Honestly a perfect bok to read while on the go because you WILL giggle the whole time! Two (stubborn!) dorks finding love has to be the best kind of plot

You’ve got mail sprinkled with 10 things I hate about you.
This cute romance is a beautiful blend of sweet, emotional and comforting.
Weather presenter Naomi has been pen pals with Luca since the 5th grade. It all started with hate letters which turned into something deeper. After a two year absence of letters Naomi hears from Luca again. At the same time she meets Jake and sparks start flying. Can she put Luca out of her head to focus on Jake?
I really enjoyed this one which was comfortingly familiar. I loved reading the letters and having the dual points of view. This is an emotional read that still comes off as hopeful and romantic. I found the character of Anne as the best friend extremely nosy, meddling, pushy, and confusing. In fact it took away from the two main characters. She really gave me an ick feeling. I’m deducting a star for her.
Otherwise an entertaining read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for a chance to read an advanced copy. All opinions are mine.

“Hate Mail” is a delightful debut that breathes new life into the romance genre, proving that the art of crafting heartfelt and engaging love stories is very much alive. From its eye-catching cover to the catchy title, this book promises a unique reading experience and delivers it in spades.

The novel kicks off with Naomi and Luca as fifth-grade pen-pals, embroiled in an epic battle of wits and words. What starts as a series of hate-filled letters evolves over the years into a deep, coast-spanning friendship—until a sudden silence. Two years after their last exchange, Naomi’s world is rocked by the unexpected arrival of a new letter from Luca, reigniting old flames and unresolved tensions.

What makes this book stand out is its masterful blend of humor, romance, and emotional depth. The frenemies-to-lovers trope is executed with a fresh twist, enriched by the pen-pals dynamic and dual points of view. The slow burn romance is perfectly paced, and lept me eagerly turning pages until the very end. The chemistry between Naomi and Luca is palpable, their banter and emotional journey striking a perfect balance between heartwarming and heart-wrenching.

The addition of Naomi’s friend Anne and a cast of animal characters adds layers to the narrative, offering moments of levity and charm that complement the main storyline. While the animals didn’t particularly resonate with me, they’re sure to be a hit with pet lovers, adding a universal appeal to the story.

As a debut, “Hate Mail” is a remarkable achievement. It’s rare for me to find a contemporary romance that manages to surprise and delight in equal measure, but this novel did just that. It’s a testament to the author’s skill and creativity, making it a must-read for fans of the genre.

In conclusion, “Hate Mail” is a refreshing, engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable read. It’s a book that will make you laugh, swoon, and perhaps even shed a tear, but most importantly, it will leave you eagerly anticipating what the author writes next. Highly recommended for anyone in search of a romance that’s as smart and funny as it is sweet and sincere.

I wanted to love this and there were definitely parts I laughed out loud at but most of the time I found the idea of the hate mail letters they sent each other so cringeworthy. I’m not a big fan of enemies to lovers because I can’t understand why anyone would be able to set aside the previous ill treatment or behaviour and I found this the case here. I don’t want to spoil anything either but the twist in the end was hard to imagine someone just moving past. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it but think those that enjoy the enemies to lovers tripe will eat this up.

I received an early (digital) reader copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

First thought: This is a must read! I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers but add in an origin story of being penpals for decades and the buildup of tension. It was just absolutely binge worthy, I was blown away to find out this was a debut novel.

Naomi was so excited to have a penpal, then she got her first letter. She had never read such mean words before, who was this Luca and what was his problem. Luca was having a bad day and he may of taken it out on a random stranger, but hey he was a 5th grade boy. This started a multi decade exchange of hate letters between Naomi and Luca.

Flash forward to present day Naomi is a weather reporter on the news in Miami it’s been a few years since she received a letter but today she got one. The only thing is this time there is no return address, so she had no way to respond. So her and her bestie decided a plan to go to places Lucas once lived to try and get more information to find him.

