**spoiler alert** OK, I am only rating this four stars because it is a good story, well written, even though I have major issues with it I again I’m s**spoiler alert** OK, I am only rating this four stars because it is a good story, well written, even though I have major issues with it I again I’m still rating it 4 stars mainly because of one character and one character only and that’s Nightmare.
I was immediately disappointed to see that this book had three POV‘s especially since the first book didn’t have multiple POV‘s. I didn’t feel that it was necessary here and in my experience as a reader, an author relies on multiple POV‘s when they lack the ability to progress their story. Now sometimes dual POV‘s can come in handy and can be executed well, there are authors who have done that, but my opinion is that if you’re going to give me multiple POV‘s then the POV‘s need to progress the story, they need to relate to what’s happening and in this case, I ended up skimming a lot of the chapters that focused on Elm. Sometimes no matter how much we may like a supporting character they are meant to be a supporting character. OK, think about movies, think about acting categories. You have lead actor and supporting actor. You have lead actors and you have character actors. You know, people who are meant to be the main character, and those who are meant to be part of the supporting cast. And while Elm, yes, was responsible for so much of the comedic relief in the first book I in no way think that he warranted his own POV let alone as much of his POV that we got. Were his chapters meant to try and offset the heaviness of Rayvn and Elspeth’s chapters because they were boring. His story was just about this alleged love and I really ended up skimming the majority of it. I was not at all interested in these feasts and what Ione was wearing or anything like that. I truly felt that we were given this love story between these two characters in this book because Rayvn and Elspeth were separated and you know we don’t need two grand love stories in a duology. One is really fine and sure maybe have them get together, but it doesn’t need to be a main story at all if anything I feel cheated by the author for not getting more of Elspeth and Rayvn because they are who we were rooting for from the beginning. I was here for the action. I was here for the resolution. I wanted to just get as much Rayvn and Elspeth as I possibly could and the Nightmare yes, you know I had my suspicions after reading the first book that there was more to him, especially seeing how much he cared for Elspeth and everything in the bond that they had I mean, that was just confirmed and further cemented I mean, I literally freaking cried when the two of them were saying goodbye to each other, so that relationship was quite beautiful. Now, this allegedly was Elspeth’s story, but we got hardly any of her and then even the epilogue was more about Elm and Ione and I really don’t care about the two of them. I care about Elspeth and I care about Rayvn and we got no reunion between the two of them and they were kept apart for pretty much the entire book. I mean, I really wish I could’ve been part of the editing team for the story because what my mind kept going to was how Rayvn was going to be able to look at Elspeth and not see the Nightmare and yeah, the Nightmare was not keeping up his appearance or anything like that to try and help Rayvn disassociate, but still, I mean there is a huge psychological impact, and I feel that if these two main characters have been reunited earlier in the book, you know we could’ve explored some of those after effects with them and I guess just overall I was really kind of disappointed and I kind of was a little bit prepared given how much I absolutely loved the first book I mean I rated the first book 5 stars. I never rate things five stars. I mean, it is very rare when I do that and so I know it’s going to be impossible to kind of live up to that expectation and four stars honestly is a bit generous. I really might rather rate it three stars, but because Rachael‘s writing style is so good and the concept of the story and again the character of the Nightmare himself it’s just so compelling that I will go ahead and stick with the four stars but yeah if you’re all about Elspeth, then this book is gonna disappoint you because we really hardly get her at all and that sucks. The first book I feel like there’s a good balance of Elspeth being in control, but then we see the Nightmare, but then that same balance isn’t there in this book and yeah granted at the beginning she’s like completely lost in their mutual subconscious, but that pacing could’ve been amped up a little bit more and honestly if we got rid of all of the crap with Elm and Ione, this probably could’ve been one single book instead of a duology, but perhaps I’m in the minority so will I read other books by this author yes and that first book I still feel just as passionate about it and the duology is definitely just leaving me severely wanting more of Ravyn and Elspeth...more
This was a DNF for me. I wasn’t really a fan of the writing style, and I was not at all impressed with the female main character, and once we got to tThis was a DNF for me. I wasn’t really a fan of the writing style, and I was not at all impressed with the female main character, and once we got to the part where it was time for her to escape for her life, I was questioning her thought process so I read some reviews and it kind of backed up and confirmed my suspicions which is that the girl is an idiot and since I wasn’t really feeling it, I decidedlife is short time to move onto the next book...more
