Avail Yourself To Have And To Hate Articulated By R.S. Grey Displayed As Copy
on To Have and to Hate
disappointed by this
the writing was just so amazing, development couldve been a bit better but the small glances and everything just were perfect ,stars
This book would have beentimes better if it had a dual POV narrative because all we get of Walt is bits and pieces till he actually starts to talk.
The starting was a uneventful and, b slow, The book picks up decently after the first half though but I need tension and chemistry
What I didn't like:
, The name Walter Jennings c'mon get me something heavy, wtf is WaLt
, Lack of communication from Walt's side in the beginning,
. whyy was theyear age gap factor not capitalized !
, what EXACTLY did his parents think of their marriage lmao,
. Lack of possessiveness from Walt's side SIR, your WIFE
, Lack of possessiveness from Elizabeth's side MA'AM, your HUSBAND
, Elizabeth's family, enough said.
What I liked:
, The way they cared for each other,
. Especially when Walt got sick,
. Man was in heaven with his head on Elizabeth's pillow LMAO,
. Once they got into it, they actually communicated really well,
. Walt's brother, Matthew.
. People will hate me BUT Olivier because the man had balls to flirt with a married woman in front of her husband he really was ready to risk it all lol
Even still, this is an example of how you turn that "barely any chemistry" between characters into a working communicative decent relationship with some character growth
"I reach up to try to push him away, but instead, he grasps my hand against his chest and pushes it harder against his heart so I can feel its beat.
"
i can tell i'll be rereading this booktimes this year and i love that feeling! this is now one of my comfort reads, old rs grey is back and included all the tropes i adore with my whole heart,
forced proximity
grumpy/sunshine
marriage of convenience
slow burn
taking care of the other one because they are ill
kiss to shut up the other character
mutual pining
flying across the world to declare their love
"I'm about to stand when his hand reaches out to touch my thigh.
His grip is gentle, his way of asking me to stay, I think, I freeze right where I am and his hand doesn't move from where it sits, just above my knee, He hangs on to me as his breathing steadies out, He's asleep again now, his lips slightly parted, his face as tranquil as I've ever seen it, "
the ow drama was VERY irrelevant and annoying, and i would love confirmation if walter had sex with camilia in the early stages of being married to elizabeth, this felt like cheating to me and so doing my best to forget about that detail, lmao,
also, i wish the ending was a bit longer as it felt rushed!
no but ive been waiting for rs grey to release a book with marriage of convenience for YEARS now and its paired with hate to love trope god i am begging this has to be incredible or i will cry pls Is the old RS Grey back sadly not for me, not yet, but I guess she's going that way still a little boring, kinda a.
reading honestly
This was a good read with tropes that should be a guaranteed hit for me, but the weak link was the love relationship between the main characters.
I liked both characters yes, even considering the male character's name was Walt, butI don't know why Walt's girlfriend was around for so long, andthe slowburn didn't give me the feels I was hoping for.
Like, sometimes their interactions felt so, . . dry IDK. Also the point of a slowburn for me is to build the relationship through the book, with moments of obvious tension and a push and pull, but here half the time I was like "okay.
. . but now what Give me something else", I loved it.
There's angst.
There's a hot jerk hero,
There's a nonvirgin, though young, heroine,
There's slowburn.
There's art.
There's marriage of convenience,
It's just everything I wanted to read right now, All the!!
Oh, my gosh! I love, love, loved this book, Marraige of convience stories are my jam right now and this one takes the cake!
To Have and To Hate is the latest romance from author R, S. Grey and it doesnt disappoint, From the moment I picked up this book, I was sucked in, Elizabeth and Walt were the most unlikely pair, getting married for all the wrong reasons, You see, Elizabeth would do anything for her family, even if they dont deserve it, So, she marries Walt as a way to save her family, But, dont think Walt is in this marriage out of the goodness of his heart, Hes got an agenda of his own and is used to getting what he wants, Unfortunately for Walt, Elizabeth is way more than he bargained for
To Have and To Hate is a fun read from beginning to end and is everything I look for when reading a marriage of convenience romance.
