Much Ado About Hating You

Smith (Faker) riffs on You’ve Got Mail in this muddled enemies-to-lovers romance about an English professor desperate to defend his job and an auditor just trying to do hers. Professor Aidan Scott has sacrificed a lot to pursue his passion for English literature—including his college hockey career and a relationship with his hockey superfan father—so when East Nashville University brings in financial auditor Micah Mila to address “department efficiency,” he hates her on principle. Unbeknownst to him, however, Micah is also Hot4Hermia, his most devoted reader on the fan fiction app, “Scribble Share,” where, as ShakespeareInLust, Aidan writes erotica based on his favorite plays, and where Micah gradually rediscovers her love of writing. Their emoji-laden online flirtation is cute enough, but readers will find it difficult to get past Aidan’s IRL lack of professionalism toward Micah, which includes suggesting to his coworkers that they should falsify complaints to get her fired, staring at her chest multiple times in the workplace, and deliberately causing her to go into caffeine withdrawal to make her look incompetent. As a result, the confession of attraction and subsequent sex scene feel more like grounds for an HR intervention than a moment of simmering sexual tension boiling over. Readers will want to look elsewhere for their workplace rom-com fix. Agent: Sarah Younger, Nancy Yost Literary. (May)