This is for you if you're looking for a fun, quick, steamy enemies-to-lovers book. The plot moves quickly, and there are no lulls; you can definitely read this in one sitting. The FMC and MMC can sometimes come off a bit immature, but that's easy to see past 3.75 stars!

it's been a minute since I've read anything by this author, but whew, this one was definitely spicier than i remember any of her other books being! that was probably the most fun/interesting part of the whole book.

i did feel like the switch between enemies to actually liking each other felt rushed/not earned. you have them pranking each other pretty hard, getting into heated discussions with and without their coworkers around, and then a storm happens, you find out you've been flirting online and poof? y'all are interested in each other?? i think i would have found it more satisfying if maybe the pranks weren't so intense (or if they had remorse / tried to rectify what happened), or if the book was longer so there was more time between them literally being terrible to each other and them being cognizant of catching feelings for the other.

i thought that was fast.. but then the pacing at the end really went off the rails, and we have a lot of things happening really quickly, again without feeling like the characters really earned these things. i saw the end of the book coming based on the percentage progress, but was still flabbergasted when it ended.

also biased because my relationship with my dad + sports was very similar to aidan and his dad's growing up, so after seeing how their relationship changes, i was a bit activated at how easily the hurts are forgiven.

A hot professor with a secret for writing Shakespeare spicy fan fic and an analytics risk auditor collide in this short hot romance.

Adrian is a professor of English literature at a University in Nashville that is losing money and Micah is brought in to audit the English department. As soon as these two meet, it is hate at first. But you know what they say, there is a fine line between love and hate.

I absolutely flew through this book. It was short without feeling like we were missing something and kept me wanting to read more to witness the next Micah and Adrian interaction.

Loved this book and hoping for more in this series following some of the other characters that were seen in this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Afterglow books for a digital ARC copy.

I was super excited for this book because I usually love everything this author writes, but this one did not work for me. I found the plot to be somewhat intriguing so that did hold by interest. However, the 2 main characters, IMO, were just so boring and I thought their chemistry was totally lame because of it. I wasn't able to get into the story because I couldn't get past what a snoozefest these 2 were.

This read like an erotica nestled within an erotica, without much else to have me cheering on the couple. The motivations for Micah's choices at the end didn't make sense to me especially when earlier in the book we hear about her financial struggles. This made her character arc very inconsistent, and Aidan encouraging it quite irresponsible. I just wasn't a fan of how much the scenes were just re-written into fanfic for us to read again from both their perspectives. I get it, they're writing and thinking about one another. I don't need to re-read what they wrote, I need to see actual connection between the two of them. Aidan supporting her work alone doesn't seem like enough reason for her to ignore her concerns after her past relationship experience and the epilogue was especially rushed.

Overall, this was not the book for me.

Thanks to Harlequin books and NetGalley for the ARC of this title for my review.

I was really excited to read this when I saw I got approved for the arc. I feel like this book had so much good potential and I was left a bit disappointed.

I did not like Aiden at all and I did not like him and Micah together. There was supposed to be a sexual tension between them but I felt nothing. They did not have a connection at all and I believe Micah should not have ended up with him. She deserved better. I did like Micah’s character at the start I liked how she held her ground and everything but then I feel like she left everything behind for Aiden. I think this book could’ve been amazing if Aiden wasn’t so damn annoying and Micah stood her ground.

Spoilers

Her quitting her job for him just cause Aiden didn’t like it was also insane to me like hello?? Girl stand up. And Aiden was so annoying like dude she’s just doing her job stop crying about it if you really were a good teacher you would not be worried about her being there whatsoever. And when he said he loved her while they were arguing about her job 😔😭. Omg
There’s so much I could say about this book but imma stop here.

Overall I think I was just disappointed by the characters and if they were a little better it would’ve been more enjoyable. I think the writing wasn’t bad but I don’t think anyone could write Aiden as a likable character.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC!

The premise of this book was what drew me to it in the first place: workplace enemies-to-lovers, with a hint of forbidden secret love. I was excited to see this story play out, however, at times, it felt like some things were either rushed, glanced over, or just missed altogether. I would have liked to see more character development, particularly once they started seeing each other. The spice level was good for this type of story, however, I struggled to see how their relationship progressed beyond the attraction.

There were a few other things that I struggled with when it came to this book, but I will leave it at this.

Overall, it was good, quick read, if you are looking for something simple to read.

I loved this book! It was a cute quick read. The mmc being an English professor and writing erotic fanfics on the side was what made me want to read this book. I liked reading the short stories that the main characters wrote. It’s a type of book that makes you smile while reading. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

Initially I was really excited about the premise of this book. It had some of my favourite tropes with a workplace romance and enemies to lovers and I love a Shakespeare reference but I think this was just not the book for me.

I found this story hard to get into. For a book under 300 pages it took me over a week to read it and I just couldn’t connect with the characters. As a lover of fanfic I thought the premise would be great but in the end I feel like it took over to much of the story. The fact that Aidan is stressing about his job and instead of thinking of maybe ways to enhance his enrolment or engage his students more he just posts more smutty oneshots of fanfic and when the characters are fighting they go back to the fanfic website. I just found that the fanfic aspect was leaned on too much for this story. It would have been a good lead in and then for the characters to step away and see where they are aside from that but it just kept circling back.

