This was a bit of a mixed read for me. I am a BIG Chloe fan. Bergman being on my top 10 favourite series list I'll always pick her books up. I really enjoyed the childhood rivals-to-lovers and appreciated the ADHD representation — as an ADHD/tism girly myself it's so under represented in books its refreshing to see.. I also loved that the romance took its time, letting the relationship grow naturally without relying on a third-act breakup.

i love a good childhood antagonists to lovers arc!! wasnt my favorite, two wrongs make a right had that extra something but it was a good sequel and it only has me more excited for once smitten twice shy!!

Another book by this author that I adored - I loved Kat and Christopher and their story - it felt authentic, I also loved how much they communicated with each other. Will definitely be reading more from this author.

Better Hate than Never - Chloe Liese

This book had the most perfect Autumn setting and feels, with crisp leaves, pumpkin pies, doughnuts and quiche. There was brilliant emotional tension between Christopher and Kate, with heaps of history between them to unpack. Jamie's friendship with Christopher was an added bonus story line.
Really nice touches throughout hinting at Kate and Christopher's long history around each other, such as finding the crafted hanky in the journal. The part I did find irritating was all of the nicknames that were flying around, as none of them were really explained. Overall I am looking forward to reading more books from this author.

"She loves pumpkin pie and spiced apples, cinnamon and maple syrup, everything that reminds her of the grandeur of turning leaves"

Thank you very much Netgalley and Little brown book group for this e-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions

This is my first book by this author. I wanted to love it mainly because of the beautiful cover but it was a SLOG.

There is next to no plot to this book. Nothing else happened outside of the romance. The characters hate each other at the beginning and it transforms into love very quickly. There was no build up or reason why it suddenly changed. I love enemies to lovers but this had none of that. It started off well but I quickly got bored.

The main character had ADHD but this is not really a big part of the story and the love interest has migraines. It felt like this was put in as a novelty thing to give the characters something interesting to them but I felt it brought nothing to the story.

Like I said, i wanted to love it but I just didn't. I'm not sure if I'll read any other books by this author.

Chloe Liese has done it again. This book is a wonderful enemies to lovers romance read. The main characters Christopher and Kate were adorable. As always with a Chloe Liese book there was an element of disability representation. Kate was dealing with adhd and I loved reading more about how her mind works and functions and learning more about adhd in general. Christopher suffers with migraines and this element came throughout the story.

I loved reading how these characters grew up from childhood together, became enemies and was so mean and rude to each other to eventually become friends and lovers. It was a beautifully written book. I can’t wait to read Jules’s story in the next in the series.

Another brilliant story from Chloe Liese.
I love the 10 things I hate about you vibes in this one and Christopher was excellent.
It was a little weak in the beginning, the reasonings for the MMC’s feelings towards Kate and Kate’s reasonings for being and staying home could have been more obvious. But the second half was brilliant.

Unfortunately this was just not for me, i enjoyed it at first but i just couldn't get into the story and the characters were not my favourite.

Chloe Liese is one of my all time favourite authors and this was just so good. Childhood enemies to friends to lovers is everything I wanted and more. This is a reimagining of The Taming of The Shrew and again Chloe is just overall a brilliant writer and one of my faves. This is a book I could go on and on about because I loved it that much and if you’ve not read a book by her yet you definitely need too.

What a brilliant cosy romance! Makes you feel all warm inside, Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

This was my first Chloe Liese book and I enjoyed it so much. I loved the dynamic between Kate and Christopher. It was heartwarming to see Kate really come out of her shell and begin to trust Christopher. And it was adorable to see how caring and gentle Christopher could be with her. I cannot wait to read her other books, I think I’ve found a new favourite author.

The second book in the wilmott sisters series and it was one I was really looking forward to after the sneak peak we got in the last book, but maybe the enemies part was slightly too strong at the beginning.
Kat and Christopher grew up together, but their rivalry as adults knows not bounds, but is the rivalry hiding something deeper.
Firstly I loved Kat as a character, she embraced her ADHD and the authors note at the beginning was really well thought through. Christopher took me longer to warm to, he was a bit too mean at the beginning, but changed so quickly it left me a bit whiplashed.
I did like the way he apologised for his mistakes, how he treated Kat after this point and how the couple worked together and worked out issues and I loved, loved, loved the family dynamic with the sisters and I'm looking forward to Jules story next.

Chloe Liese always manages to write romances that are enjoyable and cute with sizzling sexual tension and spice- they are fun reads that are also inclusive, involving well written characters who accurately portray the realities of living with a chronic illness, disability or neurodivergence.

This was the second book in The Wilmott Sisters series which are interconnected but standalone romances that take inspiration from Shakespeare plays. Where the previous book, Two Wrongs Make a Right, drew from Much Ado About Nothing, Better Hate than Never follows in the footsteps of my favourite teen movie, 10 Things I Hate About You, and takes inspiration from the Taming of the Shrew.

It took a little while to orientate myself and recall what happened in Two Wrongs Make a Right to set up the events of Better Hate than Nevef but once I had read a few chapters and gotten into the swing of the book I really enjoyed this one. It was childhood enemies to lovers with a case of mistaken first impressions to rival Darcy & Elizabeth. Kate's ADHD was really well written and felt honest and truthful and Christopher was as swoonworthy as the rest of Chloe Liese's love interests.

