Book Review: Hateful Love (Kings of Aces Book 1) by T. Ashleigh and Addison Beck

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T. Ashleigh

Addison Beck

I love a good enemies-to-lovers story, and this is a great enemies-to-lovers story. I know that not everyone who likes this genre agrees with me, but I am actually very fond of when the “enemies” part of the story is largely based on misunderstandings and/or assumptions.

That’s why I loved this book. The authors deliver the trope in a well-paced, enjoyable format.

The MCs fall into a hate-sex situation pretty quickly, or “f*ck-bud-emies” as one of them so eloquently puts it. From there, they get closer and spend more time together, and begin to realise that they’re not as different as they thought and so feelings start to blossom. From then on, the conflict of the story comes from external sources, and a modern day Romeo and Juliet plays out.

The two main characters are from opposite sides of the tracks. On the one hand, we have Blaine, the golden boy that can do no wrong. He’s the mayor’s son, the star quarterback, student body vice president and seemingly has it all. On the other hand, we have Silas, a surly, violent gang member with a chip on his shoulder and good reasons for it to be there. Ostensibly, they hate each other, but it’s not hard to see that their obsessions for each other are much more likely to be based in lust. The early chapters are peppered with both boys struggling to understand their fascination with each other, and interpreting their feelings as anger and dislike. In one memorable passage, Silas describes how he wants to beat up Blaine, but his description is more reminiscent of sex than a fight. 

The authors know exactly what they are doing here; they are illustrating the toxic masculinity that flows through these boys’ veins. Their way of thinking doesn’t allow them to seek soft touches or feelings, so they assume their emotions to be hateful and violent. They know they need each other, but the idea of that being a romantic need is so alien a concept, it doesn’t even occur to them, until their bodies almost act for them. Both characters are bogged down by the expectations put on them and whether that’s to become an NFL player or a gang initiate, the pressures are the same. They’ve both been moulded to fit their environments, and neither is very happy with what they’ve been made into. 

Despite this elegant presentation of the difficulties growing up as a young man in the current climate, the authors allow the boys’ friendship groups and families to not be burdened by homophobia. Rather, the disapproval is due to their opposing social statuses and class differences. This could come across as incongruous, considering the aforementioned toxic masculinity, but this book proves that struggling against that pattern is a problem for queer young men as well as straight ones. It would have been easier for all the prejudice to come from homophobia, but the authors take the path less travelled with their narrative and it works.

In this genre, the high school setting isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, I think that’s mostly because people can’t imagine finding your forever person at eighteen. Well they think they can’t, but actually look around yourself. I’m forty this year and I have a whole bunch of friends who met each other as teenagers and are still going strong over two decades later, so I didn’t even have to suspend disbelief!

Overall, this is a highly enjoyable read and I’m eager to see what the authors produce in the future.