Reham

thank you to the publisher for sending me the arc in exchange for an honest review


unfortunately, this was not for me.

First of all; the synopsis is misleading. What the goodreads summary says is: a romance author is finding it hard to write down love scenes so she decided to sleep with Mr. Right here right now for inspiration and then continue to see what happens. But that is not at all what happens.

Second of all, i am not a huge fan of insta-love. It's kind of cringe and it makes romances dull unless done right. However, this one was just awful. I haven't read the first book where the two protagonists actually meet but even if I had, it wouldn't have been from their point of view. But starting the book and the second chapter is the male protagonist confessing he wants to marry her?! Where is the chemistry, where is the anticipation, angst?!

The characters were very dull and one dimensional. They had nothing going on for them and nothing exceptional happens to them. There is character development or traits that would have made me like them even a bit. The male protagonist was a bit creepy, it's fair to want to marry someone upon seeing them for the first time because you are instantly in love with them but to actually go and purchase a ring before even talking to them at all?

And then there is this thing about he perceives Lindy, it was annoying. I have read smutty books, it isn't like this is my first but I do know where I draw the line. Dex gave me off vibes. He literally called himself the “nice guy” and we all know what nice guys are really like. And the entitlement he assumed he had over Lindy, letting her know that she will come around eventually as though she owes him anything.


Now, let's move to Lindy. Her biggest issue with Dex was that he was much younger than her when he was literally in his late twenties. And she was 35. That's not an unacceptable age gap but in fact quite common. Maybe she felt that way because she was an older ‘woman' but regardless, it was not that big of a deal. Other than that, Lindy was quite boring. She had absolutely no personality, I am sorry. Her being envious if her little sister put me off, for someone who raised and loved her as her own kid.

Take a shot every time either of them said “not ten any longer” jeez.

The exchange between the characters were mediocre. There was attempted humor that failed to make me even smile.

One more thing, Dex saying it wasn't his business knowing why his mom stayed with her abusive husband is actually in my opinion wrong. He should have asked her, should have helped her leave and heal. As a son, you owe her that much compassion. Especially when it is common that mothers stay in abusive households for the sake of their children having both parents. So yes, Dex, you should have asked her. It was your business.

And lastly, the smut was pretty good. But I would still give it 3/5

In conclusion, this was not my cup of tea in regard to the writing and the characters. The blurb was misleading and disappointed to find out that it was not exactly what it said. Maybe others might have found this book great but unfortunately, I don't feel the same.

2.75

I have to be total honest, this was lackluster. The first two books were entertaining and intriguing despite the dull writing, i was able to push through and have a nice time. This was terrible, despite the message it was trying to send. It took me so long to get through this that i settled on just skimming through the summary at the end

I finished the count of monte cristo. I..finished..the count of monte cristo, i finished the count of monte cristo – hold on, i am not done, i FINISHED the count of monte cristo!

inspired by lorelai gilmore when she realized she was no longer held bound to friday night dinners when rory made the deal about yale

This was everything. I have absolutely no words to describe the spectacular way the story was told. Dumas' incredible brain, the easy and well translated words and such brilliant characters. I loved Edmond, I adored Valentine, and I despised Fernand and Danglars with all my heart.

There are no words to describe the love I came to have for this book and though I am feeling accomplished that I finished this book but I am saddened to know it has come to an end.

dnf @ 70%


This was so frustrating and so fucking bad, it pissed me off.

i'll list them:

- the fmc literally forces herself on her boyfriend who literally says no in so many ways. like hes literally asking you in clear words to get off but she continues to grind on him. i found this bit repulsive because the fmc is a victim of child molestation and rape herself. she understands the basics of someone saying no so just because you're frustrated, you dont force urself on ur boyfriend but try to talk it out with him. like in three years theyve been together, they dont openly talk about sex?!

