Twisted Hate

I picked up Twisted Hate because I wanted to finish the central trio of the Twisted series and because Jules and Josh had been sparking off each other in the background of the first two books. This is book 3 in the Twisted series by Ana Huang, published in 2022 by Bloom Books in a 512 page edition, and it follows Jules Ambrose and Josh Chen from mutual hate to something neither of them planned. I went in expecting loud banter, high heat, and a lot of drama among friends in Washington DC. That is exactly what I got, plus a heavier backstory for both leads than their jokes suggest. Jules is the party girl with a sharp mouth and a law degree. Josh is the handsome doctor who acts like he cannot stand her. Their friends keep telling them to ignore each other. They cannot. Washington DC feels alive here, with shared apartments, late night diners, hospital halls, law libraries, and clubs where the whole group keeps colliding. Ava and Alex hover close, Bridget and Rhys offer steady advice, and Stella and Christian add teasing commentary from the side.

Jules Ambrose is funny, bold, and tired of being reduced to the wild friend. She just finished law school and she is studying for the bar exam while working part time. On the surface she drinks too much, flirts loudly, and wears red dresses that turn heads. Under that she is disciplined about notes, loyal to Ava Chen, Bridget von Ascheberg, and Stella Alonso, and scared her past will catch up. She wants to pass the bar on merit and prove she is more than gossip. She cooks late pasta for roommates, borrows shoes and returns them cleaned, covers shifts when friends are sick, and keeps a wall of color coded outlines above her desk. Her humor is armor, quick and bright, and she uses it to steer talk away from family, money, and fear.

Josh Chen is Ava younger brother and Alex Volkov best friend, now working as a doctor. He is tall, fit, protective of his sister, polite to patients, and rude to Jules on purpose. He lives with night shifts, charting, and the expectation that he will stay calm when others panic. He is close to Ava, respectful toward Bridget and Rhys Larsen, friendly with Stella and Christian Harper, and civil with Alex. With Jules he drops the charm. He calls her trouble and she calls him arrogant, and friends roll their eyes because the insults sound personal. He remembers every jab she throws and returns each one, yet he also remembers how she takes coffee, which files she needs for class, and when she skips meals during heavy study weeks.

Hate at first sight in Washington DC

Jules and Josh do not meet cute in Twisted Hate. They have known each other for years through Ava, and every meeting has ended in a verbal fight. She thinks he judges her drinking and her loud laugh. He thinks she is reckless and pulls Ava into bad decisions. At group dinners they sit far apart and still argue about music and orders. Ava begs them to behave. Bridget tries to change the subject. Stella watches with amusement. Rhys shakes his head. Christian smirks. Alex stays neutral. The banter is fast and crude, full of nicknames and fake smiles. Jules is quicker with jokes. Josh is colder with comebacks. Neither backs down, and the table always takes sides for fun.

What makes the hate readable is that both are performing. Jules uses jokes to keep people from asking about her family or why she goes quiet after a party. Josh uses contempt to keep distance from a woman who unsettles him. He notices when she leaves early. She notices when he is exhausted after a shift and still checks on Ava. He notices her highlighters, her tired eyes, her habit of humming while she reads. She notices his frayed scrubs, his cold coffee, his habit of checking his phone for hospital updates. Ava tells Jules that Josh only picks fights with people he thinks about too much. Bridget tells Josh that Jules only teases men she finds interesting. Both deny it and fight again the next night.

Through favors involving Ava and Alex and a lease gap, Jules and Josh end up sharing close quarters. Same kitchen. Same hallway. She leaves case books on the couch. He leaves protein shakes in the fridge. She plays music while she outlines torts and contracts. He complains and then hums along. They set rules about guests, noise, and dishes. The rules fail within days. He eats her fries and replaces them. She hides his scrubs and then folds them. They argue about thermostat settings and bathroom time. Forced closeness turns public banter into private sparring that feels warmer and riskier, with late night talks that last longer than either plans.

