The Hating Game

Lucy Hutton is the admin assistant for the big boss of a publishing house. When their house goes through a merger with another one, she finds herself desk to desk with the AA of the other, new co-boss, and it’s hate at first sight for the both of them. They spend their days playing unspoken games with one another: staring contests, mirror/mocking games, desk snooping. They’re polar opposites and Josh drives Lucy right up the wall on a daily basis. And things get even worse when the bosses announce that they’re creating a new position, COO, and want the both of them to apply. And then things get…weird, when Josh kisses Lucy in the elevator and all her preconceived notions about him go sideways.

My summary doesn’t even start to show more do this novel justice in the slightest. The characters are perfect. Just…perfectly drawn. Lucy is wonderfully weird and quirky, and Josh is gorgeously grumpy but also delightfully vulnerable in all the right places. There are a basketful of romance tropes in here and every single one of them instantly become the gold standard example as you read them: grumpy/sunshine, hurt her and die, only one bed,… and Thorne writes them in a way that makes you think you’re experiencing them each for the first time and the ideas are blowing your mind. I can’t hyperbole enough about this one, folks. 15/10 it’s perfect. show less

The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
Audio narrated by Katie Schorr
4-1/2*

Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman are both assistants to the CEOs of rivaling publishing houses which have recently merged. Neither of their bosses agree on anything, and despite the need for the merger in order to keep both companies afloat, there is a definite rivalry between the two "sides" of the business. Lucy and Josh have to share the same office space and from day one bicker back and forth, always playing games with each other to see who can one-up the other. When a new position opens up which both of them are in line for, the competition heats up even more. What neither one of them wants to admit is that there is an underlying current developing which signals that show more is not the only thing heating up between them.

This really was an almost perfect execution of the enemies-to-lovers storyline. We got to see the evolution of their friendship and the characters themselves as they reluctantly revealed themselves to each other. There was a lot of legitimate humor--very clever at times--and believable chemistry and a slow buildup which makes this genre especially fun to read. Very fun read with some high-five moments thrown in. I'll be earmarking this author to see what she comes up with next. show less

Five freaking stars because I think I'm in love.

The moment I read the summary for this book, I was like, "Oh, hell yes!" When I read the first chapter, I was like, "..." Just plain old speechless.

You know that feeling when you have this book, and you start reading it, and your mind just flies out the window because of how awesome it is?

That's exactly how I feel now. The Hating Game is a book I will never forget, it was filled with humor, explored concepts of love, hate, and friendship. The way Sally Thorne created this beautiful world, and filled it with these outstanding, lovable, characters is just...wow.

That's really all I can manage while my mind is still trying to focus after being blown away.
I will most definitely be paying show more this book a re-read very soon; it deserves a place on every reader's bookshelf. show less

Boy, when a title is fulfilled because I HATED this book!! It was awful on so many levels it may be too overwhelming to list them all. Every BAD rom-com stereotype is represented and in completely 1950's out-of-touch ways - no clever modernization here! Our "hero" is an a**hole, the heroine is an oblivious idiot, violence is sexy, being demeaning is funny, mono-syllabic grunts are communications, stalking is love and nice guys are bad! WTF did I just read??? I think the author may just be a psychopath. I listened to the audiobook for this and I sped it up to 3x (which I have NEVER done before) and it STILL DRAGGED and took forever to finish! I will make sure to avoid everything else she has ever written! YUCK!

If Lucy Hutton is certain about anything in her life, it's that she and Joshua Templeman hate each other. As executive assistants to the co-CEOs of their company, they've been professional rivals for years, and each of them knows exactly how to get under the other one's skin. Now they're both up for the same promotion, and Lucy is determined to beat out Joshua for the job. If that means spending all her energy in coming up with passive-aggressive ways to annoy him, so be it. But when a particularly vicious argument somehow turns into an explosive kiss, everything changes. As Lucy reevaluates her history with Joshua, she realizes that maybe her intense feelings for him can't entirely be explained by hatred. And maybe, contrary to her show more longstanding belief, Joshua doesn't actually hate her at all. But will Lucy have the courage to change the game?

This book may be a giant predictable cliché, but it's so well written that I don't even care! I was so invested in Lucy and Joshua's relationship, and I loved the pace at which it unfolded. The sexual tension between them is immediately obvious, so the author wisely doesn't string it out too long; the kiss occurs quite early in the novel. But the heart of the story is the slow, tentative transformation from hate-fueled lust to genuine love and affection. I especially liked seeing Joshua gradually open up to Lucy, revealing the reasons for his former rude behavior. Ultimately, this book exceeded my expectations, which were already pretty high since I'd heard a lot of good things about it. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of romance, especially those who enjoy the hate-to-love trope. It looks like the author has another book coming out this summer, and I'll definitely be purchasing it! show less

Believe the hype. I don't even like the "I love you so I must act like I hate you" trope, but debut author Sally Thorne utilizes it with such charming energy that the book is irresistible. Her dialogue is snappy without quite oozing over into snarky, and the sexual chemistry between Lucy and Joshua is off the charts. Plus while Josh is grouchy and surly, he's never mean and it's obvious from the beginning that he's a goner; and while Lucy is little and adorable, she's competent and strong-minded without any ditziness. Can't wait to see what Thorne comes up with next.

From page one, I was hooked on Josh and Lucy! Sally Thorne's writing was effortless to read, the story moved at an excellent pace, and the characters were so loveable. In fact, I think Josh is my new book boyfriend. There were a few parts where I wanted to tell Lucy to get it together, but what human hasn't had moments like that? I think it's what made the characters so realistic and loveable!