Ritika Bhattacharjee

rating- 2.5/5

it took off really well and i was super excited that a book i picked randomly (let's be fair we all picked it for the Travis kelce and Taylor Swift dedication) was going that well. However, it all just went down post the 40-50% mark. I felt like the author tried to fit in too much in about 200 pages. The first half went well because it seemed like a slowburn. Post that, it just seemed liked the author was trying to write an essay and had to finish it within a certain number of words.

For instance, the fake dating was introduced at like the 60% mark and the 'anonymous person' subplot was all over the place. I was so confused throughout about Brett not connecting the dots that Stone Walker (the NFL player Stone Walker) was the same guy she was hanging out with, throughout. Like Brett and him had multiple run ins and he still didn't recognise him??

Overall, it felt like the author was too ambitious. if she'd stuck with the brother's best friend, fall-out-in-the-past tropes and the lucky charms . This would have been a much better read. There were also a lot of loose ends; for example I would have loved for her to explore the family dynamic a little more. Maybe an HEA with the brother and the family would've been great.

Not a bad read but was just not feeling it towards the end and wanted to get it over with.

"Giving something up isn't the same thing as losing control. It's the opposite, Lily. You're taking back control.”

rating: 3.5

I love these books so, so, so much. Absolutely love how detailed and character-driven the plot is. It helps that I love all the characters too:) can't wait to read the rest of the books.

{review contains spoilers}

I can tell that this was meant to be a novella that ended up being too long, because nothing substantial happens in this book.

Honestly though, I kinda like that? So far these books have been extremely character driven; so I'd rather have a slightly longer book getting to know them than a short one with some unrequired elaborate plot twist.

I loved that we get to see Lily's journey with therapy in this book, get to understand her and her addiction: which is again, elaborate and realistically portrayed. The only complaint I have is the lack of a Lo pov. I mean this would've been the perfect time to switch to dual pov, since they aren't together but unfortunately we just get to see Lily's side of the story.

Till about the 40% mark, we even see absolutely no interaction between them, which again is okay, but i would've loved to see texts/ emails or even the calls a little earlier.

The flashbacks did serve the purpose of not missing Lo as much, but not having Lo around wasn't the same.

Love them both so much nonetheless, and i do agree that they needed some time apart to be able to progress in their journey.

“No, Lil,” he tells me with a short laugh. “You're the opposite. You're my stability...my home.

Coming to Rose and Connor, they have my entire heart. I'm so excited to read about them. Especially because, their story would be SO SO different from Lily and Lo's.

There was a lot of plot dedicated to Daisy and Ryke too, which was okay if i didn't think of their ages? Like 15 and 22 is just not it, why didn't the authors make her over 18, because i was most definitely weirded out and a little uncomfortable. I really hope she's older in their books.

Overall:

extremely intriguing. I just want to keep reading and find out what happens, I want to know all the characters more, i just want to see all of them happy; and yeah if you can't already tell, I'm definitely going to be crying by the end of 10 books.

rating - 4.5/5

A single dad-nanny, grumpy-sunshine with the cutest 5 year old to exist? You just know that I HAVE to pick that up :)

Let's be fair, most of us read flawless only so we could read this. While flawless was pretty okay, there was just a lot of focus on a cowboy sport that i didn't care enough about? Heartless on the other hand, was...everything. The small town vibes were absolutely immaculate. Luke and Willa had my entire heart <3

And the spice...sighs THIS↓ need i say more???

“Let me hear it, baby. Say thank you.” She clears her throat, eyes darting away. “Thank you.”

“Good girl.”

I grip her chin and turn her face up to me. “That's what you're going to say to me all night. Every time I tell you something good about you. Are we clear?”

rating - 5/5

“Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it toward the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs—on the probabilities.”

writing, the plot, the characters, dragons and the banter

perfection.

chef's kiss

we get more of his pov

there wasn't one dull moment in the book. The world building was done really really well for a fantasy. I think it'd be a great first time fantasy read because of how seamlessly the author eases you into the world. overall just done very well.

rating- 3/5

{thank you to Netgalley, City Owl Press and [a:Ashley R. King|19795783|Ashley R. King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1575655900p2/19795783.jpg] for providing me an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review}

publishing date- 15th Feb, 2022
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"I can't help your game if i can't get into your head""Oh you're in my head, ma chérie. Believe me."

