Jazmine Marie

this book felt a bit “fill-ery.” it was good, don't get me wrong, but it just kinda gave us more info– sorta moved the plot along, but nothing too big happened. i'm really excited to see what's coming next. and of course, i'm still waiting for all of them to get their heads out of their asses about each other!

loved it! finally, we find out more about our lovely protagonist and her dudes. the four horsemen!? and the apocalypse!? i'm here for it! and just loved when lamar tells them they're the four horsemen, and paca gets to gloat that she was right. she's still somehow a relatable character even though we now know that she's the Devil's daughter. i will say that i'm very ready for all of them to get their heads out of their asses. i certainly see where paca is coming from, in that she's only ever had herself, but i feel like she's not necessarily trying to include them when she makes decisions. it's hard on all of them. they're getting there, but i can't wait until they're all in sync. the dynamic is gonna be oh so powerful!

main character: harlow
the guys: lincoln, river, dax, and chase

summary:
we start off with harlow being pissed at the guys—rightfully so. they didn't back her up when she was trying to save her mom. but, lincoln's not taking the silence for an answer. eventually, he's able to get her to listen to dax and chase to explain why they did what they did. keeping it private what they knew meant that the killer felt safe, and it gave them more time to find evidence. and now we're back to everything being okay with her and the guys. some things happen at school: savannah is still a bitch, and harlow is expelled and then let back in. after a confrontation with savannah, they've got info on who got iris pregnant, and right now, it's pointing towards samuel black. as all this is happening, harlow visits her mom in jail, and things aren't looking up. harlow finally decided to do something to help, and she gets more than she bargained for.

my thoughts:
HOLY FUCK! that ending! somehow, even though i had speculated that it was hollowell, i was still surprised at the turn of the events. obviously, nothing had been proven yet, but duuuuuuuuuude... overall, i really enjoyed the book. it was super fast-paced; i finished it in one sitting. and i really appreciated that. i will say that i felt this book was a bit of a filler book—in the middle, i didn't really feel like much was moving the plot along. but, at the same time, the relationship between harlow and her boys was moving along swimmingly (iykyk

i absolutely loved this book! my heart is so full after finishing this book. i can honestly say this is probably going to be a favorite of mine for the rest of my life. i've never read a book with a main character that felt like looking in the mirror—charlie and i are so similar. i can't believe how seen i felt throughout the whole book. it was such a sweet, sad, honest book. i'd read this over and over again.

main character: harlow
the guys: lincoln, river (my fave), dax, and chase

summary:
harlow has just found out that hollowell killed iris and framed her mom, but he doesn't know she knows yet. to be honest, i can't remember much from the beginning. eventually, hollowell finds out, and he threatens her and her mom. they find some evidence against him. take it to another bad guy who takes them to hollowell. the bad bad guys kills hollowell, triesto kill the kings and harlow, but doesn't. harlow's mom gets out of jail, the boys meet her mom. it ends with them happily every after.

my thoughts:
it ended well! i really liked the whole series. these boys were some of my favorites that i've read in reverse harems. it was good!

main character: harlow thomas
the guys: lincoln black, river bettencourt, and dax and chase lauder

summary:
harlow and her mom, penelope, are moving from arizona to fox hill, connecticut for a really great job offer. harlow has resigned herself to the move because she knows it'll help her mom with the debt they've accumulated since her cancer diagnosis (which is no “free” of). harlow and her mom are going to be the housekeepers of a wealthy family. upon arrival, samuel black is friendly, but lincoln, his son, is not. as soon as her hears that they're the hired help, he does a 180. lincoln and his friends make harlow's life hard as soon as she appears in theirs, but something big and dangerous brings them a bit closer—the death of another student they go to school with. they witnessed it. the boys tell harlow they can't go to the police about it. some other stuff happens, and at the end, penelope thomas is arrested for the murder. in trying to help her mom, harlow spills that her and the boys were there, but that don't back her up. and she's once again, on the other side, far far away from them.

my thoughts:
so i really liked this a lot. normally, the first books of series, i find hard to get through cause they're a bit slow trying to build up the background and the plot, but it was well-paced. i immediately liked that harlow was a bit more relatable than some other reverse harem heroines. now don't get me wrong, i love the strong, badass, morally gray heroines as much as the next reader, but right away i liked harlow a lot. i liked that she had a best friend, had a mom she didn't hate, and had gone through something she came out of the other side of with a fairly optimistic outlook on life of. also, her being fire-y underneath a bit of shyness and anxiety endeared me to her cause i like to think i'm cool like that.

it was lacking in character developement, realtionship building, and strong narrative writing. i recognize that it's a novella, but i still feel like more could have been done to emphasize the importance of their relationship since it's so integral to the story. at the end of it, i wasn't swept away with happiness that they'd ended up together because there wasn't a strong connection made between characters and reader. also, the level of intensity was not as it was described. i've read much spicier books.

as someone who is a teacher with anxiety and adhd, i wanted to appreciate the diverse main character, but i didn't really like the portrayal of them. the author wrote him as very childish rather than an adult teacher who is incredibly talented as an educator who happens to have anxiety and adhd. it just wasn't sitting well with me for positive representation.

in general, i really love the heart hassle series so when i saw another book, i had to read it. and of course i was super excited to read about lex and belren because of what happens at the end of the battle. i knew i NEEDED to know if they would end up together somehow. i loved the inclusion of emelle and her covey, and i loved getting to come back to this world even if it wasn't nearly as much time spent as the heart hassle series. just loved it!

overall it was cute, but the writing felt repetitive in places (especially when the characters were talking about how they felt about the other, and if the other also felt the same). the spice was decent, but it felt rushed and not thorough (it felt like something would begin and then it wouldn't finish).