I’m already a solid fan of Hawthorne, but a friend encouraged me to also check out works by Gray, so this seemed like the perfect option. This book is a fun enemies-to-lovers romance with a dash of kink and plenty of wedding shenanigans, so basically lots of my favorite things. Jasper and Lincoln grew on me immediately, especially as two characters part of the same social circle, whether they like it or not, because they are connected by both love and (imminent) marriage. They might despise each other, but their loyalty to Sam wins out when both are asked to be his best man. Between planning the bachelor party, attending the bachelor party, and then attending the wedding, they pretty much can’t get away from each other.
Except it becomes apparent rather quickly that they don’t want to be apart from each other, at least when sex is involved. Their encounters are hot and explosive, especially when Lincoln introduces an element of power dynamics. It pisses them both off, but Jasper can’t help but be drawn to the other man and Lincoln can’t help wanting him.
It’s when they call a truce to see how an actual relationship between them might work out that everything starts to fall apart. Luckily, both men have plenty of support when it comes to either leaving each other alone for good or fixing what might be broken between them. There is no middle ground, and it takes both characters seeing that issue for them to get to the happily ever after.
Some scenes of this book were hard to follow until I figured out who all the secondary characters were and how they related to each other. Hawthorne and Gray take hate sex to a new level, and I look forward to reading more by Gray and hoping these authors collaborate again in the future.
Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.