Review: Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai

Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: 25th July 2017
My rating: 4.5 stars. 

One night. No one will know. That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies. Until the night she didn’t show up. Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed? Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families. Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.

Hate to Want You was just the perfect read for me, it featured two families who practically grew up together, had been in business which spanned nearly two generations, when a handful of events turned everything on its head. The bonds and relationships that had been well established, were gone within the blink of an eye, two of the closest families just destroyed. The way I’ve described Hate to Want You, it probably really sounds like a morbid tale, it is tinged with bittersweet relationships and hurt for so many of the characters, but it was also a lot more than that, because of the strong connections that the two families had, it was hard to completely cut off ties with each other, despite certain members of the families attempting to do so. But the connections ran deep, so deep in fact that one just couldn’t let go. And that’s where Nicholas and Livvy’s relationship comes in, before everything hit the fan, they had a decent enough relationship, but after so much that happened, it was inevitable that their relationship came to an end. But with yearly meetings they had arranged, it was clear their feelings for one another were still there and going on strong, this once a year meet ups wasn’t enough to get each other out of their systems. 

Nicholas and Livvy’s relationship was a really intense one, with everything they had been through, I couldn’t imagine it being anything else, but that’s what I loved the most about it, the intensity of it, the depth of their feelings and how just one night couldn’t be enough. There was a lot of issues that still needed to be resolved, particularly if they wanted things to progress between them, something big had come and tore their families apart and so it wasn’t easy to ignore the damage that had been done. Also with the way things had ended, both Livvy and Nicholas weren’t aware of what really had bought their relationship to an end in the first place or the repercussions felt by either of them afterwards. Everything was so complicated and complex in this story for nearly everyone involved, but I loved the way Rai gave the story to us, it wasn’t clear cut; there were so many unanswered questions and issues that needed to be resolved, but also so much hurt had been experienced, that was it even possible for Nicholas and Livvy to be together? 

Hate to Love You really left me in a mess of emotions, it was such an achingly beautiful read, but had some of the hottest scenes I’ve come across, which definitely left me wanting more. Although Livvy and Nicholas’ relationship was a complicated one, it was one I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of, they were characters that I quickly became attached to and I wanted for them both to be happy with each other! Rai also bought a great cast of secondary characters to the mix, both Nicholas and Livvy’s family members each had their own things going on, but there was also so much more that I wanted to know about, I’m sure there’s plenty of family secrets that need to be unravelled and I for one can’t wait for more! Hate to Love You was simply one of my favourite reads of the year; Rai easily entices you with her beautiful writing and makes you fall hard and fast for her complex, yet swoony characters. I honestly couldn’t recommend this book more highly and I can’t wait for the next book Wrong to Need You which is meant to focus on Livvy’s brother Jackson.