4.5 stars 
 Livvy Kane and Nick Chandler were childhood sweethearts torn apart by tragedy. Even though they have loved each other since childhood, their feuding families keep them apart except for one night a year when they enjoy one illicit and steamy night together. It's sort of a Romeo and Juliet love affair that goes on, for one night only. 
 I really liked Livvy. She's not afraid to acknowledge and feel her emotions, even when she is dealing with some fairly serious mental health issue by way of depression. This aspect of Livvy's life is handled with sensitivity and compassion and it fit so well into the story. Nick has a harder edge, but these two complement each other very well, and that's what makes them work in spite of their families differences. 
 There was more to this story than I thought there would be. This is my first book by Alisha Rai, and I'd heard some buzz in my twitter timeline about her writing, so I wanted to see what it was all about. Hate to Want You is a nicely done romance that doesn't skip on the steam or the story and I really liked that about this contemporary romance. 
 The heat level can be pretty steamy with this romance, and pushes the edges of bdsm play. It worked well for me because there were so many emotions swirling around during these scenes that made it exciting and interesting and had these characters connecting in a way that made sense for them. 
 There's a lot of pent up anger, frustration and tension in this story, between the drama that goes on between the two families and the forbidden love between Livvy and Nick. As I said earlier, there's a lot of emotions and they are drawn beautifully by the author. 
 So overall, an engaging and sexy story. Looking forward to more from this world. 
 An ARC was provided for review.