Hate to Want You: Forbidden Hearts
4.4
11
5
1
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780062566737 |
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| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 07/25/2017 |
| Series: | Forbidden Hearts , #1 |
| Edition description: | Reissue |
| Pages: | 384 |
| Sales rank: | 298,290 |
| Product dimensions: | 4.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.10(d) |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Hate to Want You: Forbidden Hearts
4.4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
11 reviews.
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While the plot and main characters were good, there was so much history added and added to the text. I think the basic history part could have been a prologue and added to as the story unfolded. It was almost tedious to read at times with history being mixed with present.
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This book I didn't want to put down. The story & the characters so captivating. Spoke to my soul!!
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I've been meaning to read Alisha Rai for a while now and based on the way I inhaled this book, I will soon be well acquainted with her backlist. Holy buckets was this ever amazing! I want to be like Livvy when I grow up. Nicholas and Livvy were such wonderfully complex characters. They grew up together, fell in love, and then were essentially torn apart due to a family feud. But they haven't been able to stay completely away. It's ten years later and Livvy wants to make better choices when it comes to her ex but it's hard to do when she's back in town to care for her distant mother. The family dynamics are so tricky because of how each side feels about each other and Livvy and Nicholas respond to the rift in such different ways. They are different people as a result. Watching them try to make sense of each other and then give in to their feelings was just so freaking good. I laughed, I teared up, I could not get enough of those two. It had the right amount of angst and tension and the secondary characters elevated the story even further. Nicholas's grand gesture at the end had me swooning and then some. As if his character growth wasn't enough! Gah. I can't wait to see what happens next in this series!
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Such a good book. This was my first Alisha Rai and it absolutely will not be my last.
Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler and Romeo and Juliet-esque lovers who meet once a year on Livvy's birthday for a night of passion. Childhood loves, a family tragedy tore them apart and scattered their entire family. They've been meeting for ten years on the Livvy's birthday. content with the contact. Until one year, Livvy doesn't show up. Instead she comes back to their hometown in an attempt to settle relationships and deal with the past.
I can't say enough good things about Rai's writing. Both Nicholas and Livvy read as real characters with real problems and emotions. Rather than To Stupid To Live melodrama, their problems exist because of real characterization and history. I would highly recommend this author and this book and would encourage anyone who is looking for deep characterizations and humor to pick up this book.
Review copy obtained via Edelweiss
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I love love looooved this book. I knew I had to read it after Sarah Maclean recommended it at an event, and it did not disappoint. It was my first Alisha Rai book and I'm hooked.
The Good:
-Livvy! I loved that she was a biracial woman of color, and so much different than the typical blonde haired blue eyed lithe romance heroine. She was unique in her personality and in her profession, and her looks and body seemed realistic. She wasn't some gorgeous runway model but I also understood exactly why Nicolas wanted her and felt so attracted to her!
-The opening scenes in this are amazing! The tension!! The drama!! The years of hidden family secrets!! Delicious.
-Nicolas!! He was such a vulnerable, lovable hero. Alpha in bed, but totally willing to be an equal/beta in life. Pretty ideal. I enjoyed his emotional story so much, and loved that Rai called his father's actions abusive. Some authors wouldn't use the a word, but it fit here and I liked seeing it highlighted.
-Livvy's grandparents having been in a japanese american internment camp was a nice detail and added so much to the family history issues. Rai handled the immigrant storyline really nicely here, with both families, and I like how the difference between livvy's fam and nico's was called out both obviously and subtly.
-The dialogues of consent between Livvy and Nico!! He was a great dom during the sex scenes but always asked for consent. A+.
-the sweet childhood lovers thing really gets me and Rai executed it well.
-LGBTQ characters!! accepted and loved and included in the narrative!!
-many characters of color!! accepted and loved and included in the narrative!!
-just...the emotional dynamic here is really good. I loved that Rai subtly talked about issues like toxic masculinity, and the burden of emotional work that women are expected to do. And I love how she twined these issues with Nico and Livvy's love story.
