Book Review: Better Hate Than Never
If there is one Shakespeare play that lends itself particularly well to adaptation, it’s Taming of the Shrew. Probably because an author can — and arguably should — change as much of the plot as humanly possible, given that the story of a man nagging and abusing his wife into submission doesn’t exactly scream “happy rom-com.” Fortunately, in the time since, adaptations have diluted the problematic elements right out of the story, giving us things like the classic comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, and now Chloe Liese’s sweet, steamy, and heartwarming Better Hate Than Never.
The story follows Kate Wilmot, the youngest of three sisters. The one with the most adventurous spirit, Kate returns home after years abroad, burned out on photojournalism, with the money in her bank account dwindling. While back, she is forced to socialize with longtime family friend, and bane of her existence, Christopher Petruchio, with whom she has always shared an antagonistic, bickering relationship.
Because they share a social circle, Kate and Christopher are continually thrown together and gradually begin to ease up on each other and actually have a conversation without seriously trying to bite the other one’s head off. What results instead is a sweet, slow burn (but oh-so-satisfying) romance, infused throughout with perfect fall-themed vibes that make it a great read for this time of year.
Where this book really thrives, besides Kate and Christopher’s chemistry, and the personal struggles that they each try to work through by the end, is in its honesty. Both Kate and Christopher are working through unresolved childhood issues that they openly acknowledge, and both are called on their “bad behavior” particularly towards one another, without anyone pretending that it’s ok to behave that way in the name of snark or repressed feelings.
While I don’t want to spoil it, I cannot let this go by without mentioning that towards the end, Kate shares something about herself that struck me on such a personal level it actually made me cry. I had seen hints of this throughout (and actually called it long before it appeared on the page), but seeing Liese fully commit to such an underrepresented element in the romance genre — something I have talked about before — warmed my sometimes-cynical little heart.
Better Hate Than Never hits shelves on October 10. Special thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the advance copy for review purposes.