Yum! Loved this enemies to lovers story!

Bravo, Rina! I wasn't sure how this book was going to come together. But I was so happy with how it did. This story is the epitome of enemies to lovers. It's my favorite trope and it was done so well in this story. Loved Daniel & Nicole's story! Shane East & Christy Woods did an amazing job narrating.

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Riveting & Intensely Emotional! Outstanding🎧📚🎧

This book completely wowed me, Rina Kent brings hate to a whole new level in this second chance enemies to lovers romance, she also takes her readers and audiobook listeners on a wild and dark and twisted ride. The story grabbed my attention and captivated it the entire time, it also tugged on my heartstrings. The two lead characters, Nicole and Daniel, have history, a very rocky one, they know each other from their younger years, their parents ran in the same circles in England and they attended the same school. Their relationship has always been a love/hate one, she crushed on him but he would not give her the time of day, until it was convenient for him. Both of them came from dysfunctional families that left them and their view of others tainted, but Nicole got Daniel, she saw him for who he was, saw what made him tick and why he did certain things, though she never knew why he treated her the way he did. Daniel writes her out of his life and that is it, they do not not see each other until years late when Nicole is looking for a job at his law firm and he hires her. Daniel’s hatred for Nicole did not lessen over the years, it actually grew stronger and he is making it his mission to make her more miserable. Except Nicole is not the same person as she was when he knew her, his opinion of her was never right to begin with, but now he is so far off but being blinded by hate he can not even see it. And when he finally opens his eyes, he realizes how wrong he has been, always been. This book blew me away, these love to hate and hate to love characters sometimes drove me mad and when just when you think they are getting their feet on level ground it gets rocky again. I was thinking a happily ever after was not in the cards for these two, the author really made them work for it. I loved how it all played out, starting with the glimpse of their relationship in the younger years to the current times when they meet again. The cleverly plotted story has plenty of drama, angst, some twists and turns, some gut-wrenching moments, heartfelt emotions, and a smoking hot romance that was years in the making. Rina Kent, thank you for another amazing story and emotional rollercoaster ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the exceptional narration, Shane East and Christy Woods delivered an outstanding performance, bringing these characters and their story to life. They had a complete understanding of the characters they portrayed, giving each a voice that suited the character’s persona, sounding believable and just as I pictured the characters to sound. Shane East killed it as Daniel grasped his anger and bossy alpha-tude completely. Christy Woods played Nicole’s role with perfection, grasped her strength, her determination and her vulnerable side. Both were great performing the roles of the secondary characters too. They sent the perfect tone for the story, captured all the character’s emotions and projected them into their performance and makes you feel every single one. They are entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to, their narration enhances an already amazing story to another level. Thank you for another fantastic listen.

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Enemies to lovers X Workplace Romance

4.5 star!
Another amazing book by Rina Kent. When Nicole takes an assistant job at a law firm the last person she expects to be working for is the man she has loved since she was 8 years old. Daniel and Nicole haven't seen each other in 11 years. Daniel believes she crushed his heart back then and he wants her to pay so he makes her job a nightmare for her.
This was truly an enemies to lovers/enemies with benefits for most of the book. Daniel was so cruel but I very much enjoyed their banter and the tension between them the whole book!

The narrators were great and their voices really matched the characters!

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I don't know how to feel

3.75 stars It's been a while at least it seems that way to me since I last read a book by this author. This didn't seem to have that punch that previous books did. I remember Nicole from the RES books and she wasn't nice. She didn't make any apologies for her previous bad behaviour in this book. But Daniel wasn't exactly a cinnamon roll either. This was hate personified. As much as parts of this frustrated me, I read it in one sitting. I can't wait to read the next book in this series mind. That might be the a real serve. I volunteered to listen to a complimentary copy of this. All opinions are my own.

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Great Listen!

This was only my second Rina Kent read and I really enjoyed this audiobook! The performances of the narrators were perfect for the characters and basically Nicole is a queen and everyone else is terrible. Very much enjoying this series of interconnected standalones so can’t wait to start the next one!

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1 person found this helpful

A perfect second chance, enemies to lovers romance

Empire of Hate is book three in the Empire series and is the complete standalone story of Daniel Sterling and Nicole Adler.

