Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite

No Ordinary Hate (A Gamble on Love Mom Com Series Book 1) by Whitney Dineen and Melanie Summers is the start of a new series. On the surface, Harper has the perfect Hollywood life with an adoring handsome husband, the famous Brett Kennedy. Except that the perfect life is a perfect lie. Brett has been linked to every actress imaginable, but it wasn't an A-list actress that Harper caught her husband with; it was the nanny. Having enough of her husband's Casanova ways, she kicks him out but when news of their divorce hits social media, she becomes fed up with the constant gossip and nosy paparazzi. She develops a plan of her own - to take a vacation somewhere no one would expect which leads Harper and her two kids to Gamble, Alaska. There she expects a peaceful vacation where she can gain a new perspective on her life and what she wants for her children. What she doesn't expect is to meet the charming Digger McKenzie. But when Hollywood crashes her perfect getaway, she'll have to decide what she wants for her future and who she wants to be with.

The story begins with an unforgettable first image of Harper coming home to see her husband in a compromising position with the nanny. This immediately sets the tone for the story as a dramedy, delightfully blending elements of drama and romantic comedy into an empowering story about love, romance, family, and being a mother. The story has a dual perspective that weaves between Harper and Digger which shows their vastly different worlds with Hollywood versus Gamble, Alaska. She has this glamorous lifestyle which Whitney Dineen and Melanie Summers explore by delving into the reality of Hollywood with the rumors, gossip, paparazzi, and invasive prying into her life during something extremely personal. A gossip column is included at the beginning of each chapter with her perspective which creates a constant presence of the invasive reality and shows that even away from home, the gossip is still present.

The kids play an important part in the story with Lily, a sweet four-year-old asking questions, and Liam, a very serious eight-year-old that enjoys old-time things. The tone of the story is aptly defined as a mom com which delivers a comedy about a mom and her children as she embarks on a journey to discover what she wants for herself and her family. Whitney Dineen and Melanie Summers pull back the curtain on divorce and raising kids against a Hollywood backdrop in No Ordinary Hate which explores a mother's perspective in a romantic comedy with heart, humor, and family.