Blog Tour & Book Review: Hate to Love You by Tijan

Hate to Love You

by Tijan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 28th, 2017

 

Blurb:

Rule #1: No hot guys.
It might sound ridiculous. I get it. It kind of is, but college was supposed to be my sanctuary. It was my place to start over. The rumors, the whispers, and the jealousy I endured through high school would all be gone.
No one would know me at college.

Rule #2: No drama.
I’d major in pre-law. I’d make a few loyal friends. Everything would be easy breezy. No one was going to use me or hurt me. I wouldn’t let them.

Rule #3: New year. New place. New me.
Right?
Wrong.
And all because of Shay Coleman.

Football captain and quarterback, he was the big guy on campus. The cocky guy in my political science class with a smirk. I hated him on sight . . .

. . . and he was about to break all my rules.

Buy now:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2ggN4aZ
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2wB2Wvp
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2xoGkvv
Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2wKztQc


Excerpt:

I was almost grinning from delight as I shoved open the back door. If I hit him, hey, all was fair in the war we were fighting of who could piss each other off the best.

It didn’t.
He was leaning against the wall, the back of his head resting on the brick, and he looked over to smirk at me. “I want to see your room.”
I thrust my hand out. “I’ll take those notes.”
That smirk just widened. He patted his bag and pushed off from the wall. “They’re in my email. I need to get on a computer.” He patted my arm and moved past me, heading inside. “I can use yours.”
“Hey!” I followed him in.
He was looking up the stairs. “Sabrina said you were on the fourth floor. You saw my place. I want to see yours. It’s only fair.”
He wasn’t waiting for my go-ahead. He was already up and rounding second floor to third. He’d be at my floor before I could get there. “Stop! I am not okay with this.”
He was at the third-floor door. He glanced down with that same goddamn smirk. “Better tell me which room or I’m going to hang out in the hallway.”
“Why are you always smirking? Is it permanently attached to your face?”
“What room, Clarke?” He was at my hallway door.
Fucking hell. I gritted my teeth. “Wait. Just wait. My door automatically locks.”
He’d opened the door but let it shut. Waiting as I covered the last set of stairs, I refused to let him see me panting. I stood there, purposely holding my breath until he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “Breathe, Clarke. You’re going to pass out.”
I almost burped out the small pocket of air I’d been holding. “I hate you so much.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved that off. “We get it. Eternal damnation in hell, the whole shebang. Whatever.” He nodded to the door. “Stop stalling. I want to see your room.”
I was picturing pitchforks and fire. Maybe that was the burning smell he mentioned. It was hell, and all the fire in there. I yanked the door, glaring as I did. “Was this Sabrina’s idea?”
“Nope. All mine.” He was right behind me. I could feel his breathing. “She refused to tell me your room number, said I had to call.”
My eyes widened at the thought of him coming up by himself, strolling down the hallway, and then knocking on my door. Good Lordy gracious. Too many would’ve seen him at my door. I would’ve been the talk of the dorm.
I shuddered, unlocked, and entered my room.

About the author:

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed Series, the Fallen Crest Series, and the Broken and Screwed Series among others. She is currently writing a new YA series along with so many more from north Minnesota where she lives with a man she couldn’t be without and an English Cocker she adores.

To find what to read next of hers, go to www.tijansbooks.com

WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEW YORK TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

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My review:

'I didn't like this guy. Remember?'

Why, oh why?! I’ve heard so much about this author and I can’t believe it took me so long to finally pick up one of her books.

Although I do read college romances occasionally, it’s getting harder to find well written ones that really interest me. (I believe that’s especially the case the older I become.) Anyway, I had some troubles getting into the story at first; otherwise I would have given it more stars. Kennedy was kind of a weird girl. I get why she was like that but it made it so much harder or almost impossible to connect with her character. It felt like that at least for me. I’m probably a too nice person and would be the invisible one at college. But moving on, I worked my way through the first few chapters and got to like the story more and more or rather began to love it after a few bumps.