The book started off incredibly well, with the chemistry between Alex and Simone being off the charts. The first chapter immediately draws you in and you just HAVE to know more, you know? I absolutely love sports romances and tennis being a sport that's not usually written about, definitely made [b:The Wilde Card|57337994|The Wilde Card (Ace of Hearts, #2)|Ashley R. King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1641255830l/57337994.SY75.jpg|89734682] stand out.
The one night stand? the dual pov? the chemistry? a single parent with an adorable 8 year old? a coach-player romance?
I was definitely sold and was pretty sure it was going to make my favourites shelf. Unfortunately, it fell a little short for me due to some parts in the middle.
Here's a few thoughts:

Setbacks-
✶ Simone being Alex's coach and Alex's current game was more than enough reason for them to not act on their feelings and add to built-up tension from the night of the ball. The tension would've been a fun addition to the plot and entertaining to read. I feel like most readers like the build-up to when the characters actually get together, which in this case was non-existent. The protagonists are only confused about being together in a relationship but sleep together whenever they want to anyway.

✶ sleep together, question feelings, do we date? repeat. x 3
yep. that's the plot summed up for you in terms of relationship dynamic. it was a little repetitive and I was expecting it by the third time anyway.

✶ A few dialogues and interactions seemed forced and unnatural.

✶ While this is a slowburn because they don't get together relationship-wise until the very end, all their confessions and sleeping together don't make it feel like one.

Things i really liked-
✶ I LOVED the tennis aspect of it. I knew nothing about the sport and haven't watched any tennis matches as such but the book had me looking up stuff anyway.

✶ I think the author did a great job at the side characters because I really wanted to read the first book, [b:Painting the Lines|49114881|Painting the Lines (Ace of Hearts, #1)|Ashley R. King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595331144l/49114881.SY75.jpg|74559662] about Amalie and Julian as soon as she mentioned them. I decided not to read it because I was short on time and regretted it the whole time because they're such interesting characters.

✶ The found family dynamic with everybody at the end, was also a great addition and nicely done.

✶ I loved Lula! kids in books make me happy and she was such a sweetheart:)


Overall, while the start had me hooked, the book went significantly downhill for me after that. However, I did like how easy to read and fast paced it was. just because i didn't love it, doesn't mean you won't. you should definitely give [b:The Wilde Card|57337994|The Wilde Card (Ace of Hearts, #2)|Ashley R. King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1641255830l/57337994.SY75.jpg|89734682] a chance:) and add it to your tbrs.

{thank you to netgalley and the orange sky audio for providing an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review}

“the trick to not having the high expectations of your success bury you when you fail to meet them? lower them to practically nothing.”rating- 2.5/5

This is the first audiobook recording for a book published in 2014. I came across the excerpt on netgalley when I was looking for nothing in particular and found the premise super intriguing. I also don't usually prefer audiobooks, so this was an experience! Samantha Summers, the narrator did a great job with the narration. Her voice fit the main character's monologue perfectly and the voice modulations kept the plot engaging throughout. I had a lot of fun listening to the book and had absolutely no complaints when it came to the audio.
That being said, i don't think i would've liked the book as much if I'd read it instead of listening to it. The writing style was different from what i usually read but seemed to work for an audiobook format.

PREMISE
18 year old Lizzie Brandt has gone into a downward spiral ever since she's come to college. She doesn't care about her grades and spends most of her time in parties and curing hangovers.
Everything changes when she loses her parents to a car crash. Now, she's the sole guardian to her two younger brothers and needs to bring up her grades to maintain the scholarship. She's struggling with parenting at 18 while also figuring out college, when she ends up falling for Connor Lawson, her history TA who has helped her throughout everything. When bad decisions from her past are back to haunt her and threaten her relationship with Connor as well as custody of her brothers, she finds that she has more on her plate than she can handle.

