Review: Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai

Format: mass market
Pub Date: July 25, 2017
Publisher: Avon
Length: 371 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Received an ARC from the pub/author at RT17

Ok, it wasn't that long ago that I had a post up about wanting less sexual content in romance.  That I had become a sex scene skimmer, because there's way too much *boring* sex in romance these days. So much so that the plot gets lost. Of course, I maintained that there were a few exceptions to that rule, and Alisha Rai's books have always been that for me.

Hate to Want You is Rai's first Avon book, though, so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Well...the sexual content isn't light. If you thought her signing with Avon meant less sex, dispense with that notion right now. The good news is that, like the other Rai books I've read, the sex scenes move the plot forward. There is absolutely NO Tab A into Slot B laziness in her writing.

At first, this book is solely about sex. Our hero and heroine meet once a year for no-strings-attached sex, despite a huge, ongoing family feud that broke them up as teens. When Livvy shows up in town, Nicholas decides that their once a year arrangement just isn't enough. It's through their sexual relationship, already well established, that their love rekindles. So few authors can make me buy into that anymore, but this book did it well.

There's also plenty of plot outside the bedroom, as a good ole family feud is brewing about a grocery store dynasty. You get lots of side drama from both families. Lots of emotion. There's a lingering sweetness here, too, as this is a second chance at love story.

I'm always terrified when Avon buys someone who has a strong voice I love, but this book was fabulous. It's definitely a keeper, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

My Grade: A

Blurb:

One night. No one will know.
That was the deal. Every year, Livvy Kane and Nicholas Chandler would share one perfect night of illicit pleasure. The forbidden hours let them forget the tragedy that haunted their pasts—and the last names that made them enemies.
Until the night she didn’t show up.
Now Nicholas has an empire to run. He doesn’t have time for distractions and Livvy’s sudden reappearance in town is a major distraction. She’s the one woman he shouldn’t want . . . so why can’t he forget how right she feels in his bed?
Livvy didn’t come home for Nicholas, but fate seems determined to remind her of his presence—and their past. Although the passion between them might have once run hot and deep, not even love can overcome the scandal that divided their families.
Being together might be against all the rules . . . but being apart is impossible.