5 Made Me Cry Stars

When I tell you the premise of this book, you will understand why it made me cry, but whenever authors touch my emotions enough to make tears happen, they almost always end up as 5 stars. I had all the tears in this one! It did end on a positive note, though.

I connected immediately with Maddie Sanderson; somehow, despite a father who abandoned the family and a truly awful mother, she’s a good friend, sister, and employee. She’s also complicated, with tendencies to push everyone away and big fears of people leaving her. She has severe asthma, which I thought was realistically portrayed in the book.

The book opens with the funeral of her way-too-young brother, 29-year-old Josh, who died from cancer. He loved to travel the world, photographing amazing places and people. He often created puzzles from his photos for his sister, Maddie.

Josh’s best friend was Dominic Perry, a tall, handsome man who captured Maddie’s heart one summer when she cared for his younger twin brothers. However, Dom breaks her heart and marries the beautiful and sweet Rosaline. Now Dom just infuriates Maddie, and she can’t trust him.

Josh has left a big task -- and he wants his ashes scattered in eight states that he didn’t have a chance to visit. He’s left a letter to read with each state. And he’s left the task to …..drumroll here …. Maddie and Dom!

The journey to each state is as wrenching as you might imagine, scattering ashes and saying goodbye eight times. Josh also has tasks for the two to perform at each place.

The timeline hops around, and it takes the pair quite a while to get to all the locations. Along the way, they are forced to spend time together but never really talk about the past. They begin to re-establish a friendship, and each trip becomes a bit less torturous for Maddie. The grieving process was realistic in this one, too; it was never a linear path, and they did not get over it in a magic amount of time.

I’m excited to discover a new writer that works for me, and I’ll eagerly read what Lauren Connolly writes next!

This is one of those times where I’m mad at myself for putting it off. I still got this read before the pub date, but I put it off a bit past when I’d originally planned to read it because of a readathon and some blog tour review books. But once I picked this up, I was hooked! I wanted nothing more than to just sit and read until the very end. I’m so glad I was reading this over Thanksgiving break so that I was able to do that.

I’m the type of person who always liked any kind of personal connection I can feel to a character or a story, it really does help me get invested in the story. Unfortunately I’m finding that up until now I never quite got the total heartbreak of seeing someone very close to you pass away, but with my stepfather’s passing earlier this year, any death like this, especially from cancer, hits me really hard. But I still loved this story, and it probably made me understand so much more of the hard task on their last location they went to.

This book had so many tropes, but all of them felt like they were done so well. The older brother’s best friend crush. Enemies to lovers. A misunderstanding that kept them apart. The only one bed/close proximity bit, as well as the falling in love along a journey, not quite a road trip exactly though. It was so easily understandable for me why Maddie couldn’t trust things were going to go well, and all the reasons she fought things, even the end, the almost third act break up, I didn’t mind at all. Because it fit. Especially when you took into consideration how horrible a person her mother, grandmother, and even her father had been. But oh my gosh was Dom just perfect in how he handled it in the end. How he was patient. He was so perfect. Especially when we learned about the misunderstanding, it only made me love him more.

But it wasn’t all sad. There was some great banter, hilarious situations to get into. Oh my gosh, the tattoo scene, both hilarious and sad/touching at the same time. Maddie’s friends were wonderful, and I loved Dom’s younger twin brothers. I think this might end up being one of my favorite books of the year. So I’m going to highly recommend this to all my romance reading friends.

P.S. I Hate You by Lauren Connolly was a really great, special read. I grew to love these characters and was totally invested in their outcomes. I was surprised that the book got smutty but not upset by it. This had the best elements of a romance book.

📣 oh boy—amazing second chance romance alert!!

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

📖 what’s the last book a friend recommended that you loved? This was mine—thanks to @bookbruin for the rec!

I’m going to give myself a shout-out for tackling an emotional second chance romance like a boss this week 🏆 😝.

But it’s easy-ish when the book is as good as this one. I freaking adored how PS I Hate You by Lauren Connolly is written & the weight of it all: the pain but also the yearning, attraction, & love.

Maddie & Dom, the man who ravaged her heart years ago, are experiencing the terrible loss of Maddie’s brother & Dom’s best friend, Josh. Josh has requested that they spread his ashes at a series of locations & at each, they read a letter he’s written them & face the wreckage of their imploded relationship.