**spoiler alert** I should’ve known once I realized that I DNF the first book in the series that this one wouldn’t be much better, but I didn’t recogn**spoiler alert** I should’ve known once I realized that I DNF the first book in the series that this one wouldn’t be much better, but I didn’t recognize the authors name and the purpose of the story. Sounds like it’s totally my jam. I mean it’s a single mother and this guy who’s been in love with her for like ever but While the story itself is interesting even if it is a bit trite, it’s the writer style that I can’t get into like the way, she writes a seven-year-old is so freaking annoying and I don’t know the writing is just a little bit to elementary and a little too ninth grade creative writing class And I also thought it was totally stupid that an issue here is that they’re worried people are gonna talk because he’s her dead husband‘s best friend like please. No one talks about that shit like that is not taboo at all. OK were they brothers? OK maybe then people would have something to say about that but the fact that it Was Just a best friend and the husband‘s dead it’s not like the husband still alive or anything like that so I thought that was so stupid and then I also didn’t like that there was all this buildup. I mean, I don’t know 140 pages or some shit of build up And neither one of them really wants to confess their feelings or whatever and then all of a sudden they’re having sex and very explicit sex like it didn’t feel natural to me at all and it was not enjoyable so I kept going for a little bit after that cause I do like the character of Penn butI just couldn’t get into it and decided life is too short. I’m not gonna finish reading this shit....more
**spoiler alert** So I’ve read several books by this author and I do like her writing style. I mean it’s not fraud with grammatical errors or anything**spoiler alert** So I’ve read several books by this author and I do like her writing style. I mean it’s not fraud with grammatical errors or anything like that. She doesn’t have any weird writing ticks or anything like that so the quality is there it’s enjoyable and while I was kind of interested in these characters, the story itself was just a little weird. I’m not really a fan of stories that are condensed into a very short time. This isn’t a Hallmark movie, but I would’ve much rather the story. Been about these two characters spending 12 days together and that created the foundation like that they didn’t necessarily have sex or anything like that but things escalated pretty quickly and I mean, I don’t know. I guess that can happen in real life, but I just feels a little forced and then also You know myself as a 44 year-old woman who doesn’t necessarily always have her shit together. I can’t really judge characters who are the same age and they still have issues they’re working on. I mean, everyone is a work in progress and for the most part I felt like the two of them were pretty Mature. I’ll be with issues that they needed to work on, but I wasn’t crazy about how I forget maybe 70% or maybe even further along than that suddenly we are being told that there’s something she’s hiding from him and then I just think it’s so stupid. I mean what is the point of that it’s to create this conflict and I just don’t feel like it’s really necessary and instead of just and still a sense of dread in the reader like why do things have to Get to that point you know and it was all really so that he could turn the tables on her and hold her hostage for 12 days or whatever and it just wasn’t really necessary. I do like that. They didn’t necessarily break up even though he was pissed and rightfully sobut I did just feel very manipulative of her, and it also made her feeling seem less genuine the fact that she was saying, I was lonely, and I thought you were lonely too. You know I don’t know just kind of cheap and the whole experience with them together, so I think that the ending kinda got flubbed by the author a little bit thus the two Stars...more
OK, was this the best book ever written? No it wasn’t but it was cute and I appreciate a college romance that has a little bit of smart but it’s not lOK, was this the best book ever written? No it wasn’t but it was cute and I appreciate a college romance that has a little bit of smart but it’s not like these 220-year-olds like can’t get enough of each other in our fucking all the time I mean, I wasn’t a nun in college, but I wasn’t a stripper either and I just know that that has to be like the average college experience so anyway I just let you know kind of makes me a little bit uncomfortable reading college romances when it’s very sexually graphic, but you know whatever anyway I appreciated that this was a little bit on the sweeter side And I am a fan of friends to lovers and even though we know Cory has feelings very early on almost instantly for Hartley. She does a very impressive job of really developing a friendship with him without any expectations. You know she’s not being friends with him hoping that one day he’ll know that’s not what it is at all. She genuinely cares about him. She wants to have a friendship with him and that is enjoyable and yes, they are initially bonding because they both have this disability. I’ll be at his temporary but still and so many times while I’m reading her in her monologue I’m thinking so much about how I identify with her thought process. It’s just very easy to see how someone in her situation would have those thoughts and reactions and you know thinking that someone in a wheelchair no one‘s ever gonna find her attractive or worthy or whole I mean, those are all just such a normal insecurities and fears I think and it was just very easy to empathize with Cory Now where I feel like there could’ve been more to the story was surrounding her hockey and her accident for something that was so life-changing we never really got a lot of details about it. I don’t even think we ever really got very specific details until closer to the end when she is remembering on the anniversary that you know, she got flipped over by someone at hockey practice, but You know I don’t know there’s just a little bit on that topic that I feel