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| B0D57KY9KY
| 4.21
| 735
| unknown
| May 30, 2024
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, secret identity, f*** or die, paranormal, forced proximity Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3.75/5 Kinks: spanking, brat An **spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, secret identity, f*** or die, paranormal, forced proximity Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3.75/5 Kinks: spanking, brat Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: dubcon, kidnapping 3.5 Stars, I enjoyed it quite a bit but it kind of limped to the finish line a bit. Cyril is 27. He is a rich Lord and the second son, so responsibility isn't on him. He's goofed off a lot of his life. He is a dawn mage, which means his magic is cursed and he needs to get rogered every 7 to 10 days unless he's taking a potion to suppress his magic. If he doesn't he'll be in agony and die. It's a bit of a crazy lore and it's not my favorite for reasons I get into below. Cyril develops allergy to the potion in his adulthood and he sleeps around, enjoying it for the most part. He messes with the wrong person accidentally at a masked masquerade though and pisses off his family because one of his family members is engaged to the guy. With his bad luck he manages to get kidnapped by highwayman named Enzo. Enzo tries to Ransom him back to his family for money but the family doesn't want him because they're so pissed at him. Cyril stays at Enzo's home and Enzo won't let him seduce his men, so Enzo is Cyril's only option. They get to know each other, they banter and bicker throughout the book. There are a lot of hilarious moments in this book, I love the humor in it. They also have an undeniable chemistry that draws them together. They kind of start out as hate f******. And then the cuddling enters the dynamic. There's some good mystery and plot happening. I probably would have enjoyed the book a bit more though if Enzo hadn't done some stupid stuff at the end and the conflict kind of becoming so avoidable and predictable that it annoyed me. Things I didn't like: - I really don't like the lore of the curse behind this. It really is horrible. The fact that it's all about someone else's pleasure, that only they need to get off for the sufferer to be temporarily cured is so bad. It reminds me about how women's pleasure has always been unimportant and second to men's. And it's so unsafe too and it's so against their will - I felt better about the curse and how it was used in book one because in book one, the MMC was able to use the potions to have some choice and autonomy for the majority of his adult life and he didn't have to find someone to sleep with every 7 to 10 days regardless of whether he really wanted to. For Cyril, the potion didn't work on him, he developed an allergy or something to it. At one point he was talking about how years ago he broke up with his lover and was heartbroken and didn't want to sleep with someone, and then he had to because of his allergy. It just felt unfair, icky, dubcon for Cyril even though Cyril really enjoyed sex for the most part. - Enzo was such a jerk in this moment and he had no reason to be, so it was out of nowhere and totally at odds with his actions in a couple days when he chases after cereal and doesn't want him to be f****** someone else. Andreas from book one was a much better book boyfriend. "“You have a week before your curse is going to affect you,” he said heavily. “You can seduce your escort on your arduous four-hour journey, if you must. Or anyone else you want. You’re not my captive anymore. And I don’t have any say in who fucks you. It’s not my concern.”" Maybe if we'd seen Enzo's point of view it would have been better, but this was single POV. - The conflict at the end where Enzo was caught at the castle was so dumb. This conflict was created because Enzo let Cyril go when he never should have. He didn't have a good enough reason to. They should have talked before Cyril left, and maybe he wouldn't have left at all. Some notable moments: Fair point! "“And if you don’t want to be taken for someone who’d treat a dawn mage poorly, don’t make remarks about how you think I’d use phallic vegetables in unnatural ways.” “I already said, I didn’t know you were a dawn mage!” “You shouldn’t be accusing anyone of wanting to fuck a zucchini, Enzo!”" "“You told me your ass wouldn’t even notice if I fucked you,” he said softly, but with an edge that raised all the hair on the back of my neck. I stared at the rucked-up bedding, at the flicker of the torchlight on the stone wall. My body lay hot and heavy and throbbing, at his mercy. “Do you remember that?” I let out a whimper, pathetically muffled in the blanket. Enzo pushed forward slightly, the head of his cock starting to force me open. “I think you’re going to notice,” he growled, sounding unbecomingly pleased with himself, and thrust inside." "“Fortitude,” he gasped. “You! Forti—oh, gods. Hardly…complain…I can’t…” I lay rigidly still, face burning, biting my lower lip to shreds, as he practically roared with mirth and then slowly wore himself down. Fuck. Him. I’d wait until he was asleep and I’d take all of his pillows—except for the one I’d use to smother him." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jul 03, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 1944736069
| B07DY92B3B
| 3.93
| 23,015
| Jul 09, 2018
| Oct 2020
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: grumpy /sunshine, animosity to love, secret identity, boss/employee Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: dirty talk, role play, p **spoiler alert** Tropes: grumpy /sunshine, animosity to love, secret identity, boss/employee Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: dirty talk, role play, phone sex Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: misunderstanding, dead parents, conman ex, b*tchy colleague at work 4.5 stars Lizzie 2 months ago lost her business and was put into a staggering amount of debt because her boyfriend was a con man and he took over control of her finances and ran off with her money. Lizzie had to close her bakery that was her dream. Now she's working in a marketing job for a very finicky a****** of a boss and she's hoping to just make it to her bonus at the 30-day mark. She desperately needs that money to pay off a loan shark that is threatening her. She's bossed around by the marketing supervisor Sasha, who takes credit for her ideas. The boss Theo is such an a****** that his early morning wake up service quits him and none of the other services will take him based on his reputation. Sasha tasks Lizzie with finding a replacement wake up service that will make the 4:30 a.m. calls to Theo. Lizzie fails to find a service and ends up having to make the calls herself and she accidentally ends up insulting him in spectacular fashion. He's absolutely fascinated and enjoying the experience and intrigued by her. He spends a huge chunk of the book doggedly trying to pursue her even though her identity is secret from him. He flirts ridiculously with her he offers her everything. And she just turns him down and takes a battering ram to all of his advances, snarking her way out of everything. But she's a weak horny woman she slip slides into phone sex with him, which only encourages his obsession with her. If he eventually finds out who she is, he's going to blow things up in her life. Things get blown up but they end up spending more time together. But there's a lot of conflict about whether they can make it work. She wants financial independence, she wants to make it on her own, she doesn't want another interfering man to get involved in her business. This was a really enjoyable book. Lizzie made a great strong heroine. She had such sass and attitude. She stood her ground too! She gave him such s*** it was hilarious to watch. I laughed so much reading this book. But it was also good relationship development because they did get to know each other well. Theo was a great man too, he was a good person, and I absolutely loved how down bad he was for her. He fell first and he fell harder and I loved that dynamic. No other man or other woman drama. First kiss at 64% so while it was a little slow burn, it was sizzling sexual tension earlier because they were having phone sex before. Some notable moments: The wake up calls were hilarious "“Wake up, you stupid motherfucker. People are waiting for whatever annoying bullshit you have in store for them today.” I’m trying not to smile. I kind of like that he’s listening. “Your hapless minions await whatever stupid bullshit flows from your meteoric mind.” A silence. “So that really is your technique. It wasn’t a fluke.”" The turnip truck girl nickname was hilarious. "Suddenly even Turnip Truck is enchanting. She wears another one of her plain dresses. Like she stepped out of a black-and-white picture, and all she needs to be complete in this life is a bonnet and a flock of ducks. Even so, she’s beautiful." Body positivity! Yay! "I kiss her. I slide my palm up her stomach. She’s not a washboard-abs girl; she’s real. She eats cookies. Like a madman, I press my face into the sexy swell of her belly. I drag my lips up over it, squeezing her hips. She’s delicious. Even her imperfections are delicious." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 21, 2024
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May 21, 2024
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May 19, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B0CJ8493SC
| 4.06
| 108,137
| Nov 07, 2023
| Nov 07, 2023
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Apr 14, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B0CJDN2LX8
| 4.06
| 937
| Apr 08, 2024
| Apr 08, 2024
