Love to Hate You by Marina Adair ~ Book Review
LOVE TO HATE YOU
With Love to Hate You, NYT bestselling author Marina Adair offers readers a delightfully fun romp with a modern twist on You’ve Got Mail
Today on Okie Dreams, I am excited to talk about Love to Hate You by Marina Adair. Love to Hate You is an enemy to lovers, forced proximity romance between rivaling bookstore owners. These owners meet and then must navigate the complicated dynamic of both love and war. The story’s two leads, Summer and Wes, fight the attraction between them because they are on opposing ends of a shared problem… or are they?
If you love Spike from Buffy, especially prior to season 6, you will likely love Wes just as much as I did. Now, I have no idea if Adair based any portion of Wes on the character of Spike . But that is who came to my mind the second I saw how Wes spoke to Summer and how his personality and overall character came across throughout the story. Once you read the book, you may very well see someone else in Wes, or several someones. If you do see Spike, too, I’d love to know I’m not alone in my thoughts.
Okay, let’s dive in and talk about the actual story, shall we?
Love to Hate You
My Thoughts
Love to Have You by Marina Adair is everything I hoped it would be and more. The characters are fun, the story is engaging, and the writing is so natural and smooth that it quickly carried me from one page to the next. This is something I pay a lot of attention to right now.
You see, I don’t have nearly as much time for reading in my day-to-day life as I used to have. I work too many hours for that, which is why what I choose to read these days has to capture my attention right away. What captures my attention tends to change on the daily, too. Sometimes it might be the story, others the characters or emotion. I never know what will work for me anymore, but this book—these characters—worked great.
As the story opens, we find out Summer is in a bit of a pickle and more than a little bit lonely. Her family is scattered, with her parents and aunt now living in another state and her twin sister traveling and avoiding anything to do with the bookstore that has been in their family for generations. Summer is doing her best to hold things together, despite having to worry about how to get more revenue now that a big retail bookstore is opening up next door.
“I am human, love. I might come across indestructible, but beneath the walls is a guy who is scared to death to see what the right person can uncover.”
Wes owns the big retail bookstore going in next door to Summer’s bookstore, and he drives her crazy because she sees him as the enemy and just knows he has an ulterior motive every time he tries to play nice with her. So instead of figuring out a way to coexist, they each try to make it harder on the other to go about their day and achieve their goals. Well, until fate steps in and forces them spend a bit of time together.
Now, I don’t want to spoil anything, though others may have already spoken about it online, but Summer’s twin Autumn definitely plays a role in how Summer and Wes wind up spending time together despite their bookstore feud. It is this time that allows the two characters to truly see and understand each other, and leads them to also realize their earlier opinions might not be as accurate as they thought them to be.
Okay, so this is where I want to gush about this book because it was really, really good. I loved the push-pull dynamic between the characters, both the two leads and also the siblings that cause them more and more issues as the story moves along. Everything that happens in the book has a cause and effect that pushes Summer and Wes closer and closer together. But doubts do still linger a bit and tension does still exist throughout the story. Both between the two of them but also between them and their siblings.
“You’ve had a lot of disappointment when it comes to men. I refuse to be another.”
There are open-door sex scenes in this story, so it will be a bit unsuitable for younger readers. But adults like me? It worked great. The scenes came at just the right time for the characters. There were real, legitimate reasons why these two couldn’t simply jump into bed together like they wanted, and I liked that the author took her time to develop things first. Taking that time worked out well for the characters and for the book. It allowed me, as the reader, to get to know Summer and Wes as a couple, which in turn made me want to root for them to find a way to make things work.
Overall, Love to Hate You was a fantastic read with excellent characterization and a fun plot. This book took me out of my head and allowed me to escape into a truly good story. For me, Love to Hate You was a solid, five-star read. I loved the story, and I am ridiculously satisfied with how it ended.
CW: open-door sex scenes, mature and/or explicit language, references to past family trauma/parental issues
RATING: 
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BOOK INFORMATION
I received an advanced reading copy (ARC) or advanced listening copy (ALC) of this book from the author, publisher, or publicist. The receipt of this ARC or ALC did not influence my choice to review the book on this site. It also did not influence how I felt about the book or its characters, storyline, and overall feel. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. As such, they only deal with what is written on the pages of the book and how what is written and otherwise presented made me feel during and after my reading of the book or how the book is presented in audio format and the narrators perform the book.
Love to Hate You by Marina Adair Published by 8th Note Press, Zando on April 22, 2025
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Rom-Com, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback, E-Arc
Source: Barnes & Noble, Netgalley
Buy: Amazon | B & N | Kobo | Goodreads
Rating:
A modern twist on You’ve Got Mail starring an indie bookstore owner looking for true love and a cynical CEO who may ruin everything, from New York Times bestselling author Marina Adair.
Summer Russo believes in the power of destiny and true love . . . which might be why she sank her entire life savings into reviving a nearly-bankrupt independent bookstore that specializes in romance novels and beach reads. But just as she starts to get the hang of the new business, a big-box bookstore moves in next door, run by the grumpy and arrogant Kingston, who seems determined to ruin her day (and her livelihood).
Wes Kingston is a cut-throat CEO who doesn’t believe in love — or failure. He runs his business the way he runs his life: alone. And he isn’t going to let a fiery femme fatale take him down. Especially when she is dead set on stopping the opening of his new bookstore.
At least Summer has her family's annual vacation in Mystic, CT to look forward to as a break from the standoff. But when she arrives at the beachside cabin, she realizes that her usual summer respite may not be so carefree after all. Her sister has brought along not only her boyfriend but his brother, who just happens to be the very same surly-but-infuriatingly-sexy bookstore mogul Summer thought she was getting away from.
The bookstore war is still on, and neither Summer nor Kingston will go down without a fight. But when one thing leads to another and fighting turns to foreplay, both find themselves stuck in a battle for the bookstore — and for their hearts.
Read this book if you like:
- enemies to lovers
- billionaire hero
- one bed
- found family
- skinny dipping
- bookstore romance
- grumpy sunshine
- rivaling bookstores
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BOOK RATING