that ending has to be a joke right? not to be dramatic, but i'm pissed.
this was going smoothly until the epilogue ruined it for me and made me so mad.that ending has to be a joke right? not to be dramatic, but i'm pissed.
this was going smoothly until the epilogue ruined it for me and made me so mad. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't loving it... but it was enjoyable enough that i knew i was going to give the rest of the series a chance. i enjoyed the side characters and the little found family they created, anastasia and nathan were entertaining characters and the romance wasn't bad. i like that nathan was a sweer guy instead of jerk, since a lot of sports romances tend to have the jerky/moody love interest trope, so it was a nice change of pace. I enjoyed the mental health representation and how much the author emphasizes the importance of therapy.
But aside from that, overall this book was just... average to me. it was fine, but nothing incredible. There is no real plot to this book and it felt like a dump of different tropes and unnecessarily long. Also, there were so many red flags about Aaron since his very first introduction and it pissed me off every single time Anastasia gave him another chance after how badly he treated her every opportunity he had... it was so frustrating.
Regardless of the things I disliked about this book, i wasn't hating it. it was enjoyable enough! But then that epilogue happens. Throughout the book there are conversations in which the main character explicitly states that when the time is right, she wants to adopt. With the knowledge of her childhood history (she is also adopted) it made complete sense for her to have this desire, and i loved that about the book so much, since its not that common in romance novels sadly! But then imagine my surprise when the epilogue starts and she is pregnant?????? I just don't understand the point of the ending of this book and the point of making her have a biological baby at the end. There are so many other ways you could've ended the book, it made me so confused. Like, it completely blindsided me. I just really don't understand the reasoning behind this decision to completely change the characters mind from one chapter to another. It didn't sit right with me at all. Actually, it really pissed me off. ...more
I read A Brush With Love in the beginning of the year and fell head over heels in love with its entire cast of characters, the romance, the m2.5 stars
I read A Brush With Love in the beginning of the year and fell head over heels in love with its entire cast of characters, the romance, the mental health representation that made me feel incredibly seen, and Mazey Eddings' writing - Eddings is a phenomenal writer who manages to make you feel so much for these characters she creates and writes stories that are funny engaging and endearing. Suffice to say, I was so excited for Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake, I didn't even care to read the synopsis (a common thing I do when a favorite author of mine announces a new book); well, that was MY mistake because I went into it without the knowledge that this book has my least favorite trope ever: unexpected pregnancy.. I immediately regretted requestinhg an ARC because i knew that my review wouldn't be that fair, considered my biased opinion, but since loving Edding's first book so much, I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.
Honestly, at the end of the day, the trope did hinder my ability to enjoy the story quite a bit. Not only that, but I just didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters at all. To me, what they had was lust. From the beginning of the story to the very end, I didn't feel the romantic love that characters and author attempted to describe, and it felt really hard for me to care about where the romance was going, and led me to care much more about the main character, Lizzie, and her friends.
The writing style paired with the hilarious main character definitely made for an entertaining story and Lizzie was an absolutely charming and lovable character. But that also took away from Rake's POV and made him a boring and depthless character compared to Lizzie's warm and larger than life personality. Every time we got to a Rake POV, I just wanted to go back to Lizzie's. I just feel like there wasn't much to him that made me care. Although the book overall wasn't a favorite, Lizzie will be going into my favorite characters list for sure, and was the best thing about this book for me.
I also always love the way Eddings incorporates mental health into her stories and writes it with a lot of care and respect. Lizzie's personal growth as she struggles with managing her ADHD and the supportive group she surrounds herself with, it was so heartwarming to read about.