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: actors, enemies to lovers, miscommunication Feels: 2.5/5 Steam*: 1.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potent **spoiler alert** Tropes: actors, enemies to lovers, miscommunication Feels: 2.5/5 Steam*: 1.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: dead parents, homophobic parents, misunderstandings 3.25 stars Jacoby is 29, gay and very closeted. Roman is 24, bi, and closeted but open to coming out. They are both long time actors. They are cast as gay lovers in a angsty and sexually explicit Hollywood movie. They both secretly had a crush on the other. But there is animosity between them. Roman thinks it's because he accidentally dated a woman that Jacoby was fake dating at the time, so he thinks Jacoby blames him for his girlfriend being faithless. But really that's not it, Jacoby heard from a friend that Roman said some homophobic s***and trashed Jacoby. Really it was a dumb miscommunication, Roman was just in the closet and trying to stay there. I wasn't impressed by Jacoby's refusal to tell Roman why he was mad at him, that's deliberate miscommunication trope being thrown in. Jacoby can't rightfully be mad at Roman when he won't have a discussion about it and tell him why he's mad or give him a chance to defend himself. This book got off to a really slow start chemistry-wise. When I'm reading a book in my Kindle app, I use the highlighter in a color-coded way. I highlight passages that I enjoyed with yellow. Plot points I want to remember in blue. And passages I disliked in red. I think it says something when the first passage that I highlighted in yellow was on page 7. And the next passage that I enjoyed enough to yellow highlight wasn't until the 72% mark. This book had a lot of wasted opportunity during the first 55% or so of the book. There wasn't a lot of chemistry between the characters. They were kind of like cardboard cutouts together. They didn't seem very attracted to each other, there wasn't a sensuality between them or any real sexual tension. Which is crazy because during that time period they were filming a romantic movie that was full of very explicit sex scenes that they filmed. So they were being all up in each other's business but there wasn't a spark between them at all. And to some extent that is a positive because they were able to be professional working together and they weren't sexually harassing each other at work. But I think the author really missed an opportunity to convey growth of feelings, awareness of the other person, pining for the other person, and attraction. During the first 60%, all we got was the occasional case of them telling the reader they liked the other person, but the author wasn't showing us that - there were no moments of hitched breath, prolonged eye contact, or any kind of sensuality. After the first 60%, they met again and they decided to give what they had together a shot. And they started regularly having sex. So with that naturally the reader could see their sexual preoccupation with each other. And as they started talking more and opening up about their past and meeting each other's sisters, and talking about some of the things that were important to them, you could see that there was a compatibility between them and that there were feelings developing. Again it was more the author telling us than showing us, she didn't really convey things subtly. Things I liked: - Finally some sensuality between them at 61%! Licking lips and staring, sharing significant eye contact. Finally! - I liked the banter between them - I liked the close relationship they both had with their sisters. Their sisters seem like cool people, supportive - I liked that Jacoby trusted Roman when it came to Emerson. Emerson was a current friend and former f*** buddy of Roman's who clearly was in love with Roman. There was a moment where Jacoby could have listened to paparazzi gossip and gotten jealous, but he just talked to Roman and I thought that was mature and a good sign that he trusted Roman. - I liked how supportive Jacoby was when it came to Roman's dead parents. There were some real emotional moments between them around that. Things I didn't like: - The absolute lack of chemistry during the first 50% or so of the book - It was really hard to tell when we were getting Jacoby's versus Roman's POV. Their voices were far too similar. And they both had sisters and colleagues/friends that they were talking to, I had to keep reading back passages carefully to figure out whose POV I was reading. It's tiring to do that and reduced my enjoyment. - At one point, Roman was telling Jacoby about how before they had ever met Roman was falling for Jacoby. And the use of the term falling for just rang my bullshit alarm, you can't fall for someone who's just an actor that you've seen perform. You don't know them, it's just a crush. And Jacoby just jumped on the use of that phrase as if it was some big meaningful thing, and I was just giving them the side eye. - They are so cringe in how they hit on each other in their early relationship (e.g. page 108). And the way that they used the word experiences when asking about their same sex relationship history. Asking things like "have you had many experiences", just rang my cringe alarm. They used the word experiences multiple times and it just didn't seem like natural conversation. - Page 163 - that was a perfect example of the lack of sensuality that this author writes with sometimes. They were about to have sex. The moment they get on the bed they go straight to applying lube to dick and hole. There's no sensuality at all, no hard breathing, no touching, no foreplay. - Comment at 48% that made it obvious to the reader that these guys didn't have strong enough chemistry or feeling for each other: "We’re not in love. Sometimes I feel like we hardly like each other. We’re simply attracted to each other." And then at the 51% mark "“I don’t know if he’s who I should come out for.”" - Their coming out to their professional people before they came out to the public was very dry and cardboard like. It was like a paint by numbers moment of actions. I haven't read a lot of books by this author, but just from multiple instances within this particular book, I think the author has a bad tendency to tell rather than show and to not be subtle. I was happy with their public coming out. I liked the message that they were trying to convey about not making their sexualities a big deal. I thought it was meaningful as a message. I liked their statements. Also when they refused to come out when they were being rudely questioned about playing a queer character as a straight actor, I liked how they responded. I am a big proponent of not making assumptions about people's sexuality or gender identity or health or mental struggles. You never know what that person is just not telling people. And I think you should make everyone feel safe and welcome and not judged. How Jacoby's parents were with him and his sister being gay angers me. Standing on my soapbox, you shouldn't have a child unless you're willing to love them unconditionally, and for it not to matter if they are queer or trans. Some notable moments: "“Funny that you see the word douchebag and automatically assume I’m talking about you.”" "“You want to wine and dine me?” He dips his chin. “I do.” “Okay, but you’re spoiling me a lot today. I should do something for you.” “Like what?” I shimmy down his legs until my knees hit the ground near his feet. “I’ll think of something, but for now…” Jacoby puts his hands behind his head and spreads his legs. “By all means.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 11, 2024
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Apr 11, 2024
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Apr 09, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B0CQ14R4M7
| 4.36
| 645
| unknown
| Jan 09, 2024
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: opposites attract, forbidden relationship, biker/police chief Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: dirty talk, public sex Angst: low **spoiler alert** Tropes: opposites attract, forbidden relationship, biker/police chief Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: dirty talk, public sex Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: baby farming/trafficking, murder, violence, deaths of loved ones, grief/guilt, alcoholism, cheating (not between MCs), annoying ex drama (he's dead, but sooo annoying) 3.25 stars Gunner is 46, bi, and the president of his motorcycle club. He's lived a rough life. Ever since he was a teenager, he has had an off and on relationship with Mason. Mason wanted to keep their relationship a secret. Mason was the chief of police. Mason died almost 2 years ago. When Mason was alive, he also had another secret relationship going. He was dating his partner at work Ben. Ben worked with him for about 8 years. It's unclear how many of those years they spent in a relationship, I wish we had known that fact. Ben is now 38 years old, he's gay, and he is the acting Chief of police. Gunner kind of imploded with his grief when Mason died, he's always been a drinker but he took that final step into alcoholism and crashed and burned. He's been trying to get sober for the last hundred or so days before the book starts, lots of 1 day chips and then starting over. Ben is investigating a big baby farming/trafficking case. It started out of a prison and they shut that down and now the people responsible are victimizing the public, brutally murdering pregnant women and carving the babies out of their wombs. Some of the people in Gunners motorcycle club we're involved in the crime so Gunner has been helping Ben. Gunner knows about Mason's relationship with Ben so he feels a lot of resentment initially towards Ben. But he quickly lets that go and starts to like and be attracted to Ben for who he is. Ben has no clue that Gunner has history with Mason. There are people involved in the crime that are still working for the cops and working in the motorcycle club so there's a lot of betrayal and a failure to make progress with the case. Also Ben's sister is pregnant. So there's a lot of conflict going on. I liked the relationship between Ben and Gunner. I liked the characters. I liked the writer's world building and complex plot. It was nice how Gunner pursued Ben and didn't give up on him. Gunner's relationship with Ben's dog was cute. There were two minor things that I didn't like and one major thing that I didn't like. I didn't like the use of the word p****, how it was used was just a bit too derogatory for my taste. I didn't like the flagrantly inadmissible attaining of evidence and unrealistic police actions. The major thing that I didn't like was Mason's massive involvement in this story. It started off mildly annoying me and eventually made me ragey. I hated how every chapter starts with a quote from like Mason's journal. And I hated how big of a role he played throughout the entire book, all the mentions of him, all the drama around his journal being found, how he was a key turning point in Ben and Gunner's relationship. The biggest thing was the quotes from the journal. I don't care about learning about Mason's inner thoughts. I don't care if he was conflicted about what he had with Ben or Gunner. He's dead, he's not the MMC. He was an indecisive wimpy jerk who played both of the guys. I know their shared history was how they all met, but the author could adequately have acknowledged that without turning the book into the Mason show. All the mentions were annoying, unnecessary, and a waste of pages. I felt like he was being shoved down our throats, and we were supposed to sympathize with him. It's like the author was trying to sell us on a tragic romance between ghost!Mason, Ben and Gunner, like oh they could have been a beautiful throuple if they had only talked. Mason was a selfish prick who wanted it both ways and couldn't commit to one or the other. I had no sympathy for him. I just wanted to smack Mason with a reality stick even though he was dead. Some notable moments: Enemies era! "Hold it in, Ben. Hold it in. Just a few more seconds until they get into the elevator. Then you can take Gunner to the balcony and shove his ass over the edge." "“Well, I find you so damn hot,” Winter said. “From the first moment I saw you, I’ve thought of little but to put you on your knees—” “—in prayer!” I jumped to my feet and marched to the front of the gathering. Winter peered at me, his pupils dilated. His face broke into a grin. “Gunner? Well, I’ll be damned. What the hell are you doing here? You’re not looking to bang the reverend too, are you? Because I call dibs.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 29, 2024
