Hate to Want You (Forbidden Hearts #1) by Alisha Rai

What a delightfully fast read! Great romance novel featuring a pair of childhood sweethearts forced apart by their family circumstances, who manage to find their way back to each other. The twist, or hook, is that they’ve spent the last decade seeing each other for only one night a year, meeting at whichever coordinates she sends him for a night of wild, no-strings-attached sex. Except, of course, there are always strings attached.

Anyway, there isn’t anything really groundbreaking in the romance part of the novel, but I thought it was a big deal that Alisha Rai chose to say a lot about healthy relationships, both with a loved one and with yourself, in this book. Everyone needs an Aunt Maile for straight talk, IMO (and I’m hoping that Aunt Maile finds herself some romance in the next few books, too!) It was also a very realistic look at feeling damaged because of your depression, and the way that secrets can damage any relationship. I felt that the number of unnecessary misunderstandings was kept to a minimum, and overall, I just very much enjoyed how almost everyone was working at processing their emotions in a healthy manner. The sex scenes were also pretty great, and I didn’t have to cringe at any inappropriate interludes. Also, hurray for the commitment to diversity, and for the plot hooks compelling the reader towards the next book in the series!

I laughed, I cried, I got hot and bothered: I highly recommend this novel for anyone wanting a little more romance in their lives.