At the end of the day, I think this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't necessarily bad and if you enjoy the unexpected pregnancy trope, i believe this to be surely enjoyable to you. I personally just had a hard time believing in the romance, and the pregnancy itself is never something I care much about reading. The male character lacked depth and the romance lacked chemistry, but the main character was amazing and so was her funny and loving friends. I will still be reading anything else that Mazey Eddings releases in the future, as, like I said before, this is more a case of "it's not you, it's me" than the quality of the story....more
I’m sad to say this as I’ve loved the other books in this series SO MUCH and really liked getting to know Oliver in the previous books but… this was aI’m sad to say this as I’ve loved the other books in this series SO MUCH and really liked getting to know Oliver in the previous books but… this was a huge disappointment for me.
Firstly, It felt like reading a Ted Lasso fanfiction and Gavin was a badly executed wannabe Roy Kent. I really loved Oliver’s POV but Gavin just wasn’t an interesting character to me.
The romance felt like it lacked some buildup, which I think is the fault of the 4 year time jump in the beginning and the fact that due to that we barely saw the evolution from hate to love since most of the hate happened in those 4 years.
Even the family dynamic annoyed me in this book, which upsets me because I love this family so much.
I’m so sad I disliked this but hoping the next book will make up for it!...more
Knox was unbearable and exactly the type of male character I dislike. The romance was so underwhelming. Some of the plot was intriguing and that’s whyKnox was unbearable and exactly the type of male character I dislike. The romance was so underwhelming. Some of the plot was intriguing and that’s why I kept on reading, along with the fact that I was rooting for Naomi and loving the relationship she was developing with her niece so much. Some scenes were also pretty funny! But I couldn’t understand Knox’s appeal at all....more
This story had a lot of potential and the characters were great but it really suffered from the lack of time to develop those aspects well. I2.5 stars
This story had a lot of potential and the characters were great but it really suffered from the lack of time to develop those aspects well. It felt way too rushed, the characters one dimensional and the romance lacked chemistry!
On paper it sounded awesome and if it was a few hours longer (this was only 1 hr long!) it could’ve been amazing! And yes, I know a novella is supposed to be short, and all these audible originals are like that, but making the romance have a bit more development IS still possible. I’m not expecting a full length novel but I definitely for the characters to go from a disliking each other to liking each other in a way that makes more sense and feels organic.
The narration was really really good though and the writing was also great (I love Mia Sosa books!) and the potential this book had were the positives that made me decide on giving this book 2.5 stars!...more
I want to start by pointing out that ever since starting this series, the romance has never been a favorite part... not So this was... disappointing.
I want to start by pointing out that ever since starting this series, the romance has never been a favorite part... not even a top 5. Honestly, Aldrik was a pretty unpleasant love interest to read about, and he treats Vhalla so badly throughout 99% of Air Awakens which just made me unable to really enjoy him. I did enjoy the plot, magic system and world building, and writing was pleasant, and so even with the disappointing romance, I decided to continue the series. And honestly, I was happy I did; I ended up LOVING Fire Falling. Yeah it is slower, and definitely fell under the second book syndrome when it comes to plot, but the characters had such great developments, the romance was much better and Vhalla finally found good friends that weren't unbearable. After finishing book 2 I was so excited to continue the series and dive into Earth's End. But this book was... a mess.
I will start with what I enjoyed, which unfortunately was not much but did stand out enough to make me want to continue the series and read book 4.
The first positive was Vhalla. What a great character development! I love that she got the chance to use the knowledge she acquired during her time working in the library, I loved seeing her embrace her powers even more and slowly become a real badass. I love that she feels less naive and more sure of who she is. Some things about her character still annoy me (I will get to that soon) but I also like that she is not perfect. Yes, she got a great development but she feels more real having flaws than she would if she was a pitch perfect. She feels more human and i really like that.
Second positive was of course the Golden Guard. I read the first book in the Golden Guard series before I started Air Awakens, and although I truly believe it was a mistake plot-wise, I loved the excitement I felt seeing Jax and Erion again. He is by far one of my favorite characters in this universe. I also of course loved every Baldair scene in this, as usual. I loved the slow friendship he is creating with Vhalla and honestly, I could just read a whole book about him breathing and I would probably give it 5 stars. i love him so much.