- the main love interest barely speaks to her in the first summer but he also punches the shit out of a guy who harassed her. they speak so less, and they fall for each other somehow

- this is not a love story, there is absolutely 0 chemistry between the fmc and love insterest

- also one chapter in the now is like hes better off without me, and the next now chapter he walks in and they fuck and he leaves. no words exchanged

by far the worst book i have come across

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc.

The premise of the book sounded promising, but the book started out a bit dull and ended up being chaotic but not in the best way. It was a page turner but that was because i just wanted to find out the truth behind it all. I will say that the author did a great job at misleading the readers into making Gabi the obvious choice. However, the ending was a but meh.

As for characters: I think Harriet let her husband off the hook too easily. She should not have downplayed Tilly's disappearance so lightly. Oliver is the father after wll, he needed to be there for her and them.
Oliver was a grade A douche bag, i hated him from the very first mention to the end of the book. He deserved worse, he deserved to be punished somehow.

In conclusion: it wasn't terrible but I unfortunately cant say was great either. I have been quite picky about my taste in mysteries/thrillers but oh well.

3.5/5

I was scared to read this because i knew the author is adapting Emily Henry's books. Hopefully she does better as a screenwriter than she did as an author. I understand this is her debut, but I believe as a writer of any kind - she even wrote fanfics apparently - you get the gist of a novel and how to properly write it

The first turn off about this book was the way the author consistently changed POVs. I don't mind dual POV, in fact i find them fun and interesting as they often give us both sides but here, in this book, it wasn't chapter by chapter but rather paragraph. We would be reading about Helen then suddenly it would shift to Grant, it was confusing and distracting in a way. I could immediately tell that a screenwriter wrote this. It felt like how you would transfer movie into books.

The second thing was the way Helen treated Grant in the beginning. Helen was aware that it wasn't his fault her sister killed herself but she was utterly rude and condescending. She could have been cordial at the least. We were told that she hated talking to people and crowds, but girl wasn't making the least effort even during room time. I really disliked Helen.

The romance was non-existent, to be fair. This was trauma bonding, there was no connection, no love, bo chemistry. Helen went from hating him, not even thinking about him to having wet dreams about him real quick?!

And what of her feelings with her parents? She finally says what has been bothering her and confronts her parents, and then suddenly shuts down and doesn't bring it up again?

The pacing was all over the place.

And lastly, the thing that really put me off was the third act conflict. I personally despise break up as thurd act conflicts, but more importantly, i hate when they go for months on end not seeing each other and suddenly patch up like nothing ever happened.

completely disappointed with this one. it lacked melanie harlow's usual style, even the smut off. the dialogues were so cringy, plus the part where he is just introduced to his son sucked because the forbidden part felt meh in that regard. i really wanted to read a book with this trope by melanie harlow but i guess i can find others

Merged review:

completely disappointed with this one. it lacked melanie harlow's usual style, even the smut off. the dialogues were so cringy, plus the part where he is just introduced to his son sucked because the forbidden part felt meh in that regard. i really wanted to read a book with this trope by melanie harlow but i guess i can find others

2.75/5

i feel disappointed, because this book was not what i expected it to be. I was really excited to read about leo's story and how much he was hyped until release. I really wanted to like this book but so many things about this set me back.

- the miscommunication/misunderstanding trope
- im glad the author did not make the big confession the third act conflict but the third act conflict was even worse lmao
- leo was hot but so much of his lines were cliché especially during sex
- mary seemed to have a very mediocre personality. when she was introduced in the previous book, she seemed like a badass but i hadnt really liked her much
- mary over reacting to leo beating the guy who sexually assaulted her and telling him that he hurt her etc. Like i get it but you also have to understand the guy's perspective before jumping to conclusions. she suddenly wants to find self love now?
- her leaving the pit because of this was my last straw

Look, i loved LOVED blind side which is how i found kandi steiner basically and wanted to read all of her work but i have been repeatedly disappointed. Maybe except for quarterback sneak, which was nice and better than this. This whole story and plot felt dragged and forceful, like something to be written. The smut was okay but not as great.

Clay Johnson will be my number 1 and only book boyfriend.

