What can I say? It's been over a year since I read an adult Ali Hazelwood novel, so with time and distance I find myself very willing to for4.5 stars
What can I say? It's been over a year since I read an adult Ali Hazelwood novel, so with time and distance I find myself very willing to forgive the fact that she's practically written the same characters 5 times at this point.
She has a formula, but her formula and her tropes absolutely work for me every single time. I do still want to see something different from here though and I hope we will get that with her next release which is going to be paranormal. ...more
I am gutted I can't give this a 5 like everybody else. I thought the exploration of grief and other themes the book touched on were really well done iI am gutted I can't give this a 5 like everybody else. I thought the exploration of grief and other themes the book touched on were really well done in this book but I have been struggling with contemporary romance recently and while I still enjoy the genre, nothing I read really blows me away so maybe that's just me.
I personally felt that in this one the romance should have been developed further. Both characters were very well written but I felt that they were only given a handful of scenes together and then the book ended. In my opinion, the book tried to do too much and should have been longer so that we have enough time for the romance to be developed too....more
I was not liking this one at all. This is on me as a lot of the tropes utilized in this book are just personal pet-peeves. I will try the second book I was not liking this one at all. This is on me as a lot of the tropes utilized in this book are just personal pet-peeves. I will try the second book in the series which seems more interesting and if I like it I might come back to this, otherwise I'll be dropping this series....more
I love Mariana Zapata, and I appreciate that for once the characters were not identical to every other MZ novel I've read (though this heroine is defiI love Mariana Zapata, and I appreciate that for once the characters were not identical to every other MZ novel I've read (though this heroine is definitely not my type of heroine).
However, I have to admit I am slightly confused with this book. Every scene lasted forever, especially in the first half of the novel. Most of the time we would spend 30-50 pages on the same scene with the characters going back and forth about something that could have been over in a maximum of 10 pages. I don't know if this was the case with other MZ novels and I simply never noticed before, but there was no point in this, especially since some (in my opinion) more important things towards the end were rushed over or happened completely off page (e.g. some of the competitions).
For a 500-page slow-burn romance, it's crazy that the romance felt almost rushed. Other than that, I loved the banter between the characters and the book was great but I've been thrown off by the pace and I'm not sure if I should leave my rating at 4 stars because I did enjoy the book or deduct another star for this.
Out of the 4 MZ books I've read, I feel that this is my least favourite. I remember LOVING Kulti and Rhodes and enjoying TWoWaM though I found the last one a tad repetitive after reading almost back to back with Kulti, but I read Kulti and TWoWaM in 2017 so I don't know how they would fair on a re-read.
I know this review sounds negative, which is really not my intention! I also love longer books! I was just thrown off by the author's choice to drag some scenes for so long for no reason. I don't actually wish this to have been shorter in length but I think we could spend all these pages on adding more scenes between the characters....more
I swear I love this author's writing! Her books are always very intense and the angst levels are really up there, just the way I like it.
Some3.5 stars
I swear I love this author's writing! Her books are always very intense and the angst levels are really up there, just the way I like it.
Some of her books have been hit or miss though - I can't decide where I am with this one. It was a real page-turner and I couldn't put it down. I think my problem is that her books could almost be considered erotica and a high school setting is strange for me when the steam levels are so high. That would have been at least a 4 for me if it was an adult novel. I just can't get over the fact that for me sex in high school was awkward at best and these characters go at it like pros.
Also, I didn't particularly care for the heroine for most of the book but this was intentionally done - a big part of the book was how the heroine grew to become a much better and more relatable person and I admire the author for what she's done here.
All in all, while I did enjoy this book a lot, I think it's one of these books I liked but didn't love so 3.5 seems like a fair rating.
Merged review:
3.5 stars
I swear I love this author's writing! Her books are always very intense and the angst levels are really up there, just the way I like it.
Some of her books have been hit or miss though - I can't decide where I am with this one. It was a real page-turner and I couldn't put it down. I think my problem is that her books could almost be considered erotica and a high school setting is strange for me when the steam levels are so high. That would have been at least a 4 for me if it was an adult novel. I just can't get over the fact that for me sex in high school was awkward at best and these characters go at it like pros.
Also, I didn't particularly care for the heroine for most of the book but this was intentionally done - a big part of the book was how the heroine grew to become a much better and more relatable person and I admire the author for what she's done here.