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Mar 30, 2024
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Mar 30, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 1950209156
| 9781950209156
| 1950209156
| 4.23
| 22,385
| Mar 10, 2024
| Mar 10, 2024
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it was ok
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: age gap, enemies to lovers, boss/employee, Cinderella story Feels: 1/5 Steam*: 2.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: **spoiler alert** Tropes: age gap, enemies to lovers, boss/employee, Cinderella story Feels: 1/5 Steam*: 2.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: violent death of parent witnessed by child, survivors guilt, grief, virgin MMC, unsafe sex, ptsd, morning after pill Zach is 33 and a billionaire. His father died saving his life in a car crash and it traumatized Zach very deeply. He spent hours with his father's corpse trapped in the car pressing against him and bleeding on him. He can't stand to touch another human's flesh ever since then, he's never had sex or been in a relationship. Zack is also a really intellectual and cold character. He feels a lot of obligation towards his mother so he agrees to let her find him a wife, but he does not intend it to be a real marriage. Meanwhile, Farrow is 23. She is literally a Cinderella retelling. Her father died 2 years ago and she lives with her stepmother and two evil stepsisters and slaves away as their maid. The family is struggling for money because they live luxuriously, so prized family possessions of her father's get sold behind her back. Farrow is particularly upset about a pendant that was sold. She figures out it was sold to Zach and she sneaks into a party of his. She's caught sneaking around by Zach and they end up bantering and playing a very competitive board game (Go). Zach is impressed by her skill and intelligence. She runs away and he chases after her. She escapes. He only realizes the next day after looking at security footage that she was trying to steal from him. He hunts her down and he hires her to be his maid for 6 months. He has two motives, one he wants to make her pay and be under his control and two he is actually attracted to her which hasn't happened before and he thinks that he might be able to get over his phobia about touch if it's with her. They interact and they push past Zach's boundaries. Soon they are having sex, but it has a time limit and it's mutually agreed that she's helping him get over his phobia and he's helping her with legal expenses as she tries to get out from under her stepmother's thumb. Zach proceeds to getting engaged to the woman his mother wants him to marry. Farrow knows about it, and knows he has no physical feelings for her and that it's a business arrangement, but it still hurts her. There were a few things that were enjoyable about this book but overall I did not like it. I enjoyed the character of Farrow for the most part. She was a refreshing strong female who owned her sexuality. I loved when she took Zach down a peg or two. It was a little coincidental that she had expertise in so many areas in common with Zach, but it was nice that she did have strengths. I loved how she stood up for herself to a whole bunch of different characters and especially Zach. The side characters particularly Dallas and the men's group chat added some nice comic relief. There was a period of time from like the 65% until the 80% mark where I felt like the relationship was in a positive space for the most part and there were feelings on both of their sides that were developing. But for most of the book characters and the direction of the plot / relationship we're extremely aggravating. My biggest concerns were the million little moments where Zach was an ass to her, and how at the end of the book there's this 30-day cool down. Where they don't see each other and everything that happens then is so artificially timed to create tension about whether he'll be able to get back to her in time to meet up when the 30 days are over. It was just so cheesy. Here's some things I didn't like: - At 47% mark - it was her birthday and Zach threw a party that she wasn't invited to, and announced his engagement to another woman on her birthday. And everyone else ignored her birthday. She was asked to do unnecessary repetitive cleaning and treated in a condescending you are the help way. But at the end of the night even after treating her like such s***, he did know that it was her birthday all along and he had left presents in her bedroom. Presents don't make s***** behavior magically better! And really I hate it when people are deliberately cruel to the birthday girl on her birthday and she wallows in misery. It's overused, it's trite, it's annoying. - At 51% mark - Zach doesn't understand why she was not one over by the birthday presents he gave her. He internally monologues over how he expected her to be grateful, so grateful that she would come to his room at night and have sex with him. And he gets lost in his sexual fantasy for a moment. He's such a f****** creeper. And he can't be kind for the sake of being kind?! He wants sex out of it as a reward. By this point in the book, he should do better! - After her ignoring him for a while because he's in the doghouse with her, he manipulates her to force her to see him. Telling her he has an important update about her legal situation. This fuckery is so manipulative. He's tracking her down because he's selfish and he wants his toy back. - While Zach respects her intelligence and skills, he systematically and consistently disregards her feelings and thinks he's bought the right to use her as an experiment. Yeah she's had sexual relationships before and avoided a deep relationship because she doesn't trust relationships after witnessing her father and stepmother. But he just puts her in this box of loose woman and tramples on her feelings and treats her as temporary and disposable, and talks to others about how disposable she is and how she means nothing to him. Yeah later on he gets possessive of her and has feelings for her. But he still spent 70% of the book using her and being really insensitive to her feelings and humanity. - All these little moments where Zach was such an unfeeling dick, engaged to another woman and just using Farrow... I honestly wanted Farrow to just go out to a club or have a date and just have sex with somebody else. She deserved to let loose, have something fun for herself and feel good. And I'm the type of reader that really likes monogamy and it for me possessiveness, so it says something that I thought Zach didn't deserve her exclusivity. - I don't like when authors throw in the phrase "who did this to you?" Just because they want to make the readers swoon. I don't like being manipulated as a reader. The authors had the FMC and the MMC both say this to each other a few pages apart. Don't overuse this phrase! - Why do people keep in their employ/lives, people that betray them and aren't loyal, aren't looking out for the best interests? And why is it always women who are these people that betray them? It's insulting, it's not a very feminist portrayal of women. - All this travel and time sensitivity so that he can meet their deadline of meeting up after 30 days is absolutely ridiculous. This is artificial drama. Billionaires could have made things happen in 5 minutes and there wouldn't have been all this drama and tightness of the timeline. The amount of effort and nonsense that Zach had to go through to end his engagement was ridiculous and made me lose respect for him as an alpha character. Some notable moments: "“If it makes you feel any better, I participated in some Go competitions when I was there.” His lip curved up in a snarl. “Why would it make me feel better?” “When I annihilate you.” “Now who’s being cocksure?” “Please, Zach. There’s only one dick in this room, and I think we both know that it’s you.”" "“What was she thinking?” “She was thinking that you’re engaged-to-be-married to someone else, and she doesn’t want your fucking pity presents.” Oliver sprawled over a massage table in the middle of my office, unfamiliar with the concept of boundaries. “It’s called a spine, Zach. Some people have it.”" "Zach: You’re letting him TOUCH you? Zach: Are you fucking kidding me? Zach: Meet you out front in two minutes. We’re leaving. Farrow: You are not the boss of me. Zach: FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, I LITERALLY FUCKING AM." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 12, 2024
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Mar 13, 2024
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Mar 12, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 9798879254310
| B0CVG2K3MH
| 4.06
| 108
| unknown
| Feb 11, 2024
|
it was ok
