I tried really hard to get into this book and it's completely possible it was just my mindset at the time. I can see myself enjoying Hate Crush at a later date but right now, it just wasn't for me.

This is such a unique storyline. I really enjoyed the taboo nature of the teacher student relationship. I am a huge fan of this author!

If you like your scenes HOT and your stories soapy, then this is the book for you. Two strong personalities go head-to-head and what do you know? They now need to make this charade work. There is no doubt about Ms. Lopez's writing talent. This is the second book of this series and I am glad to see the bar raised.
This book has some elements that aren't for everyone. Some scenes and some characters border on the toomuch .com scale, so if those things irritate you, you should skip this read. But if this is your jam, go for it.

I have a bone to pick with Ms Lopez: Hate Crush kept me up two work nights in a row. Harrumph. And I need my sleep, so kudos and curse you, Lopez, for writing this unputdownable thing. I loved Lopez’s Filthy Rich début, Lush Money, but I loved Hate Crush even more. The two carry my favourite romance tropes: marriage-of-convenience in the former and second-chance, in the latter. In Ms Lopez’s hands, the tropes dance and sing and come alive. Her characters are MESSY, visceral, intense, their conflict and emotions over-the-top; she carries the reader on a wave of energetic prose, unselfconscious, moving steadily in service to the HEA and her characters’ needs, transformations, and realizations.

Lopez’s premise is outlandish and improbable, but this is what makes romance, romance. I’m never taken aback by the genre’s propensity for “outlandish and improbable,” heck, literature is built on it. (Have you read A Midsummer Night’s Dream?) When an author has the genre’s integrity in sight and writes the outlandish and improbable in service to an arc of love’s redemptive power, I’m cool with an eye-rolling premise.

Hate Crush sees bad-boy, disgraced (rumours of song plagiarism; band-mate’s/best friend’s suicide) rocker-hero, Aish Salinger, answer the call to a fake relationship, in his first and only great love’s fictional Spanish kingdom, Monte del Vino Real, with her, Princess Sofia. Sofia hates his guts, what’s in it for her? A rock of notoriety and publicity lobbed at the nay-sayers of her years-long struggle to bring new wine-making methods to her kingdom. Affair with an old flame? Check. But she lays down the law: keep your tattoos covered and your butt far far away from me. Kissy and moon-eyed for the cameras only. On the other hand, for Aish, this is a chance to clean off his in-the-gutter reputation; truer to his heart, to make amends, ask forgiveness of Sofia. And so, with his hollow-eyed, hungover arrival, we’re off …

Sofia’s contempt and hatred for Aish, justified I might add … are revealed in alternating chapters, between the ice-cold hatred of today, ten years after their affair, and the hearkening back to their young selves, Sofia at 19 and Aish at 21, and the halcyon summer they fell in love when Sofia apprenticed at Aish’s uncle’s California vineyard. The reason Lopez’s Hate Crush works so well is because it embraces its unabashed melodrama. We learn how Aish was in thrall to his best friend’s, John Hamilton’s, ambition for their band. Though he was wild for Sofia, truly loved her, he was young, stupid, selfish, ambitious, and allowed his loyalty to John and the “band” to come into competition with his love for Sofia. And then, ta-ta-ta-da!, a betrayal so awful, so painful, how can Sofia feel anything but hatred for Aish? For Aish, ten years of expiation, cowardly expiation, but expiation nonetheless.

And that leads me to my next point lauding Lopez’s romance: when you make the body as important to the organic development of the relationship as you do the talk, the sharing, the working-the-vineyards together, it really really works. It’s not only about the love scenes, which are frequent, explicit, and reflective of Aish and Sofia’s slow, gradual resurrection of their teen-love, at first, wary and desperate and gradually moving toward tenderness, but in every detail of their interactions: how they look at each other, what they notice … it isn’t attraction, but attention and importance.