This is one of those books that feels so emotionally rich, similar to Jessica Joyce’s You, With a View, & the gesture that Dom makes at the end had me feeling Woah. The steam, the feelings, the support…so good!

5 ⭐️. Out 12/03.

CWs: toxic mother, loss, grief, moments of low self-esteem.

[ID: Jess holds the ebook in front of orange flowers.]

🧭🧳🚗
📖Review📖
4.5🌟
📖Book 73/100
📚 PS I Hate You
💫Genre:
Fiction/Romance
✍️Author:
Lauren Connolly

📝Synopsis 📝
Maddie returns home but only because it’s her brother’s funeral. Forced into the proximity of an abusive grandmother, narcissistic mother, no father in the picture, so her plan was to say goodbye to Josh and leave. The only thing is that Josh left his best friend Dom as the executive of his will and requested that he and Maddie spread his remains in eight different states. Only problem is that Dom and Maddie have a rough past which makes this task even more difficult.

💭My Thoughts 💭
This bittersweet story had me crying, laughing, and even wanting to sucker punch people 😆 Maddie was not an easy character to adore, but her layers and journey still managed to captivate me. Dom was very well written, and I’m a sucker for forced proximity, second chance, enemies to lovers, and reflective stories 🥰
I loved their literal and metaphorical journey, and I do believe in my heart Josh was behind it all❤️‍🩹
We know traveling is therapeutic 🧭🧳🚗

Thank you at NetGalley and Berkley for the opportunity to read this wonderful eARC in exchange for an honest review.
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A cute and spicy rom-com that covers loss, grief, abandonment, and mental health.

Josh passed away from cancer. Before he passed, he wrote letters to his close friends and family to read after he passed. His sister Maddie and best friend Dom didn't get individual letters, but a joint letter. This letter tells them they they're tasked in spreading Josh's ashes in places he wanted to travel to. The pair must travel to these places, go where Josh tells them, and spread his ashes and take a selfie together. The catch? Maddie can't stand Dom. Once upon a time, she was in love with him. They hooked up, and the next day he proposed to his wife. How will Maddie share her grief with her brother's best friend while simultaneously hating him?

Connolly wrote a story about growth of her characters while they deal with the loss of a loved on. An adventure with lessons filled throughout. I really enjoyed this!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This was a really wonderful and layered story that definitely had lots of surprises that I didn’t see coming. I thought Maddie was such an interesting character because in one moment my heart was breaking for her about her childhood and now having to manage life without the only family member who loved her and then in other moments I just wanted to shake some sense into her.

Dom was so witty and grumbly, which I always adore in a love interest, and feels so much older than the 29 year old we meet at the beginning of the story because of everything he’s had to deal with in his life. I think you get a really full picture of him as a character and his thoughts and I really enjoyed that , since it feels like sometimes you miss out on that in a 1st person single POV romance.

This was snarky, steamy, and sad at moments but overall I really enjoyed reading this and definitely want to check out more of Lauren’s books. Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

The absolute emotional rollercoaster this took me on! I laughed, I cried, I got angry. It truly forces you to embrace every single part of the grief process. But this is as much of a beautiful romance as it is heartbreaking. When second chance is done right (LIKE THIS), boy is it incredible to read about. The longing, the yearning, the forced proximity of it all. Maddie and Dominic's stories are both so relatable. What a wonderful read!

Normally second chance romance books are not my style, but this one. Chef's kiss.

Maddie and Dom. Man, these two have been through the ringer.

Be prepared to use tissues, there is a lot of grief, a lot of individual growth of these characters (even the friends in the story and family members, not just Maddie and Dom).

This was really a wonderful read, and seriously a tear jerker.

In the end, this is more than just a romance read, it's a story about how even in death, people can bring us back together.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for my ARC.

In this heartbreaking story about grief, first loves, and found family, Maddie Sanderson learns how to live.

Engrossed in this travel adventure her brother sets her on, she has to contend with having so much love to give and having no place for that love to go. In this final farewell tour, she has to learn to let her guard down and trust that she's worth sticking around for because even one more day can be more than enough.

I loved how everyone met Maddie exactly where she was—supporting her without telling her how to feel. She was met with so much love and understanding at a time when she needed it the most, trusting herself to finally let go of the people who didn't deserve her.

