While characters from the earlier books in the Dating series make cameo appearances in this story, it reads as a total standalone, so anyone who is not familiar with the previous stories will not feel lost at all by starting with this one. I have very much enjoyed the entire series, however, and would highly recommend all of the books for fans of contemporary romance and romantic comedy.
About "Hate to Date You"
Hate to Date You, an all-new standalone contemporary romance in the Dating Series by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Monica Murphy is live!
Stella Ricci is bored.
Her overprotective family barely let her out of their sight, despite the fact she’s a grown woman. Yes, she loves her job at her family’s café and she’s the best barista in the entire Monterey Peninsula, but is that enough? She’s thinking no. But what else can she do?
Enter Carter Abbott. Burnt out after the never-ending grind of selling high end real estate in Los Angeles, he’s returned home, unsure of what to do next. He needs someplace to crash temporarily until he gets back on his feet.
It's easy for Stella to suggest Carter move in. Temporarily of course. It'll give her someone to talk to. The only problem?
That one night stand Stella and Carter had about a year ago. They never talked about it. They still don’t really talk about it. Despite the fact that the old chemistry has come back full force. Living together has made that obvious. Should they admit that one night wasn't enough? Or will dating each other turn into an epic fail?
Only one way to find out…
Read an Excerpt from "Hate to Date You"
I’m in the bathroom applying one last coat of mascara to my eyelashes when Carter suddenly appears behind me, his gorgeous face looming over my shoulder. Of course, like the dork that I am, I yelp with a jolt when I first spot him, stabbing myself in the eyeball with the mascara wand.
And like some sort of romcom hero, he rushes for me, his big hands curling around my shoulders and turning me around so I have no choice but to face him. Though I can’t even look at him, considering I’m bent over and holding both hands over my wounded eye.
“Are you all right? I didn’t mean to scare you.” He sounds troubled. Which is good. He should definitely feel bad for causing my injury.
Though really, I’m the one who overreacted and stabbed myself in the first place.
“I’m okay.” I stand up straighter, still cradling my watery, stinging eye. “It only hurts a little.”
“Drop your hand.” He turns away from me, snagging a tissue out of the Kleenex box that’s perched on the back of the toilet, then faces me once more. “Drop it,” he repeats when I still haven’t removed my hand.
Reluctantly I remove my hand from my face, my eyelashes practically stuck together. I’m sure I look a mess and I swallow hard, reaching up to dab at the tender skin beneath my eye, but Carter bats my hand away.
“Let me,” he murmurs as he brushes the tissue underneath my eye, picking up all the excess mascara. “Does it still hurt?”
“A little.” He’s so close. I can see all of his eyelashes, and they’re thick and dark and don’t need a lick of mascara on them, the jerk. He’s freshly shaven, his face nice and smooth, and I sort of want to rub against it. Like a cat.
“I’m sorry I startled you,” he says with the utmost sincerity. “I didn’t mean for you to try to take your eye out.”
A soft laugh escapes me. “I’ve stabbed myself in the eye before with a mascara wand. I’m sure this won’t be the last time.”
He finishes cleaning up the mess I made and then turns me so I face the mirror once more. “Now you’re perfect,” he says, squeezing my shoulders for the briefest moment before he lets go and exits the bathroom, heading straight into his bedroom.
I’m shaken by the encounter and it takes me a minute to get moving again. Since the afternoon at my nonna’s house, we’ve been friendlier. Not so friendly that we fall into bed together, but friendly enough. Which is…nice. I don’t like having hostile feelings toward Carter. What exactly did he ever do to me anyway?
Oh, he just rocked your world and turned you into a firm believer in multiple orgasms, then left you in the dust and never talked to you again.
Right. He did that. And it sucked.
My Review
I very much enjoyed Monica Murphy's "Hate to Date You," a charming, funny, and sweet story that was every bit as delightful as the previous installments in the Dating series have been. Main characters Carter Abbott and Stella Ricci were quite likeable and well-developed, and their back-and-forth banter made me laugh.
I really liked Stella when she was introduced earlier in this series, so I was happy to get to know her better in this story. She was in a tough spot with her family because they placed so much value on traditional gender roles, which is why she felt the need to rebel when she was younger and hide parts of her life from them as an adult. It was nice to see her family start to open up with each other near the end of the book, and especially to see her father and brothers make an effort to listen to what Stella, her mom, and her grandmother had to say.
Carter was also a great lead character, and I appreciated his efforts to get his life and career on track after moving back to Carmel from Los Angeles. He didn't seem to be very happy as a real estate agent, however, and it's a shame he wasn't able to land on a different career path before the end of the story. Hopefully his happy relationship with Stella plus the benefits of living closer to his sister and future brother-in-law will be enough to make up for any dissatisfaction he may still have with his job.
In addition to Carter and Stella, I really enjoyed getting to know Stella's grandmother, Grace. She was a perfect matchmaker for Stella and Carter, giving them just enough of a push without being overbearing. It was wonderful to catch up with the other members of Stella's friend group too, especially Caroline and Sarah.
I look forward to reading Stella's friend Eleanor's story next! She was so sweet and funny in this book, and I can't wait to see what fate has in store for her.
*ARC provided by the author via Social Butterfly PR. All opinions expressed are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments make my day! While I do not expect everyone to agree with my point of view, please note that I reserve the right to delete any nasty or uncharitable messages, as well as spam. Open discussion is welcome and appreciated, but personal attacks are not. Thanks for understanding and have a nice day. :-)