
Member Reviews

I can't emphasize enough how Camilla Isley consistently delivers captivating stories that never fail to amaze. "Love to Hate You," much like her previous novels I've had the pleasure of reading and reviewing, is an enthralling experience that left me immersed in a whirlwind of emotions.
Once again, Camilla showcases her mastery as she weaves a tale of a New York woman encountering a small-town cowboy. In this narrative, she brings her A-game to illustrate how genuine love can triumph over any obstacle, provided that communication thrives within the relationship. Samantha Baker's life was synonymous with the fast-paced New York lifestyle, where everything was within reach. However, her world is upended when her boss assigns her to oversee a problematic movie production in a quaint Indiana town. This seemingly disastrous change leads her to Travis, a dashing cowboy who plants seeds of doubt about her return to New York.
"Love to Hate You" unquestionably earns a spot on my list of recommended reads. It effortlessly blends lightness, romance, and charm, all bolstered by the engaging banter between the main characters. While the overarching plot might appear familiar to avid readers, Camilla's unique approach lends it an alluring freshness. Samantha's sharp wit and her initial struggle in adapting to life in Emerald Creek, where her fashion reigns supreme even on unpaved roads, adds layers of relatable humor. Travis, on the other hand, emerges as a multi-dimensional character who balances his professional commitments with his responsibilities towards his mother and their ranch, all while cherishing the essence of life.
My wholehearted endorsement goes out to "Love to Hate You." For anyone seeking a romantic comedy that consistently elicits smiles and laughter, this book is an ideal choice. Each page is infused with entertainment, culminating in a satisfying finale. While the story's premise might carry a semblance of familiarity, rest assured that its execution is far from clichéd.

The seventh book in the First Comes Love series, this is your typical city girl meets country boy and first hates him then falls in love story, but it was done extremely well! Full of fun and heart, this enemies to more, opposites attract story is so cute and is just the perfect summer read. Samantha is a movie producer and comes to Emerald Creek to get a movie back on track. She is used to the hustle and bustle of New York and is completely out of her element in the small town of Emerald Creek. Travis gave up his city life to come take over the family ranch and he is now the mayor of Emerald Creek. When Samantha meets Travis, they are instantly attracted to each other, but they are from two different worlds and don't really get along. But as they say, opposites attract, and they seem to ultimately bring out the best in each other. The banter between them was hilarious and just such fun to read. This was a such a fun and sweet, country romance with well-defined characters that I enjoyed getting to know. Although part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone. A lovely, light-hearted, romantic read - perfect for a lazy day at the beach!
My thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for providing a complimentary copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

2,5 rounded to 3* I was a little disappointed with this one, it still is an enjoyable easy read if that's what you're looking for, but it didn't make much for me.
NOTE this title was originally published as "Sweet Love and Country Roads"
Samantha’s the ultimate city girl, New York life flowing in her veins, then her boss sends her to Emerald Creek for the summer to sort out filming delays.
Travis Hunt is Emerald Creek major and the ultimate cowboy, but he too has a bit of New York in himself. A city layer before coming back home to help his mother with her ranch, Travis has at heart his town destiny and has a plan to make it shine again.
Love to hate you, is a nice story, but I wouldn't really define it an enemy to lovers, yes Samantha and Travis are on opposite side at first, but the struggle from there to lovers is barely there... It mostly feels a romance where a city girl slowly adjusts to contry life, pleasant, nice, but I really expected something more.
Sam and Travis have a nice chemistry and I loved the side characters: Duncan and Amber and their banter.
Emerald Creek makes for the perfect background, still I felt some magic missing.
Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood books for providing this book as an arc in exchange of an honest review.

