Jenny's Release Day Review: Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren






Happy Release Day to Christina Lauren and Dating You/Hating You!





Synopsis

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.




Dating You/Hating You on Goodreads
Dating You/Hating You on Amazon (Kindle, Paperback, and Audible available) *not an affiliate link*



Jenny's Review
4 stars


Dating You/Hating You is a contemporary office romance which may lead one to an instant comparison to Beautiful Bastard (also written by Christina Lauren). I’m not one to jump to comparisons quickly but I think it’s easy to do with these two books given the setting and authors. For that reason, I’m going to touch on it a bit, if only to reassure that they are quite different.

Evie and Carter are stealthily set up through mutual friends and immediately hit it off, only to realize they are in the same business at competing companies. This is easy to overlook until their companies merge and they are forced to compete for the same job. The behaviors, reactions, and drama are all at respectable levels.  Nothing is over-dramatized, nothing is below the maturity level of two adults in corporate America, and nothing is over-the-top. It’s a wonderful thing, people. The story develops well and feels full but doesn’t drag at any point. The romantic aspect is more of a slow-burn but not one that is too slow. The big difference between Dating You/Hating You and Beautiful Bastard is that this book focuses equally on all aspects of the characters’ lives where Beautiful Bastard is heavy on the…romantic…side. If you catch my drift. The feel of these books is so different that if you are expecting another Beautiful Bastard or afraid of another Beautiful Bastard, you won’t find either here.


I enjoyed reading this book and seeing the characters develop and figure out what to do with the situations thrown at them. Pick up Dating You/Hating You if you want a fun, smart romance with substance without being heavy.  




About Christina Lauren

Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received multiple starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal, been selected as one of NPR’s Top 100 Swoon-Worthy Romances, and won both the Seal of Excellence award and Book of the Year from RT Magazine.


Lauren Billings (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, bestie to a shoe-stealer, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.
Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you’ll probably find her on tumblr. She is married and absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 16 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter. She also likes to steal Lo’s shoes.


You can follow their shenanigans at:
@lolashoes (Lauren) & @seeCwrite (Christina) on Twitter. On Tumblr! where we post kissing gifs and writerly stuff and Wattpad for short stories and sneak peeks!
For official information about their books, events, interviews, movie news and more, follow @christinalauren.






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