Reviews

On the Corner of Love and Hate by Nina Bocci

anasatticbookblog's review

3.0

On the Corner of Love and Hate by Nina Bocci
Narrated by Dara Rosenberg
1st in the Hopeless Romantics Series of Standalones
**Looking for a quick review? Skip down to the Down & Dirty**

I have worked with Nina Bocci in the book world for many years now, so I was excited for her to release her first solo novel. I started reading my ARC of On the Corner of Love and Hate and honestly just couldn’t get into it, but that seems to be the case a lot for me lately, so I waited for the audiobook which definitely held my interest more than reading it.

Emma and Cooper grew up in the small town of Hope Lake. Politics are in their blood. Her dad is the mayor, and his mom is in politics too. Cooper and Emma both work in the city planning department, but Cooper is running for Mayor because Emma’s dad is retiring. The relationship between Emma and Cooper has been strained for a while.

“If you two got your heads out of your collective asses, you would make the perfect pair.”

Emma is doing all of Cooper’s work while he is out campaigning, and the little mouse just bitches to herself instead of slapping this jerk right upside the head. He is the town playboy, so much so that his bedroom escapades are all the town talks about instead of taking him seriously for Mayor.

“In a lot of ways, Cooper was like the sun: you couldn’t fly close to it, or him, without getting burned.”

Honestly, he did seem completely immature and unqualified. He seemed like he had no substance, and I never really fully warmed up to him or rooted for him. While I liked Emma at first, I felt like she let herself be taken advantage of by this guy, and never saw the reasoning behind her feelings.



On the Corner of Love and Hate reminded me very much of another co-worker hate-to-love book that will soon be a movie, but it had so much less romance and I never really fell for the main characters. That being said, I never felt like I wanted to put it down but I also never felt the need to go and share my love for it on socials.

Likes:

• •I liked the town and it’s quirky residents.


• •All of the side characters.


• •I love an enemies to lovers read.


• •The friendships.


• •The small town was charming and really written well.


• •Good parents and family life.


• •Her inner monologues.


• •Some cute moments that made me snicker.


• •I love the covers of the whole series.

Dislikes:

• •Moved too slow for me.


• •Only her POV, this story really needed his as well.


• •Neither character was likable enough for me to root for, and it seemed that they felt the same about each other.


• •The political race was stupidly cutthroat for this little town and overshadowed the romance.


• •No chemistry.

The Narration:

I hope to see Dara Rosenberg do more contemporary romance because I really enjoyed her narration.

The Down & Dirty:
On the Corner of Love and Hate by Nina Bocci had good bones and some great moments, but as a whole it was just an OK read for me. It almost shouldn’t be classified as romance. I never felt the chemistry; I never felt the push and pull. I never felt any reason she would even like him. But it kept my interest which is more than a lot of books have done lately.

Rating: 3 Stars, 2.5 Heat, 5 Narration

Purchase On the Corner of Love and Hate by Nina Bocci

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jen286's review against another edition

4.0

Oh I loved this story! I loved Emma and Cooper and everything that happened. They had been friends forever and then life happened and Emma didn't care for Cooper anymore. Or so she has always told herself. And Cooper? Oh, I really liked him. Yes he makes mistakes, or has made mistakes in his past, but you could tell how much he cared about Emma even if she couldn't see it. This story was only told from her point of view which at times I wanted to see what he was thinking, but overall enjoyed that we only say it from her view. She is a bit controlling and has to have everything planned out and at times you want to yell at her to stop overthinking everything because no one cares! but I still loved her. This was a great read and I can't wait to read more in the series!

thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition

4.0

I liked this book but didn’t love it. I found the hate to be a bit too strong between the two characters. That being said, I did read this in one sitting so the end is what kept me going. so I bumped it up a star for that alone. To be honest I didn’t know if they would ever get together. There were many misunderstandings between them rather than the usual one that keeps couples apart so wading through their baggage through the book was a bit much. I did like the mayoral race and hated Whitney, of course. I will read more by this author. Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

marbooks88's review against another edition

4.0

Emma and Cooper have been best-friends and frequent sparring partners their entire lives. From political families they have a lot in common but do they trust each other with the most important thing? Mixed messages and missed moments have led them to where they are. In the end who will win? A story of friendship, loyalty, and finding the strength to risk everything for what they really want.

Thanks to the publishers and the NetGalley for providing an ARC for my honest review.

timitra's review against another edition

3.0

Rated 3.5 Stars

I struggled with On The Corner of Love and Hate in the beginning but it grew on me. It's a mash up of a few things, women's fiction, contemporary small town romance, friends to lovers and enemies to lovers with a political bent. It's also sweet with a bit of humor. I liked it and look forward to reading the rest of the series.


Copy provided by publisher through Net Galley

rachvos9's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed this book overall. I liked the main characters and I felt like the political race was handled well. However, while there is a romance in this book, it feels much more strongly focused on the race for mayor. I wish we would have gotten more time with the romance. Also, I got annoyed with the “Emma Thoughts” throughout the book. It’s already written in first person, why are we pulling out thoughts this way? 

kryscole's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thenextgenlib's review against another edition

4.0

I liked this book but didn’t love it. I found the hate to be a bit too strong between the two characters. That being said, I did read this in one sitting so the end is what kept me going. so I bumped it up a star for that alone. To be honest I didn’t know if they would ever get together. There were many misunderstandings between them rather than the usual one that keeps couples apart so wading through their baggage through the book was a bit much. I did like the mayoral race and hated Whitney, of course. I will read more by this author. Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

andreanourse's review against another edition

4.0

Adorable. Relatable. Funny. Satisfying.

There really isn’t much more I can say about On The Corner Of Love and Hate. Emma’s internal dialogue and imperfections made her likable.

Cooper is the man you love to hate, but ultimately his charm and true intentions will win you over.

I’m a sucker for romantic comedy. Add in a political campaign and I’m sold.

graystreetbooks's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 ⭐️