Told from Elizabeths point of view, the reader is sucked in from the very first page, Elizabeth is smartly written with a touch of snark and isnt going to put up with Walts crap, She may have been born rich, but in no way acts like it, Shes just a girl whos always been ignored that wants to find her own way and make a name for herself, She is everything Walt should stay away from, but cant, And WaltWalt was seriously rocking the whole “Mr, Darcy” vibe. He had this quiet intensity about him, You could never tell what he was truly thinking or feeling, His intensity added so many amazing moments to this story, Those will they/wont they moments that just leave you begging for more, The slow burn started oh, so slowly, and turned into a raging hot inferno, Yes, if you know me, you know Im not always the biggest fan of the slow burn, but boy did it ever work for this story!
To Have and To Hate checked off all of my boxes.
The tension. The snark. The angst. Ugh! I just gobbled it up, Seriously! All. The. Feels. This book is easily a top read of mine for, Simply put, I loved everything about this story, and is one I can see myself rereading many times, To Have and To Hate is an absolutely fabulous read and I hope youll fall head over heels for Elizabeth and Walt as I did,
I was provided an ARC copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review
This book seemed perfect, it had the three tropes I love most slow burn, marriage of convenience and grumpysunshine MCs.
But it was too good to be true,
The book felt like a biography of an artist with how many descriptions and inner monologues Elizabeth had about art, it made the romance aspect to take a backseat instead of being the focus.
There was no POV of the hero, so I couldnt tell what were his intentions, specially in this scene that got on my nerves:
The MCs were okay to have a bf or gf since the marriage was just a transaction.
Im okay with that, I dont consider it cheating because they werent in a relationship, in fact, they barely knew each other,
But its not okay for the hero to bring his mistress to a wedding celebration dinner, and everyone attending knowing he was fucking her,
Its just disrespectful and embarrassing for the heroine to endure that type of thing, I didnt like any of the characters, the story was boring and there was not even enough steam to account for all the flaws, Maybe Im more judgmental when it comes to audiobooks, but the narrator sounded so pretentious that it made me dislike the main heroine even more,
I dnfed it first and I should have probably left it unfinished, but seeing all the nice tropes I decided to give it another chance,
Well, next time I see an artistic soul falling for a billionaire, I will surely say “no” much faster, There weren't any sweet or dreamworthy moments between the leads, being a sexy romcom, it's quite a necessity, . .
Things I liked:
Nice for people starting out the trope of Arrange Marriage, But, Regular readers of the trope won't find anything new though,
I liked the narrator's voice of the audiobook, It was very clear and great with the expression of things,
The leads'profession as a painter was refreshing and nicely shown,
Things I didn't like:
Way longer than it should've been, The editor should've edited a big chunk of Elizabeth's monologue of life,hours as an audiobook was quite much,
I particularly didn't find the high chemistry that I expect from cute romcom couples,
The epilogue was so damn cheesy! To Have and to Hate is a mediocre enemy turns lover romance.
Miss Grey not putting so much heat into the story,
The thing is with enemy to lover trophe, I need heat and vulnerable/ sweet moment of their turning point,
Elizabeth is too naive in this story, I do not feel the sexual chemistry between Walt and Elizabeth, It does not burn enough,
Overall it is still OK book,
Elizabeth moved to NYC after graduating art school to pursue her artistic career, She had no clue that almost immediately after moving there shed be marrying Walt Jennings II, who she barely knows, who is is a decade older than her, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her.
Why did she marry Walt Because her family needs access to a trust and the only way to free it is for Elizabeth to marry Waltand so she does, for the sake of her family.
Walt ends up moving Elizabeth into his apartment, buying her a diamond ring, putting a wedding announcement in the New York Times, Their marriage appears real to outsiders, but only they
know the truth, As Walt amp Elizabeth spend more time together, though, the lines start to blur and Elizabeth is left to wonder if this sham of a marriage is actually for real.