While yes, at the core, this is a sweet slow-burn, second-chance romance—that starts a little bit like enemies-to-lovers—the love we find here goes beyond that. These characters are dynamic and gentle and always just show up for each other. I am obsessed with everyone here and I especially love the end of Rosaline's arc. I hope everyone loves this one just as much as I did.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley and PRH audio for the arc and alc.

I can't recommend this book enough! Seriously, it was just SO GOOD. I can almost guarantee you will laugh and cry throughout this novel. This is the kind of novel that makes you pause and appreciate life.

Furthermore, Karissa Vacker does the narration for this book and that very well may be the main reason to pick up this audiobook. She is FANTASTIC!!!

I think this book may very well be one of the best romances of 2024. Just utterly beautiful and lovely. Can't recommend this one enough!

4.5 stars

PS: I Hate You provides a poignant exploration of grief mixed with hardcore second chance energy.

When protagonist Maddie Sanderson loses her older brother, Josh, to cancer, the last thing she expects is to fulfill his dying wish with the man who shattered her heart. Dominic Perry was her brother’s best friend, and there was a moment when Maddie thought the two of them had a future, until Dom dashed her hopes and sent her fleeing across the country. Now tasked to spread Josh's ashes in eight different states with Dom in tow, Maddie is determined not to let the proximity get to her. But as old feelings reemerge, Maddie will have to decide if she can trust Dom again or if they’re destined to remain estranged.

One of the things that author Lauren Connolly does well in this book is exploring the many iterations of grief and loss. Josh’s death fundamentally changes Maddie, and her journey toward acceptance is fraught and emotionally-charged. Dom, too, is grappling with loss, not only of Josh, but of Maddie as well. I enjoyed the way that Connolly unravels what happened between Maddie and Dom in the past slowly, but without relying too heavily on flashback. Keeping the narrative in Maddie’s single POV was also a deft narrative choice.

I laughed out loud at the witty repartee and cried when the characters’ grief felt tangible, and overall really enjoyed this novel. I will definitely be checking out more of Connolly’s work after this read.

P.S. I Hate You by Lauren Connolly is a simultaneous heart-wrenching & heartwarming rollercoaster of an epically emotional romance that explores grief, healing & love in a truly beautiful way. This was an easy 5 star read that I’m extremely thankful I read.

P.S. I Hate You is great for those looking to read…
💙 Emotional Romance
💙 Second Chance
💙 Forced Proximity
💙 Brother’s Best Friend x Best Friend’s Little Sister
💙 Chronic Illness Representation (Asthma)
💙 Heavier Topics

This is honestly my surprise of the year because I was NOT prepared for this rollercoaster but I am so grateful for this ride, the big scary loops & all. This truly took me on a journey & the range of emotions I experienced is hard to put accurately into words. The sister & best friend of a man who passes away from cancer are sent on a multi state adventure to spread his ashes & experience places he never got to go. There’s letters at each stop & so much history, memories & feelings that will flip your heart a thousand times from all the feels.

I do recommend checking content notes as this deals with some heavy topics but I thought it was done with such care & grace.

If you are looking to feel love, tears, a plethora of all the feels & an adventure of a lifetime, I highly recommend P.S. I Hate You!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴍᴇ ɴᴏᴡ?”
“ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ɪ ꜱᴇᴇ.”

Omg Maddie & Dom are E V E R Y T H I N G.

This is a long review and I’m sorry I’m not sorry.

I read this book and highlighted the majority, and then I immediately reread the book and highlighted everything else (basically). 😅 but in all honestly this book was amazing. I ordered a physical copy from @bookofthemonth and reread it when that came, and then I just started listening to the audio (thanks #prha!!).

This is a slow burn, enemies to lovers, brother’s best friend romance, told by Maddie’s POV only. Which I absolutely loved and I think made that story even more amazing. I felt allll of Maddie’s emotions until I was the one sobbing. True story, I sat in my bath tub finishing this book and S O B B E D. Dom is going to make you absolutely fall in love with him, and the supporting characters in this, I want to hug them all. The book has so much heart. It’s about the importance of love and friendship and being honest, with others, but also yourself. About taking chances, and living life to the fullest, because you really don’t know when your last day will be your last. About letting people love all your parts, even the messy and not so pretty ones, because the right people will.

A full circle moment came to me while reading this book. Mike was at work convention and texts me that we were gifted sky diving tickets from the keynote speaker. It has been a bucket list item for us since we first started dating. And it was like my own little Josh was smiling down on me while at the perfect moment for it to happen while I was reading this one.

