In the Wakemont family, it’s tradition to arrange a marriage before the ink is dry on your birth certificate. I was five hours old when my father promised me to the son of a man with “more money than God.”
As we grew older, my future groom and I were encouraged to exchange “love letters” to get better acquainted—except the correspondence he sent read more like hate mail.
Slade Delacorte hated the arrangement.
But more than that, he hated me.
He was moody, intense, arrogant, and darkly gorgeous. A villain—not a prince. The last man on earth I’d ever marry (if I had the choice).
On my 24th birthday, we exchanged vows in front of six hundred guests who had no idea we weren’t every bit the blissful couple we pretended to be.
But as we began our new life together, I soon learned there was only one thing worse than marrying the man I’d hated my entire life: falling in love with him.
AUTHOR'S NOTE —This angsty, steamy contemporary romance is a complete standalone with a happily ever after.
I don’t think this was my cup of tea, or shot of whiskey either honestly. I loved the enemies to lovers aspect, but the switch flipped too suddenly for me, and I’m honestly so tired of misunderstood men. The twist was straight out of left field, with absolutely no rhyme or reason why. Just meh overall.
Slow pace. No detailed steamy scenes. I'll say this book is quite clean in segs department. Calm. Very calm without no wave in the plot. Even in the "Twist" the author mention. I skipped pages after no wave in 50%. And the way the main characters made up after years of hate mail and cold shoulder? ah yeah nope just nope
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Poor character development and the insta-love wasn’t even remotely believable. Slade is stone cold the whole book and magically switches to caring and loving with no decent set up. There wasn’t any chemistry between the two protagonists Slade is insufferable and Campbell has the enthusiasm of a kicked puppy.
When reading the first 50% of this book I remember thinking this is a solid 5 star book. The tension and the writing was 👌. I couldn’t put it down.
Then the second half almost seemed to be written by a different person. The romance seemed to flip overnight without any real catalyst or chemistry… and what was with the big event in the tail end of the book? Was totally out of left field and totally out of character for that character. I was left confused, unsatisfied and disappointed. This has a lot of promise but really lost its way. Recommend this book for those who enjoy ✅ unexpected plot twists ✅ enemies to lovers ✅ mild spice ✅ slow burn
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A modern arranged marriage to an arrogant, grumpy billionaire should have checked the boxes for me but it just didn't float my boat, pun intended. With minimal character development and an exhausting focus on excessive wealth and opulence, I never felt a connection to Slade or Campbell and I wasn't invested in their relationship. I wanted more angst! I also didn't consider them to be enemies; they were simply two people trapped in circumstances they couldn't escape and so the hate mail aspect didn't really work for me.
Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all?
The risk of loss in loving someone. A guarded heart opening to the possibility of love. This was the true heart of the story and I needed more of this! The weight of raw, real emotions mixed with vulnerability and regrets, walls crumbling, love and happiness on the other side. Yes, this was all there but it had untapped potential for so much more. So even though Slade and Campbell's story didn't meet my expectations for what I had hoped for, I'm still interested to see where this series goes next.
* Special thanks to author Winter Renshaw for sending me this ARC to read and review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Available August 15, 2023. *
I absolutely love how Winter Renshaw crafted the slow burn enemies to lovers beauty for Campbell and Slade in Hate Mail. With their journey, I fell in love with them. This modern day arranged marriage billionaire romance captured my heart easily. Slade is the perfect book boyfriend. Always in control outside, a bit broken inside, clueless about handling own emotions and yet becomes crazy in love with the very woman he claimed to hate. Campbell surprised him and turned his world upside down. She is no spoiled princess. She is rebellious, sassy, witty, smart and adorable at the same time. Their banter was everything. Stuck in an arranged marriage deal none of them wanted, it took years for love to creep in. But it was glorious when it did.
This story starts from the point when wedding of Campbell and Slade are close. This is a business arrangement between two rich and powerful families. Their parents forced them write letters to each other since they were kids and those were more like Hate mails. They seem strangers yet accomplishes in a weird way. Slade is this cold closed off perfect billionaire who actually carries a lot of grief and sadness inside about his life specially his mother's sickness. But he shows a perfect face outside. Campbell wanted an epic love but she wasn't given a choice. Being a billionaires wife wasn't her life's goal but to proceed with her philanthropic plans, she needs the money. She is passionate and kind and fierce..She was the one making some effort to get to know Slade but he kept shutting her down.