The Bad:
-not enough resolution for me. I needed Nico to do more than what he did. And I needed to see them talk about it more. It would have been more satisfying if the scene where Nico shows up at the motel was cut.
-I reallly reaaallly wanted this story to be longer. I needed more time with these characters to see them successfully resolve their issues. I needed another ten pages or an epilogue. I KNOW that Rai was giving us an HFN ending rather than an HEA but, damnit, I want an HEA. I wanted an epilogue.
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This one has been touted as a Romeo and Juliet kinda of story but with a happy ending. It definitely has the family angst and lack of communication going but most importantly the happy ending. And it's so much more.
Here's a tiny spoiler for you - this story is about depression.. What I loved about that was that Livvy is outwardly not the poster child for depression. Yet it plagues her. I think that's more true and real then most people realize. As someone who has had depression touch her family, it's important that people get that message. That alone made this book feel real to me.
The characters are strong and bold. They have issues. There's been lying, anger and blackmail to tie these two families up for years. But Livvy needs her family back and she comes home. And home means Nickolas is nearby. That makes for a lot of tension. But these two have loved each other since childhood. And they can't seem to stay away from each other.
The story is full of emotions. Years worth of emotions - some good and some bad. It's a struggle to weigh through all of the pain at times. But I cheered for these two. They need each other. They balance each other. They are both good people with struggles that no one should have to endure. I was happy at the end. At the very last page, there was a smile for them.
It's emotional and real, this is not your average sexy read. It's more. It has depth and strength. And I loved it.
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Amazingly beautiful yet painful romantic story with healthy doses of loving.
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This book came highly recommended from a few people and even though it isn't something I would normally pick up, I was intrigued.
I liked Livvy and Nicholas. They're both good people in horrible situations. I liked that they were both flawed, that it wasn't all perfect. Aunt Maile might have been the best part.
Plot wise, it was a lot a lot a lot of push and pull and sex instead of talking. The story touches on mental health and depression and it felt realistic. For me, the family back story did get a little overwhelming and a bit boring. Especially since everything about the present is rooted by the tragedies that took place in the past.
Overall, it was a quick read, but I didn't feel engaged. I could have easily set the book down, even though I wanted to know what happened. I liked it, yet it felt like nothing stood out to make me love it.
**Huge thanks to Avon Books for providing the arc free of charge**
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Alisha Rai is one of my favorite Romance writers, but I truly was not expected this from her. I’ve been waiting for someone to write a Feuding Families/Second Chance Romance with a darker backstory like this for a long time. I am over the moon that it was Alisha who did it. I’m pretty sure she stole my diary and saw everything I’ve wanted in a Romance and then turned it into a book. There’s simply no other explanation as to why it had such a perfect forumla.
Hate To Want You follows some of the younger generation Kaness and Chandlers: Livvy and Nicholas. Until the mysterious death of Nicholas’s mother and Livvy’s father, both the families were business partners and close friends going back a couple of generations. I’m a big fan of how older generations can mess things up for the younger ones, which is definitely the case in Hate To Want You. I absolutely loved that about the story. On both sides of the family, there are fascinating, flawed characters whether it be someone like John, Nicholas’s grandfather, who originally started the company with the Kanes or someone like Livvy’s aunt Maile whose parents disapproved of her love. Inside the families themselves, there’s a lot of baggage and different strengths of relationships with each other. I am dying to see where the next book takes the Kanes & Chandlers, and, hopefully, we’ll learn more about the night that started it all.
While Hate To Want You is a Feuding families Romance, it’s so much more than that. As someone who has struggled with mental illness, I love seeing mental illness take the center stage in Romance. However, that can be rare and accurate, non-toxic depictions of depressed people in love can be even rarer. I am so incredibly grateful for the depiction of Depression & mental illness in Hate To Want You.