Sitting in her favorite lunch spot Naomi bumps into her upstairs neighbor, his name tag says Jake. Heinz is an aquatic vet and the local aquarium. He asks her out and she decides to say yes. They hit it off, they have a lot of similar interest and have a playful teasing relationship.

The only issue is Jake has a big secret he’s afraid to tell her. Naomi also hasn’t told him about her decade long penpal who’s secretly making her question if she has feelings for him. Things are just a giant tangled mess and they will have to just figure it out.

Literally Themes you’ll find:

* Enemies to Lovers
* Penpals since 5th Grade
* Weather Reporter FMC
* Aquatic Vet MMC
* Dual Timeline
* Dual POV
* Mild Spice

☀️💌🐱☀️💌🐱☀️💌🐱☀️💌🐱☀️

This was a cute enemies to lovers romance. I felt it was a little youngish for me. More of a YA than I had anticipated but cute overall.

Honestly, this was super cute. I loved the first part with the hate letters, it was SO FUNNY!!! however, i felt like it was missing something? I think that the ending was a little bit obvious, but i really liked it nonetheless

Thanks, NetGalley, Harper Collins UK & One More Chapter for having me along for the ride on this eARC 😇

Penpal enemies to lovers? YES PLEASE!

This genre is not my usual realm, but holy heck, here I am swooning over the cutest love-letter couple 💓

Naomi & Luca have put us on an emotional roller-coaster as we go through excitement, angst, frustration, heartache, romance, anger, and lust.

💓Whitty Banter
💓Love to Hate Letters
💓Marine vs Weather Reporter
💓Spicey Romance 🌶🌶
💓Dual POV
💓HEA

"Love, Your Husband." ~ Luca

I loved the hate between Luca and Naomi. It made me laugh and I could just picture the two of them sitting down to write their letter to the other and figuring out how gets to outdo the hatred. But in amongst the hate, there was love and understanding and it was perfect.

This book was so fun! Naomi and Luca have sent each other letters since they were in school. The letters where less than nice but neither of them realising how much they needed those letters at the time.
Naomi hasn’t heard from Luca until he sends her a letter with no return address to play a game. Suddenly her feelings return for Luca but, her handsome neighbour has her questioning her feelings.
This was fun from beginning to end. I love the letters between them. This story is filled with banter, romance and some hate mail that will have you laughing.

What a lovely surprise!
I didn't expect to appreciate this book so much.
This story kept me hooked since within the first chapters (and letters) and I really needed to know what will happen next and what happened in the past. That back and forth was well played and I totally adored it. Even if the reader will understand pretty fast some key elements of the story, it was cute to see how Naomi will relate and see them, until the final "revelation". She's a spontaneous and indipendent character I ended up to admire, and I'm in love with her love interest. It could have been cute read more about their families, but nontheless the story has a good pace and the side characters are a lovable surrounding.
Looking forward more Donna Marchetti's books!
(Thank you to One More Chapter for the ARC <3)

Pen pals? Yes, please! Romcom? Oh, yeah! This romcom has a super fun trope. I absolutely love pen pal romances and wish there were more of them. Well-written, well-rounded characters, fun banter, and all the feels. Definitely recommended!

Wow! It was great! To be honest, I did not expect that I would like this book so much. I literally couldn't tear myself away from this story.

This debut novel is a real diamond. I liked everything from the idea to the implementation. Donna Marchetti has made an incomparable debut, which I would like to advise everyone to read. I am in love with the characters and their letters, the plot and the style of the author. I laughed and cried and worried about the relationship of the characters.

For many years, Naomi and Luca have been pen pals. In fact, at first I was very surprised by their letters, because they wrote nasty things to each other, sometimes it was very strange. But after that, I realized that this is their thing and that they have such a style of communication. And despite this, when they grew up, they began to share their lives more, their relationship began to move to a new level. There was a strong chemistry between them that was hard not to feel.

