Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Nemesis (n.)
1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome;
2) A person’s undoing;
3) Joshua Templeman.

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude.

Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

Review

Contemporary romance isn't a genre that I delve into that often, but once in a while something catches my attention. I have seen a LOT of hype for this book on Instagram and Goodreads, so I decided to give it a go. From the cover I wasn't expecting to be that taken with it, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Two very late nights later and I'm besotted!

That Hating Game made me laugh out loud, smile a lot, hug my e-reader and cry actual happy tears, something which never, ever happens to me! It's funny, cute, and jam packed with brilliant banter and crackling chemistry between the two lead characters. It's romantic without being cheesy, sexy without being explicit, chick-lit without the cringe. In short, it's perfect.

On the face of it it's a light read, but it is very much dialogue driven which I think is why I fell for the characters so much. Lucy reminded me a little of myself, although she is a lot more feisty. And as as for Josh.. where do I find myself a Joshua Templeman?? The guy is all kinds of perfect, and as I've already said he's one of the few fictional men with the ability to make me cry. I adored every second of Josh and Lucy's story and would have loved a few more chapters at the end to find out what happened next.

I need a physical copy of this book urgently so I can highlight all my favourite bits and keep it forever.