To Have and To Hate by RS Grey is an agegap marriage of convenience romance, I wouldnt say this is enemies to lovers, but it has the sunshine amp grumpy dynamic, This was a cute romance with a premise I loved, I wish we had both Elizabeth amp Walts POVs, as this is a single POV book Elizabeths, Since Walt is the silent, brooding type, its hard to know what hes thinking at all until the epilogue, The agegap doesnt play much of a role in the romance Elizabeths age is used to diminish her artistic potential for the most part, I personally cant connect to all the art references, but I can appreciate them playing such an integral role in the story, If thats something that appeals to you, I definitely recommend picking this one up!,/stars. Im not sure how to rate this one, Since I skimmed a good bit of it, A little bit boring And some unnecessary stuff In it, I felt bad for Elizabeth and the way her family treated her and if Im honest I think she deserved better than the hero,
This book probably would have been better with his POV since Im not sure how he felt for the whole book,
The hero had a girlfriend of like six months, like why This is where I wish the heroine had something too but of course not, She did have a guy that seemed to like her and I was hoping that it would go somewhere she deserved that, The hero didnt take their marriage serious and only a business deal so why not her too,
The ending was rushed and so not worth it,
Cheater
MOC
I dont give a fuck if this is a moc, he was legally married and had a girlfriend and didnt communicate his wife,
Her POV but the epilogue that we are graced by the Wall thoughts
HERO NOT CELIBATE AFTER MARRYING THE HEROINE AND DATING ANOTHER WOMAN HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS BEFORE GETTING MARRIED
HEROINE CELIBATE FOR A LONG TIME AND OF COURSE SHE DOESNT TOUCH NO ONE AFTER BEING MARRIED
Harry styles lives in their building!!!! Please just ask for a divorce and go to him instead I beg you
I dont know why people liked this awful book.
Why heroines always have to be a little bit shy, lonely and struggling while the heroes are rich, workaholics who also manage to fuck ow and doesnt wear their feelings on their sleeves like heroines Why cant she be a strong woman Why cant she be outgoing Why cant she toughen up and work hard to accomplish her things Why cant she tell people who are bad to her to fuck off The stupid woman who let people step all over her makes me sick!
Sexual history:
He has a hot as fuck girlfriend has been six months and is with her for the first weeks of their marriage
He was never super serious with anyone before, but even though he was a workaholic I sense he was always with some hot woman
Has been a long while since she last dated of fucking course
Sex with him cant compete with the college dorm sex she had before ugh
Of course she doesnt even kiss anyone else, I guy flirts with her but he was a jerk at one point.
I wish he was cool and after being coldly reject by the robot she accepted the other guys flirtation and fuck the shit out him, I dont give a shit if this is cheating, once the person cheated on you he set you free
Some may say it wasnt cheating because he told her, but he told her after being married and he didnt mentioned he already have a girlfriend.
She found out days later when he invited the ow to a dinner with her friends, Heroine felt out of place while the he required the ow to sit on his left and shea already knew his friends,
Double standards
She like always is not allowed to have a great sex life before him, This is after he fingered her:
“You act like youve never done that before, ” “I have!” I say in a rush, not wanting him to think Ive spent my life inside a nunnery, “Its just beena while. ” Also, I dont think you can compare clumsy collegedormroom sex to what just occurred in this office with Walt, I just catapulted myself into the big leagues, and Im not quite sure how Ill survive now,
His brother is so much more fun, nice, cute and a really he is a better guy, Why cant heroines never be with the truly good guys We dont want the brooding notshowingemotions is my whole personality, I want the guys who makes us swoon you know! Please give us better heroes
It looks like she was accepting any scrape of attention he throws her way.
The guy is rude why the fuck do you chase him to ask what is wrong Fuck him!!! and please if you may go fuck his brother cause I loved him
The romance building is awful, when she thinks about loving him I was super confused because girl Why When What the fuck
The time was a little off but if i understand it was like that but later its said they are married for a month ibased on my calculations should have been about three to four weeks
gt they are married for three days when she moved in with him
gt the first weekend he went and stayed night all night long so I assumed he was fucking his girlfriend
gt two weeks since they got married he host a dinner in their honor, funny how she has to attend but he also invited his girlfriend.
She obviously doesnt even have any real friends in NY, much less a fuck buddy or a boyfriend
gt his girlfriend broke up with him atand he was upset.
