Reviews

Love the One You Hate by R.S. Grey

cobaltbookshelf's review

4.0

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smartinez9's review

3.0

Cute—not my favorite of hers, but a Pride and Prejudice reminiscent setup with some family dynamics.

Only glaring inconsistency—maybe it’s just me, but I don’t understand how a twenty-three-year-old could have never drunk tea. I know she’s meant to have been deprived, but in a lot of establishments it’s cheaper than coffee or sometimes free, and would presumably be served in places like nursing homes? Could be wrong, but felt odd.

winnowiris's review

2.0

rtc

marjreads_'s review

2.0

Meh

lacydeereads's review

4.0

This book is easily in my top 5 R.S. Grey books! It made me have tears y’all! It was emotional, beautiful, classy and swoon worthy. A scenery that I couldn’t get enough of and that gave me sooo many Downtown Abbey vibes!

netherfield's review against another edition

3.0

i love rich people

(only r.s. grey can get me out of my reading slumps)

iboneva's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bookishblasian's review against another edition

2.0

As someone said in another review that I just read, this book lacks the R.S. Grey magic. I am honestly shocked at all of the good reviews. Did we read the same book? Some of Grey's books are my favorite of all time. This one couldn't be any further from that. The only reason it has 2 stars at all is because I was intrigued enough to finish it in a day, with hopes that it would get better. Sadly, it really didn't improve. I feel like the story ended up being nothing like the title or the summary. Reading those, you would expect this to be a completely different book. I didn't connect with the characters at all. My interest with Nicholas begins and ends with his supposed hotness/brooding-ness. Maren's story is interesting, but that's about it. Any mystery about her is solved or ends up not being interesting at all. I feel like this story tried to have too many different plot lines and it ended up being a mess. To this moment, I still

Spoiler

have no idea why she was hired at Rosethorn. Cornelia randomly hiring her because she liked her doesn't even make sense because she didn't even really make her do any work. Another thing that doesn't make sense is how the title and the summary make it seem like a love story. It's not, not really. It's really about Maren coming into her own. Epilogues normally get me, but by the end of this I had hardly any interest in Maren or Nicholas and their future. The Ariana story makes sense why Maren has had a hard time at being hired, but otherwise seemed to serve no purpose. Her relationship with Barrett didn't seem relevant either

. One of the only things I truly enjoyed about this book was Maren's relationship with Cornelia. I have a weird soft spot for people befriending the elderly and gaining some wisdom. Overall, this book was nothing like you would expect it to be. Don't expect this to be a love story, because it's not really. If you ask me, we never really see the hate or the love in this book. Maren and Nicholas are two separate entities with weird feelings about each other right until the beach trip. Before that, you couldn't convince me that a single thing was happening between them. If you're on the fence about this one, I'd say pass and go for Make Me Bad or The Foxe and the Hound. This book is no where near Grey's best work.

simplyxkate's review against another edition

4.0

Really enjoyed this one. I found both of the main characters very likable and RS Grey did an excellent job creating tension between them that you could cut with a knife. I also enjoyed that there was more to this story than the romance aspect. Maren realizes that she has been given a great opportunity and she grows from it. This was overall a really entertaining and quick read.

shesagift's review against another edition

2.0

Another cotton candy rom-com read. I used to look forward to new RS Grey books, but the last few have just been meh for me. I didn't even read Coldhearted Boss or Make Me Bad, and struggled losing myself in His Royal Highness or Doctor Dearest. I guess I'm just really over the "Oh no, I'm broke and a mess and totally boring, but this rich, hot man will pick me out of a crowd and love me and give me confidence and purpose!" trope. I'm tired of heroines being defined by being poor or having bad financial luck; it makes their millionaire/billionaire boyfriend seem a bit like a savior instead of a lover. And honestly, who wants to read book after book of MC's worrying about their financial situation? By a Thread by Lucy Score did the same thing, and it was so stressful as a reader.

This one was just especially weird. You have the savior figure in Cornelia, who just randomly more-or-less abducts Maren (who thought that meeting someone for a job opportunity meant MOVING INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S MANSION FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE?) and then she has like... half a dozen conversations with Nicholas before she's like "yes, he makes my panties melt, must have forever." Their relationship was not very... deep. Especially on Maren's end. But all of a sudden, he's like, in love with her... and why? Because she's pretty, and he's decided she is not a criminal or a threat, and she made out with him?

Anyway... cotton candy because I breezed through it over the course of a Sunday morning over coffee, but once I put it down, I was left unsatisfied by the characters and the plot .