Naomi and Nicholas are supposed to get married in three months but neither of them especially likes the other. Naomi wants out but she can't afford to help out with any of the money that's already gone into the wedding planning (mostly done by his mother) since her job is currently precarious at best. She also has no family and her best friend hates Naomi after having been set up on a date with a friend of Nicholas's who turned out to be a scumbag. The more she thinks about it, the more Naomi realizes that she really doesn't like Nicholas and she really hates his overbearing and controlling mother. So she decides to sabotage the marriage. While doing that, she starts to notice that he may have been ahead of her.
The whole first part of the book is really Naomi and Nicholas kind of being horrible people. And I did not like it (yes, it was part of the description- I just didn't think I'd dislike them SO much.) However, the second half of the book, after all of their horrible things finally make them realize they might still like each other was absolutely delightful.

Three stars
This book comes out April 7th
ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I'm still mentally sorting through what a mixed bag this book was.

The first half of Sarah Hogle's You Deserve Each Other was, quite frankly, underwhelming. Because we solely got Naomi's POV for the entire book and received close to nothing in terms of context for her relationship with Nicholas, it was hard to understand how their relationship had disintegrated so drastically. We were coming in when Naomi was at her worst; in turn, it was hard to like her, let alone empathize with her plight and root for her. And of course, the problem with a single POV in an enemies-to-lovers romance is that often the love interest can quickly seem like a one-dimensional asshole because we can't hear what they have to say.

And then all of a sudden halfway through, this book became brilliant. The dialogue picked up, the relationship suddenly had nuance, and the hijinks were funny. Hogle's slow unpacking of what it means for a relationship to find a second wind was incredibly poignant. I really loved the back portion of this novel, and if the first 50% had been a little less messy, this would easily be one of my favorite romances of the year.

All told, the first half is two stars for me and the second half is four to even 4.5 stars. It left me at around 3.5 stars in the end. I'm incredibly excited to see what Sarah Hogle has in store for the future, though.

I received an ARC copy of You Deserve Each other from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley!
Let me just start by saying that I read this book super quickly, in one sitting essentially. I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. It had me hooked from the very beginning! I loved the lovers to enemies-enemies to lovers trope, it was super fun!
Naomi and Nicholas are due to be married in just a few months. The problem, they can't stand each other. This book is so witty and so funny. I can't tell you the number of times that I laughed out loud reading this one. The way the characters develop and change over the course of this book makes you really root for them. In real life, I'd say they're a bit immature, but for a work of fiction, this was amazing. A cute dentist, a mother in law from Hell, a home in the woods, bangs, and so much more. I LOVED IT! I give it all the stars. :)

Thank you to #NetGalley and G.P. Putman & Sons for the ARC of #YouDeserveEachOther in exchange for an honest review.

I had the immense pleasure of reading Sarah Hogle's debut novel You Deserve Each Other. When I began this novel I was unsure, but a short way in to it I could not put it down. Naomi and Nicholas are engaged to be married, but they grow apart to the point of hatred. Each plots pranks, and embarrassing moments to make the other In the end, They will either walk away from each other for good or become the lovers they where meant to be. This novel is hilarious, I laughed out loud so many times through this read.

I don't know what I expected when I first started reading this book, but I was surprised with what I did read. I guess I thought I would find a story about a couple who had a falling out and a break up and sometime down the line they meet up again and find that they never stopped loving each other. Really it is about a couple who loves each other, but has lost their way and doesn't know how to admit it. I wouldn't say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I actually found it very hard to read at times. I really disliked most every character in this book. These characters are mean, to each other! For two people who are suppose to be in love I really wasn't feeling it. Not even a little. I kept reading and the more I read the more I began to like Naomi and Nicholas. They have lost their way, or gotten lost in pleasing everyone else I should say and have a very hard time finding their way back to one another again, but they do. It takes a painfully long time but they find one another and when they do it is beautiful. I cried. I fell in love with Naomi and Nicholas. I ended up falling in love with their story. A story I really wanted to hate.

What is this book about?
Nicholas and Namoi are enemies who also happened to be engaged. They loved each at some point. Now they are both wanting out of the wedding but don’t want to be the one to cancel it. As the countdown looms and their relationship begins to change. Will the wedding be called off or will they save their relationship?

What did I think?
I thought this was a cute fun read. I loved the characters and the storyline. The sarcastic comments within the story and the pranks the characters played on each other had me laughing out loud a few times. What I loved best about this book is that I felt like I was sitting in a movie theater watching it play out on the big screen. I highly recommend this cute romantic read!

http://ramblinhamlin.com/you-deserve-each-other-review/

Ms. Hogle is a new-to-me author and I wasn’t quite sure what to think when I first started reading this book. The first few chapters were downright depressing that a couple who evidently cared enough to become engaged, either no longer talk much or seem to prefer to make hateful comments. Their relationship is a mess and I couldn’t decide if I hoped they worked things out or just gave up and moved on.