I hate that heroes always have advantages compared to the heroine in romance books, He holds all the power, he is the one fucking ow, he is the one with the money, he is the one who sees her losing control over her feelings.
. .
“So then you plan on dating still”
I sound as if the notion shocks me, His brows furrow.
Why wouldnt I”
Yes, Elizabethwhy wouldnt he! I force out a laugh and shake my head,
“No, its justI wasnt sure, Now that I think about it, of course youd continue dating, I wasnt insinuating that you wouldnt, OnlyI”
Im fumbling here, grasping at straws as he watches carefully,
“I just assumed you didnt have time with how much you work, ”
He chuckles under his breath,
“I have no issue finding the time, I assure you, ”
Whoa. Hello butterflies in my stomach, Settle down, please. He was talking about finding the time to romance other women, not me, Why would he find time for me!
“So then its fine if I date as well”
On the surface, its an appropriate question, but deep down, Im only asking to prove that I, too, have romance in my life.
Lots of it. Tons.
She is attacked to him already:
Seeing Walt sans shirt is on par with the time I accidentally stumbled upon one of my moms racy romance novels when I was twelve.
My cheeks flush bright red like Ive never seen a naked torso before, Its absolutely ridiculous. Ive participated in live drawing classes in which we studied the nude human form, both of men and women, not to mention the fact that Ive had boyfriends, Several. And Ive seen them nude
After being married and after she saw him shirtless and liked, while she is alone in his apartment because they live together he was out fucking his girlfriend all night
“Walt and I dont cross paths again that weekend, which is strange given our proximity to one another.
I eat an early lunch in the kitchen, on edge, waiting to see if hell make an appearance, but he never leaves his office, Later that night, as Im in my bathroom, washing my face, I hear the elevator arrive and then depart, I dont hear him return until late Sunday morning, when Im in the den watching TV, ”
Great to imagine him fucking his girlfriend six ways to Sunday,
She is already tingling from his touch at her arm before she met his girlfriend, She was already attracted to him also
I hold out my left hand for him and, without missing a beat, he takes it and slides off the gold band.
I cant help the tingles that spread up my arm from where hes touching me, His hand is strong and steady, as confident and sure as any other part of him, Im sure,
The dinner he told her she had to attend because it was in honor of the new couple
Him worried about the ow Camilla:
“Where did you place Camila” Walt asks, stepping into the dining room and abruptly cutting off the party planner.
“Id like her to be on my left,” Walt says, referring to Camilas placement,
Its clear that not a single one of them knows weve faked our marriage, They think were young and in love, and I have to stand there and smile and laugh as they gush about what a lovely bride I made,
Up until this moment, I didnt realize Walt had someone like Camila in his life, Sure, he told me he had plans to continue dating, but he maybe should have mentioned having a serious girlfriend, Seems like something a wife ought to know! Ha,
during the dinner she went to the library to have some time alone and heard them arguing about the ring he bough the heroine and the fake weeding
Walts personal friends dont want anything to do with me either, which makes sense, because Camila now stands among them.
Every now and then, one of them will glance over at me with a look that says, Ohyoure still here
Shes wonderfully beautiful with curly black hair that cascades down her back.
Her burgundy jumpsuit is slim fitting through the bodice and hips with a relaxed fit around her legs, The deep V plunging neckline is paired with a tie at the waist, and it all looks so effortlessly sexy,
“I heard you in your office earlier with Camila, ”
He nods, but he doesnt seem upset or surprised by the confession, Im more than a little relieved, I wasnt sure how hed take me eavesdropping on him, even if it was just an accident,
“Is she your girlfriend”
I press, He looks down at his drink,
“The closest thing to it, I suppose, ”
He sounds a little worn out by the topic, and Im not surprised given the argument I heard,
“Is she angry Im here”
“Yes,” he admits with a sigh,
“This whole situation has been hard on her, She doesnt understand it. ”
“That makes two of us, ”
He smiles and glances over at me, catching my gaze, “Does she know Im living here”
He looks away again,
“Yes. That waswhat did you say a second ago A rotten day, ”
“I could talk to her, Make it clear to her that Im not” I struggle to finish the sentence out loud because the notion is so preposterous, Still, I trudge on bravely, “Competition. ” When he doesnt immediately respond, I tack on an exaggerated “Obviously, ” I turn beet red from head to toe, Oh my god. Say something!