Third positive... I did like the plot. I felt a bit all over the place sometimes but it was pretty engaging and made me want to keep reading, so thats always a good thing.
So now for the negative...
Aldrik. What the hell happened to him? He was a completely different character in this book. And listen, I did believe he needed a development. I hated him in the first book, and i felt like with book 2 we were going somewhere with him, he was getting better.... but he just woke up from what happened to him in Fire Falling and just.... took a completely one 180 and become this love sick puppy whose only apparent purpose is to call Vhalla "My lady, my love" 825672457624857 times and to profess his love to her in 10 thousand different cheesy and cringy ways. He literally felt like a different character from the one i had come to know in the first two books and the difference was so sudden it just didn't feel like a realistic character development at all.
now, were there some positives about the romance? sure. I liked that Aldrik gave Vhalla the floor to talk about things in front of the other nobles. he empowered her and was incredibly supportive and I really appreciated that, but I felt like it was overshadowed the cheesiness of it all. By the cringy declarations of love and the annoying pet name.
And then, at the end, Aldrik does another 180 and turns back into the rude prince he was in Air Awakens FOR ABSOLUTE NO FREAKING REASON. He literally slut shames her along with many other terrible degrading names he calls her, hits her (and I don't care that it was by accident, it was still inexcusable).
Not to mention how toxic their relationship had become even before this stupid "conflict" at the end. They rely on each other for everything. There are so many lines throughout the book that scream codependency. Even after everything Aldrik degrades Vhalla, she still constantly thinks about him and doesn't seem that mad (more sad than anything else) and honestly, I wanted to scream at her that she deserves so much better!
I'm in too deep to not finish this series now but knowing the fate of my favorite character (yes I know this spoiler, don't judge me but I'm actually glad I know.. I've been preparing since book 1, lol) I keep wondering if its worth it. I'll be taking a quick break from the series to read a few other books and meanwhile i will be deciding what i will do with the rest of the series.. I am so disappointed and sad....more
I’m disappointed in this one! I just had to force myself to finish, and I found the romance to be super bland and lacking chemistry! I loved Dallas anI’m disappointed in this one! I just had to force myself to finish, and I found the romance to be super bland and lacking chemistry! I loved Dallas and Beau though! And I’m excited to read Wicked Hearts....more
I have to say... I’m disappointed. I was so excited about this book! The tropes, the cover.. I was so sure I was going to love it. But this one reallyI have to say... I’m disappointed. I was so excited about this book! The tropes, the cover.. I was so sure I was going to love it. But this one really missed the mark for me, which makes me really sad because I love this author’s books!
Here are the few things I had a problem with:
• Elizabeth, the main character, had more chemistry with the hero’s brother than the hero himself. Her and Walt barely talk! And when they do, it just feels completely one sided. It doesn’t feel like Walt can stand her at all. I know he is supposed to be broody, but like, there was nothing that hinted at the fact that he had growing feelings for her at all. Their relationship was poorly developed and even though it can definitely consider it a “slow burn” because they take quite a while to actually get together, it still felt rushed because of the lack of development. Their scenes didn’t really have any spark at all. And the lack of communication!!! Dear God, that infuriated me to no end. • Walt needed chapters! He was, like I mentioned previously, a broody character that has a hard time showing his true emotions. And I’m fine with that! I really enjoy characters like that, specially when their love interest is the complete opposite. But with this book, he didn’t give any indication whatsoever he had any type of feelings for Elizabeth. It actually constantly felt like he was annoyed at her. I think this book would’ve benefited from dual povs because it would’ve been easier to understand Walt... I just didn’t feel like his character was well fleshed out. • Elizabeth was kind of annoying and extremely immature. The way she handles her problems was so childish. I also normally love bubbly and talkative characters specially when they are funny, but I just didn’t like her personality. • also the way Elizabeth’s mom and sister treat her throughout the story!!! And she just lets them walk all over her and by the end there are no satisfying closures to this part of the story. I would’ve loved to see her defend herself or stand up for herself.
