Hate to Love You

By: J. P. Oliver

Narrated by: Randi Johnson

Length: 5 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Two guys who hate each other plan a bachelor party...what could go wrong?

When Mason’s best friend, Drew, announces his engagement, Mason is sincere in his congratulations. Drew is a great guy - and he deserves one hell of a bachelor party to send him off into married life. One problem: Mason’s sharing best man duties with Drew’s other best friend, Liam. Liam, the life of the party. Liam, the jock who bullied Mason throughout high school. Liam...Mason’s secret crush.

Liam Porter is completely gutted by Drew’s announcement. He’s been in love with Drew ever since he was a kid, and the idea of standing there and smiling while Drew marries some other guy makes him sick to his stomach. So Liam comes up with a plan: He’ll pretend to date Mason. If Drew gets jealous, Liam will fess up and stop the wedding. There’s just one problem...kissing Mason? Feels so much better than it has any right to.

I Hate to Love You is a stand-alone romance featuring one dangerous stalker ex, two pining idiots, and a happily ever after sure to warm your heart!

©2019 Special Fiction Books (P)2019 Special Fiction Books

Needed more

This was a pretty good story, but I needed a bit more...I felt like there was opportunity for some angst but it just didn't happen and I think it could have used some. The narration was ok, but still just 3 stars. I was hoping for more out of this book than I got.

Childhood Enemies to Lovers

This book was an enjoyable one to listen to. It's my first book from both the author, JP Oliver and Randi Johnson.

The story was sweet, long in angst. I really enjoyed the flow. However, I heard some inconsistency.The major one was the big "I Love You" moment outside the restaurant. I replayed it three times, in case my audio book "skipped". There was no such moment. It was only mentioned on the next chapter. I'd think that such big moment wouldn't have been skipped, specially since both MCs were already doing a heart to heart talk anyway. Other than that, the story was good.

Randi Johnson is an excellent narrator. He has that voice. That kind of voice that would really want to make you listen. He gave the characters justice. I cannot wait to hear more from him, I'm pretty sure this is jhis early MM audio book days. This narrator is going places.

Hate turned QUICKLY to love

I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't manage it. The writing was good, with a cute story,and a great premise, but it just didn't quite come together for me. I did really enjoy the strong narration from Randi Johnson. Voicing was good, quality was good. I'm really looking forward to listening to more of his work.

Wonderful love story!

I asked to receive this Audible book and voluntarily wrote this unbiased review. Mason was bullied unmercifully by Liam when they were kids. Now grownups, they see things in a new light. Both had major problems at home. Now they are drawn to each other, but can they move on from their past? This is an insightful look into the effects of bullying and home life, forgiveness, moving on from a past love, friendship, stalking, and finding love. The author, J P Oliver, masterfully and emotionally has written such a passionate and powerful story.

Randi Johnson is a wonderful storyteller. He immediately draws you into this story of love. His voice portrays the emotions and personalities of the characters. If you like m/m stories, I highly recommend this Audible book.

Try

Mason is asked by a close friend to help plan the wedding. Only there is a catch. He must work with his secret crush and basically a frenemy, Liam. He agrees - since their mutual friend is important to both of them. They agree to try.

Liam has been in love with Drew forever. Planning his wedding was never in the plans he saw for their future. Then he starts to work with Mason. He finds that he understands him better the more he gets to know him.

This was an amazing read. They start off with incredible banter and the best laid plans..... per usual, the end is vastly different. I found many points were quite compelling and profound. The narration was amazing - the different voices were obvious and very nice. I love the sounds of the voices. This was one of the best I have heard in a while.


***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review only.

Lovely characters but needed some editing

As usual, this author write characters that I really like. This was no exception. Both Liam and Mason are amazing. Especially Liam. Swoon worthy. My my.

With that being said, this book would’ve needed another round of editing. There was a lot happening behind the scenes that I would’ve wanted to happen on ”stage”. There was a lot of times when I felt that I was missing something and had to go back to check what was actually happening.

Overall good. Amazing characters, great narration, but needed some editing to bring some stuff out and tie the loose knots.

LOTS OF SOUL SEARCHING AND SELF REALIZATION

Start with a bully, without knowing his background . Add the one being bullied, without knowing his background and you get a hefty-sized hate relationship with a good friend to both caught in the middle, trying to fix things without telling anyone’s secrets. Add an obsessed and crazy ex to the mix after the bully and his prey are forced to work together and find that they are normal and caring people. Meet, Liam and Mason to find out how things go.

As usual, the narration is superb!

Childhood Enemies to Lovers

This book was an enjoyable one to listen to. It's my first book from both the author, JP Oliver and Randi Johnson.

The story was sweet, long in angst. I really enjoyed the flow. However, I heard some inconsistency.The major one was the big "I Love You" moment outside the restaurant. I replayed it three times, in case my audio book "skipped". There was no such moment. It was only mentioned on the next chapter. I'd think that such big moment wouldn't have been skipped, specially since both MCs were already doing a heart to heart talk anyway. Other than that, the story was good.

Randi Johnson is an excellent narrator. He has that voice. That kind of voice that would really want to make you listen. He gave the characters justice. I cannot wait to hear more from him, I'm pretty sure this is jhis early MM audio book days. This narrator is going places.