Naomi comes from a dysfunctional family who aren’t close. She lives in a small town with few job prospects, never went to college and feels like her future mother-in-law and fiancé look down on her for those reasons. Nicholas comes from a wealthy family, went to college, became a dentist and seems to be the golden boy in town. We don’t know much about how they met until the end of the story.

I was surprised with this type of beginning to a romance but after a few chapters I become more invested. As Naomi pulls away from Nicholas and tries to figure out how to get out of the wedding (this made me think of the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), she never really thinks about how Nicholas feels. He runs every time his mother calls to take care of things making Naomi feel like second place. His mother has taken over the wedding, leaving Naomi no choice in anything and he doesn’t stand up for her. It’s funny that Naomi doesn’t stop posting on Instagram, these seemingly loving pics, while thinking of ways to get out of the relationship.

The action increases while they still are snippy and act quite childish and even mean with their pranks (the movie War of the Roses came to mind where the characters were stubborn and hateful to the very end), but you can tell there’s a little bit of spark and hope still there. As they warily try to be a little nicer, it seems like it’s one step forward and one step backwards. I began to highlight more and more of the story and laughed out loud so many times. I was beginning to really have fun with all of the interesting new aspects and kept hoping the couple would figure out what they really wanted.

With the purchase of a house, Nicholas makes some decisions for them as a couple and Naomi has difficulty understanding the changes he makes. By the time I read a flashback to how they met and then back to the present, I did not want the story to end. I began to love each and every word, every new revelation of their relationship, and as they tentatively began to enjoy spending more and more time with each other.

If you can make it past the somewhat depressing first chapters, you won’t regret the rest of the story. You really do need to see how bad things were to truly appreciate their true thoughts and feelings and how great the ending is. I really enjoyed learning how sensitive Nicholas is and how much their problems affected him along with the fact that Naomi realized the way she reacted contributed to their issues. To see them work together in several scenes was at times sweet and other times hilarious. The friends, co-workers and family certainly added to the story – good, bad, aggravating and hilarious.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work.

This book was so good! The characters were so well rounded, you felt like you actually knew them! The plot was so good you didn't want the book to end!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle!
This was such a cute and funny romantic comedy! I laughed almost every page. The characters aren’t very likable at first but I grew to love them. Give this one a chance and I would definitely check out other books by this author.

‘𝘛𝘪𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵. ⁣
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Naomi and Nicholas couldn’t have a better relationship..at least on social media. In real life, Naomi can’t recall the last time she felt truly happy. With only 3 months left until their big day, she is determined to not be the one to call it quits. However Nicholas is just as stubborn and soon they find each other in a battle of who can make the other crazier. After all, 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? ⁣
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This book was the perfect social distancing pick me up! Nicholas had one flaw- he didn’t want a dog. 🙃 Other than that, he seemed like the perfect type of nerdy! Naomi’s biggest flaw was her lack of communication and self-confidence. I felt like a lot of their issues could have been avoided with a good ole convo, but isn’t that the case with most books?? ⁣
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Also does anyone else intentionally do things to their significant other to get a reaction out of them? I was dying laughing throughout this book because 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦! I’ll make my husband check the mail when I know there isn’t any because I love how mad he gets getting out of the car for nothing. Or I intentionally drink from his water bottle instead of my own to avoid having to fill mine back up. Or I will ‘forget’ to close the bathroom door just to hear him huff about it. The list goes on you guys. Now I sound psycho. But I mean what’s the fun in a happy marriage 24/7?!
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Thank you putnambooks (partner) and NetGalley for sending me this book!! This one comes out 𝟒/𝟕 and if you are a fan of hate-to-love romance, I definitely recommend! ♥️ ⁣

I really enjoyed this book!
I’m so glad I was gifted it on NetGalley.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about it because at the beginning of the book(and really all throughout ) there’s a ton of internal monologues from Naomi. I understand it was there to show us her POV and to help us understand her better, but I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it.
But, after the first few chapters it really picked up and I could t put it down. In fact, I read it in one sitting because it was just so fun and cute.

Naomi and Nicholas are both very real characters. Their personalities and relationships could truly be someone’s life. The issues and struggles they’re dealing with are some that probably every married couple has been through at some point.
Now they just have to figure out if it’s worth the work to try and fix things(or if that’s even possible).

I cried, I laughed, I giggled, and I couldn’t stop reading.. Great book that can not only entertain you, but also give you some insight into your own relationship as well!

I totally recommend it to anyone who loves rom-coms!!!