{review contains spoilers after this point!}
THOUGHTS
It was way better than I expected for sure. I looked up the actual book on gr, and I'm pretty sure i wouldn't have picked it up if not for the new cover and the audiobook. i.e. it was definitely a good idea to republish in audio format.

There were a few things in the plot that didn't work for me:
➢ the age gap felt a little icky to me, especially because of the power imbalance in the teacher-student dynamic. Would've been different if she was over 20 i think. But atleast they address this in the book instead of glossing over it. Also think it wasn't the best idea for her to get into a complicated relationship mere weeks after her parents death, but then again, it is what it is.
➢ the predictability of the plot.
I knew immediately after the whole Sophie conflict that this was going to bite her back in the ass. I also disliked the whole cheating situation in the beginning. Lizzie's definitely in the wrong but is surprised that Sophie is mean to her?
➢Although Lizzie's character is more than realistic, because let's be fair every 18 year old would react similarly in a situation like that, i did find her monologue sliiightlyyy annoying at times. She's whiny and constantly complains about her life falling apart instead of doing something about it.
➢ You know a book is written in 2014 when it uses words like fuckability? and lady boner? Plis T_T.
➢ I understand that losing your parents at 18 is terrible and nobody should have to go through that. But the author mentions her parent's death every two pages and it did get more than a little repetitive.

Now, coming to the things i liked:
➢Connor's character was definitely more likable. I was a little apprehensive that they would use the daddy issues bit to justify asshole-like behaviour, but I'm glad they didn't. His reluctance was completely understandable and makes more sense when he voices his thoughts about his inability to be a good parental figure to the boys. Moreover, their relationship was really well done. It wasn't super quick or too slow and they had great banter and chemistry.

“if you don't think I'm committing every fucking second of this to memory, you're crazy”

chaotic nature of the plot.

The ending was not what I expected. It felt like it negated all the character development since Lizzie is back to living on her own. It lets her off the hook as a protagonist and made the plotline of the story seem unfulfilled.

fun, fast paced

rating - 4.5/5

I expected to like this more than mile high since most people do; but somehow i was just not suuuuper impressed like everybody else. A for effort obviously.

I mean i rated it 4.5 stars because i know it's mostly me being picky.(if i was going off purely on reading experience it was probably a 3.5 or 4) Reading two contemporary romances back to back is never a good idea when you're in a romantic drought and in your cynic era; but I braved this one and I sorta feel bad ngl. Because I just KNOW for a fact i would absolutely love Ryan Shay otherwise. * sigh * it is what it is, i guess.

Reading is subjective so, I can say...if only this was 200 pages shorter, I would've liked it more; I can say... i just wish the book hadn't tried to tackle so many things at once. The truth is: I wouldn't like it as much, no matter what the author did- simply because I wasn't in the mood for it.
dunno why i read it then, lets not get into logistics.

Overall, while i appreciated certain events like building the bookshelf, learning ASL etcetc. The book simply felt all over the place. An example of this could be the knee injury distracting from the smut scene or even Indy going from thinking? about the cheating to fertility to his love language to saving flowers, back to Ryan's trust issues. Like idk if it's just me, but it was a loooot to take on in a single book. Somehow I was just burnt out by the 80% mark and the final third act conflict was just pushing it too farr. Anywayz, i loved the first book so i know it was mostly me. can't wait to readd Kai's book:)

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.

I've had this book in my shelf for the longest time and never got around to reading it. I'm so glad i finally did. The first half of the book was pretty slow and took me a while to read, but the brilliant prose makes up for the pace. Looking at the world through six year old Scout's eyes was an absolute delight. As a child, Scout doesn't understand the full implication of the things happening around her, making her an objective observer and a reporter in the truest sense. We see things exactly the way they happen which makes it so different from the usual adult pov. However, it's important to understand that the narrator is two Scouts: the little girl experiencing the story and the adult Jean Louise who tells the story. The adult Jean Louise can better understand the impact of various events while Scout as a child was simply living through them.

