We have Liya and Jay entangled in a "failed" arranged marriage. Add a few gossiping aunties, sweet mothers, amazing friends, and a load of misunderstandings and VOILA! A happy couple! Did you like my summary? 🤭

• Enemies to lovers, arranged marriages, sexual assault, sexism
• Loved the cultural references and family dynamics
• Jay. Our sweetheart. Kind and nurturing. Swoops up to save Liya in her time of need. I was squealing.
• Liya. I wasn't a big fan of her in the beginning but she grows on you. She's strong and outspoken. She's damaged but her heart is always in a good place.
• There were parts in the ending that didn't have a HEA. (no spoilers, don't worry) It made it more realistic, especially the circumstances that were involved. Hence there is no epilogue as well. Would I have liked one? Not really. I think the book wraps up really nicely and makes you create your own conclusions.

*** Unrelated to the review but I watched Never Have I Ever on Netflix at the same time. I loved seeing all the aunties in action AND I envisioned Liya and Jay to look like Kamal and Prashant 😍

I LOVED this book! It has my favorite trope: hate-to-love. The two main protagonists, Liya and Jay, meet in a not-so- ideal way and this starts their non-relationship.

This story gave me a glimpse of Indian culture and how it plays into some of the family dynamics. The author gives a good warning about specific themes that are addressed in the book, which is great for readers.

All the supportive characters were likeable and I could easily pinpoint the unlikable ones. I hope the author does more books on some of the ladies from Liya's friend group.

The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel was such a great debut novel that I really enjoyed reading!

Liya and Jay's chemistry and energy were great - I loved their meet cute, and the fact that, despite their differences and frustrations, they were there to really help each other. There was also a lot of light and funny moments to balance the seriousness of their interactions.

I loved learning about Indian culture and food, and how many younger people push for modern dating despite the strict traditions. The focus on families and friends helped build a wonderful story on a solid foundation. There were some really interesting themes on sexual and emotional abuse, and were handled very thoughtfully. I also love a story about a strong woman with a nod to Pride and Prejudice!

I had a lot of fun reading this novel and I definitely will be recommending it!

This was been such an amazing book so with the laugh out loud moments, the impeding and so clearly there chemistry between Jay and Liya who have this hate to love relationship and my if it isn’t entertaining to read about. It also balances the heart and a survivor of abuse which is interweaving beautifully through Liya’s character. I loved the exploration of both Liya and Jay’s past and how they dealt with it...together. The way that Jay stood for Liya and promised to hurt anyone who messed with her. That’s why I’m here at 1:30 ish in the morning and I’m wiping the tears from my eyes because the last 20% had me feelings SO many things.

3.5 stars

It took me a while to get into this book. My main issue was with the heroine, Liya; right from the first page, you could see how angry and defensive she was. On the one hand it made me curious because I wanted to know what made her that way - and seeing the way her dad treated her gave a good indication - but her behavior and attitude in the first chapter just felt like an overall bad first impression. That impression continued for some time and it took me at least half the book to feel like I connected with her in any way.

That being said, I have an appreciation for characters like Liya because they’re realistic. There are a million different kinds of personalities, and it’s only right for different types to be portrayed in books. We get a lot of sweet, quirky female leads, so it’s nice to see something completely different, but this is where reading becomes so subjective; in real life and in books, I’m drawn to those sweet and quirky people, so Liya’s instant anger, rudeness, and disrespect were jarring. She had justifiable reasons for her anger, distrust of men, and annoyance with the community, but because she was so harsh, I felt some of her good attributes were overshadowed.

Even though it took me a while to get into the book and I never did feel a true connection with the characters, there were plenty of things I did like. I enjoyed Liya’s friend group and Jay’s family - they brought a lot of humour and heart to the story. I liked that despite everything she’d been through and how people saw her, Liya remained strong and independent, and she was determined to live her life how she wanted to, not how others thought she should. She had put up walls to survive and she didn’t need anyone to save her, but what she didn’t know she did need was a champion - someone to stand up for her, believe in her, and show her unconditional love - and she found that in Jay. She also got all of that from her friends, but she never thought she’d find it in a man; from her experience, men were all the same and only wanted certain things: absolute control and sex among them. Through patience and determination (and a bit of stubbornness too) Jay proved Liya wrong and showed her not all men are alike and that she could trust him and finally let down her walls. I also really enjoyed the cultural aspects of the book. Having grown up in a very white community, I always love learning about different cultural and religious practices.