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: enemies to lovers, rich/poor, academic rivals Feels: 1.5/5 Steam*: 1.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/poten **spoiler alert** Tropes: enemies to lovers, rich/poor, academic rivals Feels: 1.5/5 Steam*: 1.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: player MC, growing up in foster care, growing up without dad, third act breakup Shane and Alex are in college. They have shared some classes and their social circles intermix, so they have interacted over the last 2 years. They are academic rivals who do not get along. They exchange barbs all the time. This semester they share a particular class where they realize that they have the same major, they want to study law and be lawyers. They kiss. They hook up. They decide to keep hooking up, and begrudgingly start to like each other, and hover in a gray area where they may be boyfriends for a while. They're both competing for an internship in Italy over the summer. There's a third act break up. And then they get back together. This had a good premise. And it had potential of an interesting friend group. But honestly it was a miss for me. I wanted to dnf it but my OCD tendencies wouldn't let me. If the characters had been more likable or if I had understood why they liked each other, maybe this book would have gelled better for me. But I was not sold on anything about this couple, so nothing was resonating with me. Maybe other readers will have better luck and not be a cynical as I was about this couple? LOL Things I didn't like: (it was a lot) - Shane was not likeable. Usually even with a grump or a****** character there's something you like about their personality, something that makes them intriguing. Shane just didn't have anything that made him interesting or likable. I disliked Shane's attitude towards men. He was only willing to talk to guys if they were up for sleeping with him that night. If they say no, not tonight, he walked away, he was only interested in sex. It's not an attractive attitude, it's douchey. And it wasn't just his attitude towards sexual relationships, he was just not respectful of other humans and very focused on himself, selfish. - Why did they make the internship in Rome Italy? That just seemed silly, because not everyone is going to have the language skills to be successful in a foreign country job, and the practicalities of going out of country as a prize is not something everyone would be able to take advantage of. And at the end, someone randomly suggesting the friend group just spend the summer in Europe was a trite way to keep Alex and Shane together over the summer during the internship. - Alex betting Shane about kissing him came out of nowhere. It was just used as a lazy plot device to move them into a romantic situation. Cheesy and lazy. Another lazy plot device was the author getting them stuck in an elevator at a convenient time and them just instantly awkwardly saying to the other "I guess we should get to know each other" and they exchanged details about their lives and then dove right into sex in the elevator. - It annoyed me how many times Shane or Alex referred to the other one as just some guy I f***** once. It was over and over again and it was such a bad attitude for a romance novel. - There was a lot of bad communication/miscommunication. The plot didn't move forward in a natural way, things just felt forced for the sake of advancing the story. The way time flew wasn't natural. It's like the author just remembered that she wanted the book to be at the end of the semester and all of a sudden we were flying there. The guys were so awkward together. I thought it was weird when many many weeks into their boyfriendish relationship, Alex went home with Jason his friend for a second holiday. I didn't get why Shane didn't spend that holiday with him, extending an invite would have made it seem like Shane was advancing their relationship. To me it felt like Shane was keeping Alex in a situationship which was toxic. - Shane blowing his interview the way that he did was just unprofessional, there's better ways to let Alex win then wrecking his own reputation. And once Alex found out about that, them instantly hooking up and getting back together was just trite. The relationship was just sex. Feelings weren't handled well, we didn't see them in a lot of day-to-day moments. It was sex or nothing. And the smut wasn't even that good, blah. Though that could be because I wasn't feeling the chemistry or connection between Shane and Alex. - So out of character for Shane to all the sudden call Alex darling while they were having sex. Some notable moments: "The kid nodded and moved, nervous, like I was going to hit him. Poor kid didn’t know any better. I slid into his chair, taking out my books. Some lawyer he was going to be if he couldn’t even negotiate his ass into a chair." "He flipped me off. “Whatever. Do you know what Shane’s doing?” His voice was carefully curious. I stared at him for a moment, wondering where the hell that came from. “I…uh, I think he’s going home with his mom…?” His eyes flew open. “That was a test, you shithead. Why do you know what he’s doing for the holidays? Excuse me?”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 27, 2024
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Feb 28, 2024
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Feb 27, 2024
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Paperback
| |||||||||||||||
| B0CRGGYYR1
| 4.02
| 3,768
| Feb 22, 2024
| Feb 22, 2024
|
it was ok
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: mafia, enemies to lovers, second chances Feels: 1/5 Steam*: 3/5 (there was a lot of sex but it was just smutty and not really **spoiler alert** Tropes: mafia, enemies to lovers, second chances Feels: 1/5 Steam*: 3/5 (there was a lot of sex but it was just smutty and not really romantic or sensual) Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: forced marriage, cheating (but not between FMC and MMC), violence, murder, alcoholism, miscarriage, repeated unsafe sex Full disclosure, I didn't like this book. And I can't really review it without spoiling a whole bunch of things. Because I want to vent about them. So fair warning this is a spoiler filled review. Alistair is 34 and a lawyer to a lot of sketchy clients and powerful families. Eloise is 29, she is the daughter of a mafiaso and a lawyer herself but she hasn't been practicing recently for various reasons. They met in college and they had a enemies / bullying relationship. Their tension culminated in them having a one-night stand. But things between them got f***** up due to people interfering and misunderstandings. They both blamed each other and have hated the other person since. In the 10 years since then, Alistair has had a successful life and moved on. Eloise hasn't had as good of a run. Alistair got her pregnant 10 years ago, then she miscarried and nearly died, and he ghosted and blocked her because he thought she slept with some other guys, which she did not. Eloise has avoided men for eight or nine years. Then she was forced into an arranged marriage a year ago. But she doesn't have sex with her husband. Then in the present she meets Alistair when her husband becomes a client of his law firm. Her shitty husband wants Eloise installed as an employee as a condition of him becoming a client, because obviously he wants to use her at the company to do something sketchy. Anyone with common sense would realize that interference in their cases is coming and people are at risk of losing their cases and being disbarred if Eloise touches anything for her husband. But nobody foresees any problem and they all just agree. Alistair and Eloise bicker at work when they're forced to work together but quickly start f******. And then criminal s*** goes down with her husband. But Alistair and Eloise are in love... Lol. This book was ridiculous to me. I honestly do not see how they could have fallen in love either 10 years ago or in the present. There were some comments thrown in about how the other person feels like home to them and there was a cheesy recurring theme of them asking each other "tell me something that no one else knows about you", but they didn't spend time together in a non-sexual way and they didn't actually ever behave towards the other person in a kind way so there was no believability to them developing any real feelings for each other. Honestly, the characters just seemed really attracted to each other and not having any feelings. These guys just had wild f*** fests when they were in each other's company, it was really stupid because it was in dangerous locations and they were so likely to get caught, that it just made me think they were stupid and unprofessional. I didn't like how many flashbacks there were in this book. It seemed overly used. These lawyers did a lot of s*** that could get them disbarred. I didn't like the the way the author handled Eloise's sexuality. Alistair was the only person that she ever had sex with. She was a virgin before him when they hooked up when she was 19. It seems unrealistic and patriarchal to say that she wouldn't have sex in the 10 years after that. They had her say she was traumatized by her miscarriage, but I I think it's misogynistic to make her stay celibate. And it was unrealistic that her mafioso husband who f***** other woman and killed people in front of her wouldn't have raped her/forced her. Though I'm happy she escaped that fate. Then Eloise gets butt hurt when she's confronted with texts from another woman that Alistair had sex with, and she s*** shames him for being with tons of women. I don't think he did anything wrong, she has no right to be hurt by his sex life when they weren't together. But it does piss me off that they had an unequal experience during the 10 years when they were apart, where she kept herself celibate and he f***** his way through women, she should have just gotten to live her life and have her own experiences. Alistair didn't deserve 10 years of celibacy from Eloise. Something else that was really stupid was when Eloise was hiding out from her husband at the hotel. This woman is delusional to reality. She's so relaxed during this time. She has a murderous Mafia husband in the background ready to kill her and everyone she loves at any moment and she's just chilling as if this isn't going to bite her in the ass at any moment. I didn't have a lot of moments I liked during this book, but here's one funny one... "“Whatcha doing here, T?” I ask. She gives me a funny look. “You mean aside from the fact that my husband runs the joint?” She shrugs. “Not much. Just making sure my kneepads are in the glory-hole booth for later.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 22, 2024
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Feb 22, 2024
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Feb 22, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B0BVN3YFDS
