Lucy Hutton hates Joshua Templeman. Serious, out-and-out hate. And the feeling is more than mutual. Yet the two are essentially joined at the hip, professionally, as each serves as the executive assistant to one of the co-CEOs of Bexley & Gamin Publishing.
Every day is essentially the same—Lucy and Joshua are caught in a continuous battle of wills and perpetual one-upmanship, as they try to keep ahead, and therefore keep their boss ahead, of the other. They're polar opposites, too—Lucy is friendly, willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and work late. She likes brightly colored clothes and is absolutely quirky, while Joshua is ruthless, feared (and hated) by the majority of his colleagues, a person whose desk is meticulously organized and who wears a different colored shirt each day, according to a specific order you can set your calendar by.
"We're engaged in one of our childish games, which requires no words. Like everything we do, it's dreadfully immature."
When an opportunity for promotion is announced, both Lucy and Joshua are ready. Lucy has dreamed of working for a publisher since she was young, but if she were to get the job, what she'd relish most is being Joshua's boss. Joshua knows he has the educational qualifications and the ruthlessness needed, and knows he could beat Lucy out for the position with one hand tied behind his back.
But as the stakes grow higher and their competitiveness grows more intense, something changes. Suddenly the games they're playing start taking on a new dimension. Lucy is suddenly realizing there's more to Joshua than she has assumed, and Joshua starts feeling protective of Lucy, maybe even a little possessive. Could it be possible that she doesn't hate him after all? Is it true that he might feel the same way about her? Is this just another game? And if not, what happens when one of them gets the promotion and the other one doesn't?
Unless you've never read or seen a romantic comedy, you probably could guess what will happen in this book by the simple plot outline I've provided, and you probably won't be entirely wrong. But that doesn't detract from The Hating Game's charm one iota. You find yourself rooting for these characters, wanting to shake them so they'll come to their senses sooner, worrying about what will happen to them along their way to the conclusion you predict.
I found myself reading a number of these books in 2018, and I honestly was surprised how much I enjoyed them. They awaken the sap in me, sure, but they're also good stories, stories which don't put me into a deep funk like some thrillers or crime novels do, stories which don't make my head hurt from thinking too hard about what they mean. Sally Thorne is another terrific writer in this genre, and now she joins Christina Lauren, Jasmine Guillory, Katherine Center, and others whose books I've been devouring lately.
When you're in the mood for a story with heart, with quirky characters, a little competitiveness and family drama, and some pretty hot sex, add The Hating Game to your list. I know I'll jump on Thorne's next book when it's released later this month, and you know what? There's no shame in loving these rom-coms. (At least that's what I'm telling myself, lol!)
No comments:
Post a Comment