To Have and Hate

Love in London

By: Donna Alam

Narrated by: Shane East, Mackenzie Cartwright

"Everyone has their price, Olivia."

"There isn’t enough money in the world to persuade me to marry you."

Beckett. Let me count the ways I loathe him.

• 1. He’s the bane of my existence.
• 2. A thorn in my side.
• 3. I’m pretty sure he’s the devil in disguise, or he at least has him on speed-dial.

So why am I standing here, bouquet in hand, about to become his wife? He calls it a business proposition. I call it blackmail.

He says our fighting is foreplay. I say he should be on meds. He says he has the power to destroy my company. I say with a husband like him, who needs enemies. But I can survive this six month calamity. All I have to do is keep hating him....

©2019 Donna Alam (P)2023 Donna Alam

An absolute delight

To Have and Hate by Donna Alam is Book 1 in her Love in London Series performed by the exquisite Mackenzie Cartwright And my Favourite Brit Shane East.
 
This age-gap, enemies to lovers fake marriage romance is an absolute delight. The storyline is engaging, with just the right balance of tension and romance that will have you hooked from the very first chapter.
 
Beckett and Oliva just love to provoke each other, which was both lovable and infuriating at times, making for an entertaining listen. I find Donna’s writing style very witty, captivating, and engaging, with plenty of banter and humour sprinkled throughout that will keep you laughing out loud.
Olivia and Beckett’s chemistry is off the charts and had me swooning and reaching for the fan: it was sizzling!
 
Mackenzie and Shane were outstanding in their performances and it had been a hot minute since I’d had them in my ears and I fell in love with #Shakenzie all over again. Mackenzie perfectly captured Olivia’s strength, determination and sass. Equally Shane was perfect as the arrogant, dominant, enchanting, growly and infuriating Beckett. Together they brough the heat, steam, and the spice…oooft it will have you reaching for your fan and water bottle!
 
Overall, I devoured this audio and highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun and engaging romance that will melt your heart and leave you with a smile on your face.
If you’re a fan of a cranky British Hero and a determined sassy heroine with a penchant for dating apps, then you will love this fresh take on a enemies to lovers, fake marriage romance.
A fabulous story from a wonderful author performed by wonderfully talented actors! All the stars!

Love in London

This is book 1 in Alam's Love in London series. Alam is a new author for me and I hope to have many more reads / listens ahead as I found this to be a great listen. I loved the smooth flowing storyline and these main characters - Olivia and Beckett have the best chemistry. Dual narration by Mackenzie Cartwright and Shane East is the best and really brings the best of these characters to life. The sass of Olivia and the arrogance of Beckett comes thru and the chemistry, again is amazing! For me, this book has it all - it's fun but sweet and has the heat! An enemies to lovers, marriage of convince - overall wonderful romance read that will captivate and please from start to finish.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I voluntarily provided this review.

Excellent

This is the 2nd book I’ve listened to by this author & both have been very good. The narrators also did a wonderful job. Spicy & a good story. Highly recommend.

Fine line between love and hate

First of all the narration on this was perfection. Love these narrators. This book had me hooked from the first chapter even with it being a little slow to start. These two really do a wonderful job at hating each other or so it seems with as much as they get on each others nerves. Love all the push and pull and witty banter between Beckett and Olivia. Beckett is a very hard man to get along with but Olivia has no problem standing up for herself and getting in some good jabs. This book definitely puts you on an emotional roller coaster. Enjoyed all the twists, angst and amazing chemistry. Donna Alam did a wonderful job! Definitely a 5 star read.
I was sent a free audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Love love Donna Alam’s men of London and this one never fails

First of all, I am a sucker for anything Shane East and Mackenzie Cartwright….they both knocked this one out of the field and it was simply delicious to listen to. This is typical romance of headstrong Olivia, who creates ‘Evolve’ an online dating app and struggling to get funding for it and here comes Beckett….6’2” and totally British which is so well played by Shane East. The story is nothing out of the ordinary - but if you are looking for something sweet, spicy, and a delicious banter between both of them….this is one to listen to.