I absolutely adored Sarah Hogle's "You Deserve Each Other." I am a sucker for 2nd chance love stories and this one fits the bill. Naomi and Nicholas are charming characters who are both desperately flawed but still so delightful and their shenanigans as they attempt to one-up each other had me laughing aloud. Hogle's writing is eloquent and lyrical, her humor palpable and her gift for telling a story is one that has me marking her as an author to follow. The reason I gave this book 4 stars after truly enjoying it was due to some content warning parts that left me a little concerned. Some of the physical disagreements between Naomi and Nicholas does border on abusive, and while it is understood that it is all in good fun, it would be concerning in a real-life aspect.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed that book and am excited to see what Hogle writes next.

Thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

The premise for this book sounded entertaining, but the execution just didn't work well for me. I found the female protagonist too self-centered and self-absorbed. While I struggled through the first 2/3 of the book, the last part of the book did help to somewhat make up for the earlier perceived failings. I would have liked to see a bit more presence from the siblings of both of the protagonists as well. All that said, I would like to see what this author can do in her next book.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

If I have learned anything from this year it's that I don't really enjoy books with established couples that work on fixing their relationship. This is no exception. While I didn't find anything inherently bad about the book, it was witty and at times pretty crazy. I just wasn't entirely invested in the relationship since I didn't get enough history as to why the two really belonged together.

That and the fact that if something isn't working out in a relationship and you have gotten as far as to hate the person you're with, I don't really think it's healthy to try and go back. That's just my own personal bias since I've been in that situation before.

Still, if this sounds like something you'd be into. There's a lot of funny moments and pop culture references to keep you entertained.

I enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers (or lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers) story, and I suspect a lot of other people will really enjoy this one, but unfortunately it didn't work for me.

I wanted to love this book more, but it was just ok for me. The beginning was a bit slow, and then when I started enjoying it, I did so even though I felt it didn't make much sense. How two people go from being completely mean and spiteful to loving each other just doesn't seem realistic.

I had a hard time at the beginning of the book because the fiancé was so unlikable. But then about halfway though, I found the main character unlikable. So I just didn’t have anyone to root for. I found myself able to get behind the couple eventually but it was just a little late in the game for me. It did have a nice ending though.

A fun second chance romance. Just-about-to-be-married Naomi and Nicholas are perfect on instagram, and a disaster in real life. They realize they need to call it off, but neither wants to be the one to follow through. What starts as a small town version of How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days turns into a sweet story of finding your way back to the one you love. With real vulnerability and a whole lot of trust, can these two fall in love all over again? A fun debut from a new author.

I absolutely adored this book. It was like every single one of the best tropes, turned up to the max. It's second chance, it's enemies to lovers, it's "stuck in a snowstorm", it's love in a small town, with a dash of "sunshine and grumpy" (okay so they are both a little sunshine, and both a little grumpy). I think these two might seem a little *too* mean to each other to some readers, but I feel like Naomi and Nicholas' fights at the beginning are actually truly realistic miscommunication, and shows how a relationship can sour if you don't talk to each other and assume each other's intentions. They seem like a really fleshed out couple, and so when they start to thaw towards each other and start to make a real team, it's truly just a fun rollercoaster.

You Deserve Each Other is a wonderful enjoyable read. With a deceptively simple premise that manages to be way more than the simplicity of a hate to love you, second chance love story.

I’ll be honest, the beginning threw me for a tiny loop, as the heroine, Naomi, was strongly dislikable for the first almost half of the novel. Initially it felt as if I was reading a thriller, with the way her thought process worked.

And then Sarah Hogle flipped the script and did it so seamlessly that I slipped into a free-fall of hilarity that had me laughing so hard I was crying. Squeeing as I felt butterflies in my stomach and feeling ALL the feels.

Naomi and Nicholas, oh how I adore these two. Once I got over my initial feelings of dislike for Naomi and my irritation with Nicholas, I greatly enjoyed their shenanigans. The beginning made me want to reach in and shake them and then with the flip of a coin, I didn’t feel like shaking them anymore.

By the by, Nicholas’ Mother is C-R-A-Z-Y. Seriously. She’s also the reason for many a funny scene.

I’m so glad I didn’t give up on this book, because once these two began to fight dirty with each other, it just evolved into the most adorably sweet novel.

I had all the feels while reading, there were moments that intertwined throughout the hilarity and the makeup of a romantic comedy, that revealed the blooming of a wonderful friendship and oh-my-gosh, I felt it in the pit of my stomach as I free-fell in the best possible way.

Adorable, delightful, hilarious, sweet. This book will make you laugh, it’ll make you cringe through the flaws of these characters and it will make you smile with happiness.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.