| 3.86
| 15,594
| Mar 30, 2023
| Mar 30, 2023
|
really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: arranged marriage, mafia, enemies to lovers Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: praise, cum play, rough and dirty sex Angst: medium **spoiler alert** Tropes: arranged marriage, mafia, enemies to lovers Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: praise, cum play, rough and dirty sex Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: violence, murder, drugging, assault, abduction and abuse of a child in past 3.75 stars Ares is 31, Neve is 24. He's the leader of a Greek Mafia family. She is part of the Irish Mafia family. Their families have been warring because they had a conflict recently and parties on both sides died. To keep the peace between them and to form an alliance that will make both sides stronger against other families, a marriage is arranged between Ares and Neve. Neve is doing postgrad studies. She has a strong woman and has no interest in being used as a bargaining chip. But they're forced into it. She's reluctantly attracted to him. Initially they intended to have a marriage just on paper, but that idea goes out the door very quickly on their wedding day. They fall into a heated sexual relationship. He is whipped for her. There are a bunch of threats to them from mafia families and an enemy from her past who traumatized her in her childhood. They have to spend a lot of time together to stay safe from threats. And they start to fall in love. This was a decent book. And there was plot, suspense, sexual tension, and the characters had a likable dynamic together. There was some nice comic relief. There were some over the top moments (with the references to Greek gods and how he protected/defended his woman) and at the 70% mark I did wish that they had spent more time together getting to know and like each other outside of their sexual relationship, because it seemed at that point that their relationship was very physical and I'd have liked to see more tenderness and falling for the person that they are as opposed to just their body. Some notable moments: I love a slob, lol. "“It means,” I snap. “You are the furthest fucking thing from the ideal wife I could imagine.” The redhead gapes at me. “Okay, rude,” she sneers, shaking her head. “And fuck you, too—” “You’re tempestuous, opinionated, rash, foul-mouthed… shall I continue?” “Oh, please do!” “You’re a slob.” “I’m n—” “I’ve seen your bedroom, Neve.”" "“You okay?” “Fine,” I shrug casually. “You?” Ares glances at me, arching a brow. It’s like the Cold War we had all week, with neither of us wanting to be the first to suggest another round of Olympian, god-like sex to the other. I smirk to myself. Guess I won that one, seeing as he’s the one who just dragged me into the bathroom to fuck my brains out." "“What are you guys doing over here?” Callie blurts as she joins us on the couch. “Just Neve sexting your brother.” “Am not!” Callie snorts and makes a face. “Eww! Gross!” “You totally are,” Eilish giggles before turning to Callie. “And hey, girl, you asked!” “And I’m extremely sorry I did,” Callie shudders." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 30, 2024
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Jan 31, 2024
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Jan 29, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1952646022
| 9781952646027
| B07NK59922
| 4.32
| 120,519
| unknown
| Feb 09, 2019
|
really liked it
|
**spoiler alert** Tropes: forced proximity, second chances Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: high HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/conten **spoiler alert** Tropes: forced proximity, second chances Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: high HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: murder, violence, drugs, rape, CSA, bad parents, over-protective parents, blind FMC, manipulation, suicidal character, sex with others, self-harm Winter and Damon have a complicated history together. They are 3 years apart in age. They met initially when Winter was eight and Damon was 11, and Damon was part of the accident that caused Winter to go permanently blind. Damon had always had a rough childhood, but shortly after this interaction his mother who had been grooming him started sexually assaulting him. Damon coped by using self-harm, escaping into wild behavior, developing a relationship with pain that is extremely unhealthy, and getting off on manipulating others. A few years later, Damon meets up with Winter again. To him, she's something pure. He hides who he is from her and sneakily interacts with her a little bit. And then cuts their relationship off because he's attracted to her and she's too young, he doesn't want to sully her. But then, when she's 16, he reappears and he can see her blossoming and he's worried another man is going to snatch her up. So he gives in and has sex with her a few times, with her still not knowing who he is. Winter feels very betrayed when she finds out who it is she's been interacting with and sleeping with. Unfortunately, a video of them having sex is leaked, and Damon is charged with statutory rape and sent to prison for 3 years. Winter truly felt violated, because he used deception to sleep with her, even though she willingly slept with him, she wouldn't have if she knew who he was. A couple years later once he's out of prison, they meet again, and this time Damon has forced her sister to marry him. But he really doesn't have any intention of being with the sister, he's using the situation to pull Winter close to him. Damon relentlessly pursues her and they end up in a sexual relationship again, and winter is realizing how damaged Damon is and that the kind person that he was to her when he was hiding his identity is part of who he is. This book was okay. It was really dramatic and tension filled. There were a lot of twists. There was a lot of chemistry and emotion between the characters. I liked how obsessed Damon was with her. The book had a lot of dark themes, so it was a bit of a tough read emotionally. One thing I didn't really enjoy about how the book was told was all the flipping through time that they did. They kept flipping between the present and all these different moments in the past. I kind of prefer a more linear telling of a story, all the flipping back and forth kind of messed with the flow, it was a bit over the top how many flips there were. It was heavy-handed as a storytelling tool! Some notable moments: "I didn’t want her first time. I wanted every time." "“I will never have your children,” I told him. It was Damon. It was my sister’s husband. And I’d rather die than raise a family under his thumb. He’d be a terrible father. But I felt him approach and stop just in front of me, his deep voice quiet but steady. “You’re going to have lots of my children,” he informed me." The fact that Damon said this when he was 11 years old was sweet. "He turns away and lets out a breath as he stares ahead. “I might kiss you again when we’re older,” he says. “Just so you know.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 21, 2024
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Jan 22, 2024
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Jan 24, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| unknown
| 3.86
| 13,694
| Jul 28, 2022
| unknown
|
really liked it
|
**spoiler alert** Tropes: workplace romance, baby making deal Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 2.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/ **spoiler alert** Tropes: workplace romance, baby making deal Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 2.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MF Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: parents that mess up 3.5 Stars Ava is 36 years old. She was raised by single mother who is a bit of a hippie, who's always protesting or advocating for a cause. And Ava needs to be the adult in the relationship. Ava works as an editor of a beloved children's book series. She doesn't have a lot of faith in relationships or men and she's decided she wants to be a mother. She's looking into artificial insemination options. Her work Nemesis is Myles. He's 43 and works as an editor at the New York publishing company that bought out the company she works for. They've interacted virtually occasionally since then. But now he has come to her office because of a work crisis. He finds out that she's trying to have a baby, and he offers to be her donor. And it turns into more. This was a sweet little story. The characters were likeable. There were some nice side characters. There were some funny moments. It was a little predictable. And I didn't really believe how fast Myles went from not wanting to be an active dad after all the work he did with raising his brothers to wanting to be a dad. A little too easy, a little too light. Some notable moments: "“I know how to dodge somebody running for me,” I tell him. “I did it enough times with the cops growing up.” He holds his hand up. “I’m going to park that thought for a minute. We’ll come back to it later, because I want to know why you were running from the cops.” He takes a deep breath. “If you play, you’re on my team and you keep close at all times.”" "“You need sugar,” Lauren says. “And lots of it.” “We ate all the donuts.” Ryan looks apologetic. “Sorry.” Lauren rolls her eyes. “It’s okay, I own a donut shop.” She looks at me and Sophie. “Want to get out of here?” “Yes,” the two of us say in unison. Ryan frowns. “You’re getting more donuts? Can I come along?”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 24, 2024
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Jan 25, 2024
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Jan 22, 2024
| |||||||||||||||||
| B085N15GRY
| 3.80
| 1,045
| Mar 28, 2020
| Mar 28, 2020
|
really liked it
|
