Hold Me Like A Grudge by Celine Ong Review

When a fierce rivalry between two professional wrestlers grows increasingly heated, neither man can fight the attraction burning between them, in this dazzling debut romance.
 

From dramatic character gimmicks to death-defying stunts, everything in the world of professional wrestling is an act. Asher Ross's hatred for Caleb Knight, however, is not. When Asher gets drafted to Global Elite Wrestling’s main roster, playing the role of Caleb’s worst enemy—the face to his heel—should be easy. Stripping him of his World Championship title should be even easier. But as the two men trade barbs and blows across arenas, they’re each surprised to find their chemistry is so sizzling, it can’t just be for the cameras.
 

Through training sessions, rehearsals, and injuries, Caleb’s icy demeanor melts away, and Asher begins to see the real man behind the cruel persona GEW has molded Caleb into. An unlikely truce evolves into feelings neither want to deny, but the company won’t let them be seen as anything other than bitter rivals, both in and out of the ring.
 

As Asher and Caleb grapple with what they truly want in an industry with a history of denying queerness, their forbidden romance comes crashing down on them, and both men are forced to decide if their relationship is real enough to last, and just how much they’re willing to fight for it.

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Berkley Publishing Group.

In the wrestling ring, the Dragon faces off against the Ice Prince in a no holds match for the championship belt on live entertainment. Featuring a scrappy up and coming wrestler paired opposite the ruthlessly cold history-making champion, the path to glory and success seems so straightforward until feelings get involved, pun intended. Celine Ong’s debut novel Hold Me Like a Grudge is an entertaining and witty queer sports romance story full of the expected adrenaline-fueled fights, choreographed training arcs, and entertainment industry shenanigans one would expect in a wrestling focused rivals to lovers narrative. Yet beyond the spotlight and headlining matches, this book is so much more. Backed up by strong platonic and romantic chemistry, excellent character writing, and earnest themes of acceptance and found family, this book is equally punchy as it is endearingly wholesome, a well-rounded and amazing read!

In the world of sports and live entertainment, professional wrestling is perhaps one of the most homoerotic sports out there and it’s slightly surprising there aren’t very many well-known MM romance books that are themed to the sport. Anyway, for those that are not aware, most professional wrestling is more or less a theatrically scripted form of entertainment as opposed to being true and honest fight matches. Ong’s approach to the story is heavily based around the high-octane theater-style performances and the manufactured storylines by entertainment industry, elements I was hoping the book would address. Presented from dual perspectives of the newest up and coming tier1 pickup Asher Ross vs the face of GEW and reigning champion Caleb Knight, the story follows their initial rivalry and hate for each other before slowly shifting into something more. As their heated conflict starts to cool and their stilted work relationship grows more complicated, the two are forced to navigate around the company’s kayfabe requirement, maintaining distance from each other and maintaining their public feud outside the ring.

From the get-go, one of the book’s biggest selling points outside of its focal romance is its apt commentary on diversity and inclusivity in a stereotypically heteronormative and masculine dominated industry. Apart from featuring one of its male main character’s bi awakening, the cast of characters are very diverse and well-represented from across the entire queer community as well as ethnic backgrounds. Not just thrown in for token representation, the story features notable narrative elements on the discrimination and sexism towards athletes of color or queer identities. In addition to wonderful queer portrayals, the book also has a prominent recurring theme of found family and self-acceptance. Elevated from the low regional level, the rest of the GEW athletes take Asher under their wings, forming a lovable group and family, often getting into silly and outrageous activities. The themes of family are also one of the most prominent elements of Caleb’s story, touching on his long-internalized hate, ostracization from his family, and self-isolated loneliness. While the romance in the book is great, I personally found the ride and die together co-workers/friend dynamics to be the best part of the story, not to mention the found family and undying support group to be very heartwarming. For a book titled after a grudge and a revenge arc, this novel is softly warm and wholesome.