Was this the most amazing thing I have ever read? No not really. Did it pass the time and was fairly enjoyable? Sure! Average plot with average characters. The romance was okay. I don’t think I will remember this book in a couple of days.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Camilla Isley for an ARC copy of this book.
3.25 ⭐️
For the most part, I enjoyed reading this cutesy rom-com! It was an easy read that satisfies that craving for a small town romance and it did have some funny moments that feel straight out of a cheesy movie, in the best way! I’m a big fan of the setting, and the descriptions really brought it to life! And who couldn’t love Hildi the goat? Unfortunately there are just a few things that hold me back from giving this any higher of a rating.
I found the pacing of the book a bit off, with around 80% or more of the book taking place over a month, and then skipping over 3 weeks in the matter of a paragraph and the last 15-20% containing weeks of story with not a huge amount happening. The third act conflict felt like it didn’t really happen and was really easily resolved. I really enjoyed the build up to the relationship (and that enemies to lovers banter we’re all eager to see) and seeing them finally cross that line to dating. I just sort of lost interest once Sam has to return to New York as it felt like the storytelling was rushed.
With all that being said, I would still recommend this to readers who enjoy:
- Enemies-to-lovers
- Small Town Romances
- City Girl/Country Boy
- Reverse Grumpy x Sunshine
- Cowboy Romances
- He falls first

'Love To Hate You' by Camilla Isey
Genre : Rom - Com
Samantha Baker gets hit by her worst nightmare, live in a country for 3 months. She works for a production house and she gets assigned to physically be present at the movie location and see what's causing the delay in the movie schedule.
But she never would've imagined that the cause would be a six-feet tall and drop dead hot mayor of the town. While Travis had his reasons to stall the permissions, Samantha had no choice but to agree to some conditions and get the permits.
One side, she is dying to think of living three months in that far-away-from-Newyork, small and infamous town. Other side, she can't help but get drown in the love which is making it hard for her to think about leaving to the city.
I love this for it's not-so-complicated love story and for it's happy ending too. I kind of disliked both Samantha and Travis characters. But I guess they made a very cute couple. I wouldn't say it as enemies to lovers but there is a lot of tension between them from the start.
This book would be perfect for a summer read. And for people who love simple and happy stories. The pets reminded me mostly of Jenny Proctor's books. So, I automatically liked this one.

This book was really cute and I found it really hard to put down! It was sweet and romantic, and witty as heck

this was such a fun, sweet story! Samantha and Travis are living very different lives, but have a mutual love of big city living, and they come together in the most fun and fiesty way! I didn't really click with Samantha at first, but I really ended up loving her and her spirit and personality. And Travis is a sweet and fun character who works hard to take care of his town and the people he loves. I love the insta-attraction they have but don't act on it because they also clash personalities at first. I love this microtrope, and Camilla Isley wrote their coming together in such a fun and lovely way.
absolutely awesome story! thanks for the ARC!!!

I really enjoyed this enemies to lovers, opposites attract romance the humour and banter between characters was so well done. I admit I am a sucker for small town romance, what I loved about this one was that the animals took centre stage and were really the highlight , other than the romance obviously!
This is such a cute read , perfect for some relaxation and personal time, as well as the humour from the characters , I loved the personalities, how genuine they seemed, and who knew I loved a cowboy, not me until now !
This is my third Camilla Isley book I think , losing count but yet again she had me hooked, it’s a lovely romantic read , light and easy going, but still packs a punch for heart, joy and community.
I will add this is a part of a series but you can definitely read it as standalone.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It caught my attention at times but I didn’t love it. I thought the relationship was a little forced and random. It felt like he had an airtag on her at all times because he showed up literally everywhere she went. I also thought it was ehh that she felt embarrassed that his mom knew they were getting together like she was in high school. It was just an okay book for me.

This book had me hooked from the first sentence, and I read in a few hours. I think it was written well, and there was always something happening that just made me want to keep reading. This is the perfect city girl and small town cowboy romance, which I would definitely recommend.