“I appreciate you wanting to help,” he says, “but its not as simple as that, ”
“Right. WellIm happy to leave if it would make it easier for you and your situation with Camila, ”
Please dont ask me to leave,
“No,” he replies curtly, “I insist you stay. Its going to be a great dinner, Cmon, it looks like its time for us to take our seats, ”
“Elizabeth I dont think weve been introduced, Im Camila, Walts friend. ”
“Oh, yes. Hi. Its nice to meet you, ” Up close, shes even more beautiful than I realized,
“I really like your outfit,” I say, trying to show her that Im not the enemyor at least Im not trying to be,
This situation is humiliating for both women, I would never accepted him
When another guest asks Walt what attracted him to me, I drink, and I listen very carefully for the lie hell tell.
After all, lies are often based in truths, Walts gaze slides to me, and he seems to think for a second as he assesses me, God its taking him forever,
“Oh come on,” a guy taunts, “It cant take you that long to come up with something nice to say about her, ”
I blink away the tears that suddenly spring to the corners of my eyes, How embarrassing. I wish I could leap to my feet and leave the table,
I hate it when heroines accepted being humiliated like that, he invited his fucking girlfriend for fucking sakes, leave the damn dinner and go out, enjoy the city that never sleeps
“And what about you, Elizabeth”
“Oh.
” I force a laugh.
“What attracted me to Walt” I ask in clarification,
“Yes! Cmon, we gotta know what you saw in the cold bastard,” the man across from me says with a laugh, “Hisum”
I feel Walts gaze on the side of my face, and I fidget in my chair,
“Butt” The table erupts with laughter, and I glance over at Walt from beneath my lashes to find even hes smiling slightly,
“My butt” he teases, I shrug playfully.
“Its nice. What can I say” Camila scoots back from the table suddenly, shooting to her feet,
“Excuse me for a moment, ” Her napkin falls to her chair, and Walt and I stand at the same time, as if were both going to follow after her, Its funny considering the two of us are likely the last people she wants to see right now, I sit back down after Walt shakes his head, just once, before excusing himself from the dining room, To say the tension around the table hits an alltime high after that is an understatement, Its clear to everyone now that theres something odd going on, and without Walt here, Im left to endure the whispers and side conversations all on my own,
ASSHOLE he just left her alone to deal with his friends and followed another woman who is not the wife, Fucking hell
AHHHHHHH FUCKING GREAT TO KNOW HE IS SPENDING TIME WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND, but like he said, he always find the time to date even though he works a lot, I am imagining a quick fuck during lunch now
“Whats it like living here with my brother”
“Like living here absolutely alone, really.
”
“Is he gone that often”
“I dont think Ive seen him more than a handful of minutes since I moved in, Before, I thought it was just because of work, but I imagine hes been spending time with Camila too, ”
He nods in agreement,
HIS BROTHER IS WAY BETTER THAN HIM I WISH THE BOOK WAS ABOUT HIM INSTEAD OF THE WALL sorry, Walt
“Well, Id like to see what you do.
I know a few people who might be able to point you in the right direction, ”
“Are you serious Youd do that”
“Sure, Youre my sisterinlaw now, arent you”
A great relieved laugh pours out of me, Finally, someone willing to poke fun at this odd set of circumstances,
“Im completely kidding, by the way,” he says, with a sheepish smile,
“I cant look at you like that, Im pretty sure youre not supposed to find your sisterinlaw attractive, ”
“Oh. ” The sound falls past my lips, forming a surprised O, “Was that not smooth Damn, Sorry. I just got out of a relationship before the holidays, so I havent really been in the dating scene for a while, Here, let me try again, ”
He shakes out his shoulders as if trying to relax, then he glances at me with fullon sincerity and says simply, “Elizabeth, youre hot, ”
his girlfriend and heroine are his type, brunettes and hot,
heroine is already into him, Literally the same night she met his girlfriend she is having lust thoughts about him
“So is that your type”
“I mean, do you normally go for smartypants”
I ask after clearing my throat.