I am madly in love with this story and I am looking forward to other books by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, and Donna Marchetti for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Naomi and Luca are assigned as penpals but they have other ideas. They write *surprise surprise* hate mails to each other. What started as verbal insults developed into a friendship over time till one day when Naomi stopped receiving letters from Luca. It's been two years and to her surprise, a letter arrived at her news station and she knows who it is as soon as she sees the handwriting but there is no return address for her to write back. She doesn't want to let him have the last word and decides to find his address and meet him in person. But there is one another person who has come into her life and this someone, Jake, aka demonic husky eyes, likes her for who she is. I loved that he's flirtatious and he takes care of the puppies and kittens before they get adopted. Naomi likes Jake but also has feelings for Luca. You've to read to know what happens next and who she ends up with.

I'm someone who loves letters and text conversations in books and Hate mail has both of them. The insults were hilarious and I was really looking forward to reading them whenever the past story came into picture. I really wanted Luca to have had a better childhood and wanted them to have met back then. He really needed it but fate (and the author) didn't let them meet but when they did, it was amazing!!!! I loved the angst , passion and their dark humour and I want nothing but good things for them. There are some damn good moments I can't talk about without giving away spoilers. Trust me, you won't be disappointed! This is such an amazing debut and I am sure I'm gonna read anything and everything this author writes.
This would be a great rom-com movie. Manifesting that!
Pick this penpals to lovers story (which has cats who skate) now!!

Let’s start this review by saying that I was very drawn to this book because of this gorgeous cover and the whole idea of them being pen pals.
So, I really enjoyed the whole exchanging letters throughout the years element, I loved reading their letters and how mean they were to each other when kids, but also caring and funny. Usually, when you read about pen pals, they become friends through letters but this one they developed the “weirdest friendship” through hate mail, which was so refreshing to read.
The book doesn’t horizontally tell the story, but it keeps jumping from the past (when they were kids) to the present. Usually, this time jump bothers me in books, but it didn’t bother me in this. I think it’s because the author made sure that the snippet of the past she was telling us (through the letters) made sense with what was going on in the present.
Naomi, our main character, starts the story by receiving a note from her long-lost pen pal Luca, with whom she hasn’t been in contact for two years. Then, she is moved by the idea to find Luca and, together with her friend Anne, starts looking for Luca. Meanwhile, she starts flirting with her neighbour Jake, which develops into a friendship and dating. Their chemistry was so amazing! Even the scenes that they were not touching, or almost touching. The book then tells the story of these two sides of Naomi’s life: between her real life, in which she is developing feelings for her neighbour, and the idea of Luca.
The narrative flows really well. It’s the kind of book that you can sit in an afternoon and read in one go while you swoon, you laugh, and you keep wanting to know what will happen to Luca. Also, the chapters have titles! I love it!

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful debut romance
5 stars

This is Donna Marchetti’s debut novel and I was sucked in by the cute premise and even cuter cover. A pair of duelling penpals and a cute pink cartoon? Gimme.

Naomi is a local weather girl who, at the start of the book receives a fairly disturbing letter from her former penpal at her place of work. But it soon transpires that she has a ‘penemy’ - a penpal who she has been writing and receiving mean letters to since primary school days (except in America). But there’s no return address on the letter which leads to several cross-country trips to find her mysterious penpal, Luca.

Naomi is a very likeable character. She’s fun, funny, kind and sensible but willing to throw caution to the wind - especially when compelled by her bestie, Annie. I found Naomi to be really relatable and was really rooting for her to get her perfect man.

We find out more about Luca over the course of the book and his story is at times sad, at times heartbreaking but you can’t help but like the snotty little kid that turns into a decent man. His mean letters to Naomi made me laugh out loud but through each and every one, I wanted him to get his happily ever after.

