Now I know why nobody touched this book since it's release besides the ARC readers who gave it glowing reviews. This is a sequel to Devil of Dublin whNow I know why nobody touched this book since it's release besides the ARC readers who gave it glowing reviews. This is a sequel to Devil of Dublin which was a DNF for me. I remember the first book got so much hype on Bookstagram and Booktube and literal crickets on this sequel. The author said this sequel can't be read as a standalone and being the chaotic reader that I am, I ignored that. This wasn't bad but it's not for me. (view spoiler)[I had no personal attachment to Kellen and Darby from Book 1 and probably why I powered through this but I gotta say, killing off your couple in the opening chapter only to have them reincarnated as another couple who look "the spitting image" of said dead couple who were murdered is not romance in my book. If I were a fan and came into this only to see the couple I loved killed off for some Romeo + Juliet forever soulmates drivel I would be pissed. STOP FUCKING WITH HEAs. I don't understand this morbid fascination of killing off your characters just for shock value? Making your characters miserable and suffer is not beautiful. It may be someone else's kink but it's not mine. (hide spoiler)] I generally don't like apocalyptic war themed stories and I knew going in this would be dark but didn't realize how dark and ridiculous. The story opens up with Ireland getting bombed and invaded by Russia as retaliation for a mafia war that happened 20 years prior between the United Irish Brotherhood and the Bratva. A whole war over an old mafia vendetta where bombs are dropped on unsuspecting civilians and Irish cities and drones shooting down people and girls and elderly taken hostage and raped and brutalized gleefully by Russian soldiers. It was just a little too much and triggering where the violence and gore seemed heavily focused on for no reason. Not the kind of escapism I was looking for.
And the author makes her heroine Clover Doyle do some very questionable stunts in this book where her naivete veers straight into TSTL. Clover honestly was dumb as a box of rocks in her insistence on some things that made no sense. Why would you go off on your own and knock on doors of your evacuated city? Does she get captured by soldiers? Yup. Does she nearly get gang raped and unalived again? YOU BET. I hate when characters are dumbed down just to put them in dire situations of gruesome violence/assault with no help in sight. Awful shit happens all the time in real life. Do I want to read about it? No. Does it elevate this story? Also no. Neither did it make any sense for the heroine to dig her heels in refusing to leave their war-torn country just so she can solve what happened to her in her past life. Listen Nancy Drew, y'all got unalived so many times running for your life with no clothes or shoes or money with literal soldiers after you and now you want to say in a deserted town being invaded? No common sense. The TSTL ran deep in this book with characters lacking agency at the most bizarre times no less. Facing 25 drones armed with rifles about to shoot you down on a rooftop and ya'll just run into a helicopter to have sex instead while bullets are literally flying? WUT? O_o This was *thee* climactic face off with the villain that readers were waiting for but instead it's bow chicka wow wow time? Really? Bizarre as fuck. And I still would like to know how the hero Damien who nearly bled out from 2 separate gunshot wounds just magically heals from those grave wounds with nothing but some whisky and bandages applied to him? The hero is also a virgin but no mention of that whatsoever whenever these two have sex. B.B. Easton creates this huge political atmosphere and war torn landscape but her attention to details and word building is near nonexistent in times that is drastically needed. So yeah, I tried but this author isn't for me....more
Started off really strong. This was cute for what it was and reminded a little bit of Mila Finelli's mafia books. Just wish it had more depth like FinStarted off really strong. This was cute for what it was and reminded a little bit of Mila Finelli's mafia books. Just wish it had more depth like Finelli's work. The world building and character development could have been better. A Mafia Don going into an arranged marriage with a Bratva princess who has a disability and uses a wheelchair. So intriguing right?! I did like the disability representation. The heroine Sofiya has a condition called EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) which causes sensitive skin tissue, joint pain and dislocation frequently. She uses a rollator and wheelchair to move around. What started off great with a marriage of convenience disappointingly crumbled into repetitive cotton candy fluff by the halfway mark. I'm all for fluffy goodness but characters doing the same thing over and over again to fill up pages just starts to wear things down fast. I loved the sweet moments which were many but when nothing else happens in the story I start to mentally check out. The hero was a complete puppy for his "tesoro" wife which was cute. But a mafia don grabbing his wife at every opportunity to have her sit in his lap in every occasion including business dinners with all the mafia families felt a bit like fanfic for me. I love when couples have their own special "things" but when it's done all the time in every scene? Nope. There was also a looooot of giggling and lip biting happening from the heroine which kind of drove me insane.
The mafia action didn't kick in until the last 100 pages which stirred my interest again but parts were ridiculous given some of the questionable stupid stunts the heroine pulls. You want to get away from your husband fine, but why the fuck would you team up with a rival mafia to "rescue" you? ...more
-Weston Belmont made for a sweet hero. Was he memorable though compared to other Silver heroes? No. He's a walking green flJust some random thoughts.
