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For The Record, I Hate You
First hug, first kiss, first love … and first heartbreak. Childhood sweethearts Derek and Eliza were each other’s firsts for everything.
But a week after they lose their virginity, he dumps her and leaves town with a vow to never speak to her again.
Four years later, Derek Smyth, the dark-eyed musician who Eli fell in love with, is back.
He just wants to move on, but she wants revenge.
With a runaway brother who lives in a van, an enemy with a secret that could change everything, and a best friend who has the perfect plan to break Derek’s heart, Eli finds herself caught between the past, the future, and finding out what forgiveness and forever really mean.
But a week after they lose their virginity, he dumps her and leaves town with a vow to never speak to her again.
Four years later, Derek Smyth, the dark-eyed musician who Eli fell in love with, is back.
He just wants to move on, but she wants revenge.
With a runaway brother who lives in a van, an enemy with a secret that could change everything, and a best friend who has the perfect plan to break Derek’s heart, Eli finds herself caught between the past, the future, and finding out what forgiveness and forever really mean.
394 pages, Unknown Binding
First published October 3, 2020
69 people are currently reading
1126 people want to read
About the author
Amanda Gambill
4 books382 followersAmanda is a Top 40 Amazon contemporary romance bestselling author. She likes love stories, messy characters, secrets, and will always make at least one bad joke when she’s supposed to seem serious and important.
As a former journalist, published poet, award-winning public relations professional, and digital marketing agency executive, she now writes romance books full-time.
She's currently working on her next book (#Sable ❤️🔥). If you want to stay in the know and see her writing process, teasers, and more, make sure you follow her on Instagram at @byamandagambill. And drop her a message! She loves meeting her readers.
As a former journalist, published poet, award-winning public relations professional, and digital marketing agency executive, she now writes romance books full-time.
She's currently working on her next book (#Sable ❤️🔥). If you want to stay in the know and see her writing process, teasers, and more, make sure you follow her on Instagram at @byamandagambill. And drop her a message! She loves meeting her readers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
April 24, 2022
I started For The Record, I Hate You in the afternoon, then proceeded to stay up WAY past my bedtime to finish it. I could NOT put it down, desperate to see how Derek and Eli would eventually go from “OMG I hate you” to “nope, I’ve actually loved you all along.”
I loved Amanda’s use of flashbacks in this book, to really drive home how much (and for how long!) these two characters had loved each other, eventually building up to why they began hating each other in the first place.
I thought the transition from hate to love was done seamlessly - it felt more gradual than a sudden “aha moment”, which I appreciated. Also appreciated: angry sex. Ooooh, that was SUCH a good scene. I could not get enough.
I loved how deeply rooted their relationship was in music. Since this was my final book by this author, I loved seeing the character cross-over from her other books (hello, Roe, barista from A Guy Like Him! Hello, Pres, love interest from Honestly, I’m Totally Faking It!”). I loved Eli’s growth and her relationship to Kennedy. I loved the bouquet in the epilogue.
I can fully admit that I purchased this book purely for the cover (it’s one of the prettiest on my shelves), but what a joy to realize the inside does it justice!
Read if you like: childhood sweethearts, enemies to lovers, “oh, I never actually hated you”, angry sex, flashbacks, music telling a story
I loved Amanda’s use of flashbacks in this book, to really drive home how much (and for how long!) these two characters had loved each other, eventually building up to why they began hating each other in the first place.
I thought the transition from hate to love was done seamlessly - it felt more gradual than a sudden “aha moment”, which I appreciated. Also appreciated: angry sex. Ooooh, that was SUCH a good scene. I could not get enough.
I loved how deeply rooted their relationship was in music. Since this was my final book by this author, I loved seeing the character cross-over from her other books (hello, Roe, barista from A Guy Like Him! Hello, Pres, love interest from Honestly, I’m Totally Faking It!”). I loved Eli’s growth and her relationship to Kennedy. I loved the bouquet in the epilogue.
I can fully admit that I purchased this book purely for the cover (it’s one of the prettiest on my shelves), but what a joy to realize the inside does it justice!
Read if you like: childhood sweethearts, enemies to lovers, “oh, I never actually hated you”, angry sex, flashbacks, music telling a story
March 30, 2025
I'm normally not a fan of second chance romance, but I actually enjoyed this one overall.
I thought the whole fake dating thing was kind of fun, but it did get stretched out a little too long for my liking. I also felt like Alex was kind of really suss as a friend and maybe they should've ended up staying friends in the end with how she was trying to take things.
