Dating You / Hating You by Christina Lauren Published by Gallery Books Publication Date: June 6th 2017
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All’s fair in love and work. The first standalone romance by New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Beautiful Bastard) is a sexy, compulsively readable romantic comedy that dives headlong into the thrill and doubt of modern love.
Despite the odds against them from an embarrassing meet-awkward at a mutual friend’s Halloween party, Carter and Evie immediately hit it off. Even the realization that they’re both high-powered agents at competing firms in Hollywood isn’t enough to squash the fire.
But when their two agencies merge—causing the pair to vie for the same position—all bets are off. What could have been a beautiful, blossoming romance turns into an all-out war of sabotage. Carter and Evie are both thirtysomething professionals—so why can’t they act like it?
Can Carter stop trying to please everyone and see how their mutual boss is really playing the game? Can Evie put aside her competitive nature long enough to figure out what she really wants in life? Can their actor clients just be something close to human? Whether these two Hollywood love/hatebirds get the storybook Hollywood ending or just a dramedy of epic proportions, you will get to enjoy Christina Lauren’s heartfelt, raucous, and hilarious romance style at its finest.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
I’m a big fan of the writing team Christina Lauren and have enjoyed many of their books but this one, isn’t one of my favorites. While I liked this story, I didn’t love it. The story has more office politics than romance and I found myself losing interest. I liked the characters and the premise of the story but I wanted the two main characters to spend more time together.
Evie is a successful, single woman working as a talent agent in Hollywood. She meets Carter, another talent agent from a competing agency, at a party. They immediately hit it off but working in the same industry causes some problems between them. They have to figure out how to date and have a career. It isn’t always easy as they find themselves competing against one another and they start to feel insecure and mistrustful of each other.
The story starts out when they meet and start to date and follows them through all the pitfalls of dating. They are both ready to settle down but have never met that certain person they connected with. When they meet each other, there is a instant connection, however their careers may keep them apart. I liked Carter and Evie. They are both smart and funny and genuinely nice people and there are also some interesting secondary characters that add another dimension to the story.
