The Hate Project

The Projects of Life, Book 2

By: M. J. Padgett

Narrated by: Amanda Soha

Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Eros Williams, the child of Wesley and Oliver Williams, has a lot to live up to - The Love Project, for one. With a name like Eros, it’s hard not to wonder if you’ll ever find your perfect match. But with an incredible boyfriend and a happy life, she’s pretty sure things will all work out just fine - until they don’t. When her parents decide it’s time for a family-filled holiday, her perfect life starts to unravel, primarily because her archnemesis, Logan Harrison, is part of that family.

The Godbrother she never wanted and couldn’t stand, has made it his mission to annoy Eros every chance he gets. Their arguments often stress the family, so Eros decides to try her own project during the holiday - figure out how not to hate the boy everyone else loves.

Things do not start on a high note, and they go from bad to worse when Eros discovers her Godbrother’s new girlfriend is Meredith, the girl who once shoved her in a locker and bullied her daily.

When Eros receives some bad news about her boyfriend, she starts to wonder if her perfect life was really so great after all. Does love really exist, and can it be as pure and simple as the love her parents share? Or was her mother right in the beginning - love is an illusion? Throw in Logan’s mysterious best friend, Max - including his freckles, dimples, and adorable grin - and Eros is in for a bumpy ride.

©2020 Melissa Padgett (P)2021 Melissa Padgett

Family Can Be Trouble

I enjoyed book 2 of "The Projects of Life" series. When Eros and Logan were together, they always seemed to end up arguing. Now both of them are planning on attending the family Christmas gathering. Eros decided that she would try to get along with the boy that the rest of the family loved. The story was very cute. It engendered all the emotional responses one would expect from a story that involved family at Christmas time. I enjoyed the humorous moments, the romance, and the familial love that flowed throughout the pages of this story. Amanda Soha's narration was good and kept my attention. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Exceptional story!

The Hate Project is the sequel to The Love Project, but they can be read as standalones. Wesley Baker and Oliver Williams are now married and the parents of a "multitude" of children. Some are adopted, some were natural births, and there are friends who become family. Their children reflect the quirks and sense of humor of their parents in their names: Eros, Elora, Glory, Apollo and Oscar. They all have a special bond as siblings and friends, and are going to spend the holidays at the family vacation home. Much to Eros' unhappy surprise, the one family friend who she has loved to hate since they were young, is coming along with his new girlfriend and roommate, Max. Eros doesn't even know why Logan is so mean to her, but she fires right back when she thinks he's insulted her. She decides it's time to launch the Hate Project to understand how note to hate the boy who everyone loves. It's easy to see that something else is going on, and it's just a matter of time before they figure it out. But she notices Max right away with his gorgeous eyes and sweet smile, and she has to wonder if he's someone special, somehow. I adored these realistic and endearing characters, and their story is the perfect tale of people coming of age at an impressionable and sometimes difficult time in their lives. The ending was just perfect and I am going to miss this extended family.
The narration was beautifully done by Jenn Broda. Her dynamic voice had just the right inflection and cadence to bring all the characters to life.

great book

This is not a classic second book in a series, as it is not particularly follows the same characters.
It follows the kids of the characters from the first book, and the story itself, as well as the characters are interesting on their own.
What bothered me is that I felt like I missed so much of the characters' lives and background story, that I felt cheated. I want to read all that had happened since the first book ended until the second book started.
The narrator was great, and did an awesome job.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Sweet follow up

This is a sweet follow up continuing with the next generation. It was nice to see the families the couples made. It was filled with fun characters and the narrator made it an entertaining listen.

Better Then The First but Read in Order

Parents- PG13 - middle school and up
Language- None
Violence- PG - Fist fight but nothing terrible
Sexual Content- nothing to warn of, just snuggles and kissing variety

I loved that this is a continuation of the first book with the characters from bk 1's children being highlighted over Christmas Break. The kids are high school to college age and getting to see how the friends made them all kind of a family was really cool. I loved the crazy large family Christmas feel with all the drama, sibling tension and romance drama. It really was a multi story rom-com affair, which made it really fun with all the side romances and getting to spend more time with the original couples from the first book. A great Holiday or anytime read.

Narrator- 3⭐ didn't have the best differentiations, and I found her a bit slow but fixed at 1.25x speed.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Different than 1 but enjoyable little romance

After enjoying The Love Project I had to check out the #2 in series , the Hate project. It started out a bit confusing, lots of kids and twins everywhere. Basically Wes and Oliver from #1 got married and had a bunch of kids.
This was a cute little holiday romance, but I wouldn't say it is a #2 to #1 other than the fact the same characters were in attendance.
Why? This story differs in that it read more like a YA than a New Adult romance. Both Clean (thank you Padgett!) but this story is from the POV of a teenager. And #1 they were college students.
The characters in this book were cute but still teens and all of the angst that goes along with it. All that being said, this was a cute little holiday romance sprinkled with some past stories of book 1.
Recommended for fans of YA romance and clean romance.
I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.