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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
4.5 stars
I loved this one. Lauren Layne is my go-to author for enemies to lovers story and this one didn't disappoint. Matt and Sabrina had great chemistry and their banter kept the story moving at a fast pace. I also found the book to be very touching after getting a look at Matt and Sabrina's upbringing and how it shaped them. I would say that the conflict, the reason Matt and Sabrina hate each other, seemed a little like an afterthought. I understand Sabrina's knee-jerk reaction and hurt from what happened, but it seems to me that she would have realized pretty fast that it was an overreaction based on things Matt had no way of knowing. I think with them being in the same friends' group, the misunderstanding would have been worked out sooner. That's a really small quibble though. When I finished this book it gave that 'I just finished a great book' feeling and it gave me a book hangover.
I loved this one. Lauren Layne is my go-to author for enemies to lovers story and this one didn't disappoint. Matt and Sabrina had great chemistry and their banter kept the story moving at a fast pace. I also found the book to be very touching after getting a look at Matt and Sabrina's upbringing and how it shaped them. I would say that the conflict, the reason Matt and Sabrina hate each other, seemed a little like an afterthought. I understand Sabrina's knee-jerk reaction and hurt from what happened, but it seems to me that she would have realized pretty fast that it was an overreaction based on things Matt had no way of knowing. I think with them being in the same friends' group, the misunderstanding would have been worked out sooner. That's a really small quibble though. When I finished this book it gave that 'I just finished a great book' feeling and it gave me a book hangover.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Sabrina and Matt were quite enjoyable to read with their back and forth, which had a different vibe from Ian and Lara’s bickering. I liked that they could connect with their harsh upbringings and even though I anticipated the break-up scene, their reconciliation was sweet.
I can’t resist a fake dating story. And when it’s a fake dating story written by one of my go to authors for easy to read and compelling tales of charming men and fierce women, I absolutely can’t say no. And Hard Sell didn’t disappoint.
When Matt Cannon’s work hard, but play harder ways come back to bite him in the ass at work, there’s only one thing to do: hire fixer Sabrina Cross to be his fake girlfriend and polish up his reputation. Too bad the sometimes friends, sometimes lovers have a whole lot of history and pent up frustrations with each other to make this an easy gig for either of them.
There’s plenty of enemies-to-lovers and faking dating books out there, but I think the thing I loved about this book was how it took both and made them unique. Sabrina and Matt already have a history and that history falls more into frenemies territory. The fact that they deep down do care about each other, but just constantly manage to find ways to disagree and frustrate the hell out of each other gave both tropes an intriguing twist. That they ultimately fell in love with each other didn’t feel like it came out of left field, instead it worked and was believable from both of them, despite the adamance from both of them that they would never fall in love.
I also really appreciated that Matt and Sabrina both has really interesting backstories that gave each of them the most believable motivations behind the way they behaved in relationships. The more you found about their individual histories and their shared past, the more humanized Matt’s playboy character and Sabrina’s tough as nails character became. It made for great character development and made the book quite the page turner for me.
When Matt Cannon’s work hard, but play harder ways come back to bite him in the ass at work, there’s only one thing to do: hire fixer Sabrina Cross to be his fake girlfriend and polish up his reputation. Too bad the sometimes friends, sometimes lovers have a whole lot of history and pent up frustrations with each other to make this an easy gig for either of them.
There’s plenty of enemies-to-lovers and faking dating books out there, but I think the thing I loved about this book was how it took both and made them unique. Sabrina and Matt already have a history and that history falls more into frenemies territory. The fact that they deep down do care about each other, but just constantly manage to find ways to disagree and frustrate the hell out of each other gave both tropes an intriguing twist. That they ultimately fell in love with each other didn’t feel like it came out of left field, instead it worked and was believable from both of them, despite the adamance from both of them that they would never fall in love.
I also really appreciated that Matt and Sabrina both has really interesting backstories that gave each of them the most believable motivations behind the way they behaved in relationships. The more you found about their individual histories and their shared past, the more humanized Matt’s playboy character and Sabrina’s tough as nails character became. It made for great character development and made the book quite the page turner for me.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i cannot with this ending
There is nothing quite like a Lauren Layne book. Well written, engaging, funny, and thrilling. Matt and Sabrina's hate to love relationship is one of my favorite tropes, and LL did them well. Easy to love, and hard to put the book down.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was decent and I feel like I enjoyed the last few chapters of the book more than entire book in general which makes sense because I didn’t really feel the connection between the two characters.
I am not usually a fan of the leads having a sort of "benefits" thing going on between them right from the start of the story because that's not typically a slow burn, so I was a bit wary of the comments about them being enemies with benefits. However, despite their previous relations and being massively attracted to each other, they had succumbed to this pretty late into the story so I liked it better and it counted as a slow burn for me. lol
This book had unexpectedly made my heart ache with that slight angst quite plenty of times. I liked how Matt was constantly pining for Sabrina albeit doing it unconsciously and unintendedly. Their push and pull, and never-ending banter were entertaining. And of course, there's their solid circle of friends that seems fun to be a part of. Overall, it was a good quick read and I liked this a bit better than the first one even though Matt could be hard-headed, in constant denial, and was determined to keep his cynicism that I want to smack his head sometimes. He was charming and funny that he just grows on you haha.
Usually, when reading stand-alones that are parts of a series, I either become disinterested in going through the next books or want to finish it all without missing a single book. Fortunately, this series falls on the latter category for me because the side characters are just compelling like that to make you want to read how their story unfolds. <3
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Steam Level:
This book had unexpectedly made my heart ache with that slight angst quite plenty of times. I liked how Matt was constantly pining for Sabrina albeit doing it unconsciously and unintendedly. Their push and pull, and never-ending banter were entertaining. And of course, there's their solid circle of friends that seems fun to be a part of. Overall, it was a good quick read and I liked this a bit better than the first one even though Matt could be hard-headed, in constant denial, and was determined to keep his cynicism that I want to smack his head sometimes. He was charming and funny that he just grows on you haha.
Usually, when reading stand-alones that are parts of a series, I either become disinterested in going through the next books or want to finish it all without missing a single book. Fortunately, this series falls on the latter category for me because the side characters are just compelling like that to make you want to read how their story unfolds. <3
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Steam Level:
The end was soppy but I enjoyed the book a great deal. Not much for people looking for smut (I was often confused about when they actually did the deed)