I loved loved loved this! At first, the two main characters are childish, stubborn, and frankly just plain annoying. Who has that much time to act like a toddler?! But as I kept on reading, the layers of these characters are exposed, and I found myself rooting for them. And how refreshing was it to find a character who did not have her act together - failing retail job, no college degree, no aspirations for school, tricky family life, etc. - Naomi was charming.

Quick thank you to Penguin for this ARC I was able to receive through NetGalley.

Straight to the point, this was a funny haters-to-lovers romance that I couldn't put down. But, the unique aspect of their relationship (aka, being engaged) really makes this romance stand out from other romances that also fall into these categories.

They pretty much hate each other, but the fact that they're in a relationship is a game changer. They still know all of each other's habits and quirks, what they like for dinner, what their favorite tie/shirt is, and it makes you feel something for their relationship early on. But I'll be honest, I spent half the book wanting to smack some sense into Naomi. (There's always the one character in romance who is thick headed!!) I didnt particularly fall in love with either character. I didn't find myself daydreaming about either one of them after I finished the book, but I really did like Nicholas a lot. He had me swooning.

I picked up this book because I have seen it often being compared to my favorite book of all time, The Hating Game. I would definitely recommend it to someone who liked that book. Taking THG out of the picture, I would also just recommend this as a book on its own. It's well written and I'm sure the topic of falling out of love with your significant other would hit home for many people.

My only real complaint is that the ending (this may be a slight spoiler, so tread cautiously) felt a little too happily ever after to me. I felt like by the time you reached the end of the book you lost a little bit of their personalities and everything was just kinda rainbow and sunshine.

I hope to see more from Hogle in the future.

I "liked" the first half of this book, but fell in love at the 70% mark. The writing is beautiful and while the "enemies" in the enemies to lovers trope worked fine, the "to lovers" part was magical and romantic and everything I love in a romance.

I ended up liking this book, but it was a real journey to get there. The main characters are an engaged couple who ultimately seem to hate each other. Their main objective for at least the first third or more of the book seemed to be to convince their partner to call off the wedding. They were both so unlikable that I was ready for them to just break up and be done with it, but that wouldn’t have been a contemporary romance novel. They both ended up winning me over with their small redeeming acts as they slowly got to know each other again and grew back together.

*4.5 stars

It's hard for me to convey just how much I love this romantic comedy, which is ironic considering I almost put it down several times in the beginning. Naomi comes on very strong, and she's quite unlikable at first. She harbors a great deal of resentment towards her fiance Nicholas, and while he's a hopeless mama's boy, it was at first unclear if he deserves the amount of ill will she has towards him. This is the point where I almost put down the book. Naomi seemed too mean-spirited, and Nicholas just a tad too weak. But then they start their little "game" and I couldn't stop laughing at lengths they would go to achieve their means. I slowly became invested in the outcome of their relationship, and right as that happened, little intriguing glimpses of tenderness appeared between Naomi and Nicholas. The story went from hilarious to heartfelt, and I was completely hooked. What I love most is the way Hogle takes two unlikable characters and slowly redeems them bit by bit, almost without the reader realizing it. It's risky, because some readers might put this book down before they get to the good parts, but it also makes for true relationship (re)building and a slow burn that's hard to resist. Hogle achieves the perfect balance between humor and emotion. Laughing one minute, my heart aching at the next, I simply couldn't stop thinking about these characters, even long after I'd finished the book.

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

What a great new twist of finding love a second time in the relationship you are already in. Naomi and Nicholas have a relationship that doesn't scream love but pure hate. Naomi feels underappreciated and misunderstood. Her mother in law has taken over her wedding and seems to prefer her "Nicky" to be marrying someone else. These two decide to try a sabotage each which ends up turning things around. I laughed through this book and it just gave a real picture into how quick a relationship can go wrong and how, with effort, you can turn it around and find the love you once had.

ARC received for an honest review*

Really don’t want to review this one for you guys. It was delightful to go in with no expectations.

I laughed. I got teary. I laughed til I got teary. There’s an edge to this book. The mean is real - the cartoony pranks you expect from a rom com with an honesty that makes them verge on uncomfortable. It flirts with Over the Top. It’s almost silly and almost horribly mean.

I think the underlying sweetness both saves it and makes it more excruciating. All of that wasted potential.

I thought the end was mostly well-done. What goes up must come down, and it’s a challenge to transition from where we were to where we needed to be.

Overall I’m a touch exasperated to think of this book sitting on my iPad for months. It is a near perfect low-maintenance read.


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I have not posted a review to Goodreads, because I didn't really enjoy this book and prefer not to post negative reviews. I found both characters very unlikeable, and while the story got much better in the second half, I still never really cared about the relationship or understood why the two of them were together. Thank you for the opportunity!

ARC provided by publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


Naomi Westfield and Nicholas Rose are engaged to be married. Nicholas was the perfect guy for Naomi until she realized he wasn't. Now absolutely everything about him drives her crazy, especially his mother. Naomi knows one thing for sure, there is no way she is spending the rest of her life with this man and his family. The only problem is that if she breaks off the engagement she will be stuck with the bill to the huge wedding she didn't even want.