I also really like the side plot with Kennedy and Eli making up with her.
I did think maybe the resolution was gonna start getting solved earlier in.
Overall, I think it was a decent sophomore book, but I think my least favorite of her three so far.
I thought the whole fake dating thing was kind of fun, but it did get stretched out a little too long for my liking. I also felt like Alex was kind of really suss as a friend and maybe they should've ended up staying friends in the end with how she was trying to take things.
I also really like the side plot with Kennedy and Eli making up with her.
I did think maybe the resolution was gonna start getting solved earlier in.
Overall, I think it was a decent sophomore book, but I think my least favorite of her three so far.
October 29, 2020
⭐️ 4.5/5
I really wanted a record player for the longest time, but I want a yellow one. but I always forget to buy one IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT FOR THIS!! Let’s just enjoy my laptop yellow sticker aesthetic I have going on. If y’all don’t know I LOVE YELLOW!! Hahaha so I’m obsessed with this cover.
This book made me feel EVERY SINGLE EMOTION!! I was sad, mad, frustrated, annoyed, BUT I was very happy at the end.
If you love enemies to lovers this is your book. I love them, but I do have to say that it was a bit dragged on for me. I wanted more of the happiness.
One of my favorite parts was the flashbacks. It was so beautiful to see who they were before the heartbreak. I loved them so much, especially Derek. He filled my soul with so much sunshine.
Once the heartbreak came I wanted to scream at Eli for not communicating what she was feeling. Her friend I wanted to smack her like the whole entire book. She was too obsessed with Derek. It was weird.
Derek was a jerk, but I enjoy his character development and I truly love the bits and pieces we get of who Derek really is. My favorite scene was the pancake scene. SO FREAKIN CUTE!!
The music involvement in this story was just amazing and a lot of research went into it from what I could tell. I wanted to know more.
This author did an amazing job at writing heroes and heroines that didn’t feel the same from her previous book. I truly enjoyed that. Amanda is an incredible writer and is poetic with her writing.
I really wanted a record player for the longest time, but I want a yellow one. but I always forget to buy one IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT FOR THIS!! Let’s just enjoy my laptop yellow sticker aesthetic I have going on. If y’all don’t know I LOVE YELLOW!! Hahaha so I’m obsessed with this cover.
This book made me feel EVERY SINGLE EMOTION!! I was sad, mad, frustrated, annoyed, BUT I was very happy at the end.
If you love enemies to lovers this is your book. I love them, but I do have to say that it was a bit dragged on for me. I wanted more of the happiness.
One of my favorite parts was the flashbacks. It was so beautiful to see who they were before the heartbreak. I loved them so much, especially Derek. He filled my soul with so much sunshine.
Once the heartbreak came I wanted to scream at Eli for not communicating what she was feeling. Her friend I wanted to smack her like the whole entire book. She was too obsessed with Derek. It was weird.
Derek was a jerk, but I enjoy his character development and I truly love the bits and pieces we get of who Derek really is. My favorite scene was the pancake scene. SO FREAKIN CUTE!!
The music involvement in this story was just amazing and a lot of research went into it from what I could tell. I wanted to know more.
This author did an amazing job at writing heroes and heroines that didn’t feel the same from her previous book. I truly enjoyed that. Amanda is an incredible writer and is poetic with her writing.
January 11, 2023
This book captured my heart since the prologue and made me smile silly for 100 pages and then it all went to flame and dust
I mean the book does not have a plot it's character driven but the drive is riduculous
See... you have a romantic hero/ a very good boyfriend who loses his twin brother in a very tragic accident so what does he do?
He breaks up with his girlfriend /his 13 years sweetheart with absolutely zero explanation and says that he needs to move on
And we have our child like hroine who lets her bestfriend seduces her ex boyfriend after meeting him for the first time four years after the break-up
Her bestfriend could win easily the most annoying charachter in the history of side characters whining constantly "how do I make him fall for me?"
After a little bit of drama/ miscommunication and pinnig
They confront each other... the hero apologies and commits to therapy and I guess they live happily ever after...
For the record this book was hella immature
I mean the book does not have a plot it's character driven but the drive is riduculous
See... you have a romantic hero/ a very good boyfriend who loses his twin brother in a very tragic accident so what does he do?
He breaks up with his girlfriend /his 13 years sweetheart with absolutely zero explanation and says that he needs to move on
And we have our child like hroine who lets her bestfriend seduces her ex boyfriend after meeting him for the first time four years after the break-up
Her bestfriend could win easily the most annoying charachter in the history of side characters whining constantly "how do I make him fall for me?"