**spoiler alert** SPOILER ALERT - I can't really review this book without commenting on a crap load of spoilers so this review has more spoilers than
**spoiler alert** SPOILER ALERT - I can't really review this book without commenting on a crap load of spoilers so this review has more spoilers than usual Tropes: forced proximity, second chances, enemies to lovers, revenge, magic, small town Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: rough and dirty sex, toys Angst: medium/high HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: violence, murder, CSA (incest), rape, gang rape, addiction/overdose/prostitution (minor character), drug use, abuse, porn, dyscalculia, suicide attempt, poverty, forced outing, driving drunk and high, homophobia Roach is 32, a biker, closeted. His mom was a hooker and died when he was young. Leaving him and his brother with his biker father. Roach AKA Reed was abused his entire life. When he was young his dad SA'd him often until he got big enough to fight back. Roach has in his adulthood been cowed by his dad and MC cronies, he's been a biker himself, he's done a lot of dirty work for the MC. One day Zane walks in to their bar to perform music. Roach is instantly attracted to him. Roach never hooks up with guys even though he's gay. He only hooks up with women out of fear. But he wants to risk it with Zane and hook up. After his performance, they hook up, but it ends badly when Zane tries to pickpocket Roach and outs Roach to the MC. Roach runs away from the confrontation that night and leaves Zane with the other bikers. Zane gets brutalized and raped. As he's left for dead, Zane manages to set fire to the bar and kill everyone inside. Someone takes Zane to the hospital. 2 years later, Zane is almost 30. He's traveling with two brothers he's in a band with. They're taking advantage of him because he has dyscalculia and can't understand money. He gets convinced to come back to the town where he was attacked to perform. He meets Roach again because he's a bouncer at the bar. Zane wants revenge on Roach, he hates him and blames him for what happened to him. Roach has no idea what went down and no idea Zane was responsible for the fire. Roach is glad that he has a second chance and all those people he hated are dead. He's living a clean life. He's poor and still closeted but he's making an honest living and he's a good person now. He wants another hook up with Zane. He doesn't hate Zane. But Zane sure hates him. They realize that they can feel each other's pain, so Zane is not going to be able to kill Roach until they separate themselves. Zane dumps his awful band mates and stays in town with Roach, moving in with him, trying to figure out what's going on and separate their lives. They quickly add f****** to their arrangement. Roach is happy as a clam to have Zane on any terms. It takes them months before they make any headway to what's going on. Over that time they get to know each other. Zane starts to understand Roach isn't the evil person he thought he was, and he gets fond of him begrudgingly. They don't have an easy ride. I won't spoil absolutely everything, but they do get a happily ever after. I like this book and I think it was well done. There was a lot of intensity to it. There was a lot of plot and character development and relationship building. It was nice that it was done slowly over time. I feel like the pages of this story were well spent in telling the story. It was dark and gritty. I empathize with both of the characters, and they fit well together. There wasn't much that I disliked. I think the authors were a little brief in their trigger warnings. I read this book while I was sick and miserable, and some of the topics were just very very dark. The things that I didn't like were really just my personal taste, and not the authors' writing. I don't like characters that drive under the influence so that just wasn't likeable to me. Give me a dark book where they commit murder and that's fine, but yeah I draw the line at driving under the influence. Also Zane attempted to cheat on Roach and forcibly outed Roach twice, that's not likeable to me. Some notable moments: "“Sooo…” Gale licked his parched lips. “Your new boyfriend stabbed you yesterday, and I’m the one making bad life choices?”" Roach was so good to Zane without asking for anything "“…I’ll work it out somehow, I promise, we’ll get you the best rehab. I just… Zane’s got no savings, and I don’t wanna tell him that Culver pays him peanuts. He’s always so happy when he talks about his earnings. It would crush him. He’s got this problem with numbers, but he’d never admit it, he’s too self-conscious about it. I just went with it so he wouldn’t be embarrassed, and… fuck. If you knew what a doormat I am, you’d laugh at me so hard.”" I love how Roach described Zane, and Roach always came back for more "Like a human slot machine. Could get sex and a cuddle, could get a punch in the nuts." "A new tattoo. The size of Reed’s palm, it depicted a cockroach with wings spread to create the shape of a heart. Reed was so shocked he opened a message from Zane without thinking. It read, [Roachie <3] Reed should’ve been mad at Zane for marking his body without asking, he knew he should, but it was impossible, because the ink meant Zane now also had a roach on his heart. Right where it belonged." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jan 17, 2024
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Jan 19, 2024
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Jan 09, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B0CKY7G592
| 4.01
| 4,121
| Jan 18, 2024
| Jan 18, 2024
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: forced proximity, roommates, nerd/jock, hate (one-sided) to love, grumpy/sunshine, rich/poor Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 5/5 Kinks: rol **spoiler alert** Tropes: forced proximity, roommates, nerd/jock, hate (one-sided) to love, grumpy/sunshine, rich/poor Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 5/5 Kinks: roleplay, sex in risky / public places, so much smut Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: sex for money, money struggles, dubcon, past bullying, anxiety Feb. 10, 2024 - comfort reread already! 5+ stars! I absolutely loved this book, I know I will be reading it a billion times! Ryan is a poor nerd in college. He suffers from anxiety and he switched roommates many times, he's on a first name basis with the housing department lady. His newest roommate is Miller, who is a well-known campus jock and a bit of a himbo. Miller is openly bisexual and a sunshine of a character. Ryan is a grump who is suspicious and side eyes everything. Ryan has never been with a guy before but he definitely has bisexual leanings. When Miller meets Ryan, he's fascinated by him and attracted. He tries to befriend / hit on Ryan, but everything just bounces off of Ryan. And then Ryan gets particularly financially desperate and Miller offers him money for sexual favors. Ryan tries to be strong but he caves over and over again. These guys fall all over each other in their desperation for each other and have filthy hookups all over the place. This book had so many things that I love in it. I was howling with laughter and kicking my feet at so many moments. - I love how unhinged and one track minded Miller is when it comes to Ryan. Miller is absolutely desperate and has no pride. He will take him on any terms. - I love that Miller is so enraptured by Ryan's assholery and grumpiness. It turns him on. - The humor of Ryan being on a first name basis with the housing lady Bev, and having all these interactions with her was top notch. I hope one day Ryan tells Bev about what he and Miller got up to, because Bev would love that story! - The smut in this book was top notch! There was so much filth so frequently. They were desperate for each other. So many scenes flitter through my mind, but in particular the shower scene when Miller paid to eat Ryan's ass... Miller was so enthusiastic and desperate that he herded Ryan into the shower and cleaned him himself, joining him while still dressed, and dropping to his knees on the floor because he didn't have the patience to wait until they were in the bed. - Also, this wasn't just smutty, there were feelings, tenderness, affection. Miller glomped on to Ryan and pulled him in so tightly. From very early on he was planning for their future, wanting to marry him, get a dream house for him. He held on to Ryan even in platonic ways and just felt such joy and love and happiness. - I love a black cat grumpy accidental asshole like Ryan too. He was such a tough cookie but Miller was his weakness. I love that small moment when he was thinking of Miller and bought him the everything bagel seasoning and presented it as a gift. Just a small humble I was thinking of you moment, that meant so much to Miller. Some notable moments: I had so many moments I loved, it hurt to limit myself to these! "So yeah, I was bleak, but I cheered right up when I met him. Right up. All the way up. He had bags hanging off both shoulders and a huge box of books in his hands. He kicked the door open and held it ajar with his foot as he struggled to make his way in. I was looking at him, right in his eyes, when he saw me for the first time. His face was a picture. I don’t think anyone’s ever looked at me like that before. Disgust. Pure and unfiltered. Straight-up contempt without any attempt to hide it. I was weirdly into it. I’m weirdly into him too. He’s grumpy as hell and awkward as fuck, but he’s something to look at." "“Why’d they fire you?” Ryan blinks and looks down his nose at her. “Something about an attitude problem.” Oh God, he’s not just hot. He’s complicated and rude." Miller is unhinged. I love him! "When he got into bed, I said, “Sleep tight,” and he said, “Piss off.” He sounded pompous and British when he said it. It’s hard to describe the joy it brought me." "He turns slowly toward me. He’s holding the money I left on the desk in his hand. His face is a picture of self-loathing and lust. He slides the clip off the cash and stuffs the money into his back pocket with a shrug I think is meant to imply nonchalance, but comes off a little stiff. Blood floods my cock. It rushes down so fast I feel lightheaded. He flicks the money clip over to me. It glitters as it flies through the air. I catch it easily, uncurling my palm and looking down at the high-karat letter M in my hand. I let my bag drop on the floor right where I stand and take three or four large strides toward him, unbuttoning and unzipping and ripping my shirt off as I move." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Feb 08, 2024
Jan 20, 2024
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Feb 10, 2024
Jan 20, 2024
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Dec 28, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| B07PRXB9XR
| 3.91
| 4,473
| unknown
| Jun 2022
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Dec 25, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| 1913373584
| 9781913373580
| B0CK9HRPGK
| 3.86
| 612
| unknown
| Nov 30, 2023
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None
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Notes are private!