The bar exam and the doctor with walls

The bar exam gives Jules a clear clock. She has weeks to learn black letter law, drill essays, and take timed tests. Jules color codes outlines, meets a study group in a library, drinks too much coffee, and panics over civil procedure. She works to pay rent and tells herself passing will silence the voice that says she is only the party girl. Stella helps with schedules and brings snacks. Bridget shares tea and quiet evenings. Ava sends pep talks and flashcards. Jules still feels alone at 2 a.m. with notes spread wide, yet she keeps showing up each morning and pushing scores higher.

Josh runs on the hospital clock. He deals with rounds, night pages, crying patients, and mentors who test him. He loves medicine and he is good at it, calm under pressure and clear with frightened people. But he dreads going home to silence. His childhood left marks he does not discuss. He felt responsible for Ava after trauma tied to a fire that shaped the Chen family. He learned to fix problems by working harder. With patients he is present and gentle. With friends he deflects with humor. With Jules he is sharp because she asks what he is afraid of and waits for a real answer.

Their banter shifts from public to private. He quizzes her on evidence rules while she cooks pasta. She brings him food after a long shift and pretends it was extra. He fixes her lamp without comment. She leaves coffee for him before rounds. They start texting about small things, memes and milk and parking fails. The texts turn flirty, then heated, then both pretend it was a joke. I liked this build because it shows competence. Jules is smart about law even when she doubts herself. Josh is kind to strangers even when he is rude to her. Tired adults doing hard jobs find teasing easier than admitting loneliness.

Friends parties and benefits with rules

The friend group carries a lot of this book. Ava Chen and Alex Volkov are now steady and softer with each other. Bridget and Rhys bring calm loyalty and spare keys and honest advice. Stella Alonso and Christian Harper bring glamour and edge and dry humor. Group scenes give Twisted Hate its party energy. Birthday dinners with too much wine. Club nights where Jules dances and Josh pretends not to watch. Brunches where everyone talks over each other about work and rent. Jules toasts and roasts and keeps the mood light while Josh watches from the edge.

After weeks of fighting and flirting, Jules and Josh agree to a physical arrangement with strict rules. No feelings. No telling Ava at first. No jealousy. Just release during bar prep and hospital pressure. It starts after a party where both argue and end up in the same hallway breathing too fast. The first kiss is angry. The second is hungry. Huang writes blunt talk and long eye contact. Jules says what she wants. Josh likes that she says it. They set limits and break them at once. He stays for coffee. She borrows his hoodie. They agree it means nothing and both check phones hoping for a text.

The setup works for a while because it lets them be honest in bed and dishonest elsewhere. In private they praise each other. He tells her she is brilliant and close to passing. She tells him his patients are lucky. In public they act bored. Ava senses something and asks Jules directly, and Jules lies and feels guilty. Alex warns Josh not to hurt Jules. Bridget watches them avoid eye contact. Stella asks why Jules smiles at her phone. The lies pile up and fun feels thin. Jules wants more but will not ask. Josh wants more but will not admit it.

What Jules hides and what Josh buries

Jules past is darker than her party photos suggest. As a teenager she was kidnapped and held by a man who used threats and control to keep her quiet. She survived, but learned that charm can hide cruelty. She learned to laugh loudly so no one would ask why she flinched at locked doors. Ava knows parts. Bridget knows parts. Stella learns more as trust grows. Jules drinks to quiet memory on bad nights and hates mornings after. She studies law partly to make sure rules do not fail someone else. This history explains why she tests Josh with sharp words. If he leaves after an insult, he would have left after truth.

Josh past is quieter but painful. He grew up where success was expected and feelings were managed. He watched Ava carry fear after a childhood fire that killed her parents and left gaps in memory. He felt guilty for not protecting her better even though he was only a child. He decided to become a doctor who could fix bodies because he could not fix grief. He learned to be the steady son and funny friend who shows up and does not cry. He fears he uses work to avoid closeness and will fail people he loves in an emergency. Clashes with Jules scare him because she sees through the act.