After a little bit of drama/ miscommunication and pinnig
They confront each other... the hero apologies and commits to therapy and I guess they live happily ever after...
For the record this book was hella immature
October 20, 2020
For the record, it’s one of the most annoying, toxic , unredeemable books I’ve ever read.
. Every single character was Horrendous, immature, and unworthy of a book.
I feel like a masochist reading this book. Waiting for some sort of explanation of how and why is this so bad. Nothing came though so I didn’t even bother with the epilogue because I couldn’t care less. The writing was good, but the story was so terrible.
. Every single character was Horrendous, immature, and unworthy of a book.
I feel like a masochist reading this book. Waiting for some sort of explanation of how and why is this so bad. Nothing came though so I didn’t even bother with the epilogue because I couldn’t care less. The writing was good, but the story was so terrible.
October 17, 2020
"Hate-read", they talked again and again about this expression, and this is exactly what this book felt to me. A Hate-read , a book I kinda hated but loved reading it! Weird!
And what made me liking it is ...
“You know what I’ve learned lately? History is open to interpretation. And it’s very possible that you can get it wrong the first go around. But the future … it’s full of opportunities to do better.”
"The truth was, we hadn’t broken up because he’d tricked me or because I’d smashed his record player.
We’d broken up because when things had gotten tough — when we were on the cusp of change, when life had happened, real problems, not just a romance-filtered, dreamy nostalgic-haze made by kids who thought they were invincible — we’d bailed.
I’d hidden, and he’d run."
And what made me liking it is ...
“You know what I’ve learned lately? History is open to interpretation. And it’s very possible that you can get it wrong the first go around. But the future … it’s full of opportunities to do better.”
"The truth was, we hadn’t broken up because he’d tricked me or because I’d smashed his record player.
We’d broken up because when things had gotten tough — when we were on the cusp of change, when life had happened, real problems, not just a romance-filtered, dreamy nostalgic-haze made by kids who thought they were invincible — we’d bailed.
I’d hidden, and he’d run."
May 22, 2023
I was halfway through writing my review and then GR app crashed so here’s to starting again 🙃
I stayed up until 3 am reading this when i really hadn’t meant to, but I have thoughts.
The writing is very solid. The author is very talented and I enjoy her writing style a lot. I did enjoy Honestly I’m Totally Faking It a lot more, but I can say the writing in this one was stronger and written well.
I think for me the issue was the romance itself. This felt like a coming of age with the romance on par with that. The fmc had a lot of growing to do, and she has to rebuild her friendship with the H 4 years after they’ve broken up.
We get a lot of flashbacks to how they met as children and fell in love as teens, had all their firsts together. And then they break up bc on the night they first have sex, the H’s twin brother dies in a car accident. On the way to the hospital, the fmc keeps telling him it’s all going to be ok, but when it’s not he gets distant.
Now, I understand trauma and grief. What i don’t understand, is how they start talking again cordially after the way the break up happens. She works for his mom, so she answers the phone when he calls the shop and they’re snippy with each other. He seems to have a hatred for her that’s not rational. Obviously it’s not hate and he’s grieving, but I also found it hard that his apparently amazing parents never suggested therapy for him after his twin died so he could handle his feelings.
He just moves away to college and becomes a manwhore. Which leads me to, if he had loved the fmc so much and had sworn all his firsts and onlys to her, how was he actually able to move on? Like i get his grief, etc, but like it was supposed to be this amazing love. If we had his POV maybe i could understand it more, but it was so hard to swallow that he slept with a ton of girls and never had anything more with them, but apparently fucking was no issue.
The good news is the fmc didn’t stay celibate. She slept with other guys and had a FWB that he got kind of jealous of at one point.
But that leads me to: the plot. A big part of the plot was her bff trying to seduce him so he’d fall in love with her and she could break his heart. The bff was honestly the worst, and she never actually confronts her about it. The fmc tells the bff to stop all the time, the bff was even planning to sleep with him!!! before she dumped him like? They even kiss in front of the fmc and i hated it.
The fmc does grow which I was happy to see, but at times I personally would’ve liked her to show him a little more hardness. She’s so soft with him and he’s so rude to her at times, but obviously the love she had is still there. It just sucked to see her being there for him when he treated her as such. And honestly? I wanted more groveling from him. Again, I understand grief and trauma but how he treated her was honestly not it.
Anyway, I’ll still read this author but second chance romance strikes again as my least favorite.
