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Hate Notes  By  cover art

Hate Notes

By: Vi Keeland,Penelope Ward
Narrated by: Sebastian York,Lynn Barrington
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Publisher's summary

Amazon’s #1 Most Unputdownable Book of the Year.

An Amazon Charts bestseller.

A Wall Street Journal bestseller.

A Washington Post bestseller.

From New York Times bestselling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward comes an unexpected love story of secondhand hearts and second chances...

It all started with a mysterious blue note sewn into a wedding dress.

Something blue.

I’d gone to sell my own unworn bridal gown at a vintage clothing store. That’s when I found another bride’s “something old".

Stitched into the lining of a fabulously feathered design was the loveliest message I’d ever read: Thank you for making all of my dreams come true.

The name embossed on the blue stationery: Reed Eastwood, obviously the most romantic man who ever lived. I also discovered he’s the most gorgeous. If only my true-love fantasies had stopped there. Because I’ve since found out something else about Mr. Starry-Eyed.

He’s arrogant, cynical, and demanding. I should know. Thanks to a twist of fate, he’s my new boss. But that’s not going to stop me from discovering the story behind his last love letter. A love letter that did not result in a happily ever after.

But that story is nothing compared to the one unfolding between us. It’s getting hotter, sweeter, and more surprising than anything I could have imagined.

Something new.

But I have no idea how this one is going to end...

©2018 Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Keeland and Ward double team on this sweet, funny contemporary.... Excellent escapist fodder.” (Publishers Weekly)

Hate Notes is fun, steamy, emotional, and quite the slow burn.” (Harlequin Junkie)

“A must-read.... I knew Hate Notes would be an engaging, funny, and seriously sexy romance, and it is. What I didn’t expect was the powerfully delivered, emotionally impactful and memorable storyline that resonated and moved me.” (USA Today’s Happy Ever After)

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials—The Top 100 Romance Listens of All Time


With thousands of romance titles releasing every year across a huge swath of subgenres, it’s a tall order to choose the best among the bunch. So our romance editors listened, debated, and listened some more to bring you this list of the 100 must-hear romances on Audible. From Regency to contemporary, love at first sight to second-chance romance and every trope in between, there’s a story here for every romance fan.

What listeners say about Hate Notes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5,981
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  • 1 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    5,326
  • 4 Stars
    1,475
  • 3 Stars
    500
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

THIS IS MY LOVE NOTE..

Yet again these very talented authors kept me awake til the wee hours with their charming characters, their compelling plot with its secrets and their heartwarming yet heartbreaking romance between a burnt yet hopeful heroine and a closed off never going to happen hero. What ensued was a twisted pleasure as their chemistry built and built.. as their interactions became friendlier and friendlier.. as the walls started to crumble then get reinforced.. and, as the loveable heroine worked her many guileless charms to finally penetrate those impenetrable walls.

The addictive dual POV storyline had lots of delicious feels.. and a few heartbreaking ones too.. but the absolute perfection of the narration by two well-loved actors made this a seriously impressive audiobook that I wish I could give ten stars to.

Worth a credit? Absolutely.. and if you have no credits then beg, borrow or.. well, I will not encourage you to steal the money but what is the penalty for a first offence?

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58 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

darling with a little d

I really enjoyed this slow burn enemies to friends to lovers office romance. It had plenty of laughs and quirky moments, but there were also very serious topics and issues addressed as well. Charlotte was the perfect complement to Reed. The light to his dark. I loved her overall outlook on life and that she was much more honest and forthcoming with her feelings. When we first meet Reed, he is an angry shell of the man he once was. He frustrated me at times, but I also fell in love with him as his walls came down and the all in, unconditional love romantic resurfaced. The push and pull in this one was delicious and though it hurt my heart, the issues and feelings our characters encounter felt real and honest. I think the book needed all of Charlotte's charm and crazy to offset the heavier moments that both our characters face. The majority of the novel is spent building up the tension between Reed and Charlotte and seeing their relationship evolve. As much as I enjoyed their journey, I think I needed to see more of them enjoying what they fought so hard to reach. The epilogue was incredibly sweet, but also somber. I respected the authors more for this though instead of trying to wrap everything up with a pretty (and unrealistic) bow.