Then, there’s the strength of Lopez’s setting: the hillside vine-permeated kingdom, the details of the Spanish culture, the intricacies of fine-wine-making. Lopez’s setting is rich in detail and transporting, like the intense emotions of her hero and heroine. The conflict between them, Aish’s contriteness and Sofia’s loathing, is compounded by the ever-present press, Sofia’s dysfunctional relationship with her awful parents, and the presence of saboteurs to her wine-making effort to save her kingdom and help her people. Sofia and Aish aren’t a slow-burn, they’re fire together. They’re familiar enough to the younger selves we meet and they’re also tempered by suffering from being apart and better at hiding as adults: Sofia seething with a betrayal that keeps her emotionally restrained and Aish hoping his songs and “ink” will reach Sofia somehow, will show her he is sorry and wants her back. They’re both wrong and right and Lopez shows slowly and surely how they grow and change: Aish sees his past “expiation” as preserving his spoiled-boy desire to have things come to him as immature. He has to make Sofia the centre. And Sofia has to soften, to find a way to forgive, to let her heart live again.

In the end, Lopez throws a loop in the plot to redeem Aish which I never saw coming and thought a cop-out. But maybe she had taken Aish to a place where a narrative contrivance was the only way she could go? I’m not sure and I can’t say I loved this part, but I loved Sofia’s anger and determination and Aish does a magnificent on-his-knees grovel and the darn thing did keep me up for two nights. To quote Miss Austen, who would be scandalized by Hate Crush, herein I see “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma. Also, I’m eager for Roman’s story in book #3.

Angelelina M. Lopez’s Hate Crush is published by Carina Press. It was released in June 2020 and may be found at your preferred vendors. I received an e-galley from Carina Press, via Netgalley.

To be honest, this one had a bit of a slow start--and the constant flashbacks, though I understand why they were there, tended to pull me out of the story more often than not--until OMG, I literally could. Not. Put. It. Down. Holy moly--this morphed from an angsty, second chance romance that didn't appear to have a real chance into a heartbreaker into a suspense driven, goodness gracious how will they make it out of this to get to their HEA story.

Did I mention I couldn't put it down?

I wasn't a huge fan of the hate sex--though with that title, I should have expected it! It was just so....hateful and yeah, I know that's the point, and yes, it was hot as heck--but once real feelings got involved? OMG. I'm not sure how many times or ways I can express the unputdownability of this one. I was both intensely relieved to get them to their HEA, and kind of bummed I was going to have to leave them there...

Though this is the second in the series, it worked pretty well as a standalone. Sophia's brother and sister-in-law (hero and heroine of Lush Money ) play a role here, and they're in it just enough to have me bumping their story up my TBR :) Once I finish theirs, there'll be nothing left to do but cross my fingers Ms Lopez will write more... ;)

Rating: 4 stars / A-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book

The Review
A fantastic read! The author does an amazing job of creating a narrative for readers new to the series and fans of the first novel as well. The characters are well-rounded as they are filled with rich history not only between one another but by themselves as well, making their story shine even brighter.

The story does a great job of bringing readers fully into the romance aspect of the narrative, making the tension and pain of their history together that much more engaging as a reader. However, the inclusion of mystery and intrigue surrounding aspects of their shared past make this a good little mystery as well, giving an added layer of connectivity to the characters overall.

The Verdict
A truly wonderful and engaging read, author Angelina M. Lopez and her novel “Hate Crush” is an evenly paced, heart-pounding read that readers will not be able to put down. A wonderful and rich cast of characters and entertaining story make this a must-read contemporary romance, so be sure to grab your copy today!

HATE CRUSH might be @angelinamlo ‘s sophomore book but it is definitely *not* in LUSH MONEY’s shadow. 🍷The title is truly accurate: this is a hate-to-love story with a whole lot of heartbreaking history that Angelina somehow digs us out of. 🍷 This was a high heat, high emotional stakes read, with so much competence flexed by the author...sigh. 🍷 It’s so good.

I gave it a try, then tried again and again. With all the Goodreads stars, I thought this would be enjoyable, but this lived up to the title. I hated it.

Both characters are annoying -- him a little less than her -- but I felt nothing for their chemistry. Backstories and cliches were boring. Him: Typical good looking but lost puppy down-on-his-luck rock star. Her: Fiery Latina. As a blended varietal, it left a terrible taste in my mouth.

This book was not for me. I thought it would have picked up as I progressed but I just couldn't. It was way to raw for me and I just did not find it had any substance to the story. I couldn't finish it.

Second book in the Filthy Rich series (first novel is Lush Money), Hate Crush zings with Lopez's signature writing style - crisp, sharp prose that is as bad-ass as her heroines.