'This was light and fun and sexy and I was forgetting how much I hated the guy.'

You’ll find the typical college dramas, sexual experiences, weird roommates, hateful stares and comments as well as embarrassing encounters in this book.

And although the story has the usual clichés and well known college-moments it’s still somewhat different. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read a lot of college romances in the last few years but I think that especially with Kennedy Clarke’s character, there was a different way about it. Also Shay Coleman, captain and quarterback of the college football team, usually a cocky bastard, was not as coldhearted and ass-like as one would believe. There’s more to him than one might think. Prejudices are quite common in our society and they are worst at college.

So try to think and see the whole of it before you judge someone; there's always more to a person than one would think because people rarely wear their hearts on the sleeves.

"No one should ever make you feel guilty for not opening up about yourself. You'll want to open up to the right ones."

The Story:

Kennedy Clarke is definitely not a wallflower, she has all the good looks and hot body, but still, she sets up her rules of no boys and no drama at college. High school had not been fun despite or especially because of her two big brothers and all the attention she’s gotten. Now it will all be different because she decided to stay in the background, make a few low-key friends and study her ass off.

'Guys liked how I looked, or they did until they found out Gage and Blake Clarke were my brothers. Opinions changed after that, though I had hoped that would change in college.'

But she hadn’t counted on Shay Coleman making his way into her life. He’s hard to shake off and his captivating looks require double takes. This screams for trouble and Kennedy soon finds herself in a whirlwind of chaos with not wanted emotions making its way to the surface. Problems are inevitable and the lines of her rules start to blur.

'Arrogant pricks could be real assholes in college, too. Shay Coleman taught me that last one.'

Thoughts:

Like I mentioned before, the beginning was a bit bumpy for me but as I got used to the writing and the characters strange way of thinking and behaving, I started to like it a lot.

'See, I could have my own inside jokes. Take that, snotty roommate and two friends.
Insert karate chop here.'

I was surprised at how much I liked Shay Coleman as I was used to the hatred usually accompanying such character. Star quarterback and hottest guy at college, every girl wanted to do him and every guy wanted to be him. This was mostly a warn signal for the main female character to a person causing troubles. Anyway, he was cocky and he was a smartass but he was also really nice, loving, smart, caring, protective and passionate. I wasn’t used to those characteristics of such a cliché person. This threw me for a loop.

Shay’s personality was otherworldly. I don’t know how else to describe him. There’s no way a man like him exists in the real world. He’s most certainly most woman’s (wet) dream.

'Why did I feel this guy inside me so much?'

Gage was a nice character as well and although he was a heartthrob, he was lovely and cared for his sister.

The story also dealt with some tougher topics although they weren’t really dealt with in a way I would have liked but rather grazed. Though I get it, because the main character was partly just indirectly affected and dealt with it in her own way how she thought acceptable.

Kennedy appeared to be a strong person and she partly was really tough but she also tried to avoid a repeat of what happened to her in high school. That’s why she acted tough and it was mostly because she didn’t want to be classified as vulnerable. Kennedy just wanted to protect herself and not get hurt again.

'I came off as a bitch, but trust me. There was a reason. I'd learned it was better to start swinging first than to get hit by someone else, metaphorically speaking.'

I liked the differences that I made out to other typical college romances although there were few. But it was a well written, enjoyable and entertaining story. It wasn’t really a road down memory lane for me because college in my country is so much different but I couldn’t stop reminiscing about the past.

Although I like to read college romances here and there, I prefer the HEA kind of reads and no matter how high school or college romances end, there is always a stale aftertaste because you never know how life will really continue for the characters. Because, come on, how many HEA do you know in real life that started in high school or college? I mean, there might be a few but out of how many? I’m sure you get what I mean. Anyway, I still liked the ending of this book.

Now I really have to catch up on those other books I already have from this author because this book definitely whetted my appetite for her stories.

-- I received an ARC of this book from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. --

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
View review on goodreads