I had chalked up my disinterest in this book to my romance reading slump era but really, this was not good anyway.

DNF at 46%

the writing is AWFUL, you hear me, just awful!!! the main character has no depth, shes fucking boring as is the love interest. they share no chemistry, not with each other and not with anyone else. i tried to get through but i felt like my brain was about to fry with how stupid these characters were and the terrible writing.

3.5

The only reason i decided to read this book was because i wanted to read lucian's book, but i felt that it will feel weird because i wouldn't have majority of the answers that took place in this one. And the reason i didn't want to read this because i cared very less for Nash but also, i pictured him with a beer belly and a mustache, so it was hard to find him bits of hot. But as I read this book, i fell in love with the characters and Lucy Score's writing in this is so good and well worded. It was equal parts funny and angsty, and hot. However, what really put me off (other than how fucking long it was) was the third act conflict was a break up. And the reason was none other than the same one that Knox used in his book. Both boys clearly need therapy to work out their daddy issues.

This could have been a 4 stars but sadly, the break up scene happened and deduced it to 3.5. I am growing tired of authors using break up as the plot twist, or third act conflict. Anything can happen, breaks up are not it. Besides, a couple who can easily break things off is not a great, strong couple you know? How weak your love is that you're walking away because you think you can't help everyone or some shit like that lmao

time and time again, i tell myself to not go for these tiktoks that basically mislead me about such books. all i knew about this book was that it has age gap. I didnt bother reading the synopsis. so believe me when i was baffled upon reading that he was her godfather?! and not only that but they got together when she was 18?! I get that this was supposed to be a taboo romance but this relationship would still have been taboo if she was 23. and the cheating trope above all of that. the worst book ever

other than this, the writing was really bad. I had to recheck rhe author's profile that her first language is English because it felt a lot more like something i - whose english is not the first language - wrote at the age of 14 on wattpad.

this reminded me of the off campus series. especially garret and hannah. i feel like nathan was based on garret's character big time. maybe it was just hockey but thats what i felt.

other than that, the book was easy to read and fun to go through. i liked the relationship progress between nathan and anastasia. i hated aaron from the very first page he was introduced. the communication between the characters was strong. I was super glad for no cheating trope because that would have been a big turn off for me. the smut was great too.

however, i do have some complains

in the start, sabrina says “ya Allah” with no context as to where she is from and that confused me for a minute. her name didnt hint at anything either because sabrina is a white name i suppose. after three paragraphs was she introduced to us. i feel like adding “ya Allah” only once in the entire book is useless because as a muslim myself, i have been taught to respect my God's name and not write it down on piece of paper which i might throw out or casually leave on the floor. with that being said, i felt slightly uneasy knowing this book had endless smut, but also that people who are not muslims and arent given the same teachings as me would not respect it the same way. maybe the author could have used “ya rabbi” instead which still means oh my god same as ya Allah

4.5/5

As soon as i found out cal has a cat, he became my favorite kane brother.

This book was...pretty great. From the writing to the way the characters developed and how the ending came out to be. However, even though it was intended, i did not entirely like how terribly they often treated cal's addiction. Yet, i can't complain much because it all did make sense.

Can't lie, i expected cal to be more kinkier than he was.

I still remember when i first read the fine print last year, feeling surprised to know that it did not have shitty third act conflicts, no cheating, no miscommunication in the usual context you find in romance books. And even though declan's story was my least favorite because i hated the idea of having a child because you're forced to and not because you want to, i still enjoyed this series.

I'm so glad i read it when i did :)

PS. I have a feeling lauren asher's next book has to do regarding the character lorenzo vittori-something

3.75

Even though i knew she'd end up with BJ regardless but i liked her with julian. They were good together and to see him fall for her and do what he did for her was just heartbreakingly awful. BJ pissed me off in this one a lot like i wanted to smash his face against the wall several times. Fucking hated jordan!

Overall, it made me tear up a bit when they talked about each other but it felt a bit of drag sometimes.