I won’t lie and say there weren’t some moments I enjoyed in this book, I did give it 2 stars so it wasn’t ALL bad. I loved how Walt went to Paris to see her, I thought that was super cute! And I loved Matthew and would love to read a book about him! But it’s definitely one of my least favorite books by the author unfortunately. I’m really disappointed overall which makes me so upset because I love R.S. Grey’s books! ...more
this was okay, but I think it was a little bit underwhelming for me.
Things I liked:
• JIA! My favorite part of this book. I loved loved loved her! Sucthis was okay, but I think it was a little bit underwhelming for me.
Things I liked:
• JIA! My favorite part of this book. I loved loved loved her! Such a great character to read about. She had an amazing, loving personality, and I loved getting to know her more! • Luna! She stole the show for me. She was sooo great! • The friendship between Jia, Rhiannon and Katrina, and later on how Jia and Lakshmi became friends! I loved their scenes together and how they worked out their silly differences and started to like each other. I’ve been wanting to read more about Lakshmi since The Right Swipe so I really hope she gets her own book! This series always hits the mark perfectly when it comes to the friendships!! I’m always a fan of their scenes.
Things I didn’t like:
• unfortunately what missed the mark for me with this book was the romance. It had absolutely no depth, no development, no chemistry.. nothing. These two barely knew each other and were already so sure they were a perfect match and would make a great couple. This book is the definition of instant love and I just wasn’t a fan. I didn’t feel their connection at all. I got excited when it seemed like they would start fake dating but then things went a completely different route after that and just moved too fast for my liking. • dev.. he was just so bland. I didn’t care about his character or his POV. he barely had a personality! he was just boring in my opinion. I did enjoy how supportive he was of Jia, of course, but that was the only highlight of his character for me.
I did really enjoy Jia and the girls in this book, but I feel like this series is a constant hit or miss for me. I thought The Right Swipe was just ok, but loved Girl Gone Viral, and this one didn’t hit the mark for me either. I loved Jia in the other books so I was excited for it, and I’m glad I still loved her so much in this book, but aside from that and the scenes with the girls, I just found I had to force myself to pick it up unfortunately! ...more
I thought it was a good introduction to the characters! Made me want to pick up book 1. Not a favorite or anything like that but it was enjoy2.5 stars
I thought it was a good introduction to the characters! Made me want to pick up book 1. Not a favorite or anything like that but it was enjoyable enough....more
although I enjoyed the plot (I think these “living through the same days over and over stories are really fun tbh) and I loved the family dy2.5 stars
although I enjoyed the plot (I think these “living through the same days over and over stories are really fun tbh) and I loved the family dynamic so much, this book might be my least favorite by Christina Lauren in the end, unfortunately.
What fell short for me was the romance. I’ve read plenty of childhood friends to lovers and I love love love this trope, it’s one of my all time favorites, but this one wasn’t as well executed as I would’ve liked. I didn’t feel like Andrew and Mae had any chemistry whatsoever. I didn’t feel anything for their scenes at all - absolutely no emotion, no even negative. There just wasn’t anything about them that I cared about, and I didn’t feel the chemistry between them at all. The last few chapters also felt incredibly rushed and underdeveloped.
I did enjoy Mae and she was a good narrator, so the story was fun/easy to read because of her POV. But overall this one just didn’t really leave a mark for me, and the romance left a lot to be desired. I’m so upset because it had a lot of what I love in romance and such an awesome family dynamic, but hopefully CL’s next book will be more of a hit for me, because this one was for sure a miss....more
I enjoyed this one a little bit more than fbaa, actually! I’m enjoying where the story is going and the world the author has built is very 3.5 stars!
