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A Hate Like This

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Haley Winters. Local bad girl. Daughter of the leader of the Southside Gang. Secret class Valedictorian Living with more secrets than she can keep track of. Will Roberts. Local golden boy. Son of the Sheriff. Football player. Secretly wanting more than to just be the town’s next Sheriff. They’re enemies, have been their entire lives, since the very first day of pre-kindergarten. The years of pent up hatred, bickering, and snide comments have to come out someway. And when they do, everything changes. Enemies with benefits seems like a great idea. They hate each other. There’s no chance of either of them catching feelings for the other. Until they do. But Haley’s secrets threaten to tear them apart quicker than their relationship being exposed to her father. Will won’t give up on her, though. Once he realizes he loves her, nothing will stop him from helping her keep her secrets and escape the life she’s trapped in… even if it means risking his own life.

"I wasn’t prepared for how strong their connection was or how strong their love (obsession 👀) was going to be and how absolutely heart wrenching it was at times." Fabienne @thepagepilgrim

"my thoughts. amazing, show stopping, gorgeous, beautiful, and for all intent and purposes, kinda perfect. the plot was great...
...if what I’ve said hasn’t sold you yet, maybe this will. he likes when she wraps her hand around this throat…
go read this. now." Emma @mycanadianbookishlife

474 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2022

6 people are currently reading
1146 people want to read

About the author

Violet Bloom

66 books51 followers
Violet Bloom is a thirty-something woman who discovered her love of writing later in life. It wasn’t until after going to college and receiving a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and working in health care for close to a decade that she realized she had another passion—writing.

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5 stars
59 (28%)
4 stars
65 (31%)
3 stars
45 (22%)
2 stars
24 (11%)
1 star
11 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
Profile Image for Emma.
608 reviews278 followers
June 30, 2022
the day has come where I can share my thoughts on this book in hopes that I convince everyone to read it. let’s commence.

first, the tropes. let me list JUST A FEW of them: enemies w/ benefits (and actually done well), “I hate you but only because I’ve been told to”, he falls first and he falls hard, “who did this to you”, BOTH like to be dominate and be dominated, dual POV, etc

second, my thoughts. amazing, show stopping, gorgeous, beautiful, and for all intent and purposes, kinda perfect. the plot was great, kept you on your toes while feeling boring or dragged out. the characters were great, they were strong and honest and showed so much growth. the writing, immaculate but I wasn’t surprised. and of course the spice felt sinful at times, and I ate up every word. yes I received and arc, and yes I speak with Violet, but I’ve always been honest if nothing else and this was truly a book that took me completely by surprise. I hate any and all with benefits trope, but Violet did such a good job leading into the “arrangement” that I knew each characters feelings meaning it didn’t feel purely transactional.

if what I’ve said hasn’t sold you yet, maybe this will. he likes when she wraps her hand around this throat…
go read this. now.
Profile Image for Ellens reading corner.
187 reviews
June 6, 2022
HOLY GUACAMOLE!!!
GO READ THIS BOOK NOW, NOW NOW NOW!!!!!
You have not lived until you read this book, it was AMAZING, THRILLING, HEARTBREAKING AND LOVELY!

the bantering, enemies to lovers, secret love, character developments it all was there and it was incredible!

If your looking for an original story look no further, Will and Haley’s story was so unique and beautiful I can barely put it in words, how it and they were portrayed and how the reader got to know them was so miraculous that I couldn’t stop reading! Haley is such a strong character and she amazes me, if I could even be half as strong as her one day I could do anything and everything! And the way Will treats her and acts around her is a love worth waiting for!

A Hate Like This is an enemies to lovers with dual POV’s and incredible writing that catches the reader from page one and keeps catching the reader throughout the whole book!

One more thing… the spice… ✨ chefs kiss 🤌🏼 the fact that I have tabbed spice 17 times throughout the book and the book still has its own plot speaks volumes about the capabilities of the Author!
Profile Image for Chloé.
97 reviews
March 20, 2023
Definitely a roller coaster of a book. I would probably describe it as romeo and juliette meets riverdale? It was really cringy at points but honestly that made me love it. I think minus points for some of the writing and grammar but I mean the author isn’t with a publisher so I get it. Really spicy it’s crazy how much 🤨

Also I guess I’m officially out of my reading slump yay
4 reviews
May 20, 2022
One of my favourite enemies to lovers ever!!
perfect character development
perfect plot
perfect twists
perfect spice
Profile Image for c ও.
318 reviews30 followers
May 21, 2022
This book is all i ever needed!!
Enemies with benefits, bad girl meets good boy?
It really couldn't have been better.

Haley is a very strong woman and I can only admire her, what she has been through is by no means easy.
She is the daughter of a gang leader and not only suffers greatly from the consequences, but also tries everything to get out of the circumstances.

Will is the sheriff's son and a popular as well as handsome man.
He himself has a loving family and an imprinted hatred towards Haley.