could’ve been added to the story to give it a little bit more depth, especially since hockey was something that was so important to her. It just seemed like it wasn’t very present in the story. I was hoping that she would’ve gone to a game with him or she would’ve in a weak moment gone and watched the women’s team practice or something to really show that she’s grappling with that loss but really she was kind of handling it by just avoiding it, but anyway that felt kind of like a bit of a hole in the story. I did think that she and Hartley were pretty cute and especially once his girlfriend came back to town it was pretty obvious that it was gonna be a matter of him seeing her again and the connection wasn’t gonna be the same and he was gonna start connecting these dots and that’s really when we start to see more depth to Hartley. We learn about his family background and all of that so that really gave so much more death to his character because up to that point we knew he was like a wrong side of the tracks kind of kid, but I didn’t know much more. He was kind of coming across is like a typical jock guy, which is not very endearing, but I don’t think he really started making those connections for himself until his girlfriend came back to town and by then he had developed a very deep friendship with Cory so I really like the second kind of the second half of the story, especially when she was like look at what I’ve done to myself. I’ve created this world where it’s only him and I need to do better and that I just really really admired that awareness, especially for a character who’s so young and granite she’s been through a lot So She made those changes and just identified with that so much I was just really really rooting for her and cheering her on to make smart healthy choices for herself and then when they did get together, it was very sweet and I was really really that there was no third act break up. I kept kind of waiting for it, but I was glad that there wasn’t and guess the only other thing that I can think of to say right now is, I wasn’t the biggest fan of him breaking up with Stacia and then getting together with Cory on the same day But I guess when you kind of have that epiphany moment you know that kind of thing can happen, especially when he went on to say to Cory you know I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. That’s why it’s different or whatever it was it he said it was very sweet and very honest and genuine and authentic....more
**spoiler alert** It’s interesting to me that I rated this book. Only two stars considering I kept thinking about this book the whole day after I fini**spoiler alert** It’s interesting to me that I rated this book. Only two stars considering I kept thinking about this book the whole day after I finished it like I wanted to see what was going on with these characters or what not and so that to me is a sign of good writing and characters that you can kind of connect with or see is real I mean this was not a fantasy story right so this was meant to be based on real life scenarios And with all that being said, I am still sticking with my two star rating because one I was not crazy about the book within a book like this is a little too is that Meta or a little too much like inception or when you you know position your mirror just the right way and it’s a mirror of mirror mirror Mirror so I wasn’t crazy about that and then on top of it I don’t know even though it was well written, and I liked the characters enough and I didn’t have any issue with the two parts and I didn’t have any issue with the alternating chapters in the beginning being her therapy session. I mean, I liked all of that stuff, but I don’t know it was just lacking and in general The characters were lacking like their depth. The connection between the two I just kept thinking she’s trying to make this be like it ends with us by Colleen, Hoover and I by no means and Colleen Hoover fan, but this is supposed to be a depiction of a marriage that is fraught with issues And bordering on abusive I mean not I’m not abusive in that sense. I mean he’s an alcoholic and yeah, I mean it’s just bad the lying and all of this stuff anyway yeah they had issues who doesn’t have issues so I don’t know. I just felt like it could’ve been more. There was too much of Avery saying he’s my world. He’s my world. He’s my everything like it. she’s just saying the words that she loves him so much but we don’t really see a lot of of that. Here’s a perfect example and this happens in a good number of books where things happen off page that really would be so valuable to the story. OK so Avery and Gabriel are divorced, living their own lives and then she starts seeing this guy Hudson so we get to see their initial meeting and I’m thinking OK this is great. This is great and I am here for watching her have another relationship, but we get maybe a handful of pages you know we get their initial meeting and then maybe a couple weeks into their dating if she wants to be with him physically and then next thing we know it’s like a year and a half later and they’ve broken up, but then she makes multiple references about how important it was to have Hudson in her life and everything and I’m like OK I did not get that impression at all based on not the character but on what the author chose to share with us so was nothing about the character. It was definitely the author’s choice to not show us more of that relationship and I by no means want a love triangle I am anti-love triangle, but don’t just show me the initial meeting and then tell me later on about how important and significant that relationship was in your life. Like, let me see that let me be bare witness to it so I get frustrated with crap like that and that’s really much of what we got in this book, a lot of passing of time and just telling us things instead of showing us and letting the reader be the witness I I’m here for the story. I’m