I enjoyed this one a little bit more than fbaa, actually! I’m enjoying where the story is going and the world the author has built is very interesting. I really like the mythology surrounding it and everything that was revealed and developed in this book was just very interesting and really gripped me. The world building was confusing to me in book 1 but this book made me enjoy it so much and i think it’s one of my favorite parts of the series for sure! But I just feel like these books drag so much because they are unnecessarily long. It could use some serious revision because some scenes are not very necessary and don’t seem to add much to the story as a whole! But even then, I love Poppy as a narrator so much it didn’t bother me as much as I would think it would if the main character wasn’t a favorite.
I enjoyed Poppy and Casteel’s interactions, although I’m still not really obsessed with them as much as I wanted to be! But I think i liked them more in this book than book 1, that’s for sure.
One thing I’m in love with is Poppy. Her character development in this one was sooo good and I loved how much she grew after getting away from the Ascended. She is amazing and makes this series enjoyable for me!
This was a great sequel. I think I’ve found I had the same problems with it I had with the first book in the series, but when it comes to the world building and characters, I enjoyed this one way more than book 1! ...more
I’m so disappointed! I was so excited for this book. It sounded like it would be such a good romcom. But 100 pages in, I knew it wasn’t for me.
To staI’m so disappointed! I was so excited for this book. It sounded like it would be such a good romcom. But 100 pages in, I knew it wasn’t for me.
To start off, Annika was infuriating. She was childish and petty and just an overall brat for pretty much the entirety of this book. She never got any type of development or growth, in the end everything just worked out exactly like she wanted it to. Also Annika goes from accusing Hudson of stealing an idea she had for years and told him about the first time they met to telling him she had this idea partly because of him? What? What is the truth? That made no sense!
Hudson wasn’t much better either. He just had no personality, I had absolutely no interest in him. His excuse for why he created such a terrible app was so stupid... you knew her for 7 days! get over yourself. He annoyed me so much from the very first few moments he showed up. He says he has been in love with Annika since their first meeting but I just did not see that all with the way he treated her/acted (and his excuse of doing that because he wants to have her close? yeah, I’m sorry but did not buy that. At all).
Both of these characters treated each other so badly. They were so damn childish with their fights and trying to one up each other. There was absolutely no chemistry between them at all. The enemies to lovers aspect was anticlimactic at best, there was barely any development. I couldn’t stand any of their scenes together, they literally sounded like children. There was no spark between them at all.
Honestly, I didn’t even care about the side characters either. They weren’t bad or anything like that, but at the end of the day they also were not memorable at all either.
The only reason I’m giving this 2 stars is because I enjoyed the girl power in this book quite a lot. If there is one thing I admired about Annika is how she didn’t give up and how she was so focused on her business and on her dream, and how she made sure to inspire young girls to do the same. That was a positive in the story for me.
Overall, this was a let down. I’m disappointed as i was so excited for the book and happy when I got the opportunity to read and review it early! But it just wasn’t for me. ...more
The only reason why I am giving this 2 stars is because despite everything I enjoyed the first part of the story. It’s when the second part hit that IThe only reason why I am giving this 2 stars is because despite everything I enjoyed the first part of the story. It’s when the second part hit that I lost my interest in the book.
See, like most R.S. Grey books, I thought it was a very funny story! She is great with the humor and it’s why I love her stories so much: they never fail to make me laugh. But aside from that, I didn’t care about anything else in the book at all unfortunately.
The second part is filled with so much miscommunication from both Maddie and Aiden, it just drove me nuts. I’m not a miscommunication hater because I feel like when done well (like, when it adds satisfying angst to the story) it can be satisfying but in this instance the characters were just so damn childish and made me want to scream at kindle.. I was just so annoyed. What was supposed to be angsty plot was just overall annoying and to be honest, quite stupid. Both of these characters constantly blamed one another for their loss of touch, when neither Aiden or Maddie did anything about it when Aiden leaves for NYC. Aiden claims he has “always loved Maddie” but his lack of POV in the first half and even his actions towards her in the first half don’t really hint towards that. You don’t really imagine he likes her until you get his side of the story in part II, and by then it’s just hard to believe because you never SAW it happen. So the first part just feels like the usual annoying “girl pinned again womanizing male friend while friend has absolutely no idea,” and I absolutely hate that trope.