Enemies to Hot Steamy Lovers!!

Liam was a bully and Mason was on the receiving end of it. When Mason saw Liam he was attracted but reluctant. That soon changed and lust turned into love. This audiobook is wonderfully narrated by the talented Randi Johnson. I received a review copy of this Audiobook and voluntarily wrote this unbiased review.

Randi Johnson - Fabulous Narrator

Randi Johnson is a wonderful narrator for the sweet and sexy Hate to Love You, by J. P. Oliver.

This was my first listen to Randi and I will be looking for other books he has narrated. His dulcet voice created a bubble where I could enjoy each of the author’s characters and their interactions.

I truly enjoyed this M/M romance.

A good enough story until

It is a good enough story until you get to the sex. The story is then forgotten and sex, of the cut and paste variety, takes over. The reader is good except that, where you imagine James Dean, you get the voice of John Wayne.

Such a great romance

I do love a romantic M/M book. This has everything you need for an epic adventure. Randi gives a absolutely fantastic performance. You actually feel the chemistry through Randi’s voice.

Great romance

In the enemies to lovers romance, Mason and Liam have to overcome a huge amount of history to understand their feelings and reactions over the years. I loved this audio. It was a combination of great internal musings from both Liam and Mason and the growth of a love which neither would have expected. Randi Johnson narrates the story with confidence and empathy for the characters. He conveys both humour and the tension of the dawning awareness of each other in a new light. 💖

Hate to Love You

Hate To Love You
Five Stars

Hate To Love You is the first book I have read/listened to by J.P. Oliver, but definitely won’t be the last. Mason and Ben are such great characters and the feels that this book brought were amazing. I was hooked from the very beginning. I can’t wait to read more from J.P.
Randi Johnson is a new narrator to me also. What a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. I love when listening that I can relate to the characters and my emotions are brought into the story and Randi really did this for me.

Standalone Story

Standalone Story.

Mason is thrilled when his best friend announces his engagement, until Drew tells him that Liam will be sharing Mason's Best Man duties. Mason can only see the boy who taunted and tormented him when they were younger. Liam can't believe the man he's been in love with forever is getting married to someone else. Now he's determined to prove how unaffected he is by getting Mason to help him make Drew jealous. However, when they finally start to get to know each other on a more personal level, Mason and Liam begin to fall for each other.

If you're looking for a steamy MM enemies-to-lovers story, this is the book for you!

Such a Pleasant Surprise

I hate to admit it but I have never listened to or read a book about two gay men, it's not that I'm prejudiced or anything but one never appealed to me before. I only decided to listen to this one because I like Randi Johnson's voice and thought I'd take a chance.

I'm so glad I did, this was a story that had no difficulty holding my attention. I thought at first that Liam was a jerk and totally unlikeable but the more the author and Randi brought him to life for me the more I found myself liking him. He may have been a total jerk towards Mason when they were younger but I liked the man he became. I found myself loving the way he treated Mason as their relationship deepened.

Mason was one of those people you can't help but love, I felt for him at the start of the book firstly because of the way Liam had treated him in school and secondly because of his, obviously abusive ex.

As the story progressed both these guys revealed their past hurts to each other as their own bond deepened. They put past hurts aside and supported each other unconditionally. It's a moving and sometimes emotional story but as with all good romances, there is a happy ever after.

Mason’s younger brother was a great character, so protective of his older brother and so determined to make sure Liam never hurt Mason again.

This story was a rollercoaster that had me going from tears of laughter to tears of sorry. The story was so much better than what I expected from reading the "blurb".

The narration by Randi Johnson was perfect and hit just the right note as far as I'm concerned. I'm so glad I listened to this one.

I was given this audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing my review.

as great as the ebook

The story is always full stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. Randi Johnson is one of the 4 narrators (so far), I can listen without break and have no problems to follow. And really, his SEXY VOICE is something you DON'T want to miss!!
I'm just not yet finish with the book, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Past enemies turn lovers

I really enjoyed listening to this book and learning how Liam and Mason always butted heads at school get brought together by planning their friend’s wedding. As they work together and learn more about each other’s lives and deal with an stalker ex they realise that they like each.

Entertaining story with very good narration :)

Two childhood adversaries, Liam and Mason, are forced to work together to plan a wedding for their mutual friend. As they call a truce to work on the plans, they find that they have a bit more in common than they thought. This leads to them spending more time together and eventually falling for each other.
It's an easy story to listen to. Randi Johnson makes it an enjoyable experience - he has distinct voices for the MCs, very good pacing and a good range of emotions. An excellent way to enjoy the story :)

I was gifted a copy of this book at my request. The opinions expressed are my own without bias.

From enemies to lovers...

Liam and Mason are bound to work together for their best friend’s wedding. The have been enemies forever. Liam an awful bully. But will the task to work together will do its magic and pair them as a couple? Or will it just bring heartache and bad memories? Mason is a dear, with his family problems and all, he is always sweet and way too understanding. I enjoyed all characters. They are a fun bunch.
Randi Johnson narration was very well done... that voice!