HATE: A LOVE STORY by LAUREL ULEN CURTIS

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Reviewed by Jenny & Gitte

J&G: ✯✯✯✯1/2 Stars

“Go after life. Do it every day, every minute, every single moment. Don’t hold anything back.”

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!  Well once again we entered into a story not knowing anything about it and once again we hit the jackpot. The thrill of reading is all about the unravelling of the story as it unfolds, of almost walking in the characters shoes and living each moment with them, sharing their emotions and feelings and that certainly was the case with Hate: A Love Story. What unfolded was a superbly told story of friendship, family, loss, love and redemption, fate and soul mates.  It was captivating and we couldn’t put it down. This story had it all! 

“But, please, I’m begging you, stop running away from me. I’m fucking sick of it.”

This story was incredibly sad at times, however Laurel Ulen Curtis brilliantly intertwined humour and light banter through her story which prevented it from becoming too weighted down. Oh, we certainly felt extreme emotion but it didn’t overcome us as the author perfectly wove a secondary character through her story in the form of the hysterical Gram who counteracted the heaviness that could have otherwise overwhelmed the story.

“She’s just got a special brand of honesty. I, personally, either find it refreshing or annoying as fuck.”

The comedic timing of the banter was spot on and this uniquely hilarious character with her incorrigible flirting, her bluntness, lack of filter and odd habits was bloody hilarious! We just about highlighted every crazy and sarcastic word that came out her mouth, yet she also had many a wise word to pass onto Whitney.

“I don’t know how to make any of it good again, Gram. Tell me how to make it good again.”
“Oh, my sweet girl. You can’t. Only time can.”

Told through the eyes of Whitney we experience her hidden love for her best friend Blane.  Blane blusters into Whitney’s life, forcing the otherwise closed off Whitney to accept his offer of friendship and it’s a solid bond that is sadly torn apart by tragic events, until fate steps in and they meet again 12 years later.

‘At that moment, I knew without a doubt that Blane Hunt had me in his arms, and the look in his heated eyes told me he planned to do all the right things.’

The way the author brought the story to its crescendo was priceless, she had us laughing and crying in equal measure. Every character in this story was engaging and the various relationships woven throughout the story felt real and believable.

“Since when do you need a man to do anything?”
“I don’t need a man. I need Blane.”

We did experience a first in Hate: A Love Story and that was where we found ourselves reading an intimate scene that was so vividly and powerfully written we felt the intensity, the love and the connection of that scene down to our soul. When discussing the book afterwards, we both spoke of how transfixed we were in that moment, how completely lost in the story we became that the magnitude of our feelings saw us with tears streaming down our faces. What these characters felt at that very moment, believe us, we felt it too so BRAVO to this author for eliciting such strong emotions from us.

If you love your stories with plenty of angst, enjoy friends to lovers’ stories that touch your heart, break your heart, that leave you in floods of tear one minute and laughing the next then check this one out! A beautiful story and a definite recommend!

“What’s your biggest regret?”
“That I didn’t love hard enough.”

**Reviewed from an ARC copy provided by the author with thanks**

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Purchase Links for HATE: A LOVE STORY
AMAZON US | AMAZON UK | AMAZON AU