The story begins with Aish drunk out of his mind, reminiscing about a woman he loved and lost ten years earlier. She is also the inspiration for his popular song, "In You." Her identity has long been speculated about by his fans. Except he makes the mistake of revealing her identity in front of a stranger who then turns around and sells the bombshell to the tabloids - the inspiration for "In You" is none other than Princess Sofia of Monte del Vino Real, a small wine growing principality in Northern Spain. The gossip forces her family to agree to a fake relationship for one month to bring much needed publicity to Sofia's new winery, as well as help redeem Aish's reputation, which is rocked by a plagiarism scandal involving his deceased partner.

However, Sofia wants nothing to do with Aish beyond their public spectacle. They have a fiery history and the pain runs deep. It’s a past Sofia wants nothing to do with, a past Aish hopes he can get back to.

Lopez does a wonderful job of showing the intense chemistry between Sofia and Aish. They essentially spent the decade apart, partying hard and doing their level-best to forget each other. They each share a similar reputation for wildness, but Lopez does a good job of showing how women tend to be held to an unfair standard for their sexual exploits. The details about wine-making and music making add a layer of authenticity to the narrative.

But it’s the back story that really drives home the conflict between the two characters in a way that is relatable. These are not too people, dancing around each other because the writer said so. The events in their past have created a real wedge between them, sowing resentments and anguish that the MCs have to really work hard to dismantle. It is the motive for Sofia’s rage and her nearly intractable resistance to any kind of romance with Aish.

On his side, Aish wants Sofia so badly, it's palpable. But he has inflicted terrible pain on Sofia and he has work to do to win her back, which he is willing to do. It's so great to find MCs who are willing to do whatever it takes to get their partners back.

There is a real telenovela vibe in this novel - from the intense, wild emotions, the secret pain that Sofia hides, the almost warrior-like engagement between the couples, the anger, the fights and the sex - everything is so over-the-top that, if you are looking for a quiet, gentle read, this may not be the book for you. The enemies-to-lovers/second chance/fake relationship trope cocktail is strong, Sofia is tough and sexy, Aish is completely at her feet and the feelings are everywhere. But this wild and bonkers train ride has my name stamped all over it and I couldn't help but gobble it right up. And if this is your jam, then you're going to love it as well.

I was provided with an ARC by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

Originally published at www.serataino.com/bookshelf:-hate-crush-by-angelina-lopez-(book-2-of-filthy-rich-series)

lopez's bonkers debut, lush money, was a trope-filled delight, and her follow-up is no less delightful. hate crush finds princess sofia reuniting with the guy who got away, or really the guy who threw everything they were to each other away because he got drunk and spilled the beans about their secret love affair.

it doesn't help that she had a wild reputation. she's changed and even now won't get credit for it. and everything she's been working for, everything she is doing to save her country and her family can crumble to dust, unless she pretends to get back together with him.

of course he happens to be notorious rock star aish sallinger. he's a disaster, and he needs sofia. he also hasn't stopped thinking about her and faking a relationship shows him that was he really wants is her forgiveness and her heart to be his again.

the man has a lot of work to do. but watching these two find a way back to each other is nothing short of magical.

**hate crush will publish on june 29, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press in exchange for my honest review.

Lopez has gifted readers with a heartfelt love story set among the vineyards of Spain. If you need a reason to believe in second chances, Hate Crush should do the trick.

I was drawn to the story because I am a wine enthusiast. The words about working in the vineyards made me feel like I am walking among the grapes. Princess Sofia is trying to save her country’s vineyards with innovative technology. With the highly reluctant help from Aish Salinger, former disgraced Asian American Rockstar, she is fighting for her heart and the vineyards. She cant forgot how he broke her heart years ago and has vowed to never fall in love again. Good Luck with that Sophia. Aish is both your savior and soulmate. If only she would give him a chance to prove himself. If you love a lot of angst with hate, Hate Crush has it all. Too much for my personal reader preference. But the lovely story about saving the grape harvest makes me forgive all the hate sex.

Ten years ago Aish and Sofia had an immediate connection. They were helping at Aish's uncles winery in California. But their lives were headed in different directions, Sofia, a princess trying to help her kingdom with their own wine growing and Aish is headed into musical stardom. They haven't seen or spoken to each other in all this time and now they are both at a major crossroad in their lives and they need each other to get through. Will they be able to make it through a month without killing each other or will they find the love that they once had?