-Weston Belmont made for a sweet hero. Was he memorable though compared to other Silver heroes? No. He's a walking green flag and a sweetie but he felt a *little* too perfect for me that it fell flat and kinda boring. Always throwing winks and cracking jokes felt a little too on the nose. I love nice guy heroes but I need a little something more underneath the surface. He felt way too laid back on some things too. He's supposedly protective of his kids and introducing new women to them but it didn't feel that way with the heroine once they got intimate. The fact that he didn't even bat an eye over his daughter catching them in bed together is an example of that. A lot of conversations seemed to happen off the page. He's a horse trainer but the "cowboy" aspect was nonexistent.
-West's two kids Oliver and Emmy were cute, I especially loved Oliver. But his little girl Emmy who is 6 years old sounded like a 12 year old going on 20 and it kept throwing me off and taking me out of scenes. It was so distracting. Does anyone know a 6 year old who talks this way?...
“I’ll come up with one and show you. If you like it, we’ll need to negotiate a price. I don’t work for free.”
“No, fancy girls don’t drink out of cans, Skylar,” Emmy argues. “What about a champagne glass? I think Dad has one back here somewhere.”
Emmy lets out a little scoff before turning to me dramatically. “It’s amateur hour over here.”
-Skylar Stone made for a sweet heroine. I don't love musician characters/stories, so that didn't really grab my attention and probably why I wasn't as invested as I should be in this story. It certainly didn't help here that Skylar didn't really feel like this big famous musician considering all the details about her music making and lifestyle wasn't really shown. She's supposedly a Taylor Swift-type of famous but it really didn't come off that way. Like her writing her whole new album pretty much happens in small bits and pieces and then boom! skip a few months(?) ahead... album is out. Which made no sense. Your heroine is a superstar shouldn't we see that creative process in real time? Her abusive asshole parents pushed her into stardom at a young age and controlled her whole life so it was nice to see her break free from that and discover what she really wants in life. Just wish the actual plot and chemistry was more exciting. I didn't feel invested/interested until the last 100 or so pages. I especially didn't feel the chemistry and angst till the near end which felt late.
-The standout character for me: The heroine's foul mouthed African Grey parrot, Cherry. ...more
So so so much better than Hail Mary (Leo sweetie I'm so sorry you were done dirty). Clay and Giana were a treat. Very adorable. I just really4.5 stars
So so so much better than Hail Mary (Leo sweetie I'm so sorry you were done dirty). Clay and Giana were a treat. Very adorable. I just really wish this author would lay off the 3rd act drama in her books that takes up 100 pages. I'm fine with break ups and conflict but why is it always family drama and adults being so fucking awful and toxic to their kids in Steiner's books? Or whatever 3rd act drama there is, it's always dragged out for much too long IMO. And parents getting excused for abusive behavior to their kids cause they "mean well" and need help isn't it. Absolutely not. Don't care if it's his mom who raised him, that shit with Clay's bitchy conniving ex-girlfriend and her interfering father was ridiculous. But shout out to that breakup scene cause a hero crying because he can't stand hurting the heroine and leaving her? THE ANGST. ❤️ Emotional heroes are my kryptonite. Just hits different....more
“Fadat besham, Asal.” Three words paralyzed me. I am willing to sacrifice myself for you, Honey.
Just so wonderful and feel good.4.75 stars
“Fadat besham, Asal.” Three words paralyzed me. I am willing to sacrifice myself for you, Honey.
Just so wonderful and feel good. A persian flight nurse heroine? I mean come on. I knew I had to give this book a try after learning Layla is Persian and her hero is calling her "asal" in Book 2, that had my antennas go up and eager to go back and read this. I was nervous but I have to give Maggie C. Gates her brownie points for really doing her research with all the details as far as language and customs, either she knows someone Persian who helped her out or she really did her homework. Some things were a bit exaggerated as far as customs go and religious practice and how phrases are used in what context but even so, I was very surprised and impressed by her thoroughness and care.
“But I’m most thankful that you spent your life making your soul just as beautiful. Dooset Daaram, hamsar-am.”
I just love and adore bilingual romances, whisper sweet nothings in my ear in another language and it really does things for me. I mean a hero who learns Farsi to tell the heroine how he feels? COME ON. Heart melting. Ovaries gone. He learned how to make her chai with nabat. This book made me want to squeal out loud like a lunatic. GIVE ME A CALLUM FLETCHER PLEASE. ...more
He stroked her hair and her back, kissed her temple and her cheek. "When you're gone, half of me is gone. Why do ye suppose the firs
3.75 stars
He stroked her hair and her back, kissed her temple and her cheek. "When you're gone, half of me is gone. Why do ye suppose the first thing I do is find ye?"