I was excited for this as I feel like RS Grey doesn’t write enough friends to lovers and also because I love her books and her humor, but it’s probably my least favorite book by her. I just wasn’t a fan. I had to force myself to finish it. I just didn’t like any of these characters.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review....more
See, I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't dislike it, but I just... don't think I cared for it? I also think that the way some things playeSee, I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't dislike it, but I just... don't think I cared for it? I also think that the way some things played out by the end made me not care for it even more.
I love second chance, and I liked the idea behind the relationship between Jessie and Callen. I thought their childhood moments were absolutely the cutest, and I even enjoyed quite a few moments between them when they are older. I feel like the reason why this wasn't a higher rating is that i've read multiple books with this trope by now, and I don't think this made me feel as much as I was hoping it would!
Aside from that, I also didn't like the angsty separation fight that happened by the end of the book. I felt like it was so messy, and the way Jessie forgave him so fast.. I just wasn't a big fan!
Another thing I have mixed feelings about is how fast their relationship progressed. They knew each other for only a year when they were pre-teens. Its been over ten years, and they jumped at being together way too fast for my taste. There wasn't any build up. Its not like they continued to have contact in between those years. I felt like I wanted the friendship aspect of their relationship to last longer.
I want to point out that this book has a trope i'm quite tired of reading.. The bad boy who sleeps around, and the virgin heroine. The sleeping around part was a bit annoying, but I liked that there wasn't much focus on the fact that Jessie was a virgin. Sometimes that part "defines" the heroine.. It really shouldn't because there is nothing wrong with it. And I liked that Mia didn't make it a big deal.
Lastly, I do want to point out that I really enjoyed this author's writing and am excited to read her other books, specially Archer's Voice, soon! Her writing was great! I also enjoyed her focus on Callen learning to overcome his father's abuse. The last line of the book was beautiful!
Another thing I forgot to point out is that I really enjoyed Jessie's character. Her POVs were my favorite!
Overall, I expected a little bit more just because I've heard wonderful things about this author, but I enjoyed her wiritng style quite a bit and am excited to read more of what she has written!
OWLs 2020: Herbology (title that starts with M) ...more
“I do. Trust you. Tell me the sky is purple. Convince me two and two is five.” He made a face that told me exactly how disturbed he was at the math. ““I do. Trust you. Tell me the sky is purple. Convince me two and two is five.” He made a face that told me exactly how disturbed he was at the math. “Tell me you love me,” I said. With a slow smile, he leaned in and whispered, “Now that I can do.”
2.5 stars :(
I absolutely love this series. Anyone who knows me knows this. I’ve been fortunate to review both Coming Up Roses & Gilded Lily, and the latter is my favorite Staci Hart to date. So, obviously, this was one of my most anticipated March releases, and I kept counting down the days until this dropped on my kindle. It pains me so much to say that Mum’s the Word did not live up to my expectations at all.
I want to start off by saying that there was nothing wrong with this book. This is a big case of it’s not you, it’s me. There were actually a lot of positives about it, but in the long run, I don’t think I cared about the bigger plot points of this book to give it a higher rating.
I will start off with the positive and say that I loved Maise and Marcus as individuals. They were both great characters. There was no moment in the book where I got annoyed by either of them, or disliked a POV more than the other. Maise’s journey was great, I loved seeing her stand up for herself and find her ground by the end. Her relationship with her dad was also so nice, I absolutely loved their scenes. And Marcus was also great too. I loved seeing how love changed him. He wasn’t someone to jump head first, blind, but his love for Maise made him do that. He stopped being so uptight all the time, and I enjoyed that.
I also loved the scenes between the Bennets. I love their mom, and I specifically loved her relationship with Marcus the most. And I just love all of the siblings. I can’t wait for the twin’s story! Super excited for Pride and Papercuts.