I stayed up until 3 am reading this when i really hadn’t meant to, but I have thoughts.
The writing is very solid. The author is very talented and I enjoy her writing style a lot. I did enjoy Honestly I’m Totally Faking It a lot more, but I can say the writing in this one was stronger and written well.
I think for me the issue was the romance itself. This felt like a coming of age with the romance on par with that. The fmc had a lot of growing to do, and she has to rebuild her friendship with the H 4 years after they’ve broken up.
We get a lot of flashbacks to how they met as children and fell in love as teens, had all their firsts together. And then they break up bc on the night they first have sex, the H’s twin brother dies in a car accident. On the way to the hospital, the fmc keeps telling him it’s all going to be ok, but when it’s not he gets distant.
Now, I understand trauma and grief. What i don’t understand, is how they start talking again cordially after the way the break up happens. She works for his mom, so she answers the phone when he calls the shop and they’re snippy with each other. He seems to have a hatred for her that’s not rational. Obviously it’s not hate and he’s grieving, but I also found it hard that his apparently amazing parents never suggested therapy for him after his twin died so he could handle his feelings.
He just moves away to college and becomes a manwhore. Which leads me to, if he had loved the fmc so much and had sworn all his firsts and onlys to her, how was he actually able to move on? Like i get his grief, etc, but like it was supposed to be this amazing love. If we had his POV maybe i could understand it more, but it was so hard to swallow that he slept with a ton of girls and never had anything more with them, but apparently fucking was no issue.
The good news is the fmc didn’t stay celibate. She slept with other guys and had a FWB that he got kind of jealous of at one point.
But that leads me to: the plot. A big part of the plot was her bff trying to seduce him so he’d fall in love with her and she could break his heart. The bff was honestly the worst, and she never actually confronts her about it. The fmc tells the bff to stop all the time, the bff was even planning to sleep with him!!! before she dumped him like? They even kiss in front of the fmc and i hated it.
The fmc does grow which I was happy to see, but at times I personally would’ve liked her to show him a little more hardness. She’s so soft with him and he’s so rude to her at times, but obviously the love she had is still there. It just sucked to see her being there for him when he treated her as such. And honestly? I wanted more groveling from him. Again, I understand grief and trauma but how he treated her was honestly not it.
Anyway, I’ll still read this author but second chance romance strikes again as my least favorite.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2022
“I smiled and lifted my face for a kiss. He pressed his lips against mine, lightly biting my lower lip as he whispered how much he loved me.” Pg. 56
“And after a long make-out session and an even longer debate on what made the perfect beach song, Derek and I had quieted, his head in my lap, humming a melody that didn’t exist yet, as I threaded my fingers through his curls.” Pg. 56
“Sometimes, the people who try the hardest to hide their emotions feel the strongest, don’t you think?” Pg. 118
“I wanted to send you something that showed you how much I care for you. But when I look at all the flowers I could choose, all I can see are shades of red, orange, yellow, and peach. Red for your lips. Orange for the sunrise, that perfect moment before the world wakes and, in the stillness, all I can think of is you. Yellow, the colour of your laugh, bright and full, so, so happy. Rosy peaches, the colour that matches your blush when you think no one is watching. All the colours of you, my everything, all the shades of my love.”
October 31, 2020
Oh, I hate writing reviews like this. I should start by saying I don't generally read romances with college-age leads/early 20-somethings. I was really hoping to like this book, regardless of the age. But it was pretty much exactly my problem with this story.
First, these characters are highly immature and are living within the drama bubble that is High School, despite being in college. The first few chapter are an onslaught of meeting far too many characters and getting their entire high school back story, complete with cliques and popularity status. It made my head swim at the sheer amount of info dump there was. And worse then the volume was the subject matter. If everyone on earth HATES the truly ridiculous politics, status, and drama of High School, imagine how painful it is to read about it.
It made the first chapters of this book painfully unenjoyable to read that i finally gave up. DNF at 31%.
First, these characters are highly immature and are living within the drama bubble that is High School, despite being in college. The first few chapter are an onslaught of meeting far too many characters and getting their entire high school back story, complete with cliques and popularity status. It made my head swim at the sheer amount of info dump there was. And worse then the volume was the subject matter. If everyone on earth HATES the truly ridiculous politics, status, and drama of High School, imagine how painful it is to read about it.
It made the first chapters of this book painfully unenjoyable to read that i finally gave up. DNF at 31%.