Soon Naomi realizes Nicholas doesnt want to marry her either and he is doing whatever possible to drive her away so now it will become a battle of the wills. The one thing Naomi never imagined was now that they are free to be themselves they may actually fall back in love.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Nicholas and I liked Naomi but I will admit that at times she drove me crazy because she was so blind to what Nicholas was really doing and so stubborn to her path. I really enjoyed watching this couple find each other again and figure out how to put their relationship first.

I wasn't sure about this book when I first started reading it. I found the main female character very unlikeable, which can be done well, but I've had some bad experiences with unlikeable characters recently. However, I'm glad I stuck with it. The author takes the reader on a journey through a broken relationship that is subtle and beautiful. The ending was pitch perfect. This novel was like nothing I've read before and on top of that it's fun and lighthearted while still reaching depths that most books like it don't usually reach. Highly recommend.

I've already found a favorite of 2020... in 2019. I'm not mad about it.

When I read the premise, I didn't know how it was going to work, to be honest. They're engaged. They hate each other. Huh? As much as I understand one doesn't like their partner one hundred percent of the time, I needed some convincing for the enemies-to-lovers trope between an engaged couple. However, it did work for me. You Deserve Each Other is one of the funniest books I've ever read. The dialogue is amazing, the romance is more enemies-to-friends-to-lovers (a subgenre I didn't know I needed), and this is one I'll probably reread this one every holiday season. It just has that feel.

I nearly bailed on this enemies-to-lovers romance as the female lead was so obnoxious, and we stayed right in her POV. But the writing grabbed me, and the glimmers of humor kept me there.

I was so very glad I stuck to it. Naomi and Nicholas started out in love (more in lust, is implied) but non-communication and missed cues begin to have a toxic effect. Add in Naomi living inside her head and encouraging her own worst tendencies as she begins a campaign to get Nicholas to dump her first (the dumper has to pay for their expensive wedding), and the fun begins.

Not just fun, but sharp insights into the complexity of emotions, and into how much work it takes to sustain a relationship. Everything was a joy and I ended up reading far too late, and closed out the file by marking this one for the reread pile. Really a fabulous debut novel!

This book took a little bit for me to get into, but the pace soon picked up. This book was amusing to read. I would have preferred a dual POV book for this story. Overall a good read.

Sarah Hogle’s debut romance about an engaged couple that find themselves unable to contuve on with their marriage. But, a costly clause in their wedding contract causes them to engage in a “war of the roses” and all bets are off as they try to cause the other to end the engagement first. Funny and a bit heartfelt. This book will leave you clamoring for more.

This book starts at the what looks to be the end of a relationship. Naomi and Nicholas are engaged to be married, but have not been putting each other first and it has taken a toll. As they try to make the other one pull the plug on the relationship, they begin to discover that maybe there is a way to save them. This book was a great story with a lot of laughs and some serious moments. It delves into what makes a relationship work and the choices you make every day to put your partner first.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

This was a hard book for me to finish.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion, and because of that, I felt obligated to push through despite my frustration and urge to not finish this book, which I rarely do.

This book is all in the point of view of Naomi and would have benefited from a dual POV to understand how Nicholas feels. The book starts out with a quick sweet romance between the two main characters, Fast forward a year and a half later and Naomi hates Nicholas for such minimal reasons. It's hard to understand why she stays with him if she can't stand him. In the end the plot does provide a happy ending, but it still wasn't enough for me to recommend this book.

I really liked this book! It was a really interesting and kind of real topic so I enjoyed the spin on this. I really think it's amazing and a testament to the author that you can go from hating one character to loving him. The writing in this book was great too that it was really clever and funny but just well written in general. I find it very telling that they don't feel like they're engaged and that they keep calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. I do find it interesting that we only see Naomi's side of everything, that it's told completely from her view so we don't really get to see what Nicholas is thinking for the duration of the book. Also I feel like the author uses the settings seriously to her advantage because she makes you feel how that in the original house that it's cramped and unhappy and then the dynamic immediately shifts in the new house that they feel calm and spread out. Also, there are some just generally really cute scenes with the two of them, especially in the end with his mother, that scene was literally everything. Overall, I really liked this book but I had an issue with the fact that there was no epilogue and I felt like it took a bit to get into the story so all in all 4 stars!

Honestly? This was a tough read for me. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion, and because of that, I felt obligated to push through despite my frustration.

The first 70% of the book was filled with one of *the* most unlikeable main characters I've ever "known". She's annoying, petty, and honestly doesn't deserve her fiance (though he has his own flaws). Things did improve significantly during the last 30%, and I will say that the writing style was fun throughout the book. Was it enough to make up for my extreme irritation with this character? Probably not.

I do appreciate the opportunity to read, though, and wish the author my best. #NetGalley #YouDeserveEachOther

I absolutely adored this book! It was so funny and kept me entertained! Naomi is at times a frustrating character. It seems like so much of the issues between her and Nicholas could be solved if she just had a conversation. Still it kept things interesting. I especially enjoyed the second half of the book when Naomi and Nicholas’s chemistry starts to show through. They have such an adorable relationship once they get past their issues. By the end of the book, I loved both characters and laughed many times!