Now, for the reason this wasn’t a hit for me: quite honestly, the romance threw me off. It was love at first sight to the T, and although this is not the most terrible trope in the word, and I’ve enjoyed several books with it in the past, this one just really wasn’t executed that well in my opinion. I wish it had been more of an infatuation first, and I wish they had had a better first convo where I could’ve SEEN why they had this huge connection right off the bat. I feel like their romance wasn’t shown as much as it was described, and that made me not buy it as much as I wished, and because of that, I just genuinely found myself not caring at all about the romance, and in many moments cringing during a line or two. It was poor development in my eyes, and it just upset me so much because of how much I enjoyed these two characters.
In the end, like I mentioned, this is going to be a case of “it’s not you, it’s me.” Which is so sad, because of how much I love this series & how excited I was. It’s the last book, I wanted to love it! I’ll still look forward to Staci Hart’s releases in the future, as I’ve enjoyed much more by her than I’ve disliked (I really think this is the first one I just didn’t like).
Please don’t let this one review with a lower rating stop you from starting the series. The 2nd book in this series is like, by far my favorite book ever by Staci, so that should tell you something. This was just unfortunate bad luck!
*i received an arc from the author in exchange for an honest review*...more
I've been loving Lauren Layne books ever since I picked up Passion on Park Avenue last year, and was so excited when I received the email notificationI've been loving Lauren Layne books ever since I picked up Passion on Park Avenue last year, and was so excited when I received the email notification saying I was approved for this title. And it was definitely everything Lauren Layne's books are, and I won't deny the fact that it was such a cute read.
But quite honestly, that's pretty much all that it was for me... A cute read. I didn't feel much about the romance at all. They were sweet, and I enjoyed their moments together, but I just felt like they happened so fast and were a little bit underdeveloped, and I had a hard time connecting to their romance and loving their moments as much as I hoping I would, and as much as I have loved other romances by Layne.
I felt the exact same way with the characters. There was nothing wrong with them at all, I enjoyed reading about them... But I personally didn't feel like there was anything special about them either? And, just like the romance, I just didn't connect with either one of them at all.
I enjoyed the side characters a lot, but I also just wanted more of Addie and her friends. I've always said Lauren Layne excels when it comes to writing female friendships, and I wish we could've gotten more of it in this book.
I am excited for more books in this series though, because I just really love the concept of reading about man who have recently been named Man of the Year. Cannot wait for the second book!
Although this wasn't a favorite for me, I still felt like it was solid Lauren Layne, and like I mentioned previously, a sweet and cute book. I just feel like, unfortunately, it'll be one I'll probably forget about in a few months. ...more
I didn’t think this was exactly bad, but I did find the dialogue extremely cringy, and I think that took away from my overall enjoyment. I en2.5 stars
I didn’t think this was exactly bad, but I did find the dialogue extremely cringy, and I think that took away from my overall enjoyment. I enjoyed the female character, and I’m actually very intrigued about the rest of the characters and their books. It was a fast paced book, and I liked that it was one of the first books with the brother’s best friend trope where the best friend is the one that has the crush on his best friends’ sister first, before she ever notices her feelings for him. But honestly I just couldn’t look past the cringy dialogue, I really disliked that.
overall not a bad book but I feel like it could for sure have been better. My family has a pizza store tho so it was fun to read about that dynamic! ...more
“I can’t wait to make more music with you, Bette. I missed your terrible poetry.” Stroking my fingers across his cheek, I lost myself in his brown eye“I can’t wait to make more music with you, Bette. I missed your terrible poetry.” Stroking my fingers across his cheek, I lost myself in his brown eyes. “And I love your clumsy notes.”
3.5
As soon as I finished The Moth and the Flame a few days ago, I was super excited to finally read this one! I loved Jamie since The Peer and the Puppet, and Bee always intrigued me, although there wasn’t that much info about her yet for me to form a real opinion on her.
