somewhat mediocre, sadly. the decision-making process was rather weird by all the chars and they all felt almost paper-flat. 2.5 stars. tysm for the arc.

look at that beautiful cover! while not my favorite from afterglow, much ado about hating you manages to take familiar tropes like ‘fanfic writer/reader’ and turn them on their head — our mmc is the romance writer this time! yay! i’ve been craving that so badly in a book and i was so happy to see it here. the only thing about this book is that it takes the ‘hating you’ part a liiiittle too seriously — for a standalone romance, i want to see more romantic sections. otherwise, this was a super fun academia romance.

'Much Ado About Hating You" by Sarah Echavarre Smith is an electrifying enemies-to-lovers romance that masterfully intertwines academic rivalry with clandestine online passions. The palpable tension between financial auditor Micah Mila and literature professor Aidan Scott ignites into a fervent and deeply erotic connection, blurring the lines between professional boundaries and personal desires. Smith's adept storytelling delivers a narrative rich in sensuality and emotional depth, making this novel a compelling read for those seeking a steamy office fantasy.​

Very hot, and surprisingly funny at times!

Okay, the premise? So fun. A Shakespearean fanfic writer with a secret identity and his biggest fan just so happens to be the financial auditor who’s threatening his job? Yes, please! Enemies to lovers with a hidden online friendship twist? I was in.

Buuut the first half dragged a bit for me. The initial conflict felt over-the-top and kind of immature for two thirty-somethings. I love a good grumpy/sunshine or snarky banter dynamic, but some of the antics (ahem, the hot sauce??) felt more mean than flirty. It made it hard to root for either of them in the beginning, especially Micah—her reactions didn’t always match the moment.

That said, once the secret identities are revealed and they move into spicy, sneaky rendezvous territory? It picked up fast. The second half had way more heart, better communication, and I finally started to believe in their chemistry. Also, the Shakespeare fanfic bits? Iconic. Loved that element and honestly would’ve read an entire novella of just that.

So yeah—this had all the pieces of a fave, but the first half held it back for me. If you’re into academia settings, spicy nerdy vibes, and enemies who eventually become lovers, this might still be worth checking out.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Romance, and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover and description drew me to the book, and I was excited to read it. I finished it in a few hours and tried to like it, but it was painful. The characters were immature and lacked depth. Additionally, it lacked a plot, and there was much more smut than needed.

Read if you like:
- Smut > plot
- Enemies to lovers
- Shakespear retelling

Much Ado About Hating You is the perfect blend of academic rivalry, slow-burn tension, and fanfic-fueled spice that kept me completely hooked from start to finish. Sarah Echavarre Smith delivers an enemies-to-lovers romance that is equal parts witty, steamy, and heartwarming.

Micah and Aidan’s dynamic crackles with tension in all the best ways—her no-nonsense approach as an auditor versus his passionate, slightly exasperated professor energy makes for some truly entertaining clashes. But the real magic happens when their anonymous online identities collide, turning their late-night escapes into something far more intimate. The reveal? Chef’s kiss.

Smith nails the pacing, balancing their professional (and personal) battles with swoon-worthy moments and just the right amount of angst. Nothing drags, and the chemistry is absolutely electric. If you love workplace enemies-to-lovers with a fandom twist, this is a must-read.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

I wanted to like this book, the premise sounded fantastic, however I struggled to get through it.
I’ll start with that I enjoyed about this book:
I liked Micah, she was smart and capable. I enjoyed the relationship we saw between her parents (even if only briefly) and the relationship she had with her sister. The author writes siblings very well, both Micah and her sister, and Aiden and his brother.
Now let’s talk about Aiden. I found him almost impossible to like until around the 60% mark. He is immediately rude to Micah at the meeting when they’re introduced to her, she’s the auditor that’s been hired by the university to report on the English department, where he’s a professor. She’s speaking in this meeting, while Aiden is talking with his best friend in the back of the conference room, like 12 yr old boys, then when she calls him out for being rude he tears into her, mocks her degree, and puts her down in front of everyone. As the story goes on he does more things that make him look like a jerk, he even internally acknowledges that he owes her an apology, as well as voicing it to his brother, yet when the opportunity to apologized it presented he doubles down and then blamed Micah for his treatment of her.
Micah and Aiden move past their differences, he finally offers an apology, and I started to like him (if we’d seen this side of him with office banter rather than outright hostility, I would have been on board), however as we get to the end he tells Micah she shouldn’t do the job she was hired to do, blaming her for the university wanting to make cutbacks and telling her she should quit and pursue a dream of writing. Aiden have off a lot of misogyny and just overall whining, the entire book.
There was also a small random side plot about one of his friends no longer liking his brother or hockey, this plot went nowhere and I genuinely don’t know the point of why it was included

Thank you so much to Sarah Echavarre Smith and Harlequin - Romance | Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the eARC of this title. First off this book is SPICY! But we love that in a good retelling. Smith did a great job with the pacing and plot. Nothing dragged out for longer then it need to which I loved. Trope wise I would say it's a workplace enemies to lovers romance and a quick read. Highly recommend.

I recorded a digital ARC of this from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a review.