I just adore this series so much. So much to sink your teeth into. Adventure, family, humor, lowkey magic, suspense, sexual tension, passion and yearning in spades. No one does yearning anymore like Elisa Braden does. While this wasn't my favorite installment, I still had trouble putting it down. Alexander MacPherson and Sabella Lockhart made quite the pair. I loved the whole forbidden/sworn enemy dynamic here with a bitter hollowed-out jaded angry hero pining over the sister of his family's sworn enemy. Kenneth Lockhart terrorized, tortured, falsely imprisoned and nearly killed Alexander's brother Broderick a year ago and nearly killed Alexander too. So the grudge is deep and for good reason. While the already established "I've wanted you for so long" feelings didn't work for me in Campbell's book it worked well here because we actually got to see it play out in real time in Book 2 when Alexander and Sabella meet and the fallout of him nearly getting killed. So that underlying tension has been simmering in the background for two books so it held weight. You feel that anticipation going into this book already. Was there insta-lust and tripping over things quickly to get to a marriage of convenience? Yes. But the sexual tension, pining and chemistry saved it for me. And yes there was a quite lot of tup, tup, tupping. These two are so insatiable and smitten with each other and while I wish some beats played out differently and paced out better, a fun time was had nonetheless. I just loved how obsessed Alexander was with her. He hates that he's wanted her and couldn't have her and thought he lost her to someone else. His desperation in wanting to keep her and fear of losing her was so great to see. There's just something about lovesick obsessed "I'll do anything to keep her" heroes even if they have to play a little dirty to do it. He starts off mean to her because of a misunderstanding but even underneath that bitterness you see how much he worships her. All bark and no bite is the best kind of brooding hero. I mean the switch mode from broodacious rawr! to losing his shit over her getting hurt? Ugh. INJECT IT INTO MY VEINS RIIIIGHT NOW.
“But first, I want to know why ye call me Duchess. Early on, I assumed ye intended to mock me, but I no longer think that’s true.” “Ye should be a duchess,” he answered. “But as ye’re mine, and I cannae offer lofty titles, I call ye what ye are to me—my wife, the mother of my bairns. A woman too fine for aught that’s ordinary.” He shrugged. “Ye’re my Duchess. That simple.”
The weakest points for me were two things. Their first time having sex I didn't really love. I mean it was hot but felt kind of anticlimactic; I didn't love the whole fucking her against a tree for their first time (after all that build up) and to continue to just go at it after finding out she's a virgin without pause was little WTF for me. Considering he thought she was mistress to a man he loathed for 1 whole year, yeah I wanted the coming together to be little more explosive or meaningful or at least freak the fuck out realizing how wrong he was. That moment just lost something for me and fell a little short. And second, the whole random villain conflict and resolution with the bad guy Cromartie in the end with her brother's mistress wasn't great. Considering Cecilia's role in my baby Broderick's downfall in Book 2 I really didn't care for a revisit of this character. I don't care what a sad tragic life she's had, she nearly got my man unalived and mutilated for it. ...more
This was adorable and charming all around and I get the fanfare over this series if4.5 Stars
"Sometimes the quietest love is the loudest."
This was adorable and charming all around and I get the fanfare over this series if this was anything to go by. Ryan Shay and Indy Ivers just melt your heart, two extreme opposites forced to live as roommates who slowly fall for each other was so sweet and satisfying to see. This definitely was one of those books that checks off all kinds of tropes and I personally didn't mind it because it felt like little surprises that popped up and didn't feel forced in.
What I loved: -Hero Ryan Shay is a NBA basketball player who looks like a cross between Stephen Curry & Michael Ealy (in my head at least). -Heroine Indy is the hero's twin sister's best friend who is coming off an awful break up when she caught her fiance cheating on her and now needs a new place to live. She's a flight attendant who is a caretaker by nature and wears her heart on her sleeve and the embodiment of sunshine and firecracker. She's hilarious and adorable in trying to fluster the uptight OCD hero. -Heroine's full name is Indigo so hero gives her the nickname Blue. (it's a recurring joke) -Hero builds heroine a bookcase to hold all her romance books. -Hero learns ASL to communicate with heroine's father who is deaf. -Hero makes sure to bring veggie food to a camping trip with his General Manager's family who didn't know she's vegetarian. -The praise kink. (The way these two hype each other up is really sweet too) -Care taking when heroine is sick. -Fake dating shenanigans including one bed scenario and a jealous hero. (I have never laughed so hard over a guy confusing the craft store Michael's for a real man ...more
Started off great. This had so much potential to be another favorite from Mila Finelli. But it just lost me half way in when all the hero and3.5 stars
Started off great. This had so much potential to be another favorite from Mila Finelli. But it just lost me half way in when all the hero and heroine did was hate fuck and get each other off with zero emotional connection in between. The cat and mouse game took up too much of the book and left me feeling hot and cold. Their feelings just happen out of the blue, it didn't feel gradual. They share maybe 2 meaningful conversations between all the sex and that's it. The heroine Gia suddenly is softening after the hero Enzo (her captor) tells her a story about putting a band-aid on his daughter's knee and she's weak at the knees. That's it. Seriously? That's all we get? We do get a rescue scene before that where she almost drowns trying to escape his yacht but that's pretty much it. They have chemistry but I wasn't entirely sold on them falling in love because we barely see it. She starts to feel things for him because he has a big dick and she loves rough dirty sex. I'm sorry but kinky sex doesn't = love to me. ...more
Highly anticipated 2023 releases have been really disappointing for me overall and that makes me so sad. :(
This booNot really what I was hoping for.
Highly anticipated 2023 releases have been really disappointing for me overall and that makes me so sad. :(
This book frustrated me and underwhelmed me in so many regards.
