I received this book as a part of the Winter 2020 Harlequin Trade Publishing Blog Tour for Inkyard Press! Thank you to Kelly deVos, Harlequin Books, Inkyard Press & NetGalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date: January 7, 2020
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Rating: ★★★
When they’re stuck under one roof, the house may not be big enough for their hate…or their love.
When Tyson Trice finds himself tossed into the wealthy coastal community of Pacific Hills, he’s ready for the questions, the stares and the feeling of not belonging. Not that he cares. After recovering from being shot and surviving the rough streets of Lindenwood, he doesn’t care about anyone or anything, much less how the rest of his life will play out.
Golden girl Nandy Smith has spent most of her life building the pristine image that it takes to fit in when it comes to her hometown Pacific Hills where image is everything. After learning that her parents are taking in a troubled teen boy, Nandy fears her summer plans, as well as her reputation, will go up in flames.
Now with Trice living under the same roof, the wall between their bedrooms feels as thin as the line between love and hate. Beneath the angst, their growing attraction won’t be denied. Through time, Trice brings Nandy out of her shell, and Nandy attempts to melt the ice that’s taken Trice’s heart and being. Only, with the ever-present pull back to the Lindenwood streets, it’ll be a wonder if Trice makes it through this summer at all.
Review:
There was a lot about A Love Hate Thing that I enjoyed and a lot that I was just so/so about.
To start, Trice was a character that I was very much able to feel emotions for. His story was extreme and tough to hear, and I’m glad that I was able to see his development throughout the story. On the so/so side, I could not get into Nandy’s character at all. Her development wasn’t enough for me and even by the end of the book, I still could not see her as a character I would like to know. By the time we started to see any type of interest between Nandy and Trice, I was over her and her attitude, so I couldn’t get into that aspect in the slightest.
I think that the story was definitely believable and could’ve been authentic. The differences between Nandy’s world in Pacific Hills and Trice’s world in Lindenwood were shown perfectly and I really could understand where they came from in both zip codes. I think Whitney Grandison did a fantastic job blending the people and both cities to show what was good and bad about both.
The thing that I wished we had more of was a background. We got a lot of background regarding Trice’s story and why he is the way he is. However, I look at Nandy’s character and since there is no background about why she is this way, it makes her almost automatically unlikable.
Lastly, I think that the writing could’ve been a little better. I understand that this is a debut novel, and I’m not knocking it for that. I’m just saying that in this book, there should’ve been a little bit more of an editing process or something like that. There was a point where it skipped a month I believe and I feel like there was this big chunk of storyline that I missed because of that.
Overall, I think that there were things that A Love Hate Thing that were good, but things that could’ve been a lot better. I think that this was a good debut novel to start with and it’ll only get better from here!
Lacey's Library 