Great book with fantastic narration

This is my first Donna Alam book and I am looking forward to reading/listening her other books. Olivia is a strong woman who’s had a business deal fall through and needs help. Beckett is a jerk, but Donna writes his character perfectly, and he’s in the right place at the right time to assist Olivia. Olivia and Beckett have a couple of initial run ins with one another and they are like oil and water, enemies at best but they both desire something. There is an instant attraction that continues to draw them together…regardless of any business deal. Their passion, banter and determination makes them great character in this story. Shane East and Mackenzie Cartwright are phenomenal with the narration. Shane East’s voice is smooth, delicious and perfect for Beckett. Mackenzie’s portrayal of Olivia is perfect with her tone, delivery and emotions. I really enjoyed this audiobook.

Terrific Story & Narration🎧 Witty & Entertaining!

This is my first book written by Donna Alam and she definitely has a new fan, I enjoyed her writing style and way with words, the back-and-forth banter is impressive and so is the plotting and pacing of the story which drew me in right from the start, and captivated my attention the entire book. Olivia Welland is looking to get her new company E-Volve off the ground, her friend Luke hooked her up with an appointment hoping to gain financial investors and she attracted one investor but he was not interested her company, E-Volve, he was interested in her. Beckett wanted to take over JBW himself, but he had to prove to the partners that he was worthy and no longer a partying playboy. He has a plan, and that is where Olivia comes in to play, she needs financial backing for her company and he needs a wife. Olivia was not happy with this plan, but her company was in trouble and something or someone had to give and that someone was going to have to be her. Wow, this is a fantastic enemies to lovers romance, the heat and chemistry between these two is sizzling hot and there is never a dull moment. The story has a perfect balance of drama, angst, heartfelt emotions, and steamy romance. Donna Alam, thank you for the wonderfully entertaining story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fabulous narration, Mackenzie Cartwright and Shane East did an amazing job bringing these characters and story to life. They had a complete understanding of the characters they were portraying, giving each a voice that suited them and was believable in every role they played. Cartwright’s Olivia was witty and sharp tongued as well as caring and loving. East’s Beckett was perfection too, both grasped all sides of their character’s personality. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the character’s emotions and projected them into their performance. These mega talented and versatile voice artists are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another amazing listen.

A cheeky enemies to lovers tale!

Olivia and Beckett’s story is definitely not a love at first sight tale. Their chemistry is explosive and their cup runneth over with witty banter and snark. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them push each other’s buttons. An entertaining example of a fine line between love and hate.

This was a successful collaboration between Donna Alam, Mackenzie Cartwright and Shane East. Mackenzie and Shane did an amazing job of bringing Donna’s wonderful characters and this enemies to lovers story to life.

Steamy, enemies to lovers romance!

To Have and Hate by Donna Alam was a steamy enemies-to-lovers paired with a marriage of convenience romance that captured my heart. Olivia and Beckett's fake to-forever romance will have you laughing, blushing, and swooning from start to finish. This one also features an age gap! (yes, please!)

Mackenzie Cartwright and Shane East narrate this audiobook! I hadn't heard these two paired together in while, and wow, they both bring the heat by portraying Beckett and Olivia's spicy hot chemistry. Plus, Mackenzie embodied Olivia's wit, sass, and strength in her performance! Shane brought the heat to his performance. (Hello, Chapter 22!) He captured Beckett's arrogant, loyal, and charming persona perfectly which made me melt!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! If you are a fan of a marriage of convenience romance with a hot hunky Brit, a sassy passionate heroine, a stumbling meet-cute, pitching a new idea for a much-needed job, working in London, a marriage in NYC, wedding night steamy times, landing that big account, speed dating, sexual tension filled banter, secrets, misunderstandings, and a HEA to have forever, then you will love Olivia and Beckett's story. I always look forward to more from Donna Alam.

Love enemies to lovers

Olivia and Beckett’s story was a fun enemies to lovers full of heat and emotion. Olivia needs someone to help fund her app and save her company and Beckett is her last option, only condition is she has to marry him to help prove he’s cleaned up his act. Olivia wants to hate him, but can’t deny the attraction towards him and that leads to some great banter and verbal sparring between them that I could not get enough of. These two had obstacles with him constantly pushing her away but I loved that she was determined to not let him. Their journey to their happy ending was a rocky one and I loved watching these two fall in love despite their differences.

One of my favorite pairings Mackenzie Cartwright and Shane East narrated this book and they did a wonderful job of delivering the banter between Olivia and Beckett! I loved every minute of their narration.