There is a thin line between hate and…

Synopsis

One summer to make her his…

After four failed seasons, Emily Hawkins is tired of following the rules. Aside from crossing swords with her lifelong enemy, Freddie Dashworth, she is an exemplary member of Society. But after all this time, she’s yet to find a husband and life with her over-bearing mother is becoming intolerable. 

Freddie returns to his childhood home to help look after his orphaned niece. His neighbour, Emily, has been his nemesis for years. The infuriating miss is the only woman immune to his charms and there’s nothing he enjoys more than her disapproving glares. It’s a shame he can’t stop thinking about her, because she clearly despises him.

One minor indiscretion later and everything in Emily’s ordered world changes. The one person on her side appears to be Freddie but can she trust her former antagonist? And what will happen to her when she does?

My review

Emily Hawkins would prefer to sit in a library, engulfed by books, rather than going to balls and find a husband. Not only does she has attended four seasons without success, it doesn’t help that her mother is over – bearing and pointing out each of Emily’s fault, yet keeps on looking for the best possible suitor for her daughter. Yet she doesn’t realize that Emily isn’t interested at all in interacting with eligible titles. Although, whenever Emily crosses paths with Freddi Dashworth, her proper behaviour disappears and he is somehow able to trigger her. And now Freddie has returned to the family home to look after his orphaned niece, together with his brothers. So now that their paths are crossing again, the former animosity quickly resurfaces, as Emily still appears to be immune for Freddie’s charms and Freddie keeps on pushing her buttons somehow. Yet both of them cannot stop thinking about each other, and one indiscretion changes everything…

There are many tropes that I like reading. And one of them for sure is the enemies – to – lovers. Add to that storyline the world of the Ton, and seasons, and balls, and I am in for it!

Right for the very start, I like Emily. She is a lovely person, a caring person, but also a restrained one. It’s clear that her mother dictates what to do and what not, not understanding Emily’s character at all. Or rather, not caring about Emily. The only thing that matters, is finding the right husband, one with a title and with wealth.

It saddened me to read how Emily thinks so low of herself, ‘thanks’ to her own mother. It shows us how hurtful words can be, and how small they can make us feel. Because Emily perhaps isn’t the most beautiful woman in the world (but she also could be…), it is her character, her persona that makes her a beautiful young woman, ready to stand on her own two feet.

Also, the fact that she loves reading, doesn’t that tell you enough already? 😊

Her animosity with Freddie for sure put a smile on my face while reading. Because yes, Emily and Freddie are very different people, and they have been through and are still going through some hardships in life.

Freddie, what can I say about him? Yes, he may seem like a real tease at the start of the book. And he for sure seems to use his charms to be a popular fellow at balls and other social events.

But the more I read about him, the more sorry I started to feel for him too.

I cannot imagine what it must be for four brothers, who aren’t the closest, forced to look after their niece, they didn’t even know that existed.

Yet it was sweet to see how not only Freddie, but all of the brothers, fell in love with lovely (Char)Lotte. And yes, she also stole my heart!

But back to Freddie! Because he also shows that in fact, he isn’t only the charmer that he seems to be. Rather the opposite, as he has several demons of his own that keep chasing him. And that made him more human to me, as not only Freddie has been through a lot, with a wicked and even evil upbringing in a way, but he is also a person made out of flesh and blood. He isn’t this perfect man without any flaws. But rather a man that perhaps has issues that you wouldn’t expect from someone with his status. I have to admit though, when I learned about his ‘big secret’, I thought that perhaps in modern times, in the present, with the knowledge we have now, there would have been a solution?

Emily and Freddie are complete opposites, causing them to not getting along for years. So when Freddie is back, it makes sense that that animosity also returns. But because of Lotte, there is something that shifts between them. To be honest, it is not only because of Charlotte that something changes, but Lotte for sure helps to let Emily and Freddie spend more time together.

And we all know what that means, right? That they get to know each other better and start to understand each other’s character of course, what were you thinking? 😊

Because of Freddie and Emily spending more time together, they slowly start to realize that their banter, their animosity, is in fact hiding their deeper, more honest and genuine feelings. And reading that realization coming to fruition, was just great!

Of course, with this title, we already know what is going to happen at one point in this book. But I felt like it was a bit of a spoiler, because it for sure takes a long time to get to that point. And I enjoyed much more reading how things start to shift between them, rather than getting to that one indiscretion.

But is also bittersweet how, despite their forced unio, which isn’t that unwelcome for neither party, how the both of them are still insecure about expressing their true feelings. However, that also made them more realistic, because on paper it may be easy to be honest about your feelings, but in real life, that is terrifying, isn’t it?

Ella Matthews shows us once with her great writing skills, that perhaps it is the person that we ‘dislike’ the most, is the person that gets us the best. And that that one person can get the best of ourselves out of us. And that that one person believes in us, and sees our talents, but most important sees in our hearts.