You Annoy Me < Take Your Pants Off.

Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was effervescent.

It was chemistry and sparks and heat and it was everything I want in a contemporary romance, because it went that one step further and surprised me with the depth of emotion without having to lean on any dramatic miscommunication trope. This is simply the story of two people falling for each other in such a real, lovely and electric way. Two people who've been tolerating the other because of the person they have in common, but it only takes that one misstep, that one caught look, that one push to send them over the edge.

And, wow. This is how you write chemistry. This is why when two actors have it they only need the other to turn a conversation into something you can't look away from. It's not just two hot leads looking at each other and deciding to bang it out. It's the way the words turn that look into tangible sparks. That kiss into a punch to your solar plexus.

"Not so long ago you despised me," she said. "You could barely stand to look at me."
“And now I can’t keep my hands off you or get you out of my head. Which one of those reactions is the more accurate reflection of my true feelings, do you think, Violet? Let me give you a clue here, even though we’re arguing, even though I’m almost one hundred percent certain that you’re about to walk out on me, I have a hard-on with your name on it. That’s how much I can barely stand to look at you.”

It would have been SO EASY to make them one-dimensional. To make him the nerdy beta hero she wakes up and the girl he calms down. But he's someone who built himself up from the Hackney and she's been tossed aside by her family.

This isn't just Flighty Girl meets Stuffy Guy.

He's been with her best friend for years, and she's been on the wings noticing the stupid things about him, yanking his chain while he looks at her with annoyance unable to get the smell of her perfume out of his clothes even though he barely brushed past her. 

“Good afternoon, how can I—” She stopped in her tracks, words momentarily escaping her. Martin didn’t speak, either. He simply stood there watching her, his dark gaze intent and hot. She felt an answering heat spring to life inside her, even as she gathered her will to send him packing. “What are you doing here?”
“I don’t know.” They were both lying. She hadn’t needed to ask why he was there, and they both knew what he wanted.
“We can’t keep doing this,” she said weakly. So much for sending him packing.
“Tell me how to make it stop, then.” He took a step toward her. 

You almost need to take a breath it's such a fantastic execution of this set up. They go years not even realizing that all the animosity is because they're so hot for the other, and then he gets dumped and she tries to do something nice, but he barks and she spits and it's fireworks. They're unraveling the other, and it's lovely and hot and just so, so good and it turns into a solid romance and a relationship you can't look away from, rooting for the happily ever after with a stupid smile.