Hate to Love

Lucky in Love #4

by Valerie Pepper

Former law school enemies turned high powered legal opponents find themselves across from each other yet again—only this time, there’s a bed between them.

High powered attorney Levi Hall doesn’t have time to date. He also doesn’t make a habit of signing up for ridiculous reality shows that put him in a house with a stranger for twenty-four hours to see if they want to keep dating, but here he is.

Charlotte Kelly is counting on this show to bring her the love of her life. Which is a lot of pressure, but she thrives in this kind of environment. It’s why she spends her days taking down nasty corporations on behalf of her clients.

Thrown into a house filled with cameras filming their (almost) every move, they have to keep fighting, or see if there’s more to each other than meets the eye?

Genres: Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Novella

82 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 12, 2025

About the author

Steamy romantic comedy and sports romance author. Hoarder of half-used notebooks. Boots enthusiast. Lover of fall. Also coffee. Lots of coffee.

Reviews

[Hayley Gallant]

Book: Hate To Love
Author: Valerie Pepper
Rating: 3.5 stars 🌟🌟🌟✨

Synopsis: Former law school enemies turned high powered legal opponents find themselves across from each other yet again—only this time, there’s a bed between them. Thrown into a house filled with cameras filming their (almost) every move, they have to choose: keep fighting, or see if there’s more to each other than meets the eye?

Tropes:
💚Contemporary Romance
📹Open Door Spice
💚Small Town
📹Dating Show
💚Forced Proximity
📹Lawyer MC’s
💚Enemies To Lovers

Thoughts: I really liked reading this one at the end of the series because you got to see these two main characters' relationship in Late To Love and I was really curious how they got together. I loved the dating show aspect - I just found it weird that there wasn’t more going on with that, being discussed as much, staff working it, etc. These two are the perfect miscommunication trope and judging each other before actually getting to know one another. The spice was off the charts and the pacing was super quick. If anything I would have loved more from these two, they were a lot of fun.

Would I Recommend: Yes, I really enjoy Valerie Pepper books.

Formats Available: KU, ebook, and paperback.

[XenyMarie]

“I don’t think you can be trusted with my sausage.”

This was a short fast-paced spicy novella where the characters went from enemies to lovers in less than 24 hours. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculously fast, but Levi and Charlotte have known, and been secretly attracted to each other for years.

Levi and Charlotte enter a reality TV dating show where they have to spend 24 hours together, with no outside communication and only a couple of board games for entertainment. Charlotte and Levi took this time to get to know each other better which caused the spark between them to combust.

It was fun to get to know both characters and understand more about Levi and his family. I'm so glad I'm subscribed to Valerie Pepper's newsletter and got to read this novella.

Quote: “There’s a thin line between love and hate, Charlotte. So you can hate me out of this side. And love me out of this one. As long as you give me all of you. I don’t care.”

[Jane Mitch]

Lawyer love

Charlotte and Levi are always on different sides of the court room. They also went to college together. Charlotte really does not like Levi because of the clients he defends. They end up on a reality show together. After they talk about their lives, things get pretty hot and heavy. The rest of the book is really good and I love the ending!

[Aim]

This was such a short, sweet and SPICY little novella and I LOVED IT!!!!

If you are a fan of shows like Love Island/Temptation Island/Love Is Blind/The Ultimatum/etc. you'll love this one!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🔥🔥💥

Tropes:
💚 Enemies to Rivals to Lovers
💚 Second Chance
💚 Reality TV Show
💚 Lawyers

[Tenia]

Loved it. As an attorney and watcher of all the reality dating shows, this was such a fun read. It was them calling each other “counselor” for me. Spicy. Enemies to lovers. One bed. Forced proximity. All the things hit in this quick story.

[belle]

(5 ⭐️)

— enemies to lovers
— reality tv show
— one bed
— insta love

[Jess Azua]

Fun novella for an established couple in the series, they mostly pop up in book 3.

[Romance_book_obsessed]

Quick novella with enemies to lovers and spice! Two lawyers are stuck together for 24 hours.

[Adrienna Hagen]

Fast & easy read. Cute story. The whole book takes place over 24hrs though - so things move pretty fast with the MC’s.

[Tanya Smith-Ruhmann]

Enemies to lovers novella

Super short but fun read. . Cute and easy to follow. Loved the banter. 🌶 spice level but loved it.

[Brittney]

Enemies? Absolutely. 
Attracted? Unfortunately.
In love? …Maybe. 👀💘

Hate to Love by Valerie Pepper is the perfect bite-sized romance you didn’t know you needed. Levi and Charlotte bring all the sass, charm, and spice you’ve come to expect from Valerie’s irresistible storytelling. 🔥✨
Short. Sweet. Sassy.

Get ready to fall hard. 💕

[Jada Alix]

This book was quite enjoyable. However, I found it a bit challenging to get fully engrossed in it. Despite this, it was still a decent read. The story revolves around two lawyers who were college rivals and reunite years later in the workforce, where their rivalry persists. They both participate in a unique dating show similar to the show “Love is Blind,” where they are paired up for 24 hours without any distractions. During this time, they are forced to confront their secrets and desires. While the storyline itself is engaging, I believe I didn’t quite connect with the characters or the plot, which is why I decided to rate it 3 stars.

[Laura Perttula]

enemies to lovers novella.

I borrowed this because it’s an author and series I like, without reading the description, so I didn’t realize that it was a novella until I noticed I was 43% in pretty quickly. I enjoy novellas too but typically try to put myself in that headspace before I start. That’s on me. Enemies to lovers isn’t my favorite trope either and because this book is so short there really isn’t time for a convincing switch over. The line between love and hate really gets tested. He’s saying let’s get married and she’s still pretty sure she doesn’t like him and is just in it for the sex. But I enjoy Valerie’s writing so I still overall enjoyed the book, despite a couple things not being my personal favorites. Again those are my preferences so if you like the enemies to lovers trope this novella is probably perfect for you.

[XenyMarie]

“I don’t think you can be trusted with my sausage.”

This was a short fast-paced spicy novella where the characters went from enemies to lovers in less than 24 hours. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculously fast, but Levi and Charlotte have known, and been secretly attracted to each other for years.

Levi and Charlotte enter a reality TV dating show where they have to spend 24 hours together, with no outside communication and only a couple of board games for entertainment. Charlotte and Levi took this time to get to know each other better which caused the spark between them to combust.

It was fun to get to know both characters and understand more about Levi and his family.

Quote: “There’s a thin line between love and hate, Charlotte. So you can hate me out of this side. And love me out of this one. As long as you give me all of you. I don’t care.”

[Hannah]

spicy, short read

Super cute, short spicy read! I love Valerie’s writing. I love that the FMC is a plus size character. I loved that the MMC admitted how long he has wanted the FMC. Overall, good novella.