Okay, so I finished reading this romantic fiction, a steamy one. I like reading love stories. And I like the plot of Trying Not to Love You. It has potential. It's a translated work and like the writing style, even though certain chapters are too descriptive. But as I kept reading, two things started to bother me:

1. Portrayal of Marcus. It's hard to like a love story if I don't like the male protagonist. And I didn't really like the portrayal of this character in the beginning. The kind of things he says...Maybe it's translation or Or maybe it was done on purpose to make it a little erotic, but it really bothered me. However, his behaviour changes with time, transforms in fact...But you know what I mean.

2. The PoV. The story has been told from multiple points of view (mainly dual). I understand that a story told from multiple PoV has its own advantage and purpose but what annoyed me is, the same scenes have been told from the different points of view. It makes it repetitive, so much that sometimes I skipped certain pages, almost sure that I could read the same thing from Marcus's point of view. And I wasn't wrong.

Overall, it was a quick, entertaining. At certain places, it's really nice. I liked the ending. You would like it if you like reading romance, and if could ignore above mentioned points.

Thank you, Netgalley for the ARC.

I read this book really quickly but I’m not sure I’d say it was all that enjoyable. I didn’t like the repetition of having POV from Marcus after having read it all once already.
I get the broken bad boy is a great romance character but this version wasn’t appealing to me.
I did enjoy their romance and the HEA ending

My apologies but this book did not capture my interest and I gave up and did not finish about 1/3rd of the way through the book. I love books that are romances with a hint of danger but this one just did not capture my interest. My apologies.

This was an odd duck of a book. As other reviewers have noted, it's hard to see what draws the novel's heroine, Penny, to our hero, Marcus. Beyond his (per Penny) physical beauty, he's a rude, chain-smoking, selfish bruiser with anger management issues. Initially, I had no idea where this story was set--it seemed like a vaguely anonymous city, maybe London--so I was surprised when well into the book the author tells us the setting is Connecticut. The characters also speak like Europeans: At one point, Penny went for a "weekly food shop," instead of "going to the grocery store" or supermarket to get groceries. (These quibbles might be the result of something lost in translation, perhaps?) The book also changes voice a lot: Most of the book is written in third-person, but three characters chime in throughout with first-person chapters; this is problematic primarily because we often go back in time in the narrative, reading the exact same events again through a different voice. This slowed down the story's momentum.

With all of that said, I cared about Penny. I also came to care about that rude chainsmoker of a man she loved, Marcus. I was invested in them, and rooting for them, because the author made them come alive for me. This book IS an odd duck, but different isn't bad.

The cover is lovely, btw.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

My emotions were all over the place with this book. In the end, I’m very happy I finished it and the ending was put together very nicely and definitely helped my final thoughts on the book. Even though this book is translated it was still written very well and was easy to follow. It follows Penny, a girl whose life is busy working two jobs and taking care of her Grandma with dementia, meeting her new neighbor Marcus who just got out of jail. They do not get off to a good start but when Penny asks for Marcus’ help - they inevitably have to spend more time together. She starts realizing she may have feelings for the ex-con, as rude and brash as he may be.
For the first 1/3 of the book I was ready to DNF it. I hated how Marcus was treating Penny; I hated the way he told her he wouldn’t have sex with her even if his life depended on it. I didn’t like how, in spite of Marcus saying rude things, Penny still was overly nice to him and didn’t get offended when he treated her like trash. As the book progressed and the characters grew and changed I started to warm up to them and wanted to see how this book wrapped up. The reader can see Penny growing into a confident woman who won’t put up with shit from guys and Marcus grows and tries to allow himself to let down his guard a little more. I liked at the end there were a couple different perspectives put in, other than just Penny and Marcus’, to show their relationship from an outside view and really tie the ending together. Over all the ending was well thought out and put together and made me happy that after my initial thoughts I still gave it a chance.

This book made me have a love/hate relationship with Marcus as he meets Penny and their “relationship” forms. There were a couple parts where I laughed out loud and more than one part that tore my heart out. This story is one that had me from beginning to end to find out what happens next.

I got confused a lot of times reading this book. Overally it was a good book that is quite enjoyable for the greater part

I'm not sure how to describe this book? The characters were Idk kind of weird? I guess? It was an odd book for me! Penny was an odd quirky girl and Markus was kind of mean lol Idk I'm at a loss of words for this book although I did enjoy reading this book it was just strange for me?! So I do recommend reading it to see what you think?! Lol thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

I’m not sure if there was a lot lost in translation but this story had a lot of potential. The main contention I had (besides how gross of a person Marcus was) was that it was narrated in third person from what looked to be Penny’s POV and thoughts and it was first person from Marcus’ POV. Then at the end it thew in a few more people’s POVs and that threw me even more. This was a roller coaster and if you like that and shock value, you will like this book. It just wasn't for me.