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0
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not set
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not set
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Dec 25, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| B0CHKWZBVM
| 4.16
| 299
| unknown
| Sep 12, 2023
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: bully romance, college romance Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: not really kinky Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential **spoiler alert** Tropes: bully romance, college romance Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: not really kinky Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: internalized homophobia, reformed bully, past extremely abusive bullying, homophobic dad 3.5 stars This book follows Rhett and Spencer. They are college students. Rhett is from a single parent home and has always struggled for money. He's trying to pay for college on his own. He was bullied in high school for being gay, and his main bully was Spencer. He's coming to his own a bit in college and has more of a friend group now. He is consoling a friend about a guy who was trashy to her and he gets the idea of offering as a service being a hot gay BFF who will listen to people vent about their boyfriends. He creates a business that operates in the sly in a friend's house as a boyfriend venting cafe. Spencer was a bully in high school but he's trying to be a better person now. He's switched colleges this year and coincidentally ended up at the same college as Rhett. He's trying to be a different person away from his homophobic dad. Spencer was actually a bully because he was dealing with internalized homophobia. He realized really young that he was gay and his dad found out at the same time and has been a prick to him his whole life trying to force him to be something he's not. Spencer has only ever been with girls as a result. When Spencer and Rhett meet again at college they clash because Rhett rightly so has a lot of feelings of anger towards Spencer. Rhett picks up on the fact that Spencer is attracted to him and he's attracted to Spencer to reluctantly. He decides to use Spencer as a hookup. They have a bunch of angry sex on Rhett's side, but there is no anger or ill well on Spencer's side, he's actually very apologetic and interested in Rhett. It's kind of funny how you feel a bit bad for the bully now. But neither of these guys were innocent. This was an okay book. It wasn't terribly realistic, you have to suspend disbelief over the college business that blooms out of their basement into such a success. Rhett didn't really treat Spencer well for a good hunk of the book and that was a bit uncomfortable to watch, but I'm conflicted because Spencer totally deserved it given how horrible he was to Rhett in high school. There was decent steam. Towards the end there were decent feelings developing to. I'd quote my favorite moments but I think I somehow deleted my annotations in my Kindle app for this book. *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 20, 2023
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Dec 27, 2023
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Dec 25, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| B0BT4TY24K
| 4.03
| 1,601
| Jan 25, 2023
| Jan 25, 2023
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: enemies to lovers, revenge, amnesia (kind of), forced proximity, captive/captor, paranormal, push/pull Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 5/5 **spoiler alert** Tropes: enemies to lovers, revenge, amnesia (kind of), forced proximity, captive/captor, paranormal, push/pull Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 5/5 Kinks: knotting, alpha/alpha, brat, dubcon Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: dubcon, abduction (not between MCs, I mean there was to some extent but Blake was the best treated prisoner ever with five star accommodations and food), drugging, violence, miscommunication trope (but honestly I didn't care, I loved this book so much) 5 stars! The best book of the series, will definitely reread. Blake is an alpha and about 30, he's a spoiled and snobby brat who comes from a rich family and has never had to work. He's used to flitting around and living the high life, spending family money. But earlier in this book series family drama blew up and Blake has essentially been cut off from the money. Blake has been a jerk in the past, but he's also been abused in the past by his father, so there's a vulnerability to him. He's a villain and a victim. Blake goes to a casino and gambles money he doesn't have on credit and counts cards. He's hoping to earn a bunch of money so that he can keep up his standard of living. He gets caught and pulled in to be questioned by the casino owner and security. Turns out 10 years ago, Blake propositioned the casino owner who was just a worker at that time and really needed the job and got him fired. Declan, the casino owner has had a grudge since. Now that he ended up on top through his hard work, he wants to make Blake pay for what he did back then plus how he was basically stealing from his casino in the present. He won't involve the cops. He'll take that payment out of his ass. Both of them are alphas, and he wants to force Blake to submit. He'll keep him as his fuck toy for months until he considers the debt paid. There's a little bit of dubcon here, because Blake wasn't enthusiastically consenting the first time and there's moments later on where Blake is enjoying it physically but kind of hurting emotionally but a deal's a deal. This was such a good book. I went into this book thinking that I would hate Blake because in the previous books he was such a jerk. But you realize pretty quickly that Blake is actually a vulnerable insecure person who's not mean spirited and he's a victim too. Doesn't excuse his s*** but it does make him more sympathetic and redeemable. I was shocked that this ended up being my favorite book out of the entire 10 book series, which I devoured this week. And it was my favorite book by a lot. There was interesting plot. The dynamic between the characters was so good. They hated each other. Blake snarked so hard even when it wasn't smart for him too. They pulled each other closer while at the same time pushing each other away. They wanted to punish the other person but at the same time they were climbing out of their skin with how much they craved them. They snuck in little moments of tenderness so often. The steam in this book was wildly hot, like these guys shook the bed and sweated it out, wringing all the pleasure they could out of each other's bodies. I really loved how it wasn't insta love, it wasn't easy for them to like the other person, it kept the tension going throughout the book and every exchange was full of that angst and tension. Little things about the book that I loved: - From the beginning, Declan could not keep his eyes off of Blake. He hated him, but he couldn't stop looking at him so intensely. - The dialogue and the freaking humor that was slipped in! I loved Blake's brattiness and how he just kept pushing buttons. He was smart too. And he was good to the casino employees and he kept his word, and you could see from his thoughts that he wasn't really a bad person. - Blake's fancy standards. Only a monster would heat up lobster bisque soup in the microwave. And he would never hook up with someone who wore pleated khakis. - The way Declan casually/not so casually surmised / asked Blake if this was his first time being fucked, such an intense and charged moments but also merciless. - The way Declan at every opportunity was just nuzzling Blake (and licking him, fingers wandering, and biting him). He was starving for him and he kept accidentally showing the reader that this was more than just physical. I say the reader because Blake was too insecure and boy-dumb to get it. High steam plus platonic snuggles?! My kryptonite. - I loved that Declan's instinct was to possessively declare that no one else was ever going to have Blake. And then he had to backtrack because he realized how he sounded. - The way that Declan smiled, giggled, and barked laughter at Blake's antics. He just enjoyed him so much. He was such a serious and intense guy so those moments meant more coming from him. He didn't resent things or make Blake feel bad about things like other people who had made Blake feel insecure. Blake could be himself even if that meant being ridiculous. - Blake begging to be kissed was adorable. And it was just an off-the-cuff little moment that was done perfect. - Blake was so smart and protective of himself, and decided to hold himself back from talking and just give Declan the bare minimum that he had asked for for a couple weeks there. It was a really smart move on his part, he kept his side of the deal, but he protected himself emotionally. And I absolutely loved Declan's response to that. He noticed and he missed Blake's personality, his conversation, he missed him just being him. It bothered him and unsettled him. - The way Declan was so focused on Blake when he was around him. He would just steer him into the shower, crowd into his space, pull him in. - No OM drama! One minor thing that I didn't love was the miscommunication trope being used. On page 193 as we were nearing the end, Declan said the most stupid thing. He was trying to convey that he wanted to talk and that they would make it a real relationship, but instead he accidentally made it sound like he was about to break up with Blake. And really, the miscommunication trope was used throughout the book. They didn't have great communication. Normally I would have been more bothered by that, but given this book had so many other positives going for it I didn't really care in the greater scheme of things. Some notable moments: I love him saying, the f*** do you mean?!? ""But if you think you’re going to get away with this kind of petty bullshit, think again. I’m not going to sue you. I’m going to fuck you until you scream.” He was going to… “What?” I demanded. “Until I scream? Alphas don’t scream, what the fuck are you talking—” And then I stopped abruptly, my brain screeching to a halt along with my mouth as what he’d actually said caught up to me. I’d focused on the screaming part, and overlooked the… “The fuck do you mean you’re going to fuck me?”" "Laughing. The bastard was laughing. At me. And trying to muffle it in my own skin! “Fuck you! Fuck—fuck you for—I hate you so fucking much, Declan!” He pulled his face away from my shoulder and laughed out loud, a low, rich rumble that shook me in a different way. “Oh, fucking Jesus Christ,” he wheezed after a long minute of me lying there with my face burning and my body stiff as a board in his grasp. “Shit. Blake. What’s worse?” And then he was off again, cackling like a fucking madman. “The pleated khakis,” he gasped at last. “Or the blackmail?”" It's sweet how focused on Blake he is, that he doesn't believe Blake loves him but he has no intention of letting him go and every intention of making him happy/his. "“There’s no fucking way,” he said, with an edge of bitterness. “You’re grateful to me, and you need me because you don’t have anyone else. And you want me,” he growled. “I’m going to keep you so well fucked that you’ll never stop wanting me. But you can’t possibly love me. Not after the way I’ve treated you. You don’t need to lie to me to make sure I take care of you, Blake. I will. No matter what.”" When a man growls because he wants to permanently claim you so bad. "“You said you’d bite me back the next time I bit you,” he growled. “Going to keep your promise?” “Yes, Declan, yes—” He curled down, set his teeth into my skin, and bit." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 11, 2024
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Dec 21, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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| B0BV7FL8PB