Once I got into the story, I enjoyed The Trouble With Hating You quite a bit. I wish there had been more love than hate in this hate-to-love romance, but once Liya’s walls started to come down, I enjoyed watching the progression of her relationship with Jay. I look forward to more books from Sajni Patel in the future.

3.5

I had a really hard time deciding what to rate this book. The writing was fine, but I really did not like the female protagonist. I didn't care for the romance at all, and honestly didn't even want them to end up together because Liya, the female protagonist, was just so insufferable. I do belief she was written that way on purpose, but I felt like it was overdone and made her impossible to connect with.

The last part of this book, however, was fantastic! All of the sudden I was invested in the relationship and wanted things to work out for them. If the whole book had been more like the ending this could have easily been a 5-star read.

READ THIS BOOK! The Trouble with Hating You by @sajnipatelbooks is the perfect example of all that the romance genre is and can be! Thank you @readforeverpub for sending me a copy of this fantastic book. I cannot wait for the rest of the series.
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I have been banging my drum lately for romance, shouting to the world that the genre of romance can be so much more than its light and fluffy stereotype. And The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel is a perfect example of this. This book is multi-faceted, with beautifully written descriptions of the Indian culture in America, well written exploration of trauma, and of course a beautiful love story with some great steamy moments.
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I love when reading transports me to another culture and explores the customs of others. I loved the elements of culture and religion in this book, and in particular relationship customs. Their meet cute as a set from their parents was absolutely hilarious. Where this book particularly shines is how it addresses trauma. Both Liya and Jay have significant trauma in their past. It shapes who are they are individually as characters and shapes the trajectory of their relationship. Both of these characters truly grew as people through their relationship with each other. It was beautifully to see how they opened up to each other as their relationship grew. This book does have a content warning for references to death and sexual abuse. Please do read the foreword from the author. Finally, I love a good enemies to lovers story and this was definitely one of my favorites. Their chemistry was palpable. There was a great mix of tension and well written steamy scenes.
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Read this book! Experience the dynamic range of what romance has to offer. And when you’re done, I’d love to hear all about what you thought! 💖💖💖

Thanks to netgalley and forever/hacette book group for the ebook in exchange for this review. Excellent debut for Sajni Patel.. The story takes place in my hometown in Houston, Texas. It's an enemies to lovers story that has heart warming moments and deals with cultural and real issues such as sexual assault and deep-rooted family secrets. The main characters, Liya and Jay both bring their painful pasts into their relationship. They address their pasts in order to move forward and have a better future together. Liya escapes her emotionally abusive father's attempt to marry her to an eligible man in their community. Jay feeling guilt over the death of his father a long time ago. Liya and Jay are a beautifully strong couple. The writing was sharp with excellent dialogue. Great cast of characters. This book has descriptions of some delicious food. I enjoy reading the story and learning Indian/Hindu culture. #Netgalley #TheTroubleWithHatingYou

I LOVED this book!!

Liya is a troubled woman who has been told by her father and her community that no man will want her and she believes that. She has developed a tough exterior. She is educated, independent and successful. She is NO SHRINKING VIOLET.

Her parents try to set her up with Jay and she wants no part of it, but when he shows up at her company and they are forced to work together, they get to know each other better…

I absolutely, positively LOVED this book!

I learned about Hindu culture.

I loved that Liya was strong and independent and spoke her mind.

I loved Jay’s family and their story and how they helped Liya and her family.

I learned about Indian cuisine and clothing.

I read this book on my iPad with my Kindle app and I kept holding down words I didn’t know so I could learn their meaning.

If you are looking for a romance with substance, read this one.

FIVE STARS

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, domestic violence

A cute read. Nice to read about characters where familial and community bonds are so important--although they make life difficult for Liya, due to a misogynist father, submissive (and probably verbally if not physically abused) mother, and judgment by said community, for lies spread about her by a prominent member of the community to cover up his own abuses. It's why Liya has a chip on her shoulder ten feet tall and I didn't begrudge her that. Jayesh ("Jay") gives as good as he gets but knows how to push past her defenses, ignoring her jabs and bringing her coffee and food, and providing foot messages, until she softens. Despite steamy hints that they may have consummated their relationship (Jay sleeps over a lot, but I got the impression he's waiting for her to commit completely), the book's relatively clean. (Well, except for slut-shaming by the community and a really bad date.)