My favourite part about this book is how unflinchingly honest it is. Scout isn't afraid to ask questions. She looks up to her father (Atticus) and views him as a voice of reason and somebody who would answer her questions truthfully. Her relationship with Atticus stands out throughout the book.

SY75

“They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

Final Thoughts

SY75

“Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.”

rating- 3/5

my pet peeve is when they call a book enemies to lovers when it's only them not starting off on the right foot.

But even if i let that slide, i wasn't really a fan of the whole cowboy/country vibe T_T and the entire setting was purely country so...
(But that is a me problem, so i won't let that affect my rating much)

Overall, it was pretty meh. Entertaining at some parts, but just felt flat otherwise.
Also was it just me or was the ending sliiiightly...dissatisfying? Could be the competitive streak in me, but are you fr? No way he just decided to quit, when he was that close to winning a third title. An alternate better ending, imo would be: Summer convincing Harvey, Cade and Beau showing up for Rhett's last rodeo at Vegas. And her mouthing she loves him exactly like it happened. But instead of impulsively quitting, his family and Summer finally showing up for him gives him the love, support and understanding he's always been craving; therefore helping him hang on for 8 seconds. He wins, Theo comes second. Rhett coaches him next year so he can win. Because let's be fair; Theo would actually like to win instead of being handed a title for funsies.

I think the other books in the series might be more up my alley. (single dad romance with a cute kid??? shut up I'm skipping to Cade's book right now)

rating-4/5
These books are so good T_T. I need to know what the author's putting in them because, once i start reading, it's all i do. I physically cannot stop.

one star less simply because the cult and the themes in the last 2 books are not my favourite genre of crime. i love the usual murder mysteries, serial killers etc etc. but once it gets religious/ritualistic, i seem to lose interest. Overall, good characterisation, phenomenal writing; the first 2 books were my absolute favourites. While the storyline of 3 & 4, isn't something I'd usually read, I'm still super attached to the characters and upset that the series is almost over.

On to the novella now (knowing that it's all I'm going to do for the rest of the day) sigh

rating -4/5
okay phew. THAT was SO MUCH packed into like 250 pages.

aNdddd I honestly don't know if I mean that in a positive way or not?? Like the other books, this one was also pretty unputdownable once you got into it. But i do think the author tried to tackle way too much in one book. Cassie, Sloane, Judd, Scarlett-there were several elements and variables; While I have to admit I'm a sucker for layered story telling and how it all tied in together, was pretty cool. It was also unfortunately, a tad bit chaotic.

But if i ignore the chaos and me going : “wait WHAT? HUH?” every 20 pages; the intentionality and layers that were slowly unraveled in the story were absolutely remarkable. Nightshade, The Scarlett case, Cassie's mom's case, etcetc. most of these were mentioned in the first book and the callbacks to them, were done extremely well.

I love love love Sloane and while the number sequence, dates bit, went slightly over my head; i couldn't help but appreciate the research and thought the author had put into the book.The cult bit at the end, and Cassie's mother, again plays into the whole too much in one book thing. I thought it was slightly reaching, but I'm excited to see where the author takes it.

wanted to take a break before reading book 4 but with that ending?? you know I've started it even before writing this review T_T

rating- 5/5

An emotion reader, a deception specialist, a statistician who could not be allowed to ingest coffee, and two profilers who can crawl into the heads of killers

did not expect a YA crime novel to hook me in

YA mystery is literally THE childhood genre right up there with YA dystopian.

nostalgia

transported back in time

very good pacing, writing and short chapters

crafted perfectly

“Personally, I wouldn't mind taking out an ad in the paper or hiring a skywriter to announce that he and Locke were outsmarted by three bored teenagers.”

found family

The love triangle is SO 2015.

BUT I ABSOLUTELY ATE IT UP.

Michael had never made any secret of the fact that he was pursuing me. Dean had fought any attraction he felt for me every step of the way.

rating -4.5/5
these books just flow so well, i can't seem to put them down. At this point, I just want to finish the others so i can finally have time to do other things lmao.

