My new roommates are two pro hockey players.
First, my manwhore older brother, and second, his seriously hot best friend (who I seriously hate).
This was a last resort.
No one should be sleeping on a futon that smells like Cheetos and ball sweat. But here I am, trying to get my life together.
Tristan Stiles is the bane of my existence.
He never wears a shirt. We can’t seem to stop fighting.
He’s an arrogant playboy with a filthy reputation.
Sure, I had a crush on him when I was fourteen, but that was a long time ago. I know better than to trust him.
I just need to survive long enough to find a new job and get a new place.
And not accidentally let Tristan rail me into next week.
| Title: | If You Hate Me |
| Author: | Helena Hunting |
| Series: | Toronto Terror Book 1 |
| Pages: | 448 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Enemies to Lovers Friends to Lovers Roommates to Lovers Brother’s Best Friend / Best Friend’s Sister |
| Point of View: | First Person, Present Tense, Dual Viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | Toronto, Canada |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 7th March, 2024 |
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A dirty, readable romance
I have always enjoyed Helena Hunting’s romances and was very much looking forward to this brother’s best friend, enemies to lovers, forced proximity hockey romance. All those yummy tropes – I was in!
In many ways it’s a simple tale that does what it sets out to do. Rix (aka Beatrix, Beat, Bea..) has had to move in with her brother and his best friend due to an unfortunate incident with her roommates. They’re both hockey players and dirty, gross manwhores to boot – but she could cope if her brother’s best friend, Tristan, wasn’t so mean to her. And didn’t look so hot while doing it.
I liked Rix even if I can’t say that I fell in love with her. She’s young – 22 – and I do remember feeling as lost at her age as she felt in terms of finding your passion in life, carving out your own space. But I’m also not 22 anymore and sometimes I just wanted her to get her shit together and stop acting bratty. But I did like her and wanted her to be happy.
Tristan as a hero is definitely one that’s catnip for me. He’s big, he’s brash, yes, he’s a bit mean to Rix – but really he’s a big ol’ teddy bear that’s a wounded little boy inside. It’s alluded to a lot in the book but we never actually see any evidence of Tristan sleeping around and you get the impression fairly early on that he’s not really that type of guy. Once he’s with Rix, he’s with her.
“Rix and Tristan definitely have that enemies vibe going on – which always gives me those giddy vibes of knowing it’s about to turn to love!”
Rix and Tristan definitely have that enemies vibe going on – which always gives me those giddy vibes of knowing it’s about to turn to love! And I liked that even when Rix and Tristan got together, they still had that edgy chemistry that they’d had when they were enemies. I liked them as a couple and they fit well together.
Obviously with that wonderful chemistry of our couple, the sex is going to be good. And it was…to a point with me. I like sex in a romance – enjoy it when our characters enjoy each other and feel it adds an intimacy to the love story. So colour me surprised that I didn’t gel with the sex scenes in this book. It was good in the beginning but then they kept having sex – to the point that I found myself skipping scenes as they didn’t add anything to the story. I’m never a fan of anal sex but fisting is definitely a first for me in a romance. Turns out I’m more vanilla than I thought.
The storyline in this book is really engaging and I had no trouble ever picking this up to sneak in another few chapters. The secondary characters were brilliant and I’m hoping we’ll get future books as they, too, find love. I was a wee bit disappointed that it was Tristan that had to do the grovelling twice before we get to the happily ever after. By the time the second grovel was required, Rix took on a little bit of a pious role which irked a little bit. But all’s well that ends well and the balance was restored in Rix and Tristan’s world with a lovely epilogue. I do so love a good epilogue.
This was a dirty, readable romance that brought me into a world that I can’t wait to read more of. 4 stars for this one but still another winner from Helena Hunting.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest review.*
NYT and USA Today Bestselling author, Helena Hunting lives outside of Toronto with her amazing family and her two awesome cats, who think the best place to sleep is her keyboard. Helena writes everything from contemporary romance with all the feels to romantic comedies that will have you laughing until you cry.
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