And, surprisingly, upon finishing this book, my favorite part of it was definitely Bee! She was such an awesome surprise. She was nothing like what I imagined she would be, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of her character at all.. in fact, in think canon Bee is 10x better than what I ever imagined she would be like. One of the strongest characters I’ve ever read about, she broke my heart a million times over, but she also made me smile just as much. Bee quickly infiltrated my heart, and I think I love her just as much as I love Lou!
I also really loved the romance. There were a few things about it that I wasn’t a fan of, but that might more of a personal opinion than actual problems to be honest. Regardless, I think it’s a reason why at the end, what I predicted didn’t really become true: I thought Jamie and Bee were going to become my favorite couple, but after finishing this one I have to say that Wren and Lou continue to hold that spot! Although, that is not to say I don’t love JamieBee, they are definitely a close second. But even with all of that, I just thought JamieBee had amazing chemistry, which was always there from the very first book, but seeing it from their POV was truly something else entirely. I also loved the flashbacks and seeing their younger selves so much, and watching them fall in love for the first time.
There were a few other things about this one that I wasn’t a fan of, like chapter 21... and how Four and Bee’s relationship played out... that was a bit disappointing for me to be honest. I just keep imagining if people’s reactions to it wouldn’t be different if Four was a guy. I don’t know, maybe, like I mentioned above, it’s just me. But to me that entire “plot” felt unnecessary and made me a little bit uncomfortable.
Lastly, I am very very excited for Vaughn’s book now. I don’t really like what we found out about him and Tyra’s relationship in the end, but, if Tyra really ends up being his LI, which I don’t see how it wouldn’t be her, I’m definitely excited to see how BB plays it out! I love Tyra so I do hope she is his Li, and Vaughn and Tyra caught my attention from their very first interaction in The Peer and the Puppet, so I do feel like their book could potentially become a favorite, and it definitely made its way into one of my most anticipated books of 2020(?)
All in all, I really loved this. I feel like this series improves with each book, and although it was not my favorite so far, it was still SO good, I truly could not stop reading it, and Bee was SUCH a pleasant surprise!!! Love her to pieces!!...more
No one is sadder about my rating for this book more than I am. I was SO excited for it. I couldn’t wait to finally pick it up and dove into it, but I No one is sadder about my rating for this book more than I am. I was SO excited for it. I couldn’t wait to finally pick it up and dove into it, but I have to be honest and say this did not meet my expectations.
I think the biggest problem is that since the very beginning, this was so hard to get through. There is a very big different between a character that is confident, and has her walls up, and a character that is plain mean. Although we grow to learn and understand Liya’s actions and the reason why she is so closed off, some of her actions in the beginning were just mean. It felt very hard to connect to her character, even though I enjoyed her growth and development and the story progressed.
I also felt like the dialogue was very forced. In a little of moments, it just didn’t feel genuine or realistic. It was hard to enjoy the interactions between the characters when most of the times their dialogue made me cringe so hard.
Unfortunately, although Jay and Liya has very cute scenes, specially as they grew closer, my lack of interest in the beginning made me just not really care for their relationship as it progressed as much as I would’ve liked. I also felt like the development from their dislike of each other to their friendship felt very rushed.
I did have to say I thought Jay was a very good character, although I think my lack of connection to the book as a whole in the beginning made me not love him as much as maybe I would’ve if I had enjoyed the book from the beginning.
I think the only think I genuinely enjoyed in this book was the friendship between the girls. I loved that Liya had such a great support system, and I loved their moments together and how much there were there for each other.
I wish I would’ve loved this! I really went into it thinking I would. But throughout the first 20% of the book I really had to force myself to pick it up and continue, and ended up skimming a few scenes that I felt were boring. I would still be super interested in reading a book about some of Jiya’s friends, because as mentioned previously, I really enjoyed that little group.
*i received a copy of this book from forever and netgalley in exchange for an honest review*...more
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