not here for a lecture. One other thing I thought of is Avery is or was a therapist and she did this research project and there’s a good amount of the books spent talking about her research project which was on the longevity of marriage and how it really boils down to making sure your partner had what they needed and in the second half of the book, Gabriel is living in a small remote town and he says to himself and to Avery that that’s where he needs to be. He’s thriving there. he’s doing well there, etc. etc. I kept hoping that the author would have Avery realize that it was her turn to give Gabriel what he needed. Make sure he had what he needed since he always took care of everyone else but himself and have her make that connection herself like oh look I did this huge research project and this is my opportunity to make sure he has what he needs and so I’m gonna relocate so even though that is what ended up happening, she relocated and they lived in the small town together. There was no tie in or call back to her research project and so I really feel like that was very much a missed opportunity to kind of tie things together or show character, growth, and development, etc. etc.....more
Short stories are becoming more and more appealing to me because I no longer have the patience to suffer through a poorly written or poorly executed sShort stories are becoming more and more appealing to me because I no longer have the patience to suffer through a poorly written or poorly executed story and this one appealed to me because one it’s Christmas too. It’s a short story and three it’s a bit of a different premise where these two people are kind of going on a scavenger hunt together Now when you have a short story, you have to accomplish more in a shorter time span and so while I was pretty much, not expecting this to be the greatest love story ever ever told or anything like that you want to see chemistry in a connection between the two main characters and that was definitely there. It was a little icky because we knew why he was following her and it was because of his uncle so obviously he had to deal with that, but it was only slightly icky because we did get his Perspective and knew that what he was feeling was genuine, so that kind of save that from being a major deterrent in the story and we knew that they were gonna eventually find this book, but how were they gonna get there that kind of kept me on the edge of my seat and I love the twist that this old woman ends up being her great aunt’s childhood best friend was very sweet. It was very touching And then yeah she did find out about his duplicity and the ending was a little rushed you know she kind of forgave him a little too easily, especially given that she was actively avoiding him for a while. I mean, he sent the letter that she never read or anything like that and it was a little icky that he got her address from her Snapchat but you know hey whatever he just wanted to let her know hey I’m done with that and I don’t think he really had any expectations or anything like that so it was all up to her, but of course we had to have a little happily ever after so it was sweet. I enjoyed it. I wasn’t miserable at all while I was reading it. I wasn’t thinking this is crap or anything like that. It was a nice short story for Christmas....more
This book was OK and I rated it two stars because it’s definitely average and well I like the fake dating trope and some instances in this case it wasThis book was OK and I rated it two stars because it’s definitely average and well I like the fake dating trope and some instances in this case it wasn’t really needed and I don’t know the writing was OK but it just was lacking depth and I didn’t feel like the characters really needed the whole fake dating premise It just clouded the issue. They had enough going on to establish a connection between them without needing the fake dating element so that just served more of a distraction than anything else I like the aunt as the guardian over two children story, even though I feel like the two-year-old and I was surprised to learn that the author is a mother herself it just didn’t feel accurate. I mean I’ve worked with two-year-olds before. No it’s not the same thing as being a mother necessarily but The age just didn’t seem quite right, but whatever so yeah there were some very sweet moments between the two main characters, but the book wasn’t Swen worthy or anything like that it was just very average....more
DNF maybe 4 chapters in. The writing style wasn’t for me and I’m not into insta love “it’s only been two days but it feels like we’ve known each otherDNF maybe 4 chapters in. The writing style wasn’t for me and I’m not into insta love “it’s only been two days but it feels like we’ve known each other our whole lives.” ...more
The quality of the writing was pretty decent but it was the story that didn’t do it for me. There was so much with each character like the MMC being nThe quality of the writing was pretty decent but it was the story that didn’t do it for me. There was so much with each character like the MMC being not just a doctor but a doctor who works on an oil rig and is a billionaire?
There wasn’t enough black cat/grumpy energy for my liking. And then the book started taking itself too seriously. Like, these two have the greatest love ever but I didn’t see that. They were just hot for each other and wanted to bang. ...more
Well written but I didn’t feel connected to the story. Could be that I was dealing with a bunch of personal stuff while I was reading this which is whWell written but I didn’t feel connected to the story. Could be that I was dealing with a bunch of personal stuff while I was reading this which is why it took me so long to finish.
There’s just nothing romantic to me about a man with powdered hair. lol
And I have a hard time believing a woman would have slept with a man outside of marriage like that. ...more