I don’t normally do this, but I did read Kini’s review before I began writing mine. I was curious what her thoughts were and it appears we had a lot of the same issues with this book. She is spot on with her content warnings… mentions of past sexual abuse, rape, and trauma as well as emotional abuse and slut shaming that had me turning Kindle pages angrily. It was a lot, and I wasn’t quite expecting how heavy this book was.

The heroine Liya was at times rude and in your face, but would then turn around next scene and be sweet and easy to talk to. I love a tough, take no shit heroine and it wasn’t until her background was revealed that I understood why she reacted to certain things in the ways that she did. I ended up enjoying her character, but it took me awhile to get there.

I kind of felt the same way about the hero, Jay. He seemed charming and like he would be a caretaker to Liya, but then he would turn around and do something completely stupid. Kini mentions in her review him forcing a man who basically assaulted the Liya to apologize and bring her flowers and that is exactly what I’m talking about here. It was just so weird to me and at times I wondered how this couple would ever get together.

I think the slut shaming it what did it for me. I couldn’t take it, it made me so very angry while I was reading. And every character who gossiped about Liya’s supposed bad behavior and easiness immediately jumped on my shit list. I hated this aspect of the story and it kept me from enjoying this book as much as I could have. I did enjoy this author’s voice and will absolutely be trying her again in the future.

Final grade- C-

Fabulous debut novel by Sajni Patel!
From the cover I was expecting a fun, run of the mill rom-com. What I got was a romance with depth, flawed characters, a view of great friendships, a look into a culture that I find intriguing, some heavy issues, family dynamics - both good and bad, old customs vs. new customs, food descriptions that had me looking up recipes and drooling...plus great banter you want in a hate to love story.
Liya is a little hard to like because she's a little bit on the strong, opinionated side and has no shame in telling it like it is. I ended up really liking her as the story proceeded.
Jay is just lovable from the first moment you meet him. I adored him and his sweet self. His guilt over something from his past was so strong, I just wanted to give him a hug and tell him it was all ok.
I was hooked on this story and read it in a day.
I am looking forward to more from this author.

3.5 stars

This book does feel very much like a debut. The first few chapters are a bit clunky but the characters interested me enough to keep reading. Liya’s attitude at first is very off putting but as the story progresses you begin to understand why her walls are so high and her ill temper. I definitely liked Jay a lot more. Liya's actions and personalities, though understandable, felt a bit repetitive after a while and it made Jay's action seem way too good to be true. The book also deals with #metoo movement in the South Asian community which is the book’s strongest highlight along the slow burn romance. So glad to see some diversity in the romance genre and I hope it continues. Overall a quick, fun read.

Liya is working as a lead biochemical engineer. She’s a hard worker, and just recently got a promotion. She is living on her own, cooks, cleans, and does everything for herself. She has very traditional parents, especially her father, who are not happy that she lives on her own and refuses to get married. She is happy being single and is uninterested in her parents match making. When her parents set up a dinner with Jay, it goes terribly wrong. Even worse, he is the lawyer that was hired to save Liya’s company. Considering the two hate one another, how are they going to survive working together?

Oh my heart, I just loved this book so much. Jay is the perfect book boyfriend! He is such a caring character, who treats woman with complete respect. Liya is such a strong and indecent character, which I loved. The cover on this book is deceiving though, this book touches on a lot of heavy topics. It deals with Indian American culture, values and traditions. But, it is also such a great enemies to lovers rom com! I loved this book so much, and would highly recommend it!

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED THIS ONE! This book actually reminded me a lot of my childhood best friend with all the Indian traditions and family dynamics. Liya’s character at first was a bit much for me. She was kind of all over the place and drove me a little mad, but with her growth I really enjoyed her in the end. I really liked how she didn’t conform to expectations or opinions others had of her. She also learned to fall in love and move on from her past. JAY IS AMAZING! Jay is the guy every girl wants to meet in their life. He didn’t believe the gossip about Liya. He took the time to truly get to know her and their relationship turned into this beautiful story.

There were times I liked this book and other times I hated it. I couldn't understand why Jay fought so hard to be with Liya, but I loved them together.

4.03 out of 5 Stars

This book came across my reading list at the most perfect time. I was stressed and I needed something as adorable and reassuring as this. The Trouble with Hating You was definitely intense. There were a lot of very low lows and definitely back out if you think there are themes you can't read. But, it is a triumphant story and the romance was one of the most adorable things I have read. It's a hate-to-love trope, so take that into consideration when you pick it up. I like those :) and that trope definitely lent itself to my enjoyment this book.