January 7, 2024
Accidentally woke up at 4 am so I read this book all morning lol ouch my heart. 💔😭 THE EMOTIONS.
P.S. Gotta love a book that mentions Dashboard Confessional as well 🤣
P.P.S. still so good the second time around. OUCH MY HEART STILL.
P.S. Gotta love a book that mentions Dashboard Confessional as well 🤣
P.P.S. still so good the second time around. OUCH MY HEART STILL.
December 19, 2022
This was GOOOOOD. Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers. And it was done so well. The enemies part was fantastic. The slow burn was done perfectly. There were times where I actually laughed out loud. I loved the friendship reconciliation instead of girl tearing down girl. The second chance romance was done just right. The ONLY thing I didn’t care for was the Alex & Derek thing, but it wasn’t bad enough for me to dock stars. Loved so much 🫶🏼
February 18, 2024
So stinking cute! I connected with the so many aspects of this book, and so many emotions of the characters! My cheeks hurt from smiling so much!
October 17, 2020
Ahh I just really, really loved this book so much! I don’t even know where to start with this review...
Since reading Amanda’s first book A Guy Like Him and falling in love with it, I have been so excited to read her next and this definitely lived up to my high expectations!
Some of my favourite things about the book were...
It’s a Second Chance Romance, this is one of my favourite tropes but also one of the hardest ones to get right I think. I’ve read so many that just didn’t work for me over the years.
I think it’s maybe got something to do with the fact that most other romance tropes use the romance to basically be the story. Whereas with Second chance books you have to have a really strong storyline as you don’t really get into the real romance until the latter half of the book, right?
The author has to make the reader be invested and wait for the romance to kick in. And the longing...for me second chance romance has to have like the best nostalgic longing ever.
And that’s one of the reasons I love this book so much as it does this trope so, so well. Honestly I had butterflies with all the longing, the story is so strong and creates such a great backbone and set up of all the characters that not only are you desperate for them to get together you also are rooting for them too.
It’s such a hard thing to get right but it was perfect in this book.
Another thing that really stood out for me was the female friendship storyline. Eli and Kennedy’s story mirrored the ups and downs of Eli and Dereks just so well. I have so many paragraphs and quotes saved from the bits of the book about the girls friendship as I just thought it was so spot on and true to life. It’s made me think a lot since reading it and I think it’s so true how the book puts it, that sometimes it’s not until your a little older and lived a little more that you can look back on friendships and sort of see what the other person may have been seeing rather than what your experience was.
For me this brought such a deeper meaning to the story and I loved that Eli spent as much time healing and dealing with her female friendship as she did her romantic relationship, which should be kinda inspiration to us all!
Another couple of things I’ve got to mention is the music...ahh the music is weaved and woven into the story in just the best way, as a music lover this was just a dream for me.
Also Flowers, they play such a special role in the story and I loved it. A lot. I love flowers (hence my little flower photo above) and I loved that there was so many double meanings of the flowers mentioned! Ooh and I can’t forget to talk about the 🔥🔥🔥 in the book, it was all done in such a classy way, and so right for the characters too!
I love Eli and Derek and all the other characters in their life so much. I didn’t want the book to end and I really think you will love it a lot too!
Since reading Amanda’s first book A Guy Like Him and falling in love with it, I have been so excited to read her next and this definitely lived up to my high expectations!
Some of my favourite things about the book were...
It’s a Second Chance Romance, this is one of my favourite tropes but also one of the hardest ones to get right I think. I’ve read so many that just didn’t work for me over the years.
I think it’s maybe got something to do with the fact that most other romance tropes use the romance to basically be the story. Whereas with Second chance books you have to have a really strong storyline as you don’t really get into the real romance until the latter half of the book, right?
The author has to make the reader be invested and wait for the romance to kick in. And the longing...for me second chance romance has to have like the best nostalgic longing ever.
And that’s one of the reasons I love this book so much as it does this trope so, so well. Honestly I had butterflies with all the longing, the story is so strong and creates such a great backbone and set up of all the characters that not only are you desperate for them to get together you also are rooting for them too.
It’s such a hard thing to get right but it was perfect in this book.
Another thing that really stood out for me was the female friendship storyline. Eli and Kennedy’s story mirrored the ups and downs of Eli and Dereks just so well. I have so many paragraphs and quotes saved from the bits of the book about the girls friendship as I just thought it was so spot on and true to life. It’s made me think a lot since reading it and I think it’s so true how the book puts it, that sometimes it’s not until your a little older and lived a little more that you can look back on friendships and sort of see what the other person may have been seeing rather than what your experience was.