3 stars.
Camilla Isley's "Love to Hate You" is an easily digestible but average cowboy-lawyer-mayor meets big-wig-prissy-Hollywood-producer romance that will satisfy your sweet-romance-tooth. Personally, it's a little too "aww" for me. I never feel like I got to know main character Samantha apart from some surface-level facts about her. She comes off a little poorly in the beginning, and it took some time for me to warm to her. Her arc felt less "take charge" and more "poor sport/stuck between a rock and a hard place." Emerald Creek, Indiana eventually softens her, though. I did, however, enjoy Travis as a main male character. We get to know him a lot better, and I think I fell in love with him a little bit. Is my cowboy era finally beginning? 🤠 I liked Samantha and Travis's growing chemistry as they go from enemies to friends to potential lovers. They have some terrific banter with one another. As a whole, this book feels like it is missing a spark, a pop, some sizzle, something to set it apart from other books just like it. The end also wraps up too quickly and nicely with a bow for me. If you know you like Camilla Isley, read away!
Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and Camilla Isley for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

This book was such a cute opposites attract small town romance, I really liked Samantha and Travis and how their relationship developed. I loved this story it was very romantic and funny, I did feel the ending was a little rushed but overall this was a great 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.
You can always count on Camilla Isley for an easy read. Having read a few of her books in the past and as I am well and truly in my small town era, I was looking forward to reading this! I read this alongside listening to the audiobook of this, and it was great. I thought the dialogue was good and I liked the big city vs small town vibes. A nice holiday read or if looking for a book that is not too heavy. I also love the cover of this book.

With this book, there really is a fine line between love and hate. The characters are so different but that is what is lovely about this book. I love how the chemistry between the main characters builds slowly and it feels so natural. This is a cute, romantic story with a perfect sprinkle of humour.

Love To Hate You by Camilla Isley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When I saw this on NetGalley, I requested it so fast as I knew I needed this to be a part of my cowboy romance era. This book gave me all the Hallmark vibes. While it wasn’t anything unique to different to most romcoms, it still had me hooked! Love To Hate You has the small town romance, slow burn, enemies to lovers, and “forbidden” romance all wrapped into one.
While the writing and storyline felt familiar, I did enjoy that the main characters, Samantha and Travis, prioritized their career goals and stayed true to who they were while exploring a new relationship.
If you’ve been loving the cowboy romances, this is one you should definitely check out! It just published on August 10th.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars.
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this as an ARC! Even though I’m late getting to the review, the good news is that it’s out now, so you don’t have to wait to check it out for yourself!
Samantha is pretty sure her life is over when her boss tells her she needs to personally supervise filming for the movie she’s producing, which means moving to the desolate countryside for months. As if that wasn’t enough, the small town mayor seems to be delighting in his ability to slow the production to a halt. Will Samantha find that there’s more to love about country life than she first thought? Will she also see how much lies beneath the surface of the stubborn mayor that she may not actually hate?
This was such a delightful romp from start to finish. After the earlier books in the series, I expected to have dual POV. In this case, the single POV worked really well for Samantha’s story. I love a good small town romance, so this was going to be a no-brainer for me regardless, and I’m so glad that it really delivered on all of the angst and pining that I could have wanted. I also appreciated how balanced Samantha and Travis were as a couple and that they didn’t rush into any big decisions based on such a new relationship. It felt like a really well paced progression of the romance. Also, shoutout to my man Mark for saving yet another relationship from the airport bar.

This was a super cute cowboy romance!
I really enjoyed this one, the story was fast paced and kept me hooked and I loved the banter between the two main characters!

I adored this book so incredibly much. Watching the city girl become enamored with country life made this country girl so happy. The tropes in this one were outstanding: reverse grump x sunshine, forced proximity, enemies to lovers. Honestly, that is the foundation for a perfect book. The author really blew me away with this adorable love story that left my cheeks hurting from smiling. I will definitely read more works by this author.

Camilla Isley has truly NEVER disappointed me, and I again loved this book! She has a way of catching your attention very early on, and never letting it go! I think the ending to this book felt far less rushed than the other books which I loved. It's not my favorite in the series, but It's still a wonderful book. If you love cowboys, farm animals, and small-town gossip, this book is the perfect one for you! It reminded me a lot of where I grew up in a small-town, but also had nice city touches related to New York.
Camilly Isley writes wonderfully developed characters, and as always, the witty banter never ceases to amaze me and keep my full attention. I appreciate every book from her, and how much joy they bring me causing actual smiles and laughs to arise from me during the reading!
Thank you for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review!