The Hating Game: A Novel Paperback – August 9, 2016

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne5 stars!!!“My hostage. My blackmailed, unwilling captive. Stockholm Shortcake.”There is nothing like a good hate/love book to get your reading mojo well and truly pumping and that is exactly what The Hating Game delivered. Sally Thorne captured everything about those office relationships where competition takes on a whole new meaning and to think that this is her debut novel, I was totally blown away.Enemies to lovers is one of those tropes that literally has me salivating. You learn more about a person through their actions in that kind of environment, especially in the work place. It is harder to hate than it is to love and there is often a very fine line between the two. Sometimes there is that genuine hate, because let’s be honest, there are a lot of douches and b****es in the world, but more often than not we hate as a veil of our true feelings and that was definitely the case with these two.“Shortcake, if we were flirting, you’d know about it.”“Because I’d be traumatized?”“Because you’d be thinking about it later on, lying in bed.”Two publishing houses struggling in the economic climate merge to ensure the viability of at least one of them, two CEO’s, two assistants. One male assistant, one female assistant who knock their a**es out week after week to be the best. This was all about one-upmanship. Who could work the longest hours, who was more efficient, who has the best ideas etc.: Their competitiveness was the source of many hilarious scenes, yet so relatable having been in a similar environment myself. But they loved to hate one and other, their inter-office games of “hate” had me laughing so many times and this book was written so well their story effortlessly flowed from page to page. This was an easy read, a real page turner.“The trick is to find someone who’s strong enough to take it. That one person who can give it back as good as they get.”Lucy Hutton was working in a place that she had dreamt of since she was a teenager. For her, publishing had always been her dreams albeit maybe not as a PA to the CEO. Her position had left her friendless because of everyone’s “snitch” mentality and her only source of enjoyment in her working day were her battles with Joshua. These two sat in the same office where daggers were drawn from clock in to clock out. Where juvenile staring competitions were the norm and trying to decipher codes and logins were their speciality.“I feel like your Easter egg.”Joshua was a whizz with numbers, he kept himself to himself and was definitely a closed book. He was an ornery man of rituals and order and was as predictable as they came. But who was Joshua Templeman? With a new position being made as COO, a promotion for Lucy or Joshua, battle lines are well and truly drawn as both know that neither one could work for the other. This was a fight to the death in more ways than one. Lucy begins to see a different side to Joshua when little chinks in his armour are slowly revealed, could this be who Joshua Templeman really is and god forbid Lucy for actually…falling in love.“The energy that usually lashes ineffectively inside each of us now has a conduit, forming a loop of electricity between us, cycling through me, into him. My heart is glowing in my chest like a bulb, flashing brighter with each movement of his lips.”The humour and banter in this book was contagious from start to finish, the dialogue was spot on and the chemistry was seriously off the charts. Even in hate mode you could feel those flickers of electricity and you were constantly on edge just waiting for them to ignite into a raging inferno. These two as enemies were hilarious, as lovers totally swoon worthy. I adored EVERYTHING about this book. I made the mistake of starting this late in the day and then read into the early hours of the morning, I couldn’t put it down. The characters were infectious, the plot was riveting and as each layer of Joshua Templeman was revealed my heart just got mushier and mushier. For those that love enemies to lovers this is a must read and the story will speak for itself.“This is the best game I’ve ever played in my entire life.”

This was a cute and fun little enemies to lovers book. It could have been just as good without the spicy (nothing against the spicy)...which to me means that the love story itself was decent.

Lucy Hutton is executive assistant to the Co-Chief Executive Office of Bexley & Gamin, a struggling publisher. As a matter of fact, since the struggle is so real, Gamin Publishing merged with Bexley Publishing about a year ago, and that’s when Lucy met her nemesis, her own personal Newman, Josh Templeman. Let the games (and this review) begin.-Excellent writing: Was rated a “MUST read” by a bestie. When she recommends, I listen. I was NOT disappointed in the slightest. The writing is sharp and flows so well, with excellent banter that allowed the chemistry to crackle and makes you smile throughout.-Lucy is a very likeable fully fleshed out heroine:Told in first person POV through Lucy’s eyes, I found myself really enjoying Lucy's humor and empathizing with her desire to succeed and beat Josh. Lucy is a smart, small funny heroine whose desire to be liked sometimes holds her back from co-workers taking her seriously. Except for Josh. He brings out the worst, and best, in her and it was fun to read.-Workplace romance: There's something about a romance that's set in corporate world, and the inherent humor in that, are some of my favorites and The Hating Game mines that office setting just enough to make the competition between Lucy and Josh believable. The differences between Bexley & Gamin employees from clothing to personalities certainly features in the plot. The promotion angle gives it the impetus for Josh and Lucy’s relationship to shift into another gear and made for an effective long term obstacle, since it's right up to the very end that I was wondering how they were going to resolve it.-Josh, my new BBF: Josh is a mystery at first, and his scenes with Lucy certainly made me understand why they clash the way they do, even if you see their chemistry. Josh's patience and understanding is pretty well balanced with Lucy's occasionally crazy antics, but it's when you start to see his protective veneer peel back to show his feelings for her that I swooned.-Great tension and buildup: The romance is the end all and be all, and that’s just the way I like it. Even their physical differences (at one point Lucy compares them to a Chihuahua and Great Dane) just worked for me on that shallow level.For a debut author, I was very impressed with the way Ms. Thorne handled the pacing. Their relationship ramps up little by little, and it is a slow burn, but the sexual tension is built beautifully. I LOVED the climactic scenes and while yes, there are moments of frustration with Lucy’s trying to fight the inevitable, but the characters are so engaging that I was completely invested in rooting for them to get it right. I’ll admit I was concerned about how it would all work out but tied up beautifully right when I needed it to and when it mattered, both Josh and Lucy showed why they are so perfect for each other.The Bottom LineI adored this debut by Ms. Thorne. She’s created a memorable couple in Josh and Lucy and I look forward to re-reading them for years to come.For more reviews, visit [...]