Thank you to Harlequin/Carina Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is a lovers to enemies story. It jumps back and forth from modern day to 10 years prior when our two lovers first met. For the the story was interesting, but I didn't find myself drawn to it.
I wanted to know what was going to happen with the characters, who were an unlikely pair. A princess and a rock star. They met when they were young and just starting out in life. Their romance was a whirlwind and there were several factors that keeps them from continuing their romance.

There is a lot of talk about wine making in this book and I felt like I had to have a glass while reading it. Also the book was set mostly in Spain, a country I really would like to see so that helped with bringing me back to the book.

In Hate Crush, Princess Sofia is about to launch a new winery when her ex, rock star Aish Salinger, gets drunk and reveals that she is the person his most famous song is about. Suddenly Sofia, who is trying to overcome a party girl reputation, is thrust back into the spotlight. Her PR person decides that they should fake a romance to help both their images. (While I love a fake romance book, this one barely counts, as Sofia hates Aish so much she can't really fake smiling around him.) This book is the second in a series, and I think it would be fine as a standalone but you'd get more out of it if you've read the first, Lush Money. I also think if you've read Lush Money you'll know if you will like Hate Crush - it has the same angsty, drama-filled vibe. I really enjoyed this book. (My one complaint is that Aish is the hero, rather than bodyguard Henry, which is kind of a big complaint. BUT I still really enjoyed it.) As in Lush Money, Sofia is trying to propel her kingdom forward, but others are trying to squash her progressive actions -- I find the machinations in the kingdom really interesting. (I do think that Sofia's relationship with her mother should have been a little more fleshed out in this book, but don't want to delve into spoiler-territory.) Sofia and Aish have a lot of history to work through, and a lot of obstacles standing in the way. While I figured out the twist a lot faster than they did, it was great fun to watch them work their way back to a relationship. I'm really into this series and can't wait for the next book.

While some may very well doth protest too much...
...these two could set the vineyard on FIRE!

Alright, I made mention before, but let me say it again...
...ADULTS ONLY...
...for this one has language (blame the rockstar, mostly), situations (compromising to say the least), and scenes that will definitely not suit those that prefer no higher than blush worthy levels of heat. As for my preference, I could have done with a tone down, but it was my first exposure to this series, so I managed and completed the read. Now, on to that story...

We've got two VERY STRONG characters with equally STRONG reputations...and I can't say I mean the last part in the best of lights. She's known as the party princess, but those ways aren't as recent as some would like to imagine. He's known as the washed up rockstar that can't keep it in his pants, but...okay, well he sort of still is in that phase so I guess some perceptions are accurate. Anywho, introduce a drunken night, loose lips that sink ships, and you've got a scandal that could make one a rising star again and the other go down in flames. Good thing PR people are paid the big bucks to turn these challenges into opportunities, then again...maybe not. Him and her in the same country is bad enough, but in the same room, you'll be dodging daggered glances from her side while he tries to find his way back into her good graces. The pro-mance could work, but, umm....yeah...things kick up several notches VERY FAST, and then it's the two of them not simply trying to figure out their own lives, but the reality behind #Aisha.

I gotta say, despite the hot and heavy times aplenty, and I mean we're talking present day and in the past, I was really glued to the page. I wanted to see if the PR "stunt" would work out and HOW. I wanted to know if the insidious letch that was the stuffed shirt winemaker of her area had everything rubbed in his face. I needed to see the her mom (the queen) taken down several notches (the nerve of the woman...and with her history!). I desired to see just where these two enamored yet broken souls would land and would it be together. We get a little, tiny bit technical on the winemaking side of things, but it shows the author did her homework, and gave additional credit to our leading lady...and even our leading fella, even if his dreams were more superstardom born than family legacy.

All in all, it's a HOT READ that will leave your burning...through the pages! Discover the world of the Filthy Rich and see just how the other half really live!

This is a Grade A soapy, sexy romance. I knew in advance that this series was sort of over-the-top with secrets and drama and to just roll with it, so I was adequately prepared for this absolute knockout of a ride. If you don't like soap-level villains and angsty wine cellar banging, I'm going to recommend you pass. I'm going to loop back and read Lush Money now because hot damn Lopez can write some absolutely fabulous dirty talk. Move over, Tessa Bailey.


Lopez wrote some complicated characters amid the soap archetypes, however. I loved this heroine, 100%. She's prickly and angry and so so smart. But she also really likes sex and never fell out of love with Aish. Damn feels.