That being said, I do think i liked book 1 so much more because it was from Cassie's pov and the Unsub was primarily focused on her. It was like seeing it happen first hand. However, book 2 focuses on Dean so the reading experience felt less personal. I would love to read the other naturals' povs tbh. Like to see how they describe their talents. I would love to see Michael and Lia describe how they do what they do, the way Cassie describes it. It would make us feel a lot closer to these characters; because although, the author explains ‘The naturals' scientifically; there are hints and touches of magical realism. It's explained to be rare and both because of their natural innate ability as well as the environment they grew up in.
I think that this helps the book cater to people who love both those genres.

And Cassie and Dean?? i don't really know how to feel about this yet hfjfkfk. On to book 3!! * sigh*

rating- 3.5/5I really really wanted to like this. But somehow, it fell slightly short, even while doing everything right.

Some scenes really had me in a chokehold (cough the tattoo scene coughcough), while some parts had me wanting to dnf? I don't really know how THAT much difference can exist parallelly in the same book, but trust me, it really did.

I loved the concept of a time travelling apartment and falling in love in a bubble, in between time; which is precisely why I picked it up, as I'm sure most readers would've. However to me, the erratic nature of the time travel, was what slightly put me off, you know? Like I didn't know when the apartment was gonna go back in time? So I wasn't really looking forward..to anything? if that makes sense? If the author had found a way to do the time travel in some other way, I probably would've been more invested?

Apart from that though, everything was done really well. I loved the characters, the way grief was portrayed and just the writing struck a chord with me.

Definitely give this book a chance! The magical realism is something that sets Ashley Poston's books apart and what I really like to pick up when most romances start to feel a tad bit monotonous.

rating-4/5
The issue I have with thrillers, and specifically, open-ended thrillers is that I'm just ALWAYS confused about how I felt about the book? Is the ending's twist, twisty enough that it makes me think? Is that ALL it takes, if the rest of the book was lackluster?

Despite the general extreme response bias I seem to have with psychological thrillers; this was the first time I tried out a thriller audiobook and was pleasantly surprised at how well it was produced.
The little crime investigation department excerpts, the podcast being played; was all really fun to listen to and was super different from how it would've been if I'd read it instead.

Although, the author does exceed at telling a story by stringing along mundane daily chores & activities that the characters do, and try to make meaning out of it; I still found the first half of the book a tad bit stretched out w details that could've easily been left out.

I do understand how difficult writing two alternate endings is, because you have to come up with something that accounts for every single event in the first ‘timeline'. In my opinion, the author did a good job with the ending. I did think about this book even after putting it down, if that counts for something. The decent writing & a nice flowy narration on the audiobook, makes you want to keep listening. Definitely give this book a chance! I think everybody should read it just so they can tell people what they think. A perfect book for clubs & discussions because there's literally so much to talk about (so sad that this wasn't a buddy read)

rating-4.5/5 “Butterfly?” Beautiful. Elusive. Hard to catch.that was SUCHHH a FUN read bahaha. it was the most fun I've had reading a book from this series. Chrisrian Harper and Stella were the absolute perfect pair. I loved how relatable Stella was. Her insecurities and thoughts in her pov just spoke to me. i haven't read a book with a female protagonist that i liked, in a while. So this was really refreshing. here's an excerpt that i ABSOLUTELY loved:I liked the idea of it. When I read a romance book, watched a romantic scene, or saw cute couples at dinner, a yearning for something similar tugged at my gut. But once the book or movie was over and I re-entered the bright light of reality, the yearning disappeared. Romanticizing love was easy. Falling in love was harder, especially when my previous relationships had all lacked...something. Some sort of emotional connection that would make the risk of falling worth it. Plus, I'd gotten used to being single, and I doubted the reality of love could live up to my fantasies of it, so I didn't even try.The lead up to them getting together was so much fun. That with Christian and her friend group being supportive pro-max and building Stella up was the primary reason why i loved this book sm. ++ all the callbacks to the other couples and the epilogue(ish?) scene with all of them together gave me instant serotonin. Overall so happy i decided to finish this series:)

rating - 4/5 “Because you're mine,” I said against her mouth. “Let another man touch you, Jules, and you'll find out just how easily I can take a man's life as I can save one.”