For me this brought such a deeper meaning to the story and I loved that Eli spent as much time healing and dealing with her female friendship as she did her romantic relationship, which should be kinda inspiration to us all!
Another couple of things I’ve got to mention is the music...ahh the music is weaved and woven into the story in just the best way, as a music lover this was just a dream for me.
Also Flowers, they play such a special role in the story and I loved it. A lot. I love flowers (hence my little flower photo above) and I loved that there was so many double meanings of the flowers mentioned! Ooh and I can’t forget to talk about the 🔥🔥🔥 in the book, it was all done in such a classy way, and so right for the characters too!
I love Eli and Derek and all the other characters in their life so much. I didn’t want the book to end and I really think you will love it a lot too!
July 10, 2022
second chance romance
(childhood lovers to enemies to lovers)
so addictingly good, read at EVERY opportunity i could get. this book has all the feels, i go from swooning & having butterflies to feeling heartbroken & frustrated. the pain this book has put me through was EXTREMELY surprising. i genuinely didn’t think it would be this emotional. *chefs kiss*
eliza and derek are literally soulmates who are constantly struggling to keep their feelings in check, with a fueling hatred keeping them apart. i really liked both main and side characters (although i HATED alex from the very beginning🫣). plot was great, tropes executed perfectly, definitely would recommend
once again amanda coming THROUGH with another amazing book. she deserves so much recognition for these masterpiece she’s spitting left and right 👏🏽 also seeing pres made my heart flutterrrrrr
(childhood lovers to enemies to lovers)
so addictingly good, read at EVERY opportunity i could get. this book has all the feels, i go from swooning & having butterflies to feeling heartbroken & frustrated. the pain this book has put me through was EXTREMELY surprising. i genuinely didn’t think it would be this emotional. *chefs kiss*
eliza and derek are literally soulmates who are constantly struggling to keep their feelings in check, with a fueling hatred keeping them apart. i really liked both main and side characters (although i HATED alex from the very beginning🫣). plot was great, tropes executed perfectly, definitely would recommend
once again amanda coming THROUGH with another amazing book. she deserves so much recognition for these masterpiece she’s spitting left and right 👏🏽 also seeing pres made my heart flutterrrrrr
April 27, 2024
DNF. Not into the “best friend seducing the boyfriend” plot.
October 22, 2020
“𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕗𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥, 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜?”
•••
Ok my lovely people, I want you all to do me a favour and read this book because it honestly deserves all the love in the world. I knew from the moment that I saw The Cranberries and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack on the book’s playlist that this book would be incredible, and it was absolutely incredible🖤
•••
This book is small town, second chance romance featuring a broody musician and a complex girl. Derek and Eliza are honestly such interesting characters because as much as they try to fight each other, their love, their spark and their connection is too strong to be broken over an argument.
•••
If I had to describe this book in a few words, it would be raw, emotional and complicated. Eli is stuck in the past. All she wants is to go back to the time where she believed that everything was perfect and everyone would stay the same. Derek is just lost. He wants to forget about the past and the pain that it brought him, only to leave him lost as to what’s to come in the future. At the end of the day, both of them are just so lost and scared of the world changing around them because they don’t have each other to fall back on
•••
I loved seeing the flashbacks that Amanda included in the book. Getting a glimpse into how their relationship began as kids and seeing it blossom into a fierce love full of firsts was beautiful. I also loved how so many different stages of life and changes were going on at the same time in the book to really push the point of embracing change instead of fearing it.
•••
There were so many references to so many different things in this book. All the references to music and indie bands or of all of the flowers and their meanings all just added an original element to it. The writing was moving and beautiful and the story was one of a kind. You absolutely killed it Amanda and no I will never stop praising you, it’s a promise🖤
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Ok my lovely people, I want you all to do me a favour and read this book because it honestly deserves all the love in the world. I knew from the moment that I saw The Cranberries and the Dirty Dancing soundtrack on the book’s playlist that this book would be incredible, and it was absolutely incredible🖤
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This book is small town, second chance romance featuring a broody musician and a complex girl. Derek and Eliza are honestly such interesting characters because as much as they try to fight each other, their love, their spark and their connection is too strong to be broken over an argument.