When they trade truths, the book gets better. Jules tells Josh about the kidnapping in plain words, sitting on the floor with bar notes scattered. She names the room, the threats, the slow time, the self blame for trusting the wrong person. Josh listens without fixing, which is hard for him. He holds her hand and says he believes her and that it was not her fault. Later Josh tells Jules about guilt around Ava and nights he listened for nightmares outside her room. Jules listens without teasing and tells him he was a kid and care is not control. Two guarded people meet without armor and like each other more.

Breakup danger and a hospital rescue

The first break comes from pride and fear. Jules feels she is falling and Josh pulls back right when she needs steadiness. He gets a brutal stretch at the hospital, misses calls, snaps about studying, and accuses her of not taking the bar seriously after one party. She hears old judgment and decides she is done auditioning for respect. He hears need he cannot meet and chooses distance. They fight in the kitchen with words they cannot take back. She calls him a coward behind scrubs. He calls her a child behind jokes. She ends the arrangement. He agrees too fast. Ava finds Jules crying over flashcards. Alex finds Josh lifting weights at midnight.

The second break comes from danger tied to Jules past. A man connected to her kidnapping resurfaces, watches her study spots, sends notes that feel wrong, and shows up where he should not be. Jules tries to handle it alone because she refuses to be a victim again and fears Josh will see her as fragile. She changes routes, skips group events, tells Stella half the story, and studies with doors locked. Josh notices missed calls and window checks because he notices everything about her now. When she tells him and Ava and Bridget, the group closes ranks fast. Rhys offers security sense from bodyguard work. Christian offers contacts and a calm plan. Alex offers a car. Ava offers her couch and stubborn presence.

The climax turns violent and then medical, which fits a survivor and a doctor. Jules is taken and hurt in a confrontation that replays her worst memory of locked space and threats. She fights with nails and voice and memory of what saved her once. Josh gets the call while on shift and breaks his calm rule. He reaches her with police and friends close behind, finds her bleeding and alert, and talks her through breaths in his steady patient voice. The hospital rescue is tense and tender. He checks vitals with shaking hands and argues for her care. He sits by her bed after surgery and reads bar outlines aloud because his voice helps her focus. Ava holds Jules other hand. Bridget brings clean clothes. Stella stays late. When Jules wakes she jokes weakly and he lets her see tears.

Heat control and what does not quite work

Readers come for heat, and Twisted Hate delivers a lot. Jules and Josh have strong chemistry, and once rules collapse the scenes are frequent and explicit. Jules is confident and clear about consent. Josh is attentive and bossy both. Early scenes reveal character. Hate turns to teasing. Teasing turns to care.

The issue is volume. After the middle, steam crowds out plot. Bar study fades while the couple fights and makes up in bed. The kidnapping threat waits off page while they repeat the same points. I skimmed two scenes that felt identical except for location. The 512 page length allows sprawl, and Bloom Books keeps breezy pacing, but the center sags when every argument ends the same way.

The other criticism is possessive alpha behavior framed as love. Josh tracks Jules location after danger starts, which fits safety and still feels controlling without clear permission. He threatens men who hit on her and shows up uninvited. Jules calls him out, then forgives fast. Alex and Rhys and Christian model similar traits, so jealousy reads as proof of feeling. The hospital rescue earns devotion. The earlier ordering around does not. Jules is best when she sets terms.

Still, the epilogue lands. Jules passes the bar after recovery, with friends quizzing her and Josh making flashcards. She chooses work that fits her history. Josh seeks help for guilt and control and talks more openly with Ava. Final scenes give every friend a beat. Ava and Alex host dinner. Bridget and Rhys toast quietly. Stella and Christian tease the pair. As book 3 of a 2022 run, Twisted Hate closes Jules and Josh with warmth and a steadier promise.

Closing note

I finished the Bloom Books edition with mixed respect. Huang gives the party girl a brain and a wound and gives the doctor a conscience, keeps Ava, Bridget, Stella, Alex, Rhys, and Christian close, and ties Jules kidnapping past to a present choice about honesty. The steam sometimes covers the story and the jealousy sometimes stands in for care. For a 2022 new adult drama, it is enough to recommend with clear warnings about heat and trauma themes.