Nicole gave up her life years ago when her world was unexpectedly turned upside down when her Mum went to prison, and she became her brother’s guardian. Nicole moved from State to State running away from her brother’s father and the man who raped her when she was a teenager. She’s finally settles in New York and has a fresh start with a new job as a personal assistant to one of the junior partners at the prestigious Weaver and Shaw, only her new boss turns out to be none other than the only boy she’s ever wanted and loved. The boy she hurt so bad he sworn off blondes, only now he’s a man with power over her and will stop at nothing to get revenge and make her pay.

Daniel gets the shock of his life when one of the ghosts from his past comes back to haunt him. The only woman he ever genuinely cared for; Nicole Adler, his new personal assistant, and he decides he needs to make her suffer for the hurt she caused him. He treats her worse than dirt on the bottom of his shoe and sets impossible tasks for her to try to get her to quit. Only somewhere along the line he realises he still loves her, and it finally comes to light that the reason he hated her for the last 11 years was not as it seemed, and, on this occasion, it will be him begging for forgiveness.

Daniel and Nicole are brought to life by veteran Brit Shane East and new to me narrator Chrissy Woods. Notorious nice guy Mr East really brought out the cocky, superior, knobhead sides of Daniel perfectly while also capturing the hurt and vulnerability he tries so desperately to hide. Chrissy’s performance as the damaged Nicole, let down by everyone she’s ever known. Chrissy built on the hurt, the vulnerability and the stupidity of past decisions while also highlighting her wants and needs and overcoming past trauma to give in to her desires. I loved Shane and Chrissy together, they really complimented one another.

I loved Daniel and Nicole’s story despite spending plenty of time shouting quit, kick him in the bollocks and wanting to smash their heads together to get them to just communicate like civilised humans. We glimpsed Aspen in this story, and she dropped one hell of a bombshell that will play out in Empire of Lust for which I am pee my pants excited! Aspen and Kingsley are going to be wild!

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Amazing

I love this book, just like Black Knight, it was so emotional, but yet SO good, and i love how this series is Connected to the royal elite

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You can never go wrong with Rina Kent.

I didn't had too much hope for this book but it was awesome! I knew the characters from Cruel King and they didn't said nothing to me then but I loved Nicole from the start till the end. She is my favorite female character from Rina.

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Empire of Hate

Nicole and Daniel hate each other, but at the same time are obsessed with one another. And this lasts already many, many years.

The story itself was good, Nicoles obsession and behavior a bit strange.
But all in all I enjoyed listen to this book and the narrators made it even better.

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Interesting, though quite twisted

Once again, it was a dark read with heavy topics–abuse in multiple forms from various people, including rape, most notably. And the romance was interesting, though quite twisted.

Let’s sum it up that way: boy and girl love each other from afar but both are convinced it’s unrequited, spend time bullying or ignoring each other instead, until they fall into bed years later; but a misunderstanding leads them to go their separate way. They reunite a decade later, as they hate and resent each other. Hence it’s both second chance and enemies to lovers.

I admit that aspect bothered me a little. I’m all for the enemies to lovers trope, but here it was borderline non consensual. Yes, Nicole had been in love with Daniel all her life, and yes, she was still attracted to him, but she was reluctant and Daniel didn’t really respect her boundaries. With a lot of anger and/or disdain thrown in. I kind of pitied Nicole.

But she also was an unusual character, difficult to like at times. She was obsessive! She admited it herself. Sure, she had a tough upbringing, and she found solace in her feelings for the cute boy, but almost two decades of obsessing over someone isn’t exactly healthy. Not that Daniel was any better–the hate of the title referenced his abhorrence for blonde girls due to his history with Nicole.

I told you, twisted.

That darkened their present relationship. Daniel was an abusive boss, and Nicole resisted him all the way. They slowly realized that their past prejudices were just that: prejudices. Nothing was as it seemed, and they didn’t know the whole story. They struggled to get it out though. In the meantime, Daniel got close to Nicole and Jayden, and that part was cute.

And sexy. Don’t forget the sexy. This book was quite steamy. Though, again, with a bit of dubcon element.

I enjoyed the narration. The female narrator was new to me, but she did a great job. The male narrator is a favorite of mine, and he didn’t disappoint this time either. On top of the accent–both main characters are British–they managed to express the conflicted emotions of the characters. Another good audio for the author.

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