sigh fictional men T_T
I went into this book because i have a shelf named ‘finish these series asap' and this has been on it for over a year. I did not expect to like it, simply because I wasn't really a fan of the first two; they had a few great moments but I wasn't obsessed to say the least.
here's my reviews of the others:

Twisted love : 3/5
Twisted games: 3.5/5
Twisted Hate: 4/5

clearly the books keep getting better or I'm just getting used to the writing-. Overall, they all still have the ‘Ana Huang formula'(which i will breakdown in painstaking detail), :
➙ One protagonist haunted by their past hiding it from everybody (this becomes the basis of the third act argument)
➙ The other protagonist also having problems; however these are only to make them interesting therefore they can't be AS serious as protagonist 1.
➙ Add in sex scenes with the mmc being all dominant and sprinkle some degradation kink.
➙ Hideous third act argument (in this case especially; i wanted to strangle josh)
➙ groveling and then we have the happily ever after

I'm not saying it's bad or isn't working (because clearly, i rated this book a 4 stars) ; it's just it's very similar to the other books in the series. However, I WAS more fond of Jules and Josh, simply because their story felt a lot more normal. no princesses, bodyguards or billionaires i guess bahah. I also liked that there wasn't a wedding or babies, and the epilogues were just cute moments, a few months into the future because that's what their characters felt like.

Overall, fun, fast paced and likeable characters with lots of chemistry (that! stays! even! after! they! get! together!)
So, don't stop after twisted games (like i did) because i promise it gets better:) super excited to read Stella's book.

"here I was thinking this was just a casual, no commitment, no jealousy thing.”“shut up, anastasia.”

rating - 5/5

HONESTLY? perfect.
I read this at a period of time where i needed a cute contemporary stand-alone, so I really really enjoyed it and didn't think it was too long (which by consensus almost everybody seems to think).
I did read half of it at a friend's place and the rest of it on my Kindle and they were both different versions (one with lola and the other w sabrina- i was genuinely vv confused at first, but twas' a fun experience nonetheless). Honestly i thought Lola was a better character than Brin since the rep could've just been done.. slightly better, but yeah.

Overall, i absolutely loved the characters, the friend group, the banter and the conversations about mental health, therapy etc. Their arguments and the conflict felt very layered and real and was done extremely well, in my opinion.
I loved the characters actually communicating and just saying what they should be; since it was different from what we usually see in books. Henry and JJ were my favs.

super happy i picked this up! you're a 100% missing out if you don't give this a chance:)

rating - 3.5 / 5” a million things had to go right for you to be born, and a million things had to go right for you to still be alive today. Life is precious. You're here. you're alive. You have purpose. You have choices to make.”
I read very few memoirs/ self help books; but I've watched jess and gabe for the longest time so thought I'd give this a try :)
While I might not have the same beliefs as Gabriel, a few things he mentioned strongly resonated with me:

“You're not just going through what you're going through. You're growing through what you're going through.”

slightly better

dialogue format

jarring

__

__

this took me out of the book

unnatural

in between paragraphs

throughout

decent

few quotes that standout

nothing remarkable

rating - 4.5 / 5

“the entire world doesn't have to love me.”“only the ones that matter”

trust the process.

just go with the flow, enjoy the book as it comes

learn to love them despite their mistakes and flaws.

ALSO THE PREGNANCY??? STFU I did not expect that T_T. The whole reveal with Ryke blowing his 'i secretly know French' cover was so fun. also my babies lilo too:')

"People hope to touch the sky. I dream of kissing it.

rating- 4 / 5
everybody's watched reallyyy terrible reality shows right? the ones that are obscenely dumb and make no sense? you know that the whole time; and yet it's so entertaining you just HAVE to keep watching.
This book is literally that, but in print format.