As the marriage came closer and they had to spend more time together and with Slade's complicated life..things changed slowly. Very slowly. A reluctant friendship. Moments of hot desire here and there. Little parts of weakness. And finally the admission. I wish Slade admitted his feelings face to face for the first time rather than showing Campbell his Journal. Slade was completely lost and breaking down into pieces at the time of their marriage but Campbell gave a silent support. Their back and forth witty hilarious convo was so much fun. The chemistry was built so sweetly and strongly. And last few chapters just took my breath away. The transformation of Slade from a brooding grumpy man to a man in love was amazing.
This was not bad, but the book had serious plot holes and, therefore, needs fine-tuning. I had no problems with the characters because they were genuine, well-written, and authentic; however, the story was a very slow burn, which I loved, but the switch from 'hate' to love was so fast and ridiculous that it destroyed the reading experience for me.
I couldn't wrap my mind around Slade's behaviour thoughout nearly the whole book and his sudden mood switch that we are supposed to believe because of a few diary entries. Don't get me wrong, the slow burn was so good at the beginning, and I was in love with the letters both of them exchanged since childhood that we got to read between every chapter.
Still, the ending destroyed almost everything for me, mainly because of the implausible and unnecessary plot twist. What was that, and why did we need this kind of thing? I mean, I love drama, but the drama was life-threatening and still over in just one or two chapters, and that made it a tiny bit ridiculous.
Despite all, I wouldn't say that I didn't enjoy reading this book. I had fun with it for the first half, so I rated it with an average three-star rating. It was okay and not the worst book I have read. Believe me, half of this book is enjoyable, and I adore Slade's mother.
Hate mail is an appropriate book title cause I’d like to write some to the author of this atrocity
This book is a tragic throwback to the themes and plot devices popularized by the boy bands of the 2010’s.
Think quizilla and wattpad stories. The rich loner (royalty/rockstar/billionaire) and an arranged marriage to the slightly less affluent friend of the family’s daughter. Enemies to lovers.
The fmc is in a nutshell this: “Pick me, choose me, love me”.
Stand the fuck up fr.
The mmc in a direct quote:
“I don’t like you. But I don’t not like you either. Maybe that sounds harsh, but you should know that I don’t like most people. If you’re in neutral territory with me, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And hey, maybe it’ll change one of these days. You never know.”
🧍🏾♀️👎🏾
Just to really bring it home for y’all’:
“And if we’re being brutally honest, I hooked up with a girl at a party last weekend solely because she looked like you.”
Why do authors write this shit. It’s not remotely attractive or heart warming it’s literally disgusting 🤢
DNF at 71% right at the end of the first sex scene. Space is so damn insufferable. I don’t know how I made it this far into the book. The train wreck of this story has given me a serious case of whip lash. I guess I just really wanted to like think it would get better but when slade went from like complete bag of dicks asshole (65% of the book) right into omg I’ve always had feelings for you I just couldn’t do it. Gave it 2 stars cuz well idk. I guess since I read almost the whole thing that says something. 2/5
Hate Mail is the first book in the Paper Cut series and is fantastic❣️ Slade and Campbell are both from wealthy families - their families come to an agreement that they will marry each other one day. In an effort to get to know each other once this news is broken to them, they start to write each other letters…unfortunately rather than love letters, they are hate mail😢
I absolutely loved this couple and their story. What I am unsure of is whether the following books in this series will be a continuation of this couple or if we will have new characters….either way I don’t mind and will read as I thoroughly enjoyed this story😍
I received an advanced copy via Booksprout and willingly leave my honest review🤩
"Love is a journey that isn’t always easy but is always worth it."
Campbell and Slade have known each other their whole life. They also learned that they were getting married in the future. They were promised to each other when they didn't even understand the meaning of marriage. As years passed, they wrote hate letters and sent them to each other. It was tradition, the back and forth between both of them. But you know what they say about a thin line between love and hate?! This story was entertaining but sad, and some parts had me whisper-yelling at my Kindle. I laughed and fell in love with these characters. The character development with Slade was incredible... But one part shocked me completely! I couldn't believe it, and I didn't see it coming at all. Good story and excellent world-building. The HEA was just what I needed.
I liked the premise of the book, and even the overall storyline, the main problem I had was the writing.
There was a overall lack of character development, I felt like I really new nothing about them or their thoughts. This lack of internal dialogue made a lot of parts feel incomplete. We learn the characters spent a week sleeping beside each other, yet there were no thoughts given as to what that was like or how they felt. It was things like this that made the book difficult to get into and enjoy. I felt like I was reading the characters actions and day to day life, but non of their thoughts, emotions or feelings.