There's a reason Sebastian York is so beloved by audiobook listeners. His narration as standoffish and closed off Reed was perfect. Lynn Barrington is a new narrator to me, but I thought she did a fantastic job as Charlotte. Both her male and female voices were clear and distinct and she delivered all of Charlotte's snark impeccably. I think the only minor issue I had (which I run into sometimes with audiobooks), was that for both narrators, there were a few times I wasn't sure if something was internal dialogue or actually spoken out loud. Overall, this was a great listen and is one of my favorites from this writing duo!

Overall 4 stars
Performance 4.5 stars
Story 4 stars

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46 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Deeper than Expected

4.25 Stars
I haven’t read a lot of Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward but I know how beloved they are, and I have loved the few I read, so I went into Hate Notes (currently free in KU for both Kindle and audio or $1.99 Audible upgrade) with high expectations for a RomCom but got so much more. While there were absolutely some funny moments, this was a pretty emotional read as well.

Charlotte is having a really bad time of it. Catching her fiancé cheating at the office left her broken up and jobless. In need of money, she goes to sell her wedding dress, but can only get store credit. When she eyes a beautiful gown, she not only falls for the gown, but for the man who pinned the most romantic note ever inside of it. Curious to know more, Charlotte did some research and located the real estate executive responsible for the note, and arranged for a showing of a fancy apartment she could never afford.
"Such an a$$*ole. A gorgeous, arrogant a$$*ole who looked just as good going as he did coming."

Reed was a total jerk. So bad, he made the fun and vivacious Charlotte run crying to the bathroom where she met a lovely older woman who offered her a job. When she found out the job is at Reed’s company, the banter began.

“I wanted to taste her lips and suck away that sour look on her face, yet I knew that if there was one set of lips on this earth forbidden to me, it was Charlotte Darling’s. She wasn’t just a pretty face and a hot body. She was someone who wanted inside my soul, and that was never going to happen.”

Reed was so closed off. He fought his feelings for Charlotte every step of the way. She was the aggressor in the relationship, and we don’t learn why until towards the end of the book. Until then, I admit, I started to just not like Reed.

“You want to feel me for one night? I’ll make you feel me for days.”

Though there were a lot of familiar tropes, especially the enemies-to-lovers office trope, there was a very very unique twist that I related to on a very personal level, and I loved that the story dealt with that.

Once we got to know Reed’s motivations, I started to like him and Charlotte together. But he held back most of the book.

“I know with one hundred percent certainty that I am not the right man for you. You’re a dreamer, Charlotte. The biggest dreamer of them all. And you deserve to be with someone who won’t ever hold you back in life.”

Just when things got good, the book ended. Don’t get me wrong, it was good the whole time, but I felt like we waited the whole book for them to get their crap together, and once they did, it was over. I would have loved to see them enjoy each other for a bit!
“Love wasn’t about a beautiful dress, a note, or even poignant words. It was about being with someone through thick and thin, about seeing them through not only the best moments of life but also the worst.”

Likes:

•I loved Charlotte.
•Air typing is my new favorite thing.
•Banter always wins me over.
•There was way more than a rom-com here, there was some serious emotions.
•Wonderful supporting characters.
•The Dual POV really added to this story and saved me from disliking Reed too much to come back from.

Dislikes:

•It took a very long time to really like the hero.
•She chased him a little too much for my liking.
•A very slow burn then a too-quick end. I would have liked more happy together time.

Not Sure How I Felt:

•The epilogue kind of ruined the end for me a bit, yet at the same time, it worked for the story. I just didn’t like how it made me feel.

The Narration:
Sebastian York worked great for this, and Lynn Barrington was new to me I think, but I loved her performance.

The Down & Dirty:
Hate Notes went much deeper than the cover or blurb would lead you to believe. While this covered a lot of familiar tropes, there was a very unique thread that ran through the book, but you don't discover it until late in the story. I think if it happened sooner my enjoyment would have even increased more. As it was, it took a lot for me to love the hero. Once he redeemed himself, I would have liked a little more couple time before the epilogue. Still, I am very glad I grabbed this one, and I look forward to more from this duo.

