Goodreads tells me that not only is the second book going to continue in the same setting, but that it’s also arriving on shelves in November. Even though this book kicks off a series, I wasn’t sure how exactly the next novel would play out - or if it’d be related at all to Hate to Want You.
My reaction to the other unresolved points was originally more mixed. That neat bow isn’t completely present in Hate to Want You. (Ditto with the mentioning of World War II Japanese internment camps in reference to Livvy’s grandfather, among other things.) This is a romance novel. This is part of the reason that the Inevitable Almost Breakup works.Īdditionally, how Rai decides to let those plot points of character development end puts a dose of realism into this story. It doesn’t feel quite as arbitrary as it could, but rather a (mostly) natural progression of what goes on in the rather large portion of the story that precedes it.Īnother reason that Nicholas and Livvy work so well as protagonists is that they have actual flaws that they actually endeavor to work on in the course of the story. That’s the usual plan, and it works quite well here because of how long Rai delays this plot point. Rai actually moves into somewhat non-vanilla territory as she escalates the scenes.) So, when for a brief moment it looks like the story’s going to end on a low note, it punches the reader in the gut, emotionally speaking, and compels them to keep reading. (The steamy scenes certainly help with this, because, um, wow. The two of them have rounded personalities and chemistry. Why the latter? Because Rai builds Nicholas and Livvy’s characters up very well.
(Mild spoilers follow.) When yours truly got to the Inevitable Almost Breakup, I had to put the book down for two reasons. Hate to Want You still has the expected beats of most modern novels in the genre. Granted, it was for a historical romance novel, but the point still stands here. Now, though, she’s returned to their shared hometown, possibly for good, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still problems.Ī few weeks ago, I talked about the idea of predictability in romance. As in, they used to date, but some family drama tore them apart … only for them to meet once a year on a specific day. Our premise is this: Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler have a lot of history. Sometimes heading out of the comfort zone backfires. Alisha Rai’s first book with Avon, Hate to Want You, does not count as a backfire at all. By Cheryl Wassenaar 5 years ago Alisha Rai’s move to Avon comes in the form of Hate to Want You, which goes from zero to 100 approximately immediately … and we’re here for it.Ĭontemporary romance is not your humble reviewer’s favorite genre, unless it comes with something on the side, like urban fantasy.
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