Siendo honesta es un 3 (⭐️), pero como me sacó del bloqueo lector le doy un 4 (⭐️)
Aunque el libro me ayudó bastante con un bloqueo lector y lo leí de un día para otro, reconozco que los personajes me daban un poco de coraje, sobretodo Slade, el cual, por mucho que se explique la razón por la que actuaba como un amargado infeliz, me pareció un personaje insufrible y con aires de grandeza, mientras que Campbell era una sunshine, cuya vida estaba dirigida por su madre y esa vieja me provocó meterle un bofetón.
No les prometo una trama súper compleja, pero tiene tropes como enemies to lovers, matrimonio por conveniencia, grumpy x sunshine que atrapan y es perfecto para leer este verano☀️🌊✨, ya que se sitúa en Maine, Seattle y Palm Springs, Florida, además tiene un plot twist, que, aunque lo sospeché ligeramente, no lo vi venir del todo 🥴🤯
Winter Renshaw's long awaited book, Hate Mail, is now out and ready for her readers to devour. One romance trope I can't get enough of are arranged marriages and the one between these main characters was definitely not the norm for the present day and age.
The wealthy Delacorte and Wakemont families betrothed their son and daughter as babies and distant future wedding bells would be ringing between their only children somewhere down the line. Slade and Campbell knew from a young age they would marry one day and were encouraged to get to know each other with letters sent back and forth, beginning at ages 8 and 9. Slade's first one liner hate mail set the tone for their relationship and it went off the rails from there. The prince of young Campbell's dreams was NOT what she was getting at all.
"They say you never forget your first love or your first kiss. But no one ever tells you that you never forget the first time a boy tells you he hates you."
When gorgeous, grumpy and emotionally distant billionaire, Slade, tries to find common ground with his down to earth future bride, sassy Campbell, with her upbeat outlook and giving nature, sure gives him a run for his money. That far off wedding date was now coming up fast. Were they ready to walk down the isle and spend the rest of their lives together?
"....the difference between Cinderella and me is that she got to marry the man she loved. Not only that, but she married a prince."
Campbell and Slade's witty banter over the years was priceless and morphed into a slow burning, smoldering attraction as the wedding day approached. I loved learning more about them through their dual POVs, the clever flashbacks and those letters that filled in their story from childish taunts, to teen angst and beyond.
Suspenseful twists towards the end will have you wondering if Slade and Campbell will get their happily ever after or not. Make sure this standalone is on your 'to read' list. Hate Mail is book one in Winter Renshaw's Paper Cuts series and the next 2 books will be coming out soon. I can't wait to read them both! You never know what this author might have up her sleeve!
I received an early copy of this book to read and review. All thoughts are my own and honestly given.
This went from Hate to love like a switch flipped between them. Love the enemies part for half of the book, but all of a sudden tehy are hots for each other 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
But enjoyed reading it for most of the book.I felt the Uncle part where he kidnapped them bit bizarre.
Tropes: Hate to love, arranged marriage, close proximity, one bed
For me this one was really missing some character and relationship development. I didn't really feel any emotions between the main characters and the switch from (especially the hero) with wanting the heroine to "really" be his wife was just too abrupt. The other thing was the plot twist with a certain family member towards the end which was just so unexpected and absurd and in my opinion really didn't fit the story at all.
(2.5). Great premise maar t boek was toch minder. De enemies to lovers trope ging va ongv hoofdstuk 30 van 0 naar 100 super random en er was een random bad Guy vanuit het niks. En de hoofdpersoon was echt de heilige zelf die alleen maar oog heeft voor de slechte dingen in de wereld en niet met geld wil gaan veranderen alles is perfect aan haar behalve haar angst voor boten en open water. Maar wel even een lekker makkelijk boek tussen door maar het had wel een beter boek kunnen zijn.
This just wasn’t a very good one. Storyline was great and had so much potential to suck you in. But it just stayed surface level and the characters were very fluffy and nonchalant.
I’m all for slow burn but this isn’t a slow burn, this is just SLOW. And then BOOM a change of heart overnight. He didn’t even have to fight for her despite his 24-year bad attitude towards her. AND SHE. JUST. ACCEPTED. HIM. RIGHT. AWAY.
Well... I'm not sure what to say really... But the best way to describe this story is it's like a "wet noodle". Boring, without any passion and then it catches you off guard when it slips from your fork. That's how I felt about the abrupt plot directions the story took a couple times.