-Breeding Kink. How are you gonna promote/market a book having breeding kink and not actually show it? I mean we got…some. Just barely. I didn't even realize until I read this book that breeding kink is the thought of impregnating that's the kink and turn on, not the actual act per say. But even so, that barely had much airtime in this either. I’m so confused by the choices Finelli made here. You have an arranged marriage between two people who are from rival mafia families who need to get pregnant in 3 months time or their loved ones will die. What’s more higher stakes and dramatic than that?! But nothing happens. Barely any sex (compared to the other books). No pregnancy in the end, nothing. So much page time was wasted instead on the hero and heroine delaying consummating their marriage, the heroine trying to get out of it and go back to Toronto or the hero pushing her away. The constant flip flopping also confused me and frustrated me.
-Emotional connection. I had the same problem in Mafia Madman and same problem persisted here. There was barely any time or effort shown in letting the characters actually connect and fall in love. It just seems to happen over night and come out of thin air after they have sex. The words are given and they are nice but I didn’t really believe it because of that. You literally have your heroine say at the 70% mark she doesn’t even know anything about her husband. So you just fall in love with someone you barely know? *crickets* How does that even make sense? :/ I mean we finally do get some of the sweet moments we are waiting for but it felt like a blip compared to everything else that happens there. It felt like these 2 barely spent any time together here, the pacing was very odd. I wanted much more than what was given.
-The sister. I’m gonna sound like an epic b*tch saying this but it’s fiction so who cares. But having your hero have a more visceral/urgent reaction and drop everything to run after his runaway 26 year old sister Vivian instead of fighting for his wife who he supposedly loves was a.....choice. It just left a bad aftertaste in my mouth and so underwhelming. Your wife is curled up in a ball sobbing and you just leave her there and tell her to go back home? Seriously?? THAT'S IT? Giacamo coddling his adult sister and his obsession of hiding her got tiring the more it went on. I wanted the heroine Emma to meet Vivian and become friends. Instead we got this nonsense. One conversation with Emma over the phone and that's it.
-Emma. I liked her...sometimes. She's exactly the type of heroine I usually love. Smart, quiet, sweet, selfless, minds her business. I liked her levelheadedness and good heart. That's very easy to like. But this girl really got on my nerves at times. One with the goody two shoes “the dangers of misogyny!” act. For someone so smart studying to become a doctor she would say stuff that would make my eyes roll so hard they almost fell out of their sockets.
Yes, I was a virgin. I knew it was silly. But it wasn’t like I was waiting for marriage. That perpetuated an arcane patriarchal view of a woman’s body and her rights.
“That was fast. Too bad for your wife, eh, Don Buscetta?” A stamina joke. Awesome. I guess we were checking all of the clichéd misogynist boxes today.
“You have no right to yell at me, because I did nothing wrong. I will not perpetuate a backwards society where I’m supposed to be lesser than you just because I’m a woman.”
She pushed a strand of long brown hair behind her ear. “Sex isn’t just vaginal penetration. That’s a very misogynistic way of looking at—”
This was ok but it lost my interest in the last leg of it. The last 100 pages really draaaaaaged for reasons that didn't really make sense. 2.75 stars
This was ok but it lost my interest in the last leg of it. The last 100 pages really draaaaaaged for reasons that didn't really make sense. The conflict felt really silly and forced and dragged on for too long. Being a professional caddie to your boyfriend or running your family's golf shop? Oh. the. suspense. What will she do! ...more
“I’m done pretending to be head over heels in love with you because I’m legitimately head over heels in love with you. And acting lik
4.5 stars
“I’m done pretending to be head over heels in love with you because I’m legitimately head over heels in love with you. And acting like I’m not tears me up.”
I'll be honest I'm a little conflicted on the rating for this. It's between a 4 and 5 stars. Which is still great either way. This was a 5 star for a good chunk of it but the steam factor and the last 20ish% kind of made that last star fall off a bit for me. I've been in a not great head space the past week so reading was a struggle in general. But even so, this grabbed my attention and the distraction I needed from reality. Beau and Bailey were adorable and so sweet. Two lost souls trying to find themselves and their way in life and finding comfort in each other. Bailey was a great combination of innocent, vulnerable yet smart mouth and guarded. I loved the age gap here. Beau is 35 and Bailey is 21. Beau is a special ops soldier who is back home after a rescue mission left him with burned scarred feet and a serious case of PTSD. He's the jovial "goofy" Eaton brother but underneath the bravado is someone who is very weary and lost. Bailey Jansen is the misfit outcast that everyone in Chestnut Springs treats like a pariah given her last name. Her family is a bunch of drug addicts, petty thieves and bullies that the entire town find a nuisance. Bailey has been getting the burnt end of her family name when she's just trying to make her way on her own. I felt for her. Did the conflict in the end feel overblown and a bit silly? Yes. I was expecting it. It was overblown considering the timeline of it. But thankfully it didn't drag on too long and they talked it out. I love how slow burn this felt. Elsie said this was her "least" slow burn book from this series and frankly I disagree. I'm a little confused what she meant by that because this felt pretty slow burn in my book. The amount of pining/yearning/edging that drags on is both delicious and frustrating at the same time. lol
You don’t tell a person you love them with the expectation they’ll say it back. You tell them because you want to. You tell them because it’s true.