Penny basically fell in love with this guy after he treats her terribly and bangs random girls in front of her and tells her he is leaving her in a few weeks when his girlfriend gets out of prison. WHAT? She just can’t help herself. She showed no strength through the book and that made me sad.

I can’t even begin to talk about Marcus without wanting to be sick. Yes he was messed up because of childhood but I’m sorry that doesn’t give you the right to treat people the way he did. Even so, maybe this could be real life but, there was no love story here or romance.


The translation possibly had something to do with the way things were worded and I looked past that because it was written in Italian first, but the whole plot of the book was just not for me. It was crude, confusing and the characters were severely lacking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for allowing me to read this book early for my honest review, I just wish I liked it a lot more.

I start by saying that for me, reading this book remains a rollercoaster ride, a ride on and off of strong emotions.

I know the author, besides being a person with a good heart, I 've had the opportunity to meet her in person and I want to say that she writes really, really, really well.

I love all her books, I am Italian, so I've read almost all her works. I only miss the fantasies she writes under another name.

But going back to the book.

Marcus and Penelope are at the antipodes, she's sweet and kind to everyone, pure beauty. He's sexy as hell, with a turtle in the right place and tattoos covering his skin.

She feels attraction for him, it's inevitable, but Marcus with his rough and wild behaviour tries to push her away, but with poor results.

Penny is aware that she is not the right woman for him, but going on the two get closer, they get to know each other, their paths meet and their hearts start beating in unison.

Needless to deny that every time, with all the books of Amabile Giusti, I feel butterflies in my stomach.

Amabile Giusti has a masterful way of narrating, to the envy of many readers. She, with a simple story, knows how to shock me. The book is write from the both point of view.

If you haven't read anything about this author yet, I absolutely advise you to catch up.

You won't regret it!

Trying Not to Love You is a book by Amabile Giusti and translated in to English.
It’s the story of Penny, she works in a bar at night and looks after her Gran who suffers from dementia in the day.
Penny is timid and scared and having issues with a customer in the bar.
One night she meets a new resident to her apartment building. Marcus is like no one she has ever met before. He’s rude, crude, on parole and she can’t resist him.

I will be honest, this wasn’t what I expected it to be at all from the description. It also came under the genre “Romance” on NetGalley.
This book is not my idea of romance at all. It’s more erotic fiction and for that reason I struggled with it. I very nearly gave up on it. Had I not received it as an ARC to review I would probably have given up on it.
For the majority of the book I didn’t like either of the main characters. I thought Penny was pathetic and weak and Marcus was vile but in sticking with the book I was introduced to The Malkovich’s and Sherrie and start to learn a bit more about Marcus and why he is the way he is.
Overall it wasn’t a bad storyline and I liked the ending. This type of book is not for me though.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Trying Not To Love You is a beautiful romance novel. This is my first book by :Amabile Giusti and I loved it. This is only the second translated work by the Italian author, but I will definitely take a look at When In Rome next.

Penny is in her twenties and still lives with her grandmother, Barbie. Her life basically evolves around tenting to her grandmother's needs and balancing her two jobs. When Marcus moves in the apartment upstairs her mundane routine is starting to get threatened. The rude delinquent is out on parole and not interested in anything Penny has to offer, that is until both of them need a favor from the other. Now they're forced to spend time together and the walls Marcus has put up are slowly crumbling down.

Barbie is adorable, and while her story is only secondary, I couldn't help but feel empathy and grief for her own love story. Penny is a simple girl, with so much more to give than a first impression may tell. She grows in confidence throughout the story and I enjoyed seeing that. Marcus is a possessive alpha with a dark past, who has trouble opening up to people. He merely sees women as objects to meet his needs, and is thrown off by the emotions Penny is able to get out of him. His growth was the most exciting part of the story. Marcus emotions and actions are complicated and truly tragic. His relationships to Penny and Francisca, especially at the end made me cry some serious ugly tears. I felt like my heart was breaking by the misunderstandings and unspoken words.

"Love is that golden four-leaf clover, that warm blanket, that distant music, that miracle which comes back one evening at sunset, when everything seems lost forever, and makes you feel eternal because someone out there has never forgotten you."

The chapters are mostly written in the past tense third person with a focus on Penny, but the book is interspersed with chapters in the present tense first person POV from Marcus (and Francisca at the end). I loved Penny's chapters, but wasn't a big fan of Marcus'. His POV was merely a rough retell of what we already know from Penny's chapters, not giving us a whole lot of new information and I don't quite understand the switching of time from past to present. In my opinion it messed with the flow of the timeline.

Overall the plot was just beautifully tragic. There were a few scenes that made me laugh, but it was mostly serious and heavy read, leaving me with lots of thoughts and a swelling heart.