Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Dating You / Hating You, by Christina Lauren {ends 7/7}

"Hi." I hold out my hand. "I'm Evie."

"Is that short for Evil?" He pretends to be scared as he tentatively returns the handshake. "Are you sure you're Griffindor? Your laugh makes me think you have a secret lab and are building an apocalyptic robot dog that's going to eat every smug person here. Slytherin for sure."

"It's short for Evelyn. The cackle is my gift. It keeps the delicate ones away."

"I'm Carter." He points two thumbs at his chest. "Not delicate, I promise."

Is he ... flirting? I consider the rolling tumbleweeds of my dating life and marvel that I can't even tell anymore.

Long-time readers of this blog know that I'm a huge fan of anything by Christina Lauren, and this novel was no different. It's actually their (they are an author duo) first standalone novel, and I loved that it jumped between the two main character's points of view.

Official synopsis:

All’s fair in love and work. The first standalone romance by New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Beautiful Bastard) is a sexy, compulsively readable romantic comedy that dives headlong into the thrill and doubt of modern love.

Despite the odds against them from an embarrassing meet-awkward at a mutual friend’s Halloween party, Carter and Evie immediately hit it off. Even the realization that they’re both high-powered agents at competing firms in Hollywood isn’t enough to squash the fire.

But when their two agencies merge—causing the pair to vie for the same position—all bets are off. What could have been a beautiful, blossoming romance turns into an all-out war of sabotage. Carter and Evie are both thirtysomething professionals—so why can’t they act like it?

Can Carter stop trying to please everyone and see how their mutual boss is really playing the game? Can Evie put aside her competitive nature long enough to figure out what she really wants in life? Can their actor clients just be something close to human? Whether these two Hollywood love/hatebirds get the storybook Hollywood ending or just a dramedy of epic proportions, you will get to enjoy Christina Lauren’s heartfelt, raucous, and hilarious romance style at its finest.

There were a lot of elements in this novel that were very "real-life," which I liked - Evie doesn't want to just throw her job away for Carter, and the two of them are very competitive, so when they're pitted against each other for the same job, they put aside their romance and go for it. 

Also, Evie is a bit older than Carter - I think she was 32 or 33, and he was 26 - and she agonizes over that a bit too, not wanting to appear like a "cougar," ha. 

Overall, this is a very cute story that has a lot of real-life elements in it. Carter and Evie both have great friend groups, too, who advise them what they should do in their situation, and although they do listen to them, sometimes it's better for them to just take thing into their own hands.

4 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this novel for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a paperback copy of Dating You / Hating You!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Friday, July 7th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be emailed the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Dating You/Hating You book