Twisted Hate: Brief Review

What can I say about Twisted Hate, except...I LOVED THIS BOOK?!?!

I read this book in 3 days! It was that good. I couldn't put it down.

Three things I loved about this book:

• The Enemies to Lovers Story was so good.

• Jules Ambrose has a heart of gold despite her armor.

• Any guy who takes their date on a scavenger hunt in a bookstore is a KEEPER!

Brief Synopsis

Josh Chen, who is in his 3rd year of ER residency and set to become a doctor, considers himself to be lucky with the ladies; well, he's unlucky when it comes to Jules Ambrose, who is on the move to becoming a lawyer.

She can't stand him and he definitely can't stand her. Josh has disliked her from the moment she became best friends with his sister, Ava and Jules loves getting under his skin with put downs and insults. It's what they both thrive off of. It isn't until an explosive argument puts them on a collision course of giving in to what they want: sex.

Now the two of them have found themselves making a deal with devil. An enemy with benefits arrangement. They both agree to 3 rules:

• No one can get jealous if the other wants to see other people

• No strings attached

• No falling in love with one another

Sounds simple. But it's not. Josh and Jules, both start catching feelings with every 'benefit' they do, and now, they are on each other's minds constantly. As they grow closer, though, Josh's past and Jules former bad girl history both come back to bite them big time and puts their sudden interest in one another on the brink of disaster.

WHY I LOVE THIS STORY: THE JOSH CHEN FACTOR

Josh and Jules both have similar pasts and the more they actually talk to one another, they learn just how much they both have in common. Josh's cocky behavior, to me masks a lot of what he doesn't want others to know. He's been the only protector of his sister, Ava, and in many ways, he lets that get in the way of living a happier life.

As for Jules, she's trying hard to right a wrong in her past, and I thought her wanting to become a lawyer was her way to help others who have been wronged and help correct those who do wrong to others. She's been wronged not only by her mother, but by someone she gave her heart to, only to be used in a defiling manner. Jules, just like Josh, keep the barriers up out of fear of being hurt again, and in many ways, their heated exchanges is the one thing that makes them forget about all the mess that's been going on in their lives.

The moment Josh asked Jules to accompany him at the hospital picnic, it was clear that he was feeling something for her, even if he kept telling himself it was only the sex he was thinking about. Josh proved just that when he went toe-to-toe with the douchebag co-worker, Micah, who insulted Jules when he learned that she was going to become a lawyer after passing the bar.

JOSH: "Regardless, I don't appreciate your rudeness toward my date. This is a work event, so apologize, walk away, and we'll leave it at that. But disrespect Jules again, and I'll put you in the emergency room myself."

Josh, who never talks about the downside of working in the hospital to anyone, opens up to Jules, and shares the pain of losing a patient, which brings him sadly back to remembering family pains for his family. Mind you, these two find ways to alleviate stress in their own 'way'.

The only thing and it's huge is how he treated Jules during a big moment of honesty on her part. Many readers have made mention of this, and I agree; however, in the end, I found myself still loving both characters, despite the bogus move he further in the story.

WHY I LOVED JULES

Jules, despite all her armor, is a woman who has a heart. So much so that she gives Josh sound advice about letting go of the past hurts between he and his best friend, Alex (Twisted Love), however, she couldn't do it for herself, no matter how much she had changed since her days as the former bad girl. She wanted to do the right thing when her past, which was her drugged out boyfriend, Max, returned to make her pay for his stint in jail some years ago, but she couldn't get over believing if people knew about her past, they'd hold it against her. It isn't until she has to face the music and share her past with Josh that she realizes that her past doesn't define who she is now.

Jules was not just giving Josh advice in terms of repairing his relationship with Alex, but in many ways, it was advice for herself:

Jules: "Being angry at someone is exhausting, and it's been almost three years. Maybe it's time to forgive, even if you don't forget."

I'll share only 1 scene that I fell in love with and that's the date night that Josh planned for Jules. Finding out that she loves books, Josh arranged a date night where he devised a scavenger hunt for her at 'one of the best bookstores in the city'. It was one of the sweetest and endearing dates between the two of them.

This is one of the most spicest novels by Ana Huang when it comes to the Twisted series and while Rhys and Bridget are still my favorite, Josh and Jules love story took the lead.