The story is told in the present day mostly (if not all) from Naomi’s point of view. We then pop back in time to read some of the mean letters that Naomi and Luca send to each other. We also hear from Luca’s point of view at the time of some of the letters. I’m not normally a huge fan of books in this style but it really worked on this occasion probably as the ‘flashback’ chapters were short.

I really adored this book. It was that rare read where I kept wanting to tell friends / family / colleagues about what happened and ask them if they’d heard the gossip - like these characters were my friends instead of fictional people. Reading it was effortless showing that the writing was impeccable. I was caught up with these characters and their story almost from the very first page.

This has been a difficult book to review without giving away spoilers so my advice is, if you like the sound of this story - give it a go without reading too many reviews where you might learn things it’s better off not knowing until you read the book.

I’ve heard a lot about this book in the run up to its publication and for once, the hype is well deserved. This was the kind of romance that makes me remember why I fell in love with the genre in the first place - it was fun, interesting and left me with a goofy smile on my face by the end. 5 stars and one of my best of 2024 so far.

I feel like this story had so much potential and somewhere lost its way!

I loved the premise of this story and the start was incredibly strong. Getting to know thr backstory through the letters was fun, it was a great way to get an insight into the characters' pasts and see how they ended up reconnecting. I understand the premise that they were kids but the meanness displayed in some of the letters was a but disquieting and off-putting

I did find it quite predictable (not always a bad thing, and I feel that readers are probably meant to work out the 'twist' anyway) so I had the puzzle pieced together much quicker than our fmc did. I really enjoyed Naomi's adventures to track Luca down (although I'd have preferred it if she left Anne at home, I wasn't a fan), again it was an interesting way to learn more about him.

I found the latter half of the book a little repetitive, and felt that the 'reveal' was a little clumsy and rushed when there had been so much building up to it.

The fmc and mmc were both likeable and I liked them together. I was a little frustrated by them towards the end but I think that's because I found all of it quite rushed anyway.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review this book!

Hate Mail is about Naomi and Luca who become assigned pen pals in fifth grade. And while most of their classmates stop writing their pen pals after only a few months, their letters span nearly two decades. After a two year stint of not hearing from Luca, a letter from him shows up at Naomi's news station where she works as a weather reporter. And thus, Naomi sets off to find a way to write back and not let Luca get the last word.

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book. Like truly. I was crying laughing, then I was just straight up crying. The letters in this book are so absurdly harsh that they're some of the funniest things I've ever read. My personal faves being the original fifth grade letters. Kids can be brutal, man.

It was dual POV, but focused on Naomi's POV for a large portion of the book so as not to reveal anything about Luca's current location too early on in the story and I feel like that was really well done to keep that element of surprise.

Also... I KNEW IT. That is all I will say about that.

All in all, this was such a fun debut and I loved every second of it.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This gave me all the rom com vibes absolutely loved! I will definitely be buying this book! Also this is one of the cutest book covers i’ve ever seen

Quick Summary: An enemies to lovers, pen pal romance

My Review: Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti is a contemporary romantic fiction story.

Question to Consider: How is it possible to meet your pen pal after years of anonymous communication and fall head over heels in love?

About the Book: Luca and Naomi have been pen pals since the fifth grade. Their style of communication is and has always been brash, cruel, and difficult to understand. It works for them, however. It's meaningful, especially considering why it is the way that it is. They say everything that needs to be said, without pulling any punches. When fate finally brings the familiar strangers together, what happens to their hearts?

My Final Say: This was an incredibly creative story. It sneaks up on your heart when you least expect it. I liked it. Readers who enjoy simple stories that present the complications of life and that approach the messiness of relationships should like this book.

Other: The scene that broke me was Luca's graduation. It was written so well that I teared up before I got to the end of the passage. It gave Luca's life story even more texture.

Rating: 4/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: NA to A
Status/Level: 👍

Thank you to the author, to the publisher (HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, One More Chapter), and to NetGalley for granting access to this title in exchange for an honest review. The words I have voluntarily shared are my own.