Rating: 4.25 stars, 3.5 Heat, 5 Narration

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just 'Ok' for me

Typically I adore Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward, in fact I pretty much have 97% of these 2 authors books on my audible account. Unfortunately, this one just didn't keep me engaged in the story and at times I found myself getting side tracked, not paying attention and just getting bored. There were some funny times, some sweet times and some sexy times, but to me it had more lackluster times than all the others.

Charlotte is in a bad place after ending her engagement and ends up selling her wedding gown at a consignment shop. She then finds a romantic letter sewn into a dress that she was drawn to and it gives her hope that true love still does exist. She gets drunk one night and ends up looking up the man that wrote the letter. She then puts a plan in place to meet him. Reed too is in a bad place after he gets some medical news and his engagement ends. Through bucket lists, funny situations, some deep moments, and some sexual tension their love/hate relationship begins and they start to fall in love.

It's a long, slow burn to get there and I didn't care for exactly how long it took. I felt like they wrapped up their life and story in the last 10 minutes of the book. Like literally, the last chapter and then an epilogue that takes you 26 years in the future. I would have preferred more of their life and love story to play out and not so much of the cat and mouse game that was the majority of the book.

As far as narration, I always love Sebastian York, but I am NOT a fan of Lynn Barrington. I thought her voice was much too old or mature sounding for this young and quirky female character. I didn't think she did this story justice at all. I wish I could give Sebastian 5 stars and Lynn only 2. Sadly, this was not worth a credit for me and I will be exchanging it since I know I will never care to listen to this one again.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

This was a fun book. Charlotte was a great characters, she is quirky, spontaneous and pretty blunt. Reed is your typical brooding rich guy who has baggage and a nasty Ex. I like that Charlotte brings out the best in Reed and helps him because spontaneous and fun. Reed's Grandmother Iris was my favorite thing about this book, she was nosy and pushy and made me laugh more than once. If your looking for fun romance with some drama and a HEA, this book might be for you.

Lynn Barrington was perfect for Charlotte, she brought out her quirkiness and did her inner monologue so good. And Sebastian York.... Need I say more... ok well fine I'll say a little more, I LOVE his voice but I will admit there is a very small part with a British character in this book and Sebyo doesn't do accents... I mean sometimes he does, it's odd cause if the character has 5 sentences, 3 of them have no accent. I've heard him do this before, he just doesn't keep up with the accents but that's ok with me cause it's Sebastian York.
#BestMeetCute #NarrationPerfection #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Way over rated

Not for me at all. Silly and sappy. Lots of angst and the sex scene was not at all romantic. This was a waste of my listening time. I am returning the book.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I can't...

I can't even describe how good, great, amazing this book is. Vi and Penelope do not disappoint, as usual. I LOVE Charlotte. I LOVE Reed. The very real life twist, queue the salty discharge from your eyes.
The narration is on point.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Kind of silly

This book had the potential of a great book. The sex scenes were laughable......and spoiler alert....the proposal was the silliest thing I have ever read. I am sorry if the author is offended by my review.....sometimes silly is exactly what we need.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hate Notes

What I enjoyed best was Charlotte’s character she may not always be 100 percent but she is always honest and exactly herself. What you see is what you get with her and I really enjoyed that.
Reed for me kind of blends in with all the other “rich” hero’s we see brooding with a little bit of a stick up his you know what.
Enter Charlotte she brings out the real Reed and that is where things get interesting and unique.

Iris (Reed’s grandmother) kind of sets up situations and Reed falls for them each and every time it’s cute. He was holding so much of himself back and once he gave himself permission to have what he wanted he really goes for it. Even when he is vulnerable about his life, Charlotte never lets him doubt himself.

Lynn Barrington’s voice was great I liked her for Charlotte I just didn’t love her male voice. I would have loved the sexy times to have been in Sebastian York’s voice.
Speaking of SebYo I felt like he did a great job as always his voice is my kryptonite.

#Contemporary #BestGrandmotherEver #Romance #RichMan #BeYourSelf #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love this!

I’ve never laughed out loud so much just listening to a story! Love, love, loved this book. It was definitely worth the credit! Narrators were both very good. Love Sebastian York!

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