Much Ado About Hating You by Sarah Echavarre Smith

Book Review May 18, 2025

Format: ARC from NetGalley

Publication Date: 22 May 2025

💭 My thoughts...

3/5 stars

This was a very quick and easy book to read - I managed it in just over a day (oooh if it wasn't for those pesky kids). There was good tension and chemistry between the lead characters, which definitely made it easy to lean into the spicy nature of their romance. Unfortunately, I think the spice, at times, overwhelmed the plot and it felt like it was all about the sex.

I really enjoyed the Shakespearean references in the story, but for a book with a title like this, I think the author could have gotten away with utilising them more than she did. I also struggled with the speed of the story's resolution - there was a lot of tension building and drawn-out conflict across the course of the book, only for it all to be dealt with in a matter of pages right at the end.

It was a decent read, but nothing made it really stand out for me and I had a few elements that I struggled with while reading.

📖 Synopsis...

English professor Aidan writes spicy Shakespearean fan-fiction in his spare time and has quite the following online. He goes to work one day to find that his department is being audited by Micah.

When Micah and Aidan discover their connection, they have to decide whether their online relationship is strong enough to overcome their work conflict.