Micah’s character just confused me all round. For the beginning she’s portrayed as a woman who’s trying to regain her independence and is untrustworthy of men but then with the way she handles her job and the story ends it’s like she throws her entire character out the window because of a guy (again).

I really wanted to enjoy this but I think it just wasn’t for me.

2.75 ⭐️

I really wanted to like this book. I was intrigued by the cover and the description. I personally love the workplace enemies to lovers trope and the beginning of the story started off very strong. However, it started to read more like a Wattpad style story to me. Not to say Wattpad is bad per se, but I was hoping for a bit more sophistication, I guess? The tension was done well between Aiden and Micah, but the rest fell flat, I don’t mind reading “smut”, but I enjoy it more when there are more feelings than just just involved. This story just became full on smut with no real sense of romance or feeling.

i've read many great workplace enemies-to-lovers romances that are worth rereading, and this one is near the top of that list. sometimes authors can't create enough chemistry between characters, but Aidan and Micah's chemistry is palpable. and the plot?? workplace enemies but mysterious romance writers/friends online? needless to say i was obsessed. there were a few typos in this arc, but i’m sure they’ll all be worked out in the final publication. i truly loved this book!!!

Unfortunately I just truly couldn’t get in to this one which really stinks because the premise sounded so good! DNF at 47%

Aiden Scott is an English professor at East Nashville University, and moonlights as a writer of Shakespearean fan fiction. Micah Mika is a fan. Micah is assigned to audit the English department at ENU and then a spark ignites between them.

The cover and blurb of this book really caught my attention. I started reading very hopefully that it would be a quick steam fun read. It was very steam and had some fun parts but for the content of the book, the characters felt very juvenile. In the book they are 32 years old and in a professional setting, but they didn’t act like it. I didn’t feel any tension between them and really there wasn’t much growth or progress made as characters besides Aiden’s relationship with his dad.

I did enjoy the book, but didn’t find my self reaching to pick it up at every opportunity.

I love this shakespear adjacent book couldn't get enough, All of her books are my favorite and this one is no disappointment. thanks so much for letting me read this book

I was really drawn to the cover and description of this book, but sadly, it didn’t live up to expectations. The characters were awful, abhorrent and insufferable. Honestly, the biggest shock in the opening chapters was that either of them managed to keep their jobs after their outrageous behavior during WORK meetings. It felt like something from a middle schooler's Wattpad story honestly.

The character development and dialogue were nowhere to be seen. There was no banter, flirting, tension, or slow burn. Just a lot of repetitive, immature lines (if I read "that’s so hot" one more time, I might scream). The writing was so bad and mechanical, I imagine it’s how AI would try to write what it thinks romance should look like without understanding real human emotions/interactions.

I also agree with others that “the big twist” was underwhelming since it seemed to exist solely to push the characters into bed together after they’d spent most of the book loudly despising each other (and still do after the hookup). The entire story, particularly the ending, felt problematic, with the woman facing most of the consequences while the man seemed to come out on top. during women’s history month no less?

That said, I’m someone who doesn’t really vibe with the whole hate-sex trope, so maybe I’m not the target audience here. If you enjoy that as well as a novel filled with misunderstandings and drama, this might still be your thing - it just wasn’t mine. Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Harlequin and Sarah Echavarre Smith for this advanced copy of Much Ado About Hating You.

If you go into this book expecting a quick, spicy, slightly cheesy romance, you’ll have a fun time. It’s not amazing quality writing but it’s funny, and the spice is decent. I knew what I was getting into, and I enjoyed it. Like watching reality television.

Overall: 3.25 Stars out of 5

Thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow for the opportunity to give my candid feedback!

I originally requested this book because it seemed to have everything I typically look for: dual POV, academic rivals, office romance, and the Shakespearean fan fic aspect got me. Also, the spicy cover is perfect!

Now, I did enjoy that the MCs were more mature and open with one another, especially about their previous relationships and family trauma. The use of dual POV here was also great! It was almost 50/50 which I loved because it meant we got a lot of the spicy scenes from Aidan’s perspective as well.

But, overall, I was personally turned off by how repetitive the prose was and I just wished the characters' maturity translated into how they treated each other in the professional setting. Also, the way the narrative took a turn at the end was a bit of an ick for me.

With that said, if you are looking for a short, sweet, and very spicy workplace romance I think you would enjoy Much Ado About Hating You!

I wanted to love this story, but the characters kind of fell flat for me. I usually love the enemies to lovers trope, but this felt more childish and petty. The "banter" and pranks felt very immature. Overall, the story was okay. It did have some redeeming moments in the end.

Much Ado About Hating You was a very short and quick read. Based the description, I really thought that I was going to like this book. Unfortunately this book just wasn't my cup of tea. The book felt very bland and the relationship between both main characters was just ehhhh. This book has the potential to be better, it just needs a little bit of reworking, especially with the characters.

This book was so fun!! Great enemies to lovers. Such good banter. Loved the Shakespeare meets modern romance throughout the story. The fanfic writing was really fun. The steam and the chemistry was perfect. This felt like a longer novella, not quite a novel. So the plot moves fast along with the emotions. But for the length, it was a blast and did not bother me at all. I seriously had so much fun.