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.

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

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.

This is a great standalone romance! If you love drama and some head turning chemistry, Christina Lauren is for you.

In the social economic times we are in where women and men are still not paid the same for doing the same exact job in many instances -this book rang amazingly true. But...we'll get back to that.

In Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren we are introduced to Evie and Carter. They are both young, hard working, ambitious and single. When they are introduced by mutual friends at a party. When they discover they are in the same field - hollywood agents - they both say it would never work out. After seeing where things go they are suddenly thrust into a very bizarre and unpredictable situation where companies merge and they are competing for the same job.

While this situation would be harrowing at best for anyone of any gender to compete against someone else for the same position - it is made even worse by one person. BRAD. Brad is Evie's boss - and now, it seems, Carter's as well. Brad sees women in the workplace as lesser. The one to place blame on. The one to order around for menial tasks. The one who you skip over when there is a primo client and give the difficult clients to. This is not just something that takes place when you need a bad guy in a book! That is the main lesson I learned from this book. Whoever says you can't learn something beneficial from a romance book isn't reading the right books! So many women work with a Brad, for a Brad, have a relative or partner who is a Brad and have no voice.

This book is told in my absolute favorite format - the back and forth point of view. These two are not only struggling with the worries over really liking the other person, but of playing what is perceived to be "the game" with the winner taking the job the are both so desperately vying for. Pranks, hurt feelings, victories and more take place in Dating You/Hating You. I fell in love with the books written by the writing duo that makes up Christina Lauren last year and was not at all disappointed with this - the newest book!

Dating You/Hating You left me wanting more and to see what more Evie and Carter could accomplish when they stop the hate and continue to date!
Dating You / Hating You
Christina Lauren