Liya and Jay are literally one of my favorite couples. Seriously. When Liya was stepping up and taking the initiative at work, Jay didn't complain or give her crap about it. No-- he cleaned up her lab equipment, bought them food, and just kept her company while she worked. That may be one of the most heartwarming things I've ever read. It was pure support! I loved it. And they just kept supporting each other over and over. And the banter. THE BANTER. I love a good banter between the ship in a book. Not fighting, but the little comments and pokes that are borderline snippy and playful and remind you of an old married couple. They had that banter down perfectly. A+

I think there's a lot of great conversation that can come from this book as well. About family, friends, intersection of personal life and work life, religion, community... it wasn't just a light and fluffy romance. There's really good substance to it as well. And I don't want to say that romance books don't typically have substance, but in here specifically, there was a potency to the substance and the themes. It elevated the story for me.

A highlight for this book that I think is tangential to the romance is the amazing friendships. They seriously were fantastic to see portrayed to be so real. The friend group that Liya has is so strong, yet they are all so different. And they all have different life goals, opinions, and sometimes step on each other's toes. But like the relationship with Jay, there was just so much wonderful support and it would bring a smile to my face to read about this group of lifelong friends.

The Trouble with Hating You is a perfect summer romance read. It is sweet, and funny, and I could definitely see a group of friends reading this together.

Thanks for reading!

All three stars are for Jay. ✨♥️.
Jk. Jk. This book had a lot to offer. But Jay did make the majority of this book enjoyable for me.

Thank you so much to Grand Central and Forever Pub for providing me a beautiful finished copy. I am so so grateful to continue to read and review books for them.

What I liked-

✨ The Diversity and culture represented.

✨ The Hate to Love trope.

✨ The healthy friendships Liya maintained with the women in this book.

✨ The Unexpected Depth.

✨ The writing.

✨ Jay- as stated above. He was an amazing love interest.

Why this book lost stars for me-

Unpopular opinion.

Liya really rubbed me the wrong way. Even after hearing her full story I could not excuse how she acted.

I must stress the fact that I am not being insensitive to what Liya had been through. It was horrific and undeserved.

I just did not like her and it’s very important to me to connect to the characters in a book.

Overall- it was not a bad book. I didn’t love it but at the same time I don’t regret reading it. When this author publishes another book I will pick it up.

Based on the book blurb, which makes it sound like a comedy full of intrusive-parent and enemies-to-lovers hijinks, I wasn't prepared for the "painful past" to be quite so painful. Sexual abuse/assault (and particularly the treatment of Liya afterward made this something other than what I was expecting. "Painful past" in a blurb can mean anything from parental death to housefire to this book, and I think readers will be thrown off by the description vs the (honestly, triggering) material within.
However, this is based heavily on Patel's own lived experiences, meaning I'm sure it will strongly resonate with a lot of readers. I hope it finds them.


I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book, which I received from the publisher.

Thank you @readforeverpub for my review copy ♥️.
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Oh.My.Gosh. Meet my new favorite #romanceread 🤗.
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If you have followed me for a while you know since the ‘Rona, I have struggled with Romance. No I don’t know why...It’s just one of those weird side effects of this upside down world. I saw lots of good things about this book and so I thought, let’s try it shall we? I am so freakin glad I did. I will be recommending this one for a long time to come. Couple things to get out of the way...
•This is closed door Romance, so perfect for y’all who don’t want to get down and dirty 😏.
•This book has some very serious issues. Definitely of the #metoomovement .
•Don’t read this if you don’t enjoy a strong Female lead.
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Ok, now that we got the housekeeping out of the way. Pick up this book. It’s available now. Go on, I’ll wait 💆🏻‍♀️ (sorry just dreaming about the time we could have massages).
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The story is simple.
Girl meets boys in well timed Meet Cute. Girl knows there is no way she will fall for boy. Lots of witty banter. Lots of adorable “awwwwww” moments and fantastic build up. Put a decidedly Texas (Southern)/Indian flair on it and 💥 magic!
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I adored the characters. Like the good Southern girl I am Jay’s mama was my favorite. But all the characters...so well written. The Indian culture was informative, in such a fun way. Simply put...this will be a favorite.
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Obviously this is a 5 🌟 read for me...I hope you pick it up. I hope you love it as much as I did ♥️.