When Micah has to audit the English department at East Nashville University, she immediately makes “enemies” with a professor there, Aiden. To unwind after the long days and fights with Aiden, she logs into a fanfic site to read from her favorite author there ShakespeareInLust. One night, she decides to comment and they start a conversation on the website. Micah enjoys their conversations and they vent to each other about work and life. Unbeknownst to her, Aiden is ShakespeareInLust. Cue tension, drama, romance tropes, and some spice

I devoured this book in two days. It’s a fun, fast-paced romance with witty banter, amazing spice and fun characters. Sprinkle in some fanfic writing and heated arguments and you have this novel. It was a fun read and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC!

This is a pretty quick, spicy read with good moments, but some bad moments that are hard to overlook.

So I’ll start with my positives,
- Shakespeare retelling
- Goos smut
- Fanfic love (yes this is important to me!!)

On to the negatives,
- I feel like this could’ve gone through one more round of editing. There were some instances where certain phrases/words were repetitive or just unnecessary. I feel like the author wanted to tell us how the character is feeling instead of describing how that emotion manifests.
- some of the dialogue seemed… out of place
- Them doing the deed was supposed to mean more to the FMC, but it was written so casually with no emotion.
- They’ve known each other for SIX weeks btw
- Lastly, the MMC was so mean. like unforgivably mean. There were times where I noted “And I’m supposed to like him??” He only stops being mean when he finds out he’s been chatting with her online. I feel like he should be nice to ALL women, not just women you want to hook up with.

Okay, so was this life changing? no, it wasn't. I don't think it was trying to be either. I think that the workplace romance kinda vibe is always going to be a great trope though. this was also giving massive enemies to lovers vibes., which i'm obsessed with. I however, think that Aiden could have been a touch more understanding about her job and maybe a little bit less hateful. The spice was crazy good, the romance itself felt rushed. This story could have used another 50-100 pages of just them falling in love., This was an easy fun read however.

I enjoyed this Shakespeare inspired retelling more than I thought i would. But Much ado about nothing makes for great retellings.

This was pretty good! I loved the pace of it! Also great page length. The author did a great job moving the book at a great pace and not dragging it out. I loved the dynamic of the characters and the overall plot was great!

The book is SPICY! 4.5/5



Tropes
Workplace
Enemies to lovers
Snowed in
Secret Identities

The story idea was very interesting. Loved the cover. The story has a good pace and wasnt too long. I just couldnt get invested in the characters. I didnt really feel the chemistry and felt like some of the fights were immature. It was more of a silly, smutty romance.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This book focused on enemy to lover workplace.romance between professor Aiden Scott and financial auditor Micah Mila. Completely.packong in depth, character development, relationship development and storyline, this book focused on sex and not much else.

While it was a quick read and the story was well.paced, there were scenarios that could have been better developed, expanded on or given more depth...I was wholly disappointed, as it seemed there were many opportunities for the story and characters to grow, but those opportunities were skimmed over.

I did not understand how two 32-year old professionals (with a PhD and MBA) spoke and chatted with the dialogue of teenagers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC opportunity.

I was really looking forward to this book, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy it. I thought both of the characters were extremely immature, and there wasn't much chemistry between them. I also didn't love the writing style; it felt very choppy. While the premise of this book sounded super fun, it was poorly executed, and I overall didn't really like this book.

I really wanted to love this. The premise was great and it started out strong. But both characters were really immature and it all felt very forced. There wasn’t any real chemistry between the characters. The spice was good.

Awesome premise, mediocre execution. There were quite a few mistakes (missing words, wrong words, etc), and the writing was repetitive between the fanfic and the book itself. Aidan is an unprofessional jerk who was profoundly unlikeable. “Your chest just happened to be in my line of vision”?? Seriously? Micah was awesome though. I think that this author has a lot of potential but could use some work on her craft.

This book is for all of the readers who grew up in online writing forums and in fandom, and for those who never left, even after entering their adult years.

Aiden is a British literature professor who moonlights as an author on the ScribbleShare app, rewriting many of Shakespeare's works as steamy erotica. He's struck a wonderful balance between his two sides with none at work the wiser to his alter ego, ShakespeareinLust. However, this delicate peace is thrown in disarray when Micah joins his job as the university's financial auditor. A fierce, no-nonsense individual, Micah makes it very clear she is not a fan of his. To make matters worse, if he can't find a way to make things right with her, his job - and everyone else's in the English department - are in jeopardy. Can he find a way to keep his job, keep his alter ego hidden, and keep his growing feelings for Micah at bay?

Let me tell you, this book made me giggle and kick my feet as I read it. As someone who grew up on fanfiction.net, Wattpad, and AO3, the idea of these professional adults still enjoying and thriving in the throes of an online writing community made me so happy. You never outgrow the things that make you happy and you never have to give them up, and to see two people of different personalities still enjoying these things is very healing. The flirtatious banter we see in their texts as ShakespearinLust and Hot4Hermia is downright delicious, a perfect balance between the deep connection two strangers on the internet can make over shared interests. While these two find peace with each other online, seeing them at each other's throats in real life is equally as funny and frankly, a little frightening. I like that we get an equal understanding of why they hate each other through this book's dual point of view, as well as their reasoning for the hurtful things they might say or do.

The only reason this book is a four star instead of a five star is because I felt the switch from absolute hatred to unignorable, undeniable lust was a bit too quick. While both types of tension are amazing, especially with these two characters, it could have been paced out just a little more. Enemies to lovers is one of the trickiest tropes to nail, but with their jobs and personalities in such opposition, I think this could really do well. Other than that, amazing read, absolutely will be reading it again in the future.