Livvy, the heroine, has depression. When the novel starts off, she has been learning to cope with it after having gone to therapy. At one point, Livvy has a conversation with her aunt Maile about her depression. During it, Maile tells her not to let dark moments of despair define her. That was one of my favorite parts of Hate to Want You. Throughout the novel, we get to see Livvy use the coping mechanisms she learned to help when she has those down moments. Livvy and Nicholas even have an explicit conversation about the fact that their relationship won’t cure her depression and that hard times are inevitable which I loved.
Now, Livvy & Nicholas’s relationship. They had the trope makings of what should’ve been my favorite couple: a second chance romance, childhood lovers, & being apart of feuding families. While I really enjoyed the two of them together, I kind of was hoping for more out of them. Overall, Hate To Want You is definitely a 5 star book. However, the relationship wasn’t quite 5 stars. Since the family aspect of the book was so stellar, I wanted a stellar couple to go along with it, but there was something about them that just didn’t quite hit the 5 star mark for me. I did absolutely love their end scene though. Having them acknowledge that they still had a long way to go was a phenomenal touch, especially since it’s my favorite type of ending for Romances.
If you’re looking for a steamy, forbidden Romance the deals with heavy issues likes family ties & depression, then Hate To Want You is the perfect read.
❈ Huge thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair review ❈
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Livvy Kane and Nick Chandler were childhood sweethearts torn apart by tragedy. Even though they have loved each other since childhood, their feuding families keep them apart except for one night a year when they enjoy one illicit and steamy night together. It's sort of a Romeo and Juliet love affair that goes on, for one night only.
I really liked Livvy. She's not afraid to acknowledge and feel her emotions, even when she is dealing with some fairly serious mental health issue by way of depression. This aspect of Livvy's life is handled with sensitivity and compassion and it fit so well into the story. Nick has a harder edge, but these two complement each other very well, and that's what makes them work in spite of their families differences.
There was more to this story than I thought there would be. This is my first book by Alisha Rai, and I'd heard some buzz in my twitter timeline about her writing, so I wanted to see what it was all about. Hate to Want You is a nicely done romance that doesn't skip on the steam or the story and I really liked that about this contemporary romance.
The heat level can be pretty steamy with this romance, and pushes the edges of bdsm play. It worked well for me because there were so many emotions swirling around during these scenes that made it exciting and interesting and had these characters connecting in a way that made sense for them.
There's a lot of pent up anger, frustration and tension in this story, between the drama that goes on between the two families and the forbidden love between Livvy and Nick. As I said earlier, there's a lot of emotions and they are drawn beautifully by the author.
So overall, an engaging and sexy story. Looking forward to more from this world.
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I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
This is the first time I have read anything by the author. It sounded like an intriguing book though I usually don't go for angysty type of books. This book is angysty there is no question about that. It also is hate/love love story and families are enemies storyline.
Another important factor in this book is that the hero Nick is caucasian and the heroine, Livvy is Japanese American. It is brought up several times and the history of the families includes some aspects of what happened to Japanese Americans in the 1900's.
At one time Nick and Liv's families were best friends and neighbors. Their grandfathers started a chain of grocery stores C & K. But about 10 years before Liv's father and Nick's mother died in a car accident. No one really knows why they were together or where they were going or why they hit a tree. But the fact that her father killed his mother caused the families to seperate and then Nick's father bought out Liv's mother from the store while she was so upset for what was believed to be underpaid. Then Nick broke up with her and this destroyed her. See very angysty.
Now ten years later, the two always met up on her birthday for sex until this last year where Liv decides she needs to move on. That is until she comes home to face her past, and her mother who has broken her hip. And that is why Nick finds her and they start confronting the past together.
I enjoyed this story. It is extremely well written and you can really feel Liv's pain and Nick's frustration with his father, his life and the decisions he has to make. I cannot wait for more stories in this series. It was one of those books that you cannot put down as there are many questions you can't help wondering if the two can make it work. I LOVED Nick, he totaly stole the show in this book. He has a tough road ahead of him and I loved how caring he was of his sister and grandfather.
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