I personally love shy virgin heroines who find their own voice and independence. Bailey fit that bill. I just wish the steam was a bit more exciting in this rather than focused solely on "I wanna get rid of my virginity now, a sex toy already got rid of my hymen". It felt heavy handed. I know I'm in the minority when I say this but I absolutely hate when virgin heroines are portrayed like this in romance, specifically CR. Like it's some big shocking annoying thing a young girl in her 20s should be ashamed of? It's a weird gross narrative that I'm seeing more of and I truly don't get it and so tired of seeing it. A woman in her 20s (or any age for that matter) being a virgin is not gross or shocking please stop treating it that way authors, it's insensitive and utterly ridiculous. But that's a rant for another time. Also the porn thing, do all of Elsie Silver's heroines love to watch porn? I'm not knocking porn fanatics and normally don't even care but it feels very disingenuous here because these are women from different lifestyles and backgrounds but all of them just casually watch porn when they are horny or bored, in every. single. book. With uptight "ice queen" Winter it felt weird and very forced and here it felt forced too given how much it was brought up. Like yes, the heroine is a virgin but she's a COOL virgin ya'll! She watches porn and has a box of sex toys to prove it. RME. Please stop. It was doing too much IMO. Also, when you have an experienced hero and a virgin heroine who is eager to try things and discover sex, why not show some of that sexual exploration? *cries into my pillow* That's the part I felt let down the most TBH. This book kinda felt like a big ol' tease in many ways in that regard. And I want to throw my shoe at people who labeled that bathtub scene as "steamy" all over social media because it built up expectations in my head I wasn't aware of until I got to it. (view spoiler)[ Your man helping you shave your pubic hair is sweet but standing in a bathtub full of floating pubic hair (I really didn't need that visual Elsie Silver thanks) while he performs oral sex on you is not my idea of sexy time. But that's just me. (hide spoiler)]...more
Easy sweet read. Low angst and with a sweet cinnamon roll hero. But this did not need to be a 436 page book. A good 100 pages could have been3.5 stars
Easy sweet read. Low angst and with a sweet cinnamon roll hero. But this did not need to be a 436 page book. A good 100 pages could have been cut down. There wasn’t enough tension or conflict to drag it out that much. The last 50 pages especially felt pointless, like a long running epilogue.
The heroine Caroline is a 22 year old kindergarten teacher who has lupus. She had a kidney transplant when she was 11 years old so she's spent most of her young life in and out of hospitals. She's now trying to make up for "lost time" and find her independence and normalcy after living such a sheltered smothered life. I liked the chronic illness representation here. Seeing her deal with her lupus flare-ups was also great to see because you don't normally get that. I learned stuff here I didn't even know about lupus and kidney donors, like a transplant recipient getting similar food cravings from their donor. So interesting! I also liked that the heroine was an artist who paints and sells her work. I just wish her personality was a little more interesting. She's very shy and skittish in the beginning but slowly comes out of her shell with the hero's help. Their first kiss and the hero "teaching" her was quite sexy I have to say. ...more
Really loved this. There's just something about Shupe's writing I really enjoy when the story is right. It's so intelligent, precise, sexy an4.5 stars
Really loved this. There's just something about Shupe's writing I really enjoy when the story is right. It's so intelligent, precise, sexy and well researched. It does take on a bit of a modern tone in some areas as far as female autonomy and independence but it's not distracting. This is the biggest age gap romance I've read and I'll be honest if this was a Contemporary I would not have touched it. There's a 23 age difference here. The hero is 41 and the heroine is 18 and yes it took me some getting used to considering he's known her since she was a baby and he has a teenage son who is 2 years younger than the heroine Violet. I would have liked it more if Violet was 21 at least. But she's very mature for her age (a little too mature at times if I'm being honest lol). It definitely helped that the hero Max tried to put some distance and barriers between him and Violet who is doggedly pursuing him and is freaked out that she wants him. She's hurt that he's put distance between them since her coming out and it turns out he did it for a reason as he found her beautiful but much too young for him and it freaks him out. This also helped because if he had just went along with it easily I would have dropped this in a hot second. He's terrified and tries to scare her off at first which was great character development.