In addition to its comforting and healthy portrayals of queer joy, this book also works well thanks to its great main characters and their compelling character arcs. Following Asher’s growth and attempts to crack into the highest level of professional wrestling, he’s faced with constant reminders of how much he and his family have sacrificed to give him a shot for glory. Confident, driven, sociable, fiery, but also logical, his character is quite well-rounded and is easy to root for. Besides his eventual queer identity, his Singaporean background and family values are also utilized well, particularly his parents and his mom’s great words of wisdom. Her occasional struggles with English phrasing are also very well written and the way she says “watching the Youtube” is exactly how my grandparents refer to anything streaming related. Contrasting Asher, Caleb is the opposite as the quiet, reserved and isolated lone wolf whose icy and cruel persona has extended off-camera and become one with his personal life, a contrast to his soft sad puppy inner voice. Eventually revealed to be a survival and self-defense mechanism developed from being rejected by his family, his loneliness and walled off emotions are heartbreaking to read about, and his negative experiences are those many queer readers will find relatable, hitting close to home.

Following the general trajectory of the rivals to lovers trope, the book’s romance and relationship growth are measured, gradual slow burns. Initially set up as rivals competing to win/defend the championship belt, their strained work relation and thawing of their icy conflict gradually shifts to that of unlikely, but supportive friends in a “oh, he’s not so bad” kind of way. As rivals to friends, to confused feelings, and eventually to lovers, the story takes its time with its plotting and development, really making sure that their relationship feels believable; a common pitfall of many rivals or enemies to lovers romance books. I personally love romance books that feature couples with complimentary platonic chemistry before the romantic chemistry kicks in which this book nails. Their mutual support for each other as they navigate the challenges and sacrifices required for the industry is well-written and while this book is certainly spicy and swoony when it wants to be, the overall tone and style of romance is surprisingly tender; Asher and Caleb are less of a steamy passion project and more of a comforting and safe home for each other when it feels like the world outside is too much to bear.

One important thing to note, contrary to its genre tags on certain book retailer listings and what some of the early reviews say, this is NOT an enemies to lovers story and is instead a rivals to lovers romance. Both the book’s blurb of “fierce rivalry” and Ong’s own overview describe it following the rivals to lovers trope. I believe the early synopsis of the book describing Asher’s initial hatred for Caleb comes off too strong and potentially gives the wrong impression. While Asher and Caleb’s conflict is present and tense at times, the hatred is mostly one-sided, and the heated conflict is mostly performative for the wrestling theater show. Those that are looking for frustration-fueled spice, hate-filled sexual tension, or will-they-won’t-they off each other will likely be disappointed as that’s not the book’s tone or intention. Instead, it’s a meaningful and hopeful story of romantic love that’s heightened by Ong’s well-rounded prose. While modern in style with jokes and pop culture references heavily leaning towards millennials born in the 90’s (I was shook when I read references to Sky High, never thought I’d see that in a book), Ong’s writing has an air of confidence and sophistication, avoiding feeling too casual or fanfiction-like common in a lot of popular contemporary romance books. As per the requirements of ARC reviews, no part of the ARC edition may be quoted. However, while I cannot provide quoted examples at this time, just know that Ong’s character writing is incredibly relatable. Particularly in the back half of the story when Asher and Caleb start to grow closer, the heavier narrative material  and quieter moments really showcase Ong’s writing chops, nicely contrasting their more unhinged and crazy flair on display at the beginning of the book.

Featuring compelling entertainment industry elements, dynamic and exciting wrestling choreography, lovable characters, and themes of queer acceptance and found family, Hold Me Like a Grudge is an outstanding sports romance book that seemingly does it all. Anchored by its great dual main characters complimented by excellent chemistry and character development, this novel doesn’t simply coast on its eye-catchingly novel sports premise, instead delivering an optimistically hopeful and well-plotted story. Colorfully written, paced, not to mention a lot of fun, this is a confident and strong debut novel and I’m eagerly looking forward to what Ong serves up next with Loser New Year tentatively set for a 2027 release.