About This Book
When Charlotte discovers a handwritten love note hidden in the lining of a vintage wedding dress, she falls a little in love with the man who wrote it before she ever meets him. Reed Eastwood's words are tender, poetic, the kind that make you believe in grand romantic gestures — until she meets the man himself and finds someone sharp-edged and difficult in almost every way. Hate Notes is built on that delicious tension: the gap between who we imagine someone to be and who they actually are, and whether love can survive the collision of both versions.
Keeland and Ward are skilled at keeping the dial turned to high — the banter crackles, the slow-burn is genuinely slow, and the emotional payoff feels earned rather than convenient. What makes this one stand out in their catalog is the central conceit: a physical object carrying the weight of romantic myth, threading its meaning through the story long after the first chapter. The writing is punchy and fast-moving without sacrificing feeling, and the dual perspective gives both leads room to be flawed and sympathetic in equal measure. It's the kind of book you finish in a sitting and immediately want to recommend.