I really enjoyed that we got Christopher's point of view but what would ahve made this even better for me is that I would have loved to have had more of an insight into how his feelings for Kate developed because he says he had actually always wanted Kate but I felt more like he disliked her and then was suddenly like 'lol jk'

This is the second book in the Wilmot Sisters series, I absolutely loved the first book and others by this author so I went in with high hopes.

The writing absolutely did not disappoint, this author is brilliant at writing characters that you become fully invested in and she represents the realities of many, in this book in particular she represents people who suffer chronic migraines, have ADHD and demisexualism.

I love enemies to lovers and so the start of this really worked for me but I think maybe it was done too well as I the struggled to get behind the complete 360 of the MC feelings.

Still very much looking forward to continuing this series.

I don't know how Chloe Liese does it, I'm sure it's some sort of super secret author magic, but somehow she keeps hitting it out of the park. I was already a fan after reading the first book in the Bergman Brothers series, but this is the series that has cemented her as one of my favourite authors.

Kate and Christopher have known each other all their lives, growing up next door to each other. Unfortunately for everyone they know, they simply can't stand to be around each other and always end up bickering. But then Kate's dad and brother-in-law pull Christopher aside and pretty much beg him to make an effort to get along with Kate. So they start to develop a friendship that could maybe blossom into something more.

What's that saying again, there's a thin line between hate and love?

The pining these two did for each other! You know how when you're a kid and you bang two toys together to make them kiss? I tried to do that with Kate and Christopher, but of course these two are too stubborn to listen to the person reading their story. They needed time to work it out on their own, and that's just fine. But the pining and the tension and the chemistry nearly killed me, okay? But in the best way possible.

It's a Chloe Liese book, and by now you should know that means great representation, characters with full lives and personalities, and amazing secondary characters.

Now I just need to figure out how to speed up time so I can get my hands on the next book asap!

Unfortunately this one was a DNF for me but I think a lot of people would really enjoy it.
It just felt a little too juvenile to me. The characters are adults but the way they speak just doesn’t reflect that. I really like some of Chloe Lieses other books but this one was just making me cringe from the very first page.
But my main problem is that I really didn’t like Christopher. He’s just not the type of guy that I want to root for. The way he treats Kate (our main character) is horrible and he brags about how hot he is and that he can get any girl. Not for me…

I've read one of Liese's other books before, If Only You in her Bergman Brothers series, and I really enjoyed it, so I couldn't wait to read this one as it looked like the perfect Autumn romance, and it really was! I always appreciate how Liese writes neurodivergent characters, as it doesn't feel forced or that she's doing it for anything other than creating meaningful representation for people who may not have previously been able to see themselves in the characters of romance books, and Better Hate than Never is no exception to this. It was so satisfying to see how people's misconceptions of Katerina changed once, especially Christopher's, as she was finally able to explain herself and the reasons behind her so-called flighty actions, and I felt it really added to the slow-burn between the two of them, making for a great romance! I also loved the little Taming of a Shrew pun with the names.

This was a book of two halfs for me, I struggled to connect with the first half but really enjoyed the second half

The first 40ish% where they're both in their dislike stage, I just didn't connect with it and struggled to get through (ended up pausing and reading another book, so glad I came back)

The second half where they were getting along and got together was so enjoyable. I love how open and truthful they are with each other and clearly communicate everything - it was refreshing to see and read

- dislike to love
- childhood family friends / neighbours
- opposites attract
- queer fmc (demisexual)
- neurodivergent fmc (ADHD)
- chronic condition (migraines)
- no 3rd act break up
- duel pov, 1st person

Thank you to Piatkus and NetGalley for the arc - all opinions are my own

I love Kate and Christopher with my whole heart. I loved the slow burn of their relationship, I loved the longing and the emotions - it was so heartwarming and tender, and I loved the honesty between the two of them. The side characters are also just as wonderful as they were in the first book, and I loved seeing glimpses of Bea and Jamie! There is lots of representation within this book as well, which I haven't seen before (ADHD, chronic migraines, demisexual), and while I can't speak on this representation personally, it felt as though it was done very well. One thing I love about Chloe Liese is that with her writing, you tend to forget that you're actually reading a book - the characters feel so real and genuine and you're so invested in the story, that it just flows so nicely. (There's also no third-act breakup which is a massive WIN for me).

This was my first Chloe Liese book & I had heard so much about her work, so I went into this with high expectations!

I don’t know if it was just this specific book or maybe this author just isn’t for me, but unfortunately those expectations weren’t met. For a romance book from a prolific romance author, I felt like there were some glaring issues which I wouldn’t normally see or enjoy reading. Specifically the childish behaviour of the main characters, this wasn’t an enemies to lovers, it felt more like resentment at best & teenage antics. There was also some concerning behaviour from the MC which I wasn’t a fan of. Age gap isn’t my favourite trope, but I also wouldn’t say 6 years is an age gap?

I dunno, I will try another of her books, but this just wasn’t for me at all.

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group/Piatkus and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.