A Vow Of Hate: An Arranged Marriage Romance Paperback – January 28, 2021

Feelings, so many feelings, but the good ones, the type of “OMG this book was so good” feelings.This was my first Lylah James book, and I can honestly say that I wasn’t disappointed, because she gave us such a good, well written book, with great characters.When I first saw the cover and read the blurb and the tropes, I made a few ideas in my mind and I kinda had a view of the story. But oh boy, how wrong was I.This book was nothing like I has imagined, IT WAS AMAZING!The entire book is an emotional rollercoster, so well written, the action was not rushed. Lylah gave us a great book, filled with angst, mystery, hidden secrets and in the end, love.I was such an emotional mess when I finished the book, part of me was so sad that I reached the end. I cried and laugh with the characters, and for more then half the book I was without breath and at the edge of my seat. And that plot twist that dropped halfway through the book had me screaming out loud at 2 am “No way”. I was not expecting that, and in that moment I loved the book ever harder then before.Julianna is not your normal heroine, and I think some of the readers might have a problem in connecting with her and understating why she acted the way she did.I admit, that in the beginning I didn’t empathize with her, but after the first chapters I understood her reasons.There were many moments, when all I wanted was to be able to crawl inside the book and hug her, wrap my arms around her and protect her at all costs. Because she is both strong and fragile, so courageous, brave and kind. She fights for those she loves and tries to protect them at all costs.She was grieving the loss of her sister in her own way, nobody does it the same, and in her mind and broken heart, she though that the best way to do this, was to become a martyr and sacrifice her happiness for someone else’s.Love makes us do so stupid things sometimes.Killian, oh dear Killian. How I wanted to smack some sense into him for most of the book, that my hand started to itch.He is cold, ruthless, heartless and also grieving. But unlike Julianna, he is not a martyr. He channels all his hurt into anger, and has an ultimate goal: revenge. He wants to hurt Julianna, to make her pay for the loss of his love, a love he so desperately wanted and searched for it, and will stop at nothing to achieve that. He does and also says some awful thing to Julianna, he hurts her, but in the end he regrets it.I, for one, wanted to hurt him and hate him, but in the end I couldn’t do it. Because I also understood him, his point of view. He’s been wronged. In the end, I empathized with him also and rooted for the best.The chemistry between these two is undeniable, their story full of angst, secrets, sacrifices, but also love. Both of them play with each others demons.They are the perfect duo, they complete each other.★ I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So I'll be honest, this book was in my TBR...for like ever. I just was unsure if it was my thing(at the time at least) and I did struggle with understanding what was happening in this book at times. But soon the pieces started falling into place, my love/hate for the couple & their antics. With knowing how much I've loved Lylah's past books, I knew I wanted to understand what she was writing here! Once this story was starting to come together, I stuck it out and LOVED this book! It's full of so much emotion! Some sad & shocking others empathic and with so so much love! I can't promise you will love this book like myself, but I can promise it will give you quite a tale. A very twisty turny tale of lies & love & hate & forgiveness! This is one of those books that you want to reread once you discover the truth, just to see how it all makes sense afterwards!

The Blurred Line between Love and HateDuring a recent Saturday afternoon, I was held captive reading this book by a new author for me. It was doubly pleasurable because it was a shared experience of a buddy read with the Hotties from Some Like It Hot Discussion Group. The story gripped my heart through my chest and I was wrung out after the read. It put me in a very contemplative state about a few things and I was amazed at the ideas that presented themselves to me.Let me first say it is not a perfect book…yet I gave it 5 stars. I have a few reasons for my high praise. The first is the largeness of the emotions. This writer creates high drama beyond angst…much like the authors of the romantic period of old. The Bronte sisters are good examples.Some reads sound like they have a contemporary pop soundtrack. This read had for me a soundtrack from composers of the romantic era with their lush, swelling crescendo and full-bodied harmonies expressing the depth of sorrow and the tension of the plot points...like the music written by Hector Berlioz, Fryderyck Chopin, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi to name some. Few authors write with this level of reader captivation. Anything that was less than perfect from here can be easily fixed by an editor.“Our story was made out of broken bones, built on a splintered spine; the pages stained with blood and words cursed with devastation. We were battle worn. And perhaps… if we had met in another lifetime, our story would have been different. Less grief and more tenderness. Perhaps in another lifetime… We would have been just Killian and Julianna–without a past to hold us back.”Another idea that kept bouncing around in my psyche was how the heroine of our story was so damaged with a visible limp, a scarred face and a seizure disorder, yet by the end of the novel she was celebrated for her beauty and sex appeal still with her scars, limp and seizures.Yes, our heroine had issues but her appearance was truly not one that was dwelled upon. I was fascinated with my reaction to the heroine. Thinking that she would get plastic surgery or transform somehow into a beauty. Deep in my core, I realize what a wretched perfectionist I am.The hate dynamic between Julianna and Killian was excruciating, painful…horrible even. The hate sex was phenomenal. (The Hotties as a whole wanted more…but that’s the Hotties😄.) The BDSM did not make sense and on some level it did.“There’s a fine line between love and hate. And I just realized that I love you as much as I f***ing hate you, Julianna.”There is a big finish to the arcing plotline of the story and it is exciting. As I said, I could not put the book down. So, if you find yourself with some time and you need to fully escape, this is an excellent choice in a dark romance!