Okay so make this make sense. They're rich and can own a whole-ass production company- or uh sue scott?? OR get another production company to produce the show?? shouldn't stuff like this be easier if you're rich? UM but what they do instead,... is let creep-scott basically put them through so much shit. But I digress. For the sake of plot, I will let all of that slide. But the ending was not it sorry not sorry. what do you mean they didn't take it to court :D. ‘scott van wright won. but he didn't win what matters.' WHY?? give me a unrealistic happy ending and not an eh life goes on ending T_T

Honestly, read this a really long time ago and don't remember any details. All i remember is absolutely dying and squealing throughout.
is it realistic? absolutely not. is it fun to read though? heck yess.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE ALLLL the characters and they're all my absolute favourites. Rose and Connor had me in a chokehold by like the first chapter T_T
Their dynamic, relationship and intellectual banter>>>> Their conversations were the absolute highlight for me; despite how eventful this book was.
My vocabulary is a new woman. Concupiscient? Lascivious?? rose ma'am- (that whole scene * hot sweating emoji *)

” don't you dare say - do you like what you see. I will break up with you right here if you utter those fucking stupid words.”“I already know you do.”

top tier.

good, addictive, reality-show-like-drama.

entertaining, nicely paced and addicting.

rating- 2.5/5I was way too excited for this book, but i'm disappointed to say the least. I felt like this was way too similar to [b:The Fine Print 58530994 The Fine Print (Dreamland Billionaires, #1) Lauren Asher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1625979098l/58530994.SY75.jpg 90312122]; I get that they're both grumpy-sunshine, but the characterisation seemed very similar for my liking. I'm not going to make this too long and go into details of what i didn't like (i lied, that is exactly what i proceed to do), but somehow this didn't live up to my expectations. The book literally starts off with their engagement, there is zero like setup and I felt like i was thrown into the book and the plot instead of being eased into it. We don't see until much later why Iris even agrees to marry him? so yeah i wasn't sure what was happening until much later. I've heard so much praise for the marriage of convenience trope everywhere and i was extremely upset i didn't feel the same way. The characters felt 2- dimensional and flat, since their entire personality revolved around each other. This was mostly Iris, I'm not sure Declan even had a personality to begin with. Not having a personality was his personality. Like i've read loads of books with the grumpy-sunshine trope; one does not have to lack personality to be grumpy!! But yes even this joke for characterisation was not executed properly, we're told he does not laugh and like 3 chapters in when he suddenly decides he likes Iris, alll he does is laugh. Like atleast make it rare?? so it's believable idk. Another complaint i'm sure a lot of people have is the lack of awkwardness and tension in the book. I definitely feel like Iris should've been less comfortable with the pda and public appearances in the beginning, and slowly become more accustomed to it? That being said, there were also quite a few things i liked. The whole words in a different language thing had my entire heart (although i was confused asf until i read what they meant; and in case of an ebook that wasn't until quite a few pages later). The whole dog and proposal thing was also very cute. sappy but cute. i like declarations of love, leave me alone. And last but not the least, the epilogues are absolutely my favourite. I read both the extended epilogues for [b:The Fine Print 58530994 The Fine Print (Dreamland Billionaires, #1) Lauren Asher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1625979098l/58530994.SY75.jpg 90312122] & [b:Terms and Conditions 60438355 Terms and Conditions (Dreamland Billionaires, #2) Lauren Asher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1645136977l/60438355.SY75.jpg 91507178] and loved loved loved them.Overall, I was disappointed for sure but it still had some endearing moments that had me smiling. Cal was a highlight and his personality shines through this book even more than the first. Him being Iris's bestfriend definitely saved this book. Absolutely cannot wait for his book.

“WE GET ATLAS POV CHAPTERS!!!”

“have you thought about how much you're going to cry when we see his perspective on everything that happened to Lily in [b:It Ends with Us|27362503|It Ends with Us|Colleen Hoover|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1470427482l/27362503.SY75.jpg|43940889] ????”

realises

“yeah that's what i thought.”