The Duke of Ravensthorpe is Violet's father's best friend and a family friend and Violet's crushed on him from afar since girlhood. He's a widower who enjoys single life after his marriage was a disappointing disaster after his wife died during child birth. He's a rake through and through who loves naughty times in the bedroom and honestly I found him so sexy and delicious. He's so intimidating, commanding, intelligent, earthy, sensual and masculine but also kind and a gentleman. I can't blame Violet for wanting him. A silver fox Duke with a filthy mouth. I wanted to climb him like a jungle gym so I get it. lol He steals the scenes and then some. Violet for her part I thought could have been developed a little more in comparison. The fact that I don't know what she looks like beyond having blonde hair and a curvy body for example did bug me. Her face is a hazy blur in comparison to the Duke who we get every little detailed description on. I liked that Violet's passion was in photography (I didn't even know Kodak camera boxes were a thing in 1895?) and studying photography (were classes available for women back then?). The sex scene involving her taking pictures of him naked was insanely hot and erotic. I thought that was nicely done. (ETA: I just realized the model on the cover is holding a camera. Very clever.) This is a very hot spicy novella and I loved every minute of it. I honestly wish this was a full length book given how quickly these two acted on their attraction and I wish that was dragged out a bit more given the forbidden aspect of it and Max's hang ups over their age difference and his friendship with her father. The hero caves a little too soon for my liking but since this is a novella you kind of just go along with it. I thought the emotions, the connection and tension was nicely done. If this was a full length book I probably would have given this a 5 star TBH. I could not put this down. Maximilian Thomas William Bradley III could absolutely GET IT. ...more
Not really what I had in mind. I went into this hoping it would be like that Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves movie, no not Speed (my absolute fave), INot really what I had in mind. I went into this hoping it would be like that Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves movie, no not Speed (my absolute fave), I'm referring to The Lake House. Where two people end up living in the same house but in different years and communicating through letters back and forth and falling in love. Intriguing right? The blurb really reminded me of that and lured me in. Did that happen here? Eh. Not really. I wouldn't really label this book as a true "romance" since the romance felt very secondary to the heroine's grief over losing her Aunt Analea and the ins and outs of her career as a book publicist. Aunt Analea died 6 months ago but she very much felt like a whole character and third wheel in this book for me. This felt more like Contemporary Fiction because of that, 65% of it at least did because the author bogged the book down with so much mundane information that added nothing to the overall story and had nothing to do with the romance between our leads Clementine West and Iwan Ashton.
“Universal truths in butter. Secrets folded into the dough. Poetry in the spices. Romance in a chocolate. Love in a lemon pie.”
My biggest issue was the writing. It's very idealistic and dreamy but also incredibly repetitive. From the constant focus on the mundane office happenings at her work, to detailed descriptions of her building, to hanging out with her friends, to what is in everyone's office cubicle, this took verbal foot dragging to a whole new level. So much time is spent on Clementine reminiscing about her late Aunt and their adventures together and apart, her Aunt's love life and the many anecdotes of Clementine traveling across the world with her. I'm pretty sure I was told the same 3 travel stories at least 6 times through the book. Why was this even necessary? And the constant referencing of food, my g-d. I can't even call it food porn. The descriptions of food, the weird food analogies/metaphors, the restaurants and street vendors the heroine and her friends eat at, what the heroine would order every year for her Birthday, what the hero puts on his menu, etc. yada yada. It was just endless. This is my first read by Ashley Poston and her prose is definitely idealistic but with a heavy dose of cynicism and grief mixed in. The writing here just takes itself too seriously. The whole "disillusioned millennial" heroine is not my jam. Poston loves her some poetry, as in *literally* loves it. I needed her to find another word for "poetry". I mean even the sex scene which is very brief and PG, was heaped in purple overtones that made my whole body cringe:
He tore the condom wrapper open with his teeth—which was so much sexier than I thought it could be—and put it on before he slowly, savoring me, slipped himself inside of me, murmuring psalms of my body as he traveled it, and I knew I was falling.
“Alessione,” he breathed into my throat. My heart turned over at the pet version of my name, one Italians used in fondness. I swallo
4.75 stars
“Alessione,” he breathed into my throat. My heart turned over at the pet version of my name, one Italians used in fondness. I swallowed hard, suddenly unable to speak. I kept perfectly still, soaking in his attention like a plant starved of rain.
It took me one whole month to finish this. If I wasn't so invested in this series and Knockemout characters I 100% would have DNF'd t2.75 stars
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It took me one whole month to finish this. If I wasn't so invested in this series and Knockemout characters I 100% would have DNF'd this. It took the last 70 or so pages out of a 648 page book to finally see chemistry, sincerity and sweetness between the couple. Which is not a great ratio. Just want to preface this by saying I did not go into this one with eager anticipation like everyone else as I was not a big fan of either characters or their supposed "sizzling tension" in the previous books. *ducks for flying objects* I found Lucian "Suit Daddy" Rollins a walking stereotype and Sloane felt OTT with her sassy "spitfire" persona before even going into this. I just wasn't convinced or sold on their chemistry and here they didn't do a great job in convincing me otherwise for a good chunk of it. And I know I'm in the minority on that one. I have never seen so much work and set up put into selling a couple in the previous books where every character be it the bartender or nosy grandmas having to comment how "hot" these two were for each other underneath the hurling insults. You may as well fly a banner in the sky in case you missed it the first 100 times it was mentioned. It was giving performance for me. And here was pretty much more of the same unfortunately and I was really hoping they would prove me wrong. The bickering and antagonism carried on for much too long in this book and came off childish and petty instead of sexy and heated like the author tried so hard to pull off. They acted so juvenile around each other. I mean fighting over who can handle period cramps better? Really now? I'm sorry but that scene came off so stupid and embarrassing instead of funny. There are only so many times/ways two 40 year old adults can sling "asshole" "assface" "shut up" and try to convince me that's sizzling chemistry. ...more
Adorable. My ovaries went boom, boom, kaboom. Theo tap danced all over my ovaries and I wasn't expecting th4.75 stars
“Te vivo, baby girl.”