The Big Reveal at the end made me laugh because I saw it coming and it was 100% soap opera/telenovela. Just lean in.


Content Warnings:  slut-shaming, bad parents, kidnapping, roofies, miscarriage, manipulation and gaslighting

Suzanne received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

This second chance romance with that enemies to lovers vibe es bien telenovela in the best way possible.

When the story begins, Aish is living the typical rocker lifestyle - he’s messed up and reminiscing about Sofia, the Spanish principesa who he loved and lost ten years earlier. When international gossip conspires to bring these two back together, Sofia is all HELL NO DUDE and wants nothing to do with him, but her struggling family winery needs the positive publicity, and so does Aish, so here comes a bit of fake relationship trope, some seriously fuego chemistry and mysteries to unravel, all on the road to an HEA. And yep, romance happens.

I love the way it delves into wine making and music, and really makes the MCs’ professions really play an important part of the story. Ms. Lopez brings her ability to create chemistry between her leads here and the love scenes are intense and fiery. There is never a doubt in my mind that Aish and Sofia are combustible together.

I love how this explores a bit the way women are more harshly judged for their sexual history.

In the beginning, Aish was deep in his pity party, very used to having everything done for him, but what he really wanted was the way Sofia always expected him to be better. His ability to wallow in his feelings was a little trying, and I wasn’t sure if I would warm up to him. But it’s the scenes between him and Sofia, where his naked (heh) longing for her is on display really captured my interest. I cannot lie, I am a sucker for a male lead who loves and is willing to work hard to get back in his lady love’s good graces.

I think it was that I was so firmly on #teamSofia’s side when it came to the fact that he did her wrong so many years ago, and that he should have to work for her love that made the beginning a little slow for me. Personally, I needed to be won over even more than Sofia, because I would’ve been all fucboi bye.

But when the story gets in gear, the time flew by. When I say soapy, I mean there’s a strong reliance in intense emotion - that may or may not be your cuppa. The leads becan be a little dunderheaded and the villains can be very EV-ILL. The twist is a tried and true soap plot device and fits the really over the top emotion. Sometimes that kind of drama is a bit much but the story rides that fine line like an experienced telenovela does. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this series. Yes, I want Roman and Henry’s stories now, please and thank you.

If you’re into some soapy goodness with your romance, and love that second chance hate sex vibe, you may enjoy this as much as I did.

One fake relationship, check. One heart-broken princess, check. One rock star, check. One second-chance love story, check. All mixed together to produce one well-written and engaging story. Check. Check. Check.

As the summary states, Princess Sofia must save her kingdom and the only way to do so is to fake a relationship with heart-breaker Aisha Salinger. He broke her heart once and Sofia vows that it will never happen again. Yea, you know where this is going. A’yup. Cues both hate and lust sparks.

Likes: The story itself. I’ve read few stories where the overall storytelling is so beautifully done that you can’t help tapping those pages. The descriptions and character dynamics were engrossing. The sparks between Sofia and Aish were grand fun and downright hot! And despite everything, you will find yourself rooting for these two to finally get off their high horses and get back together. As second-chance love stories go, this one will definitely check all your boxes.

HATE CRUSH is book 2 in the Filthy Rich series and I absolutely recommend this book and book 1 in this series. Get it now.
Original review posted by me on The Romance Reviews

This was a new to me author & book! I really liked this book & will hopefully find the time to read the first one! It was a second chance romance, which I’m not usually into but this book exceeded my expectations and beyond! Aish is a sexy rockstar who still loves Sofia. Sofia is stubborn, strong, and will do whatever she can to make her vineyard the bestest! Even though she is labeled as a “party girl”. These to decided to fake date and work on both their images while getting their careers to the top! The chemistry just leaps off the pages! I really enjoyed watching these two come together once again and finding their HEA!! It was a sexy, steamy, & emotional ride but oh so worth it!! I can’t recommend giving this book a read enough!!

I wanted to like these characters, but the somewhat jarring timeline switches, strange choices in throwing in Spanish (nothing against the language, it just took me out of the story every time characters switched, almost as if to keep reminding us they were foreign), and lack of character development were all difficult to get into. Also the initial meeting as teenagers didn't really read particularly great. I did not finish this book, and would probably not read more from this author.