•••
If I had to describe this book in a few words, it would be raw, emotional and complicated. Eli is stuck in the past. All she wants is to go back to the time where she believed that everything was perfect and everyone would stay the same. Derek is just lost. He wants to forget about the past and the pain that it brought him, only to leave him lost as to what’s to come in the future. At the end of the day, both of them are just so lost and scared of the world changing around them because they don’t have each other to fall back on
•••
I loved seeing the flashbacks that Amanda included in the book. Getting a glimpse into how their relationship began as kids and seeing it blossom into a fierce love full of firsts was beautiful. I also loved how so many different stages of life and changes were going on at the same time in the book to really push the point of embracing change instead of fearing it.
•••
There were so many references to so many different things in this book. All the references to music and indie bands or of all of the flowers and their meanings all just added an original element to it. The writing was moving and beautiful and the story was one of a kind. You absolutely killed it Amanda and no I will never stop praising you, it’s a promise🖤
December 31, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this one guys! There’s just something about a second chance, mixed with enemies to lovers that just hits. A beautiful coming of age story about two childhood sweethearts turned enemies, trying to find themselves and their way back to each other.
I could relate so much to Eli - wanting everything to just stay the same so as to avoid anymore heartbreak - while Derek did anything and everything he could to try and outrun his grief. The antics and witty retorts between the two had me giggling, while their honest conversations had me almost tearing up.
It took me a second to really get into this one (could totally be a me thing/the busy time of year we are in), but once I was in it I was rooting for Eli and Derek to find their way back to each other the entire time.
This one does touch on the heavy topic of grief, but I think it was handled with honesty and beauty. Grief is a strange emotion, which everyone handles differently, but this book did a wonderful job discussing how one tragic event could effect those close to you in such different ways.
As a side note: Camille is a true queen, I loved Eli and Kennedy’s friendship, there’s a golden retriever (which I love), this cover 😍, AND the music throughout was just 🤌🏻
Read if you like:
❤️🔥 enemies to lovers
🐶 golden retrievers
🫶🏻 childhood sweethearts
💐 floral arrangements
🥁 drummers
🔥 slow burns
👊🏻 I hate you (but not really)
1️⃣ single pov
I could relate so much to Eli - wanting everything to just stay the same so as to avoid anymore heartbreak - while Derek did anything and everything he could to try and outrun his grief. The antics and witty retorts between the two had me giggling, while their honest conversations had me almost tearing up.
It took me a second to really get into this one (could totally be a me thing/the busy time of year we are in), but once I was in it I was rooting for Eli and Derek to find their way back to each other the entire time.
This one does touch on the heavy topic of grief, but I think it was handled with honesty and beauty. Grief is a strange emotion, which everyone handles differently, but this book did a wonderful job discussing how one tragic event could effect those close to you in such different ways.
As a side note: Camille is a true queen, I loved Eli and Kennedy’s friendship, there’s a golden retriever (which I love), this cover 😍, AND the music throughout was just 🤌🏻
Read if you like:
❤️🔥 enemies to lovers
🐶 golden retrievers
🫶🏻 childhood sweethearts
💐 floral arrangements
🥁 drummers
🔥 slow burns
👊🏻 I hate you (but not really)
1️⃣ single pov
February 5, 2023
If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. I heard this was one you either love or hate, and I think the only reason you could possibly hate this is if you haven't experienced being wrong or haven't admitted to it yet. This author writes the intricacies of people so well. Each and every character had their flaws and the reasons behind what made them that way. This book poses the question: "What if everything you thought was actually wrong?"
Eli, is cold and bitter in the beginning of this book. She believes, for good reason. She has a few enemies who have given her every reason to hate them. One being her longtime childhood ex-boyfriend, Derek, and the other being her arch nemesis and mean girl, Kennedy. I found Eli's reasoning relatable. It's easy to get tunnel vision when someone hurts you. It's easier to hate someone than put in the work to know them.
By the end of this book, I felt forgiveness. I felt the shared pain. I felt the understanding. When you go through life, sometimes you find that your friends aren't your friends, and you also find that the people you never would have expected to be in your corner are.
This was a beautiful read on top of the hilarity and sexy moments that I devoured. Well done.
Eli, is cold and bitter in the beginning of this book. She believes, for good reason. She has a few enemies who have given her every reason to hate them. One being her longtime childhood ex-boyfriend, Derek, and the other being her arch nemesis and mean girl, Kennedy. I found Eli's reasoning relatable. It's easy to get tunnel vision when someone hurts you. It's easier to hate someone than put in the work to know them.
By the end of this book, I felt forgiveness. I felt the shared pain. I felt the understanding. When you go through life, sometimes you find that your friends aren't your friends, and you also find that the people you never would have expected to be in your corner are.