Adorable. My ovaries went boom, boom, kaboom. Theo tap danced all over my ovaries and I wasn't expecting that. Theo Silva is a dreamboat hero and has come for Cade Eaton's throne as hottest baby daddy. Plot twist. lol This book turned ONS/secret baby trope on its head. Which is hard to do. I'm not a fan of one night stand stories, in fact I generally hate this trope and avoid it like the plague. But Elsie Silver made some smart choices here that worked for me. For one, the actual sex scene from the one night stand is fade to black. Our hero Theo Silva and heroine Winter Hamilton hook up the night they meet in the beginning of the book but we don't see them have sex which I thought was a very smart move on the author's part. Because while technically there is insta-lust this is also a slow burn book. Which I'm a big fan of. I'm never a fan of insta-anything in my reads, I don't like instant gratification. I want work put in before our couple take the next step or give into feelings or else I can't buy it. While these two scratch that itch after a tequila-induced night of fun, the tension, the circling, the push and pull is very much present through the rest of the book which saved it for me. Something that was completely missing in Powerless. As for the secret-baby, again another interesting choice made here that took me by surprise and I think Elsie did a good job in how it was delivered. (view spoiler)[The book jumps 18 months ahead after their ONS, where we see the heroine had a baby girl Vivienne and believes the hero wants nothing to do with them. But we quickly realize a big misunderstanding played a hand into why. Before the time jump Winter tried to contact Theo when she found out she was pregnant but the message was never delivered and got in the wrong hands while Theo was on the road competing as a professional bull rider. So now 18 months later we have the hero moving in next door to the heroine to train to get back on the circuit completely unaware he fathered a child and a hurt confused heroine thinking he walked away from them. (hide spoiler)] Call me sick in the head but this is the kind of misunderstanding equation that I love if a misunderstanding situation has to happen in a book. The angst it brought to the table, the tension it creates, the unspoken feelings on both sides, the yearning, thinking the other doesn't want them? *chief's kiss* And the misunderstanding thankfully doesn't last long which I can't stress enough how relieved I was on that part. Once it's revealed we get cute as hell domestic scenes of Theo and little Vivi bonding and family moments between the three. Theo's reaction when he finds out he fathered a child? *clutches heart* Broke my heart. I just adored him. He's a total cinnamon roll hero.
Combat boots tugged carelessly over the top. Laces not tied. I remember thinking once that the very last thing I needed in my life was a man who didn’t tie his laces. It makes me laugh now, a light little chuckle that bubbles up from somewhere near my heart. How wrong I was. I feel like he rolled up and loosened my laces when I didn’t realize I was tied up far too tight.
As for the heroine Winter, I liked her. Which was another pleasant surprise considering she's not my favorite type of heroine. She's prickly, stubborn, closed off, blunt, the grump to the hero's sunshine sweet disposition. But her emotional vulnerability and insecurities is what saved this character from becoming a one-note archetype who magically is just "nice" all the sudden cause she's getting a book. She's the underdog and you want to root for her. I absolutely live for greyish anti-characters because they want to prove to others and most importantly themselves they are better and deserve happiness and love. I just loved how honest she was about herself and what her limits were and just yearns for love. I loved that she wanted to include Theo in everything from the start when it came to Vivi, misunderstanding aside. This book is about two adults who are trying to make the best of something unplanned, no immature nonsense. Winter is complex, layered and very misunderstood and I think Elsie Silver did a nice job of showing this character's arc and emotional growth. I was not a fan of this character in Book 1 Flawless for good reason. She played the part of the mean cold stepsister to Summer and here we get a better understanding of why. I think her character growth was very successful. Yes her insecurities do get the better of her time to time and have her dragging her feet in places but I felt for her and understood the why of it. Her whole life she had to fend for herself in a toxic home environment and nobody showing up for her and everyone always believing the worst of her. She finally finds that faith, security and unwavering support in a sweet man like Theo and she's as wary and scared as a wounded animal who is given a lifeline. I understood her fear so much. That contrast and dynamic between the two was fun to see. Her dream was to become a mom and after fertility struggles with her awful prick of a ex-husband, seeing her become a mom and flourish here was also great to see. I just absolutely adored the little family moments. Is there anything sexier than a man being a hands on doting father to his little girl? When I tell you it revved my engine whenever this man called his Vivi "baby girl". Oof. ❤️
A smiling Vivi is strapped to his chest in the floral-patterned Tula baby carrier I bought. He’s singing to our daughter. And dancing. And cleaning. One hand rubs the back of her head like she’s some sort of crystal ball, while the other wipes at the white cabinets in the cottage-style kitchen.