Not only is the tension between them two palpable, no, after both had to hate each other for years, it became increasingly difficult over time to deny that both feel attracted to each other.
Enemies becomes enemies with benefits and then to lovers.
The steam in this book is so good and i love that this book also contains important messages.

I can't even put into words how much I loved them both together!
They're far from perfect, but the love between the two is heartwarming and genuine.

Please make sure to check tw before reading this book.
Profile Image for Ashley.
71 reviews
June 19, 2022
I was drawn to this book initially because of the genre & book cover; such a beautiful cover for a dark & twist-turning love story. I cringed during the scenes involving abuse, but I understand it was necessary for the sake of the story, so I won't hold it against the book/book's rating. Overall, I enjoyed how this story differentiated from other dark love stories I've read in the past. I mean, the tropes for this book speak for them selves, Forced hatred, enemies to lovers, good boy who falls first for the bad girl. That last one though 😍. This is the first book of Violet Bloom's that I've read & I can't wait to see what she puts out next.
Profile Image for Fizzah.
6 reviews
June 14, 2022
This book was amazing start to finish!!! I loved the chemistry Haley and Will had and how their romance grew from enemies-to-lovers. 10/10 for all the drama, romance, and smut. I don't remember the exact date I started reading this book but I would eagerly wait for a new chapter update on Patreon. The characters were flawlessly developed and they grew so much. Great book if you want a spicy enemies to lovers story.
21 reviews
July 16, 2022
DNF 52%
This wasn’t terrible but I wasn’t about to waste some more time out of my day to finish it.
Profile Image for Fabienne.
118 reviews344 followers
May 31, 2022
🌿 BOOK REVIEW 🌿

I fell for her. I didn’t even realize it, and then once I knew, I knew I couldn’t tell her. F**k, dude, she’s… everything.

What do you do when your future has already been determined by those before you? How do you cope with rules that are not your own and how do you navigate through those late teenage years where you don’t even really know who you are?

Haley—a passionate and ambitious young woman with zero tolerance for shit-talking people. I love her and her resilience so much. Such a strong personality, she lights up the whole room.
Will—intense, dominant (on all levels, mind you) and incredibly strong-willed. His aspirations and his desire for getting what he wants are incredibly admirable and I wish I could be as perseverant as him.

This story was a whirlwind of intense passion, violence, and a heavy dose of mental abuse. And I loved it. Again—let’s try not to psychoanalyze why I love toxic stories like these, shall we? ‘Kay cool. Moving on.

I felt so bad for Hales as she has never really known a supportive environment—far from it. She comes from an abusive household so love is the last thing she knows and all I want I do is hold her and give her a 30-minute long hug.

That being said, I was almost obsessively fascinated with the way how V portrayed both the characters’ inner thoughts and I loved the Will’s character arc. From his golden-boy status to owning up to his actions and feelings. We 👏🏼 love 👏🏼 to 👏🏼 see.

The aspects of finding love, but thinking not being able to pursue it because of familial expectations. Everything was addressed. Including the main characters’ insecurities. I wasn’t prepared for how strong their connection was or how strong their love (obsession 👀) was going to be and how absolutely heart wrenching it was at times. The following quote has nothing to do whatsoever with these heart wrenching scenes but I HAD to include it because it quite literally was the hottest f**ing in the book.

“Be a good girl for me, doll, and hold your legs open.”
“Why?” She asked breathlessly.
My face was in her p**y, nearly touching the wet folds as I prepared to have my fill of her. “Look in the mirror.”

Anyways—a gripping story about two complex young adult characters and their constant battle to break through societal and familial expectations. I very much appreciated the use of dual perspectives (WITH CHAPTER TITLES!!!) and I loved the smutty scenes as they were deliciously filthy 😮‍💨 Would definitely recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

#darkromance #bullyromance #bookreviews #arcreviews #newrelease #smutbooks #spicyreads #bookrecommendations #contemporaryromance #enemiestolovers #forbiddenlove #bookaesthetic
Profile Image for Tyla.
221 reviews41 followers
July 10, 2022
I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would, it has enemies to lovers, reverse grumpy x sunshine and he falls first. Haley is the ‘bad girl’ she lives at the trailer park and is the daughter of Southsides gang leader Viper. Will is the golden boy son of the Sheriff. They’ve been sworn against each other since they were children.

My heart aches of the things that Haley has to go through, what she endures and the length’s she goes too to protect her younger sister. She has so many secrets and Will is intent on breaking down those walls and saving her from a life of turning into her mother.

