THE VALENTINE’S HATE – Sidney Halston
AVON
ISBN: 978-0063286399
December 27, 2022
Romantic Comedy

Cancun, Mexico – Present Day

Lissette “Lizzie” Alonso hates Valentine’s Day after some disastrous experiences with it while growing up. But with her best friend Mari having a Valentine’s Day destination wedding in Cancun, she has to put aside her hatred for the day. At least her childhood nemesis, Brian Anderson, won’t be there. However, on her way to Cancun, she runs into the last person she expects to see…Brian. Turns out he is not there for the wedding, but for a convention where he will be comingling with fans and signing books. Brian Anderson writes under the pen name of B. Anderson, the big-time author of a mega-book series that has a cult-like following.

Lizzie gives Brian an earful when they first meet in Cancun, but soon she has to eat her words after he offers to help her when a flood at the resort means she doesn’t have a room. Lizzie will either need to move to a hotel ninety minutes away or accept Brian’s offer to stay in the extra bedroom in a villa at the resort. The wedding venue will still be at the resort, and as the maid of honor, Lizzie would rather be onsite. So, she agrees to Brian’s offer. She might hate the guy, but she can hope to avoid him. But it turns out that Brian needs Lizzie to be his pretend girlfriend to help ward off the advances of the married actress who is the female lead in the movie series based on his books. Can she pretend to like a guy that she hates?

Will Lizzie come to love Valentine’s Day in THE VALENTINE’S HATE, or will it just reinforce her belief that it is a day invented by the devil to scorn her? Things are definitely getting dicey for her once she arrives in Cancun. First there was running into Brian, then the resort kicking her out of her room due to the flood. It also turns out that the groom’s sister is now dating Lizzie’s ex-boyfriend. The guy who cheated on her. Having Brian and her pretend to be dating will act as a buffer since it appears her ex wants to get her attention. Of course, staying in the same villa, even with separate rooms, provides a sense of intimacy. Readers will wonder how long before they’re soon sharing the same bed.

While not a laugh-out-loud romance, there are plenty of lighthearted moments in THE VALENTINE’S HATE, like when Lizzie and Mari get drunk. She wakes up in Brian’s bed the next morning with no idea how she got there. Meanwhile, there are misunderstandings as people assume that our couple are engaged. If Brian denies it, will it give the actress who is after him an opening to try and “break off his romance with Lizzie”? This tale is like a madcap dash to keep ahead of their stories and away from people that they don’t want to see. While there is animosity between Brian and Lizzie to start out, soon they are getting to know each other, and their chemistry together fits together like a pair of gloves. Once the wedding is over, will they want to see where things go from there?

A fun and entertaining tale right from the first page, THE VALENTINE’S HATE is one that I highly recommend, even if you’re not a fan of Valentine’s Day.

Patti Fischer