This had typical trademark dirty talk that Elsie Silver is known for. I'll be honest and I hesitate to even say this and the only reason I'm even pointing this out is because it had me going into this book expecting something totally different given the strong reactions I've seen on BookTube. To be frank I was expecting more in the steam department simply going off of the outrage. And it honestly confuses me? because this was pretty tame compared to the previous books as far as actual spice content. (view spoiler)[ He calls her a "slut" in the bedroom a total of 3 times. Did I love it? No. It's not my thing at all. But as far being out of character, it didn't feel out of character for a playboy like Theo. And I'm letting it slide here because 1. it wasn't prominently used, 2. Winter liked it and thought it hilarious and it became a recurring joke between the two of them. He uses it to tease her and excite her. And the sex scenes themselves were pretty standard. Book 1 and 2 were waaaaaay raunchier than this in the steam department. (hide spoiler)] I personally thought the style of dirty talking was out of character for heroes like Cade and Jasper, Cade especially but I know I'm in the minority on that one. To each their own but I'm not sure what in this book would be labeled as "over the line" or "disgusting" especially if you loved the first 2 books in particular. I'm just saying. ...more
Without a word or even a prior glance this time, Matthias took Pet’s hand. When his fingers closed around hers, yet another bit of he
3.5 stars
Without a word or even a prior glance this time, Matthias took Pet’s hand. When his fingers closed around hers, yet another bit of her heart chipped off and fell into his curled palm.
First let me just say I adore Pet and Matthius. They were dear, sweet and adorable as expected. But it felt like we barely got any time with them which bummed me out. This still had some sweet and swoony moments LP is known for but they felt brief and fleeting in an otherwise crowded book that felt aimless in plot. We get brief conversations between hero and heroine while working at the Palace together with a bunch of wacky mishaps that fill pages and just didn't feel organic or convincing. The most time Pet and Matthius spend together is when they ham it up for the press as a fake couple to clear Pet's name in the tabloids which was great but I wanted more of that and less 'look after Johnny' shenanigans. The hero Matthius is bodyguard to Johnny Marchmont, husband to Princess Rosie. The heroine Pet is Johnny's PA, who is the human equivalent of a walking hazard sign who seems to not be able to sit down without breaking something or causing bodily harm to himself or someone else which the British tabloids eat up. I just have to ask was this character really necessary? I didn't really care for Johnny in Book 1 and here was much the same if not worse with the redundant outlandish disasters of setting things on fire, throwing his PA--the poor heroine--bodily across a lawn full of people (how is this even humanly possible Lucy Parker?) getting accidentally high at a science fair, stealing a whole ass parrot, falling off a chair while seated and knocking over the 6 foot-something groom, etc. Like I said a lot of OTT mishaps happen here for laughs and quirkiness and it just didn't feel cute or funny or remotely believable the more it happened. It just was so obnoxious. This man is so accident prone and clumsy in every situation that it just was insufferable instead of endearing like the author painstankingly tries to portray him as. I'm sorry a fan of "sweet" Johnny I was not. I don't care if he is a nice guy with angelic blond curls and has the personality of a golden retriever, I just wanted this poor imitation of Mr. Bean to just go away. :/
He was patently furious, but when he released one of her hands to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, his touch was conversely light, almost cradling. “I’m sorry, Button.”
If this book was filled more with the content we got in the last 30 or so pages, this could have easily been a 4 or 5 star for me. The emotions, chemistry and sweetness is there but Parker barely utilizes it which really frustrated me. She's high on slow burn and sexual tension and low on steam, angst and spice and that's fine but you gotta give me something in between to work with.
I found Matthius made for a very compelling hero and a total cinnamon-roll. He's such a teddy bear. There were a few stones left unturned with this character but nevertheless I loved what we got of him. There's just something about traditionally not-handsome "regular Joe" heroes that I find so dear and refreshing and real. Matthius is a giant in size with his height and huge muscles and next to Pet's petite stature they make quite an image (yes he has to bend down to kiss her *swooning activated*). We do get some Beauty and the Beast references since the hero is deemed "ugly" by many much to the heroine's annoyance. Matthius is ex-military with a busted face and a shaved head and a beard. He knows he's not handsome but doesn't mope about it and just accepts it in a rather quiet heartbreaking way. I just adore when heroines get absolutely rabid over others despiraging their hero's looks. Pet is quite the protective bulldog when people make snide jokes about Matthius's face and huge lumbering size. It's fucking adorable. Can more romance authors do this more please? Make it a trope. I love it so much. Let's also make not-handsome imperfect heroes a thing please.
His flush had spread to the tips of his lovely, generous ears. She’d never not be enamored with how all his features were so substantial, like his physicality was a direct reflection of his inner self and integrity, vast from his feet to his heart.
This could have been a favorite 2023 read for me if the pacing wasn't so incredibly slow-moving and stagnant. The writing was just so wordy. To be honest the last 3 Lucy Parker books I've read I slogged through in parts and I couldn't exactly put my finger on why. Not sure if this was always the case and I'm starting to notice it now or what. But her recent offerings I've come to realize her prose is just way too wordy and long winded. It's a mouthful of fluffy metaphors and navel-gazing expositions and internal monologues that go on for pages. And here was probably the worst example of it because characters keep interrupting themselves with aimless mind-wandering. Like for example when your couple are finally about to kiss and you are reading through the scene thinking they are kissing only to realize they actually haven't kissed yet and the hero is still holding the heroine's chin and leaning in for....5 pages. ...more
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