I made a list of all the places Josh sends Maddie and Dom to spread his ashes and now they’re on my bucket list too! 🥰

Wow. This book had it all. Enemies to lovers, second chance romance, friendship, grief, so many tears, spicy scenes, but it also made me laugh. Lauren did a beautiful job writing about the highs and lows of grief. The slow burn romance between Maddie and Dom was extremely heartfelt. The book is just so utterly human and took me on an emotional roller coaster. It is bittersweet and completely held my attention the entire time I was reading. There is also some miscommunication which usually bothers me in a book, but I felt it was written well! The way her brother was matchmaking behind the grave was pretty amazing. Guys, that epilogue 🥹 just prepare yourself!

P.S. I Hate You is a contemporary romance about two people with a complicated past, tasked with scattering the ashes of someone they loved at landmarks across the U.S.

Maddie Sanderson had her heart broken years ago by her brother Josh’s best friend, Dominic, when he proposed to another woman the morning after being intimate with Maddie. Devastated, she fled to the opposite coast to start a new life and successfully avoided him for seven years. However, after her beloved brother passes away from cancer, Maddie discovers at the funeral that Josh has requested she and Dominic take a series of trips together with his ashes. Despite her lingering anger toward Dominic, Maddie reluctantly agrees, hoping to feel closer to Josh’s memory. But as the trips unfold, Maddie begins to see glimpses of the Dominic she fell for all those years ago.

This book offers plenty of emotional and romantic moments designed to tug on the heartstrings. For readers who have experienced the loss of a sibling, Maddie’s desire to honor Josh’s memory might feel particularly poignant. However, I struggled with Maddie’s character, whose personality often swung wildly between pitiful, whiny, and a grating try-hard. Her sarcasm and attempts at humorous quips or insults felt more cringeworthy than amusing, and her claims of being a neglected introvert didn’t align with the fact that everyone she interacted with seemed inexplicably invested in her life—including two boys she babysat for one summer when they were thirteen.

Dominic, meanwhile, was reduced to a one-dimensional “growly” and “responsible” archetype. The intimate scenes felt misplaced and overly detailed, clashing with the more poignant themes of grief explored in the story. Maddie’s family—her mother, grandmother, and father—came across as cartoonishly toxic, which detracted from what could have been a nuanced portrayal of a dysfunctional family.

While the premise had the potential to deliver a heartfelt exploration of grief and second-chance romance, the execution fell short due to an irritating protagonist, an overemphasis on love scenes, and unrealistic characterizations.

Maddie Sanderson just lost her older brother Josh to cancer, and she is devastated. She is at his funeral in an ill-fitting dress, hiding in a supply closet, checking work emails on her laptop. She is hiding from her grief. She is hiding from her mother. And she is hiding from the man who broke her heart years ago.

Dominic Perry, Josh’s best friend, finds Maddie hiding in the closet, because he needs her. Josh had made him executor of his will, and Maddie needed to be there for what Dom had to say. As he handed out personal letters from Josh to his grandmother, his mother, Dom’s ex-wife Rosaline, Dom’s parents, Dom’s twin brothers Carter and Adam, Maddie waited with bated breath until he pulls out her letter. But there is no letter for Maddie. It’s a big envelope with several individual letters for Maddie and Dom. Together.

Josh had been an adventurer. He had traveled the world taking photos, meeting people, living large. Every once in a while, he would talk Maddie into coming on a trip with him, but she preferred to stay close to home, where her asthma was under control and her jigsaw puzzles were nearby. But his final wish was for Maddie and Dom, together, to spread his ashes in 8 different places, in 8 states that he said he never got the chance to visit. There is an envelope for each destination: Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, Arizona, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Alaska.

Since they’re in Pennsylvania, they decide to go ahead and head to Delaware. Josh left a set of coordinates for each destination, and Maddie and Dom find themselves on the beach. They read the letter Josh left them and release some of his ashes in the ocean. Afterwards, per Josh’s instructions, they go to a bar for Dogfish Head beers on tap and a toast to Josh. Then they get stupid drunk. Since neither Maddie nor Dom are in any shape to drive, they find a motel and raid the vending machine for snacks. They head to their individual rooms, but not without a steamy kiss.