All in all, while I did enjoy this book a lot, I think it's one of these books I liked but didn't love so 3.5 seems like a fair rating....more
I know it's a bit of a paradox giving a book 4.5 stars and yet feeling a bit disappointed but that's what happened here. This was probably 4.5 stars
I know it's a bit of a paradox giving a book 4.5 stars and yet feeling a bit disappointed but that's what happened here. This was probably in everybody's top 10 best romances of 2022 on BookTube - the hype was real! I went into this thinking I would be mind-blown and I thoroughly enjoyed it but I don't think it's an all-time favourite.
Anyway, expectations aside, I think this was a really great romance, I would highly recommend it. I have noticed that because romance books are a bit formulaic, they have been a struggle for me lately, that's why I tend to prefer fantasy books with romance elements as it takes a bit of a back-seat.
That being said, it has all the tropes I love: age gap, grumpy/sunshine, nanny. It was so good! I'm sure literally everybody could find some form of enjoyment in this book....more
Cute little small-town contemporary romance with great characters. I mostly read this because I was interested in the second book but I would 100% reaCute little small-town contemporary romance with great characters. I mostly read this because I was interested in the second book but I would 100% read more from this author....more
Okay, I'm going to be honest. I really liked this book and I would probably have loved it. But after reading The Love Hypothesis and 3 other novellas Okay, I'm going to be honest. I really liked this book and I would probably have loved it. But after reading The Love Hypothesis and 3 other novellas from this author I can't help but feel like I've been reading the same book over and over, just with different character names.
I've seen a lot of people complaining about this so I'm sure it's not just me this time. I still liked it because this author has a formula I really love. TLH is one of my favourite CRs ever. However, I would love to see her doing something different with her next release....more
Red flag hero. First of all the dude was the worst type of the billionaire archetype. He just threw money everywhere to get his way, he was cocky, overRed flag hero. First of all the dude was the worst type of the billionaire archetype. He just threw money everywhere to get his way, he was cocky, overbearing, over-confident and honestly really annoying. I've read this type of hero a million types before so nothing stood out about him. Emancipated female that I am, a little bit of possessiveness is still okay with me, but I swear if the dude said the word "mine" one more time, I would smack him on the face with the book.
But the dude completely lost me when I realised he's also a sociopath. He bullied the heroine's colleagues after a photo shoot when he knew that was the heroine's dream job and she worked hard to land it just to have his way with her (not that the h seemed to mind but I was upset on her behalf) and he shot a guy because he groped the h (groping somebody is not a nice thing to do but I'm not sure if you deserve to be shot at for that, seems a bit extreme). Please give me the good guys!
Plus the book was unnecessarily long and I was so over it that I even skimmed the steamy scenes. I am sorry to write this review as I've enjoyed this author's previous work. Maybe it's just my mood as everybody else seems to love this but I really hated it! ...more
Honesty if this was my first book by this author, I would have probably loved it. But at this point I feel like I've read this so many times before. IHonesty if this was my first book by this author, I would have probably loved it. But at this point I feel like I've read this so many times before. I think Anyta Sunday is great at what she does but she needs to try something different in my humble opinion. I know she can do it because, have you read Rock? If not, you're welcom!
And to be fair with the book, I read this after a month-long obsession with Bad Buddy Series where I constantly re-watched the TV show. This damn show has climbed up to my top spot of favourite TV show of all time, not just lgbtq but in general, and I just can't stop thinking about it! I was just looking for a book that would make me feel something again but it's hard to follow this up. I might need to move away from romance for a bit after finishing my current reads as I don't want to be unfair to books that might be perfectly lovely! I'm just not in a place where I can appreciate them the way they deserve to be appreciated right now....more
Contrary to everybody else's opinion, I thought this novella was very good! I have no regrets reading it and I loved that I got to have a glimpse of NContrary to everybody else's opinion, I thought this novella was very good! I have no regrets reading it and I loved that I got to have a glimpse of Nick and Charlie a few years down the line.
Can this author please give us a full-length novel when they are adults or college students? I would love to read that!...more
The first novella is my absolute favourite and I think this is my least favourite in the series, just because at this point it's like reading almost tThe first novella is my absolute favourite and I think this is my least favourite in the series, just because at this point it's like reading almost the same book 3 times. But I've said this before. This author really does it for me! Love on the Brain better be good!...more
The first novella is my absolute favourite but this author really works for me no matter what she writes. I am so excited for her upcoming full-lengthThe first novella is my absolute favourite but this author really works for me no matter what she writes. I am so excited for her upcoming full-length novel!...more