This was a beautiful read on top of the hilarity and sexy moments that I devoured. Well done.
April 30, 2023
"You're right. I don't like you, Wilde. I f*cking want you."
Rating: 3.5/5
- Second chance romance
- Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers 😂
- She works at his mum’s florist shop
So, there were a couple of things I liked about the book. Firstly, the fact the characters really did hate each other at the beginning. I also appreciated that we got past flashbacks so we could see their relationship develop from childhood friends to more before we learn what initially tore them apart.
There was also really good character growth from both MCs, as they both realised they were stuck in different ways. "I'd hidden and he'd run."
But I just didn't feel a strong connection to the characters. I don't really know why, but I think being dual POV would have helped in this instance. There was also one storyline I didn’t love (probs because I hate miscommunication with a passion).
So overall, I liked it but didn't love it. I'd be keen to check out the author's other books though.
Rating: 3.5/5
- Second chance romance
- Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers 😂
- She works at his mum’s florist shop
So, there were a couple of things I liked about the book. Firstly, the fact the characters really did hate each other at the beginning. I also appreciated that we got past flashbacks so we could see their relationship develop from childhood friends to more before we learn what initially tore them apart.
There was also really good character growth from both MCs, as they both realised they were stuck in different ways. "I'd hidden and he'd run."
But I just didn't feel a strong connection to the characters. I don't really know why, but I think being dual POV would have helped in this instance. There was also one storyline I didn’t love (probs because I hate miscommunication with a passion).
So overall, I liked it but didn't love it. I'd be keen to check out the author's other books though.
October 7, 2020
All the feels! This book made me mad, sad, jealous, happy, reminiscent, and swoon all at the same time. I can genuinely say I didn't expect things to shake out the way they did, but I'm so glad I was along for the ride. Eli and Derek's chemistry is off the charts. And even though you want to hate him at points, you want to love him too. I don't want to spoil the story but watching both of them fight, crumble and grow was awesome. One of my favorite (unexpected!) parts of this book was the side characters. They are soooo good! Alex will be the friend you never knew you wanted in your court. Kennedy is the BFF you wish you had come to life. Liam is a love-able teddy bear. And there's a couple other appearances you'll love. All in all, it was the perfect blend of nostalgia, beautiful writing and characters you hate and love. FOR THE RECORD, it was a 6/5 stars for me.
March 2, 2023
3.5 🌟
I really liked some aspects of this book: the quick flashbacks, the budding friendship between Kennedy & Eli, the music references, the banter, the angst.
What I didn’t like was how long the ‘Operation Break Derek’s Heart’ went on. I wanted a longer interlude of Derek & Eliza being friends again. And Alex was a really annoying friend.
Overall - this was a good second-chance enemies to lovers story, it just didn’t hit everything I was looking for.
I really liked some aspects of this book: the quick flashbacks, the budding friendship between Kennedy & Eli, the music references, the banter, the angst.
What I didn’t like was how long the ‘Operation Break Derek’s Heart’ went on. I wanted a longer interlude of Derek & Eliza being friends again. And Alex was a really annoying friend.
Overall - this was a good second-chance enemies to lovers story, it just didn’t hit everything I was looking for.
October 7, 2020
It's 3.75 stars. It's a pretty neat story that goes a bit long. Characters are developing from early childhood into young adults. That's not the long part....it's the "hate" that lasts for four years ( seemed like how long I read it too).
January 12, 2025
I can’t believe how much I loved this book
I’ve just read this in 3 hours cos I couldn’t put it down and go to sleep. It had the perfect amount of angst and comedy.
I think Amanda Gambill has found a new fan in me as I also liked Honestly I’m Faking it but I think I liked this even more
I’ve just read this in 3 hours cos I couldn’t put it down and go to sleep. It had the perfect amount of angst and comedy.
I think Amanda Gambill has found a new fan in me as I also liked Honestly I’m Faking it but I think I liked this even more
Read
January 19, 2025It started off strong but the story lost its way. The reasons behind why the MCs broke up, I didn’t buy it. The revenge plot with the FMCs best friend Alex felt incomplete bc I didn’t think it was clear what Alex’s motivations ultimately were or what happened between the FMC and Alex after that.
October 2, 2023
3.5 stars
October 8, 2020
This book was good..i really loved Derek's character😍..and all the growth both the hero and the heroine went through...
Get your copy now!!
Get your copy now!!
February 28, 2023
3.5 [Liked it]
November 27, 2023
i'm just glad i managed to finish a book
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