As the months go by, and the trips bring Maddie and Dom together for a brief time, Maddie’s old anger starts to slip away, and Dom’s tight-fisted control starts to loosen. They remember the night the spent together as kids, the one before Dom and Rosaline decided to get married, upending Maddie’s life and sending her to the other side of the country. But now he’s divorced, and they share their grief over losing Josh as they experience new adventures across the country.

Maddie starts to wonder if her brother is acting as matchmaker from beyond the grave, but her grief and childhood trauma still burn brightly in her heart. Will she be able to get past her mistrust of Dominic to give them a real chance at love? Or is she destined to do her jigsaw puzzles at home alone?

PS: I Hate You is a bittersweet romance filled with grief and tattoos, travel and trauma, cheese and snowstorms, glowworms and glaciers. This story of healing is so moving as well as laugh-out-loud funny, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with Maddie and Dom. There are wonderful surprises along the way, but there were also several moments where I was reaching for tissues. There are ups and downs, ins and outs, and so much love in these pages.

I loved this book so much, but there were moments I had to step away. Maddie’s pain is so strong in some moments, so present, that I had to take a minute to catch my own breath. There is so much love for Josh that his loss is palpable to these characters. But the love and friendship is also strong, so there is a lot of hope and warmth and true love in Maddie’s found family. This book is absolutely lovely, but it may prove to be too much for someone who is actively grieving a loss, so please keep that in mind. PS: I Hate You is beautifully written, a love letter to the triumph of the human spirit in the face of loss, and just so much fun.

Egalleys for PS: I Hate You were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.

ARC PROVIDED BY NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW


““As I reach into my bag, my wrist protests the movement, a reminder of the words sketched into it. Love, Josh What a perfect metaphor, because damn, does that love hurt right now, too.””



The timing for me finally reading this book after having it for a while couldn't be more special. It turns out life had me experiencing the same as Maddie and Dom. I lost someone a few weeks ago.

And while my path has been different from Maddie and Dom's, this book has accompanied me and given me happiness and tears and laughter and empathy.

And that's what this story is all about: love in different forms, grief in different forms, happiness, loneliness, family and found family, and how to live every moment to the fullest.

I truly encourage everyone to read it. And I truly want to read more from this author.

Especially if she considers giving a book to Adam and one to Carter (I truly hope so)




““I’m leaving your home, but I’m not leaving you. I’m not going anywhere.” Dom gives his speech to the molding, and I’m grateful because I don’t know if I could survive the next words paired with the weight of his gaze. “I messed up. I will again . You had me on a pedestal, and I hurt you when I fell off it. I can’t promise you perfection, much as I want to be that man for you. What I can swear is that I will never be the one to leave. I’m yours , Maddie Sanderson. And I’m ready to wait , as long as it takes.””

Wow! I almost hate that I read this book at the end of 2024, because it has become one of my favorite romances of the year! I've always loved romances that blend humor, tension, and vulnerability, and this forced proximity/road trip plot line really worked well. Especially given that the purpose of the road trip is to spread the ashes of the FMC's brother. The journey of grief, while falling in love was such an intimate and raw story that captivated my attention. I would bounce between laughing and crying, and by the end of the story, I was both inspired and full of wanderlust.

I am a tough critic as anyone who knows me knows, and this book got me hooked from the beginning and I couldn’t get enough of it. I was burning through pages but at the same time wanting to slow down and savour it because it was going to be ending. It is bittersweet, compelling and takes you on a journey both literally and metaphorically. If you are a fan of: forced proximity, second chance romance and characters with lots of evolution, you’ll be a fan of this story.
Maddie and Dom have a bucket list of things to complete after Maddies brother, who was also Don’s best friend, passes away and leaves them this as his last wish. They are both devastated at the loss of him and his life has left such a hole in them they don’t know how to move on. Maddie finds this challenge exceptionally difficult because she left home after Dom broke her heart several years ago.. During this trip with Dom, Maddie is forced to deal with the feelings that remain with Dom and try and turn all her heartbreak and resentment into something she can cope with so they can spend the time they need to together as they spread her brothers ashes all over the US as his list wish. Maddie has to learn to let go and see the man Dom is now instead of the immature dude he was back then. If she lets down her walls, could they have another shot?
Maddies family, in particular her mother, was the absolute worst, and I was glad to see Maddie’s growth towards that toxic relationship. And Maddie and Dom’s chemistry was top tier.
This story is filled with angst, humor and made me want to put everything this author writes on my automatic read list.
Thanks to Berkley Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.