It was such a good read, I loved the fact that Haley was so dominant and Will let her show that side and be comfortable doing so, it’s such a rare thing to see in romance and it worked well.
Profile Image for SleepyBookPanda .
72 reviews1 follower
August 2, 2022
Seriously good

I loved Will,but Haley was just so freaking bad*ss! and their story is insanely addictive,I couldn’t put it down. This hate to love story stood out and is one of the better books in the enemies to lovers trope,and the smutt OHMYGAWD THE SMUTT🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶🥵Highly recommended read.
Profile Image for Violette Hollis.
439 reviews4 followers
August 30, 2022
4.75/5🌟 loved this so much.
It was so incredibly good and kept me interested the whole time.
Tropes :
Good boy x bad girl
Enemies to lovers
Rival families

I liked that Haley was known as a "bad girl" but wasnt like your token bad girl who makes terrible decisions and then attributes it to being a bad girl, no she was genuinely likeable and a perfect mix between good and bad
Profile Image for eri.
199 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2022
At the first half of the book there was a lot of information that was pointless. I liked their memories as kids but I would’ve liked to read them as flashbacks. Also it would’ve been better that they were in college and not high school, I know they were both eighteen but still. Anyways their chemistry was good and liked the epilogue.
427 reviews
October 15, 2022
Loved the story and that was a suprise in itself.
I'm not sure if the author is extremely talented in writing like a 18yr old or just a new author who is still learning their craft.

I really enjoyed the story and the characters, the writing however felt a bit juvenile in places.
Profile Image for iva.
10 reviews
February 9, 2024
marketed as enemies to lovers.. characters kissed in chapter 5 😭
dual pov
SUPER smutty, honestly didn't expect that much because of the discreet cover
a bit of other women + other man (they both dated ppl after kissing and before dating themselves)
strong FMC
a little bit of femdom lol
Profile Image for Camille 🪩.
121 reviews
January 1, 2026
William and Haley

Read this 3/4 years ago on Wattpad. Loved it back then.
Conclusion from my reread: don’t leave your 12 year old on Wattpad (still dont understand how I wasn’t traumatised by the ridiculous amount of smut in this)
771 reviews
dnf
May 23, 2022
I liked the premise. I really liked the premise. And then I lost all interest. Something off about the writing
Profile Image for Tahleel ♡.
266 reviews4 followers
July 3, 2022
This was surprisingly very smutty and i enjoyed every second of it
Profile Image for Simona.
45 reviews2 followers
November 20, 2022
It was an ok book I guess, but.
BUT
I should search for some trigger wornings because holy sh*t.
And yeah, too much s*x scene for me.
Profile Image for Evelyn.
66 reviews
June 6, 2023
I started this book almost 5 months ago but stopped I picked it right up and finished
Profile Image for Jkirstyj.
84 reviews
March 21, 2024
I loved this book! Great story, great characters, loved will and haley love an Enimies to lovers story and this never failed in any way
Profile Image for Kay.
128 reviews
August 7, 2025
3.5 stars, way too much smut, i skipped it and its still super lengthy
Profile Image for Britt.
510 reviews85 followers
June 17, 2022
I first found Violet on Wattpad and Inkitt and immediately devoured every book she had to read. I was super excited to discover she was publishing books.

A Hate like this was a fun read. Its an emotional rollercoaster of two people meant for each other but can’t be together- star crossed lovers.
Enemies with benefits to lovers; bad girl/dog boy tropes. Bloom always includes spice and once it starts, there tends to be a lot. Which I am here for.
Through all the ups and downs, Bloom does end this on a HEA.
27 reviews2 followers
Read
June 13, 2022
**with spoilers**

Okayyy, so I won't give this a rating since I only skimmed it and decided I won't read it. Now I saw this on BookTok, and I really was intrigued, because the premise was bad girl-good boy. My immediate thought was "sign me the fuck up" I was so excited for this.

Now, please don't judge me. I like my heroines virgins. But it doesn't mean I'm not gonna read a book just because it doesn't have a virgin heroine. I read a lot of non v-h too. This is set high school. One ick for me, because I don't wanna read highschoolers going at it. And if I will read a book set in high school with sex in it- I prefer the h as v, more so dual v.

But see the thing is, I really don't care what's the sex life of the heroine if she's an adult or a grown woman. And this book we have a high school setting and a heroine who lost her virginity at 15, and is promiscuous (or sexually active) it gives me the ick- you're a goddamn minor, do your homework.

Although, since I was really intrigued I was willing to get past that. But what really did for me to not read this book is because the heroine had descriptive sex with OM. So no, just no. That, that I cannot get past. If MC/FC has other sex with OM/OW in a book I'm reading, I put that in my DNF immediately.

Was disappointed tbh, because I was really looking forward to this 3
Profile Image for Una Mathilde.
120 reviews
August 28, 2022
2⭐️

There was just something missing in this one. Very much sm*t very little chemistry and bonding between the characters.

Also the plot was very predictable and it all felt very rushed in the end. Definitely a slow burn.
Profile Image for Mel.
8 reviews
January 25, 2023
Sorry but no, this book was really cringeworthy or I’m just to old for it. Feels like the book was meant to be read by 15 year olds. The smut scenes are pretty good though. Didn’t enjoy it at all. Sorry
Profile Image for NaziaS.
22 reviews
July 18, 2022
I loved the story and the characters. I enjoyed reading the push from Haley and the pull from Will. Overall great story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews

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