His smile is gentle when he shakes his head, “I dont really have a type, ” “Not true!” Matthew interjects quickly, “Not true at all and you know it, man, ” He jostles his brothers shoulder and Walt glances down, taking the side of his bottom lip between his teeth in a sheepish grin, My stomach squeezes tight as I watch him, The sight of him looking so boyishly handsome is something I never thought Id see, I wish I could freeze time, Grab a camera. A paintbrush. Something. “Brunette. ” Matthew starts listing, ticking qualities off on his fingers, “Long legs. Smoking hot. ” Im grinning until he turns and points to me, “Take Elizabeth, for example. ” If I had champagne in my mouth, I would spit it out, “Excuse me” “Sorry, justits true,” Matthew laughs, Walt glances up at me and narrows his eyes, I do the same right back, filled with liquid courage, We have a stareoff for a long moment until I finally cave and roll my eyes, trying to lighten the mood, Its obvious Matthew is only teasing, “Well thats not fair. Now you know his type, Whats yours” Matthew asks teasingly, Walt. Thats what my brain thinks before anything else, Just one word. One name. Walt.
she just met his girlfriend but is already worried about feelings for fucks sakes, Where is her self respect
Worse, Im starting to think I might actually like my husband, Howdisconcerting. I do think this arrangement would have worked best if wed kept up pretense and only interacted with one another when it had to do with the business arrangement we struck in that courtroom.
But then he agreed to let me move in, and now were read: Im liable to catch feelings, Feelings are messy. My feelings are messy. Walt seems perfectly capable of reining in his feelings so at any given moment theyre nothing more than a pesky fly he can flick away with a wave of his hand.
The morning after the dinner the ow arrived at their house and the heroine is already jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great, just great ohh and she also feels like a third wheel.
Romance is not dead people
Their definitive break up but the heroine doesnt know that and is crazy jealous later wondering if they are still fucking
I peer around the doorframe.
I see them hugging in the entryway, Camilas face buried in his chest, Walts arm is wrapped lovingly around her shoulders, and now it feels as if theres a painful lump in my throat as I turn away quickly and scurry to my room.
After his break up, a couple days later, he is mad she isnt wearing the ring he pick up for her! The ring the bought when he was dating ow.
Disgusting asshole, he doesnt respect both women
Only athe tells her he isnt dating the ow anymore and isnt sad about it and didnt loved her, Well, big fucking deal Wall you were fucking her anyway while married, Heroine had already made a fool of herself asking his brother to talk to Wall about Camila to see if they were still together,
She is pathetic, she went after him to his office, he fingered her and then she was super embarrassed and wouldnt even look at him I was ashamed on her behalf, own your sexuality woman stop being stupid
His point of view at the end is pure bullshit
I never imagined Id be standing here today, a decade since I first married Elizabeth at the courthouse.
Ill never forget walking up and seeing her that day clad in her short dress and heavy boots, She should have run for the hills when I approached, but she looked up at me, her green eyes shining, She was so unabashedly hopeful, so stubborn, I thought of her constantly, even in the early days, even before she moved into my apartment, Ive told her that before, shared with her how quickly I developed feelings for her, She laughs every time I remind her, like it shocks her all over again,
“You sure didnt act like it!” she loves to tell me, Yes well, what was I supposed to do It was scary even to me,
Come the fuck on author, dont even try, the poor guy was so scared he went and spend the night at his girlfriend house uh So fucking interested in her that he was working but sure as fuck he could manage time to date the other women hahahah yeah honey not even him buy this shit
Bla bla bla I cant take it anymore I just bother writing a review because I was pissed o though this book was good.
It is not.
These people are zero realistic and I know is a romance book but cmon write someone who resembles a normal human being
She is so desperate Im embarrassed, she was acting like a lunatic with his brother wondering with he was still dating the ow he wasnt but for fucks sake woman stop and go for the brother rsrs.
R.S. Grey