's boss Brad. His character completely set me on edge, and made me so angry, with the way he would talk down to Evie and belittle her!

I was cheering on Evie and Carter the whole time, and desperate for them to find their way back to each other, despite being put in a position to compete for the same position. I loved both of their characters, the way they just "got" each other and the chemistry that they shared. These two complimented and balanced one other out perfectly. The ending was fabulous and left me with a big smile on my face!

Christina and Lauren knocked it out of the park with this funny and biting contemporary romance about a workplace relationship gone very wrong, errr right, maybe. Carter and Evie hit it off immediately at a friends party only to realize their both competing for the same job when their companies merge. This book is a great look at sexism in the workplace and a super sexy read. Perfect for book clubs and a fun, quick read.

I feel like a broken record but Christina Lauren writes a book...Dawn reads said book. I love them. They write in a way that completely speaks to my reader soul. Dramatic? Maybe but it is so true. They have written so many different types of stories and every one resonates in my heart the same way. It leaves it's mark. Funny, real, with heart and love that jumps off the pages and makes me remember why I am a hopelessly devoted reader. I totally enjoyed the back and forth in this one. Kept me engaged, smiling and even tossing the kindle here and there before all was found and appreciated. Love it!

Seemed pretty redundant of their older books, but still readable. Starting to become numb to the sex scenes, since there were no new wordings or scenes with sex that they could come up with.

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars. This was a cute fun read. Last year was the first time I ever read a book by Christina Lauren and I found they were easy books to devour and perfect for a quick summer/beach read. I read DATING YOU/HATING YOU while on a family vacation and it was fun to escape into this couples competition. I had a few issues with how this story ultimately played out, but overall thought it was enjoyable. I look forward to more books by Christina Lauren.

While I definitely enjoyed my experience reading this book, there are some issues with pacing and character development in the middle that left me wanting just a bit more.

This is was not my favorite Christina Lauren book. It didn't grab me the way their previous series did.

Dating You/Hating You- another super sexy book by Christina Lauren

Funny, enjoyable, full of romance and passion, this story is everything that I expect when someone tell me: “Christina Lauren will release a book!!”

I dearly love Christina Lauren and have devoured their books countless times. (seriously, countless times.) But DYHY is a case of "it's not you, it's me". I will honestly say after everything that has gone on in the last 10 months, I couldn't get deep into it. Which is not to say that I don't plan to revisit it, because I do. I truly believe that I need to be in a different frame of mind.

Absolutely loved this one. Christina Lauren has done it again, simply full of awesomeness and feels!!!

I love Christina Lauren and their books. This book was good, but not my favorite. It didn't hold my attention as well as others by these authors.

"I'd give you my jacket if we weren't suddenly in the weirdest dating-coworker situation in the history of time.

This was cute with some funny moments but it was also very predictable.

I've been on a huge 'enemies to lovers' kick and so I decided to give Dating You / Hating You one a try. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, but I did appreciate the portrayal of workplace sexism and how the characters handled it. Overall, the book felt like it was pandering to this idea of what women readers want, which really took me out of the story. Disappointed.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A modern romance filled with fun moments, smart-ass retorts, and how dating in the workplace can go oh-so-wrong.

Christina Lauren’s latest book, DATING YOU / HATING YOU, is a witty and smart book that plays with the premise of what dating in a very competitive work environment. Evie and Carter start out as a hook-up with more potential, but soon find that they are fighting for the same job. The antics between the two are hilarious and I dare you not to have a “girl-power” moment when Evie takes on certain situations.

I will be honest with you all. This is not my favorite book by the authors. That spot is reserved for DARK WILD NIGHTS and it will take one hell of a story to knock it out of the number one spot. Now, I am not saying that this isn’t worth a read or by any means a bad book. It was a lot of fun and the ending is my favorite part. My recommendation is to take this book to the beach and enjoy.

I love an enemies to lovers romance, so I grabbed Dating You Hating You by Christina Lauren just from the title and author(s) alone. And though this wasn’t really enemies to lovers, the title kind of worked. Though to me, I felt like this leaned a little more on the chick-lit side rather than romance, even though there is a romance.

Evie (Evelyn) is a successful, driven, hard-working Hollywood talent agent who is married to her job. She meets Carter, an agent at another agency, at a costume party when they are both dressed as Harry Potter characters.

“I’m notoriously married to my job.”
“That’s super convenient because so am I. It’ll be like we’re cheating on our jobs with each other.” He says this as if he’s just discovered some brilliant loophole.

They hit it off really well until their companies merged and it turns out they are competing for the same job. Evie has been there for 5 years, and has done very well, but her boss is a sexist pig, and even though Carter has way less experience, her boss has a ‘good ol’ boys’ attitude.

“There is an unspoken pecking order in agenting, defined primarily by who brings in the most publicity and money — and this year, that is likely to be me.
But there are other factors, too. Such as: having a penis. Apparently that’s a big one.”

This story was very centered on the workplace, the competition between them, and them playing crazy pranks on each other. It was smart, fun and very well-written. There was definitely a sexy attraction between the couple that they kind of tried to fight throughout the book.

“Screw him and his perfect forearms and cute crooked smile and diva brother. I’m so tired of wanting to shove him into the wall and then shove my hand down his pants.”

Dating You, Hating You was, to me, more about the office gender inequities and office politics than it was about the romance. I loved reading a story that addressed this, but I never really felt the true and absolute love between the couple, and despite liking Carter, he wasn’t my ultimate alpha hero by any means.

“Simply put, Evelyn Abbey is my former almost-girlfriend-turned-archnemesis-turned-tentative-ally whom I would now very much like to permanently seduce.”

Likes:
Well written and well paced.
A pretty realistic view of the way offices really work.
It was great to see a hard-working, career-driven character.
There were some laugh-out-loud moments.
The way sexism in the workplace was acknowledged throughout the book.

Dislikes:
Though I felt the connection between the couple, I never felt them fall in love. They were both too busy working to fall in love.

Narration:
I enjoyed the narration very much, it was great to not have the same narrator as every other book. The narration added to the story for me.

The Down & Dirty:

Dating You, Hating You by Christina Lauren was a very well-written and well-paced workplace romance. It was a fun and different read, and definitely centered more on the workplace than on the romance. I loved how sexism in the workplace was such a large part of the story, and I was entertained and interested throughout. I just didn’t fall in love with him or her. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, but I never felt the all-encompassing love between the couple. Yes, they were perfect for each other and had chemistry, but I never really felt them fall in that all-consuming way. I would say this straddles the line between romance and chick-lit for me.
Rating: 4 stars, 3.75 Heat, 5 Narration

It was good! Funny, sexy, smart. Just like their other titles. Love these authors!

Review will be posted on Goodreads and all retailers shortly.