| 4.06
| 5,269
| Feb 01, 2024
| Feb 01, 2024
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: enemies to lovers, secret relationship, hurt/comfort, small town, opposites attract Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: role play **spoiler alert** Tropes: enemies to lovers, secret relationship, hurt/comfort, small town, opposites attract Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: role play, mild degradation, dirty talk, docking Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: Gangs, violence, bullying, panic attacks, drugs, forced drugging, homophobia, bad parents 4.5 stars, it was a fun read Silas and Blaine are 18. Blaine is the golden boy, a star athlete, very involved in the community, a great student, son of the mayor. He's a virgin, he doesn't drink or do drugs. Silas is trailer park trash to most people, his dad and brother are in jail, his family is gang affiliated and he's likely to join the gang soon, he does jobs for the gang including drug deals. Silas is a good son and a good person at heart though. He's not really fit for the life he's stuck with. They met 3 years ago at school. Blaine was instantly fascinated by Silas but he wasn't self-aware enough to recognize that feeling was attraction. They got off on the wrong foot and they have had a relationship based on hate, exchanging barbs and shoving at each other ever since. A fight on the outskirts of a party one night of shoving turns sexual. They kiss and get each other off, and they both love it, and they tumble into an ongoing hate f****** relationship. They hook up in secret for many weeks maybe months. They start to talk and feelings start to grow. People start to find out about them and Blaine's home life blows up on him and Silas is there for him. The big conflict is can their relationship survive corrupt interference and the end of high school, with Blaine moving out of town for school and Silas needing to commit to the gang he's in. I really liked this book. There was great animosity between the characters. The animosity lasted for a good hunk of time. There was good tension between them. They had explosive chemistry together. I like the slow build of feelings creeping in. It's funny that even when they hated each other and even from their first hookup, they kept sneaking in goodbye kisses after they hooked up. They really couldn't help themselves. I liked them becoming so possessive and protective of one another. I usually am not a huge fan of high school books but this was enjoyable. I'm intrigued by the idea of Whaley and Bunky getting a book next. Some notable moments: "We’re at our spot in the camper, sitting on the run-down pull-out couch tucked by the back of the space. We’re hip to hip, Silas’ arm wrapped around me—trapped between the couch and my back—with his fingers hooked around my belt loop. My head rests on his shoulder, and every now and then my lips wander to nip at the freckles on his throat, but he’s been ignoring me." Their texts are funny "Me: Be careful. I might think you like me or something. Asshole: Fuck off. I’ll have your ass tomorrow. Me: Don’t you mean ‘see’? Asshole: I said what I said." "Asshole: You done yet? I’m horny and wanna fuck. Two seconds later, he sends another message. Asshole: Fine, also I miss you. Hurry up and get over here so we can cuddle or some shit." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 02, 2024
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Feb 02, 2024
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Dec 20, 2023
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B072HTJ9D2
| 4.06
| 4,220
| unknown
| May 08, 2017
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: organized crime, boss/assassin, enemies to lovers, forced proximity Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: rough sex, noncon, dubcon **spoiler alert** Tropes: organized crime, boss/assassin, enemies to lovers, forced proximity Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: rough sex, noncon, dubcon, torture as a one-sided foreplay? Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: murder, torture, violence, nice LGBTQIA rep The story follows Daniel a 49-year-old widower gangster whose long term beloved wife Petra was killed in a failed hit on him. Stavros 42 was the mercenary who killed Petra. Daniel has been quiet on the scene for the last 4 years, but has been taking out the people that were behind the hit and now he has taken captive Stavros and intends to enjoy his slow torture and death. But as they interact, Daniel's obsession with Stavros grows. Stavros, a pansexual man who is attracted to Daniel and the toxic violence he offers, turns their dynamic tauntingly sexual. Daniel is realizing he might not be as straight as he thought. This was a gritty story. I think the darkness was handled well. I liked the enemies dynamic between Daniel and Stavros. The torture being personal and turning into "I don't want to end him/it" was compelling. I can understand their dynamic turning to lust the way that it did. But I didn't really understand how it turned into love. I felt like all of a sudden they went from lusting after each other to loving each other, and I didn't see the development of that feeling. Came out of nowhere. Once they proclaimed themselves to be feeling that though, they were entertaining to watch, I do enjoy a couple that's willing to do anything for each other, that loves each other deeply. I wasn't a huge fan of the mystery of who the woman was that Daniel was caring for, it made me worry that it was Petra and their relationship was going to explode. I wasn't a huge fan of Stavros having sex with others at the 38% mark, I know that him and Daniel weren't together at that point but they had started something and it was too far along in the book for me personally and it distracts from the momentum of the tension being built between Daniel and Stavros. Also, unrealistic refractory period for men of their age. LOL Some notable moments: "“I want you to fuck me,” he snarled at Daniel, pushing back until the head of his shaft was firmly against his hole. “Then I want you gone.” He raked his fingers over Daniel’s belly, and sound gurgled in the other man’s throat as his belly contracted. “Get inside me so I can get you out of my system.”" "“You want to share a life.” “I do.” Daniel licked his lips. “I know commitment and monogamy aren’t things you’re familiar with.” His fingers tightened on Stavros’ face. “I don’t expect—” “Expect.” Stavros grabbed Daniel’s hand, bringing it to the middle of his chest. Holding him there in the tightest grip. “You brought me here. You let me see you. You damn well better expect things from me,” he said fiercely, gaze hot and heavy as the midday sun. “Expect things from me.” “Diablo.” “Expect me to love you like you love me.” He shifted closer, settling between Daniel’s legs. “Expect me to respect you enough to do right by you,” he said hoarsely." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 15, 2023
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Dec 16, 2023
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Dec 14, 2023
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B0CKRCBYZS
| 4.47
| 3,316
| Nov 14, 2023
| Nov 14, 2023
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: fake dating, forced proximity, secret relationship, hate to love Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairin **spoiler alert** Tropes: fake dating, forced proximity, secret relationship, hate to love Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: grief, drowning death of twin brother as a kid, bad parents, mental health problems 4.5 stars Steph is 25 and Quinn is 34. When Steph was 15 his twin brother died in an accident and Steph hasn't been the same since mentally. He has nightmares. He has these attacks. He reinvented himself into this always smiling, superficial persona. He doesn't let people see him. Quinn is a former Olympic swimmer and now he teaches swimming to people with special needs. Steph used to have a crush on him when he was a swimmer. But Quinn was an a****** to him the first time they met and he lost the rose colored glasses. Once they realized that they had friends in common, Steph tried to avoid him and has been politely hostile and guarded around Quinn, trying to not let on how much Quinn irks him. They exist on the periphery of each other's lives for years. And then some bad timing causes Quinn's family to think they are boyfriends. Steph agrees to play along and spend some time with Quinn and his family. There's a slow burn of growing sexual tension between them that finally bursts around the 50% mark when a moment of jealousy pushes them over the edge. Steph tries to keep it at just a one night stand. But Quinn is persistent and won't let it end. They start hooking up regularly, keeping their relationship a secret from their friend group. They have explosive chemistry together. And even in the hottest moments, there's an air of tenderness creeping in there, like full body contact, wrapping arms around each other, meaningful eye contact, etc. I love when it's not just smut and there's a real connection and feeling there, where they aren't just another hookup to each other. But Steph is a tough nut to crack, and he's not ready to open up about his past. So they have difficulty making the jump into a deep relationship. I really liked this book. They had a great build up of animosity and bickering and exchanging of barbs. And then Quinn decided he was going to get what he wants Steph, and not let Steph run away. And they were just explosive together. I liked the humor and sarcasm that the author infused this book with. I really like their friend group and that type of humor. This book was not light-hearted and it needed the comic relief. It dealt with some really serious s***. I cried. What happened to Steph's brother was so sad. I like that in this book we got dual pov. The first book in this series was single POV One thing that didn't make sense to me was how angry got at Steph on/around the anniversary of his brother's death. Quinn had just found out about the brother's death, and his first reaction to Steph pulling away from him during his time of grief, was to chase him down and yell at him, get into a screaming match berating? That didn't fit. Quinn should have been hugging his little porcupine and being understanding. Some notable moments: "I pat him on the chest. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. That dream wedding you told me all about last night sounds wonderful. And it’s sweet you have a binder with all the details planned out. And those inspiration photos you showed me where you’ve cut off the model’s head and photoshopped your own there instead just really showcased your vision. It’s nice that you care so deeply about it.”" "“I don’t hate him,” I repeat. “I’m ambivalent.” They’re still staring. “It’s mutual,” I say defensively. “Some people just don’t click. He finds me difficult to tolerate. And I find him more palatable in moderation,” I add, even though it’s starting to feel a bit like the lady doth protest too much. “Like wasabi.” “You hate wasabi,” Jude points out. “No. I’m fine with wasabi as long as it’s not anywhere near me." The bargaining that they are doing! LOL "“Okay, fine. I’ll make you a deal. This technically still counts as the same night of our one-night stand, since you didn’t leave. So let’s get back to bed and fuck once more. For old time’s sake.” “Tempting,” he says. “But no. Not until you go on a date with me.” “Well, I won’t.” He shrugs. “Then I won’t sleep with you again.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Feb 05, 2024
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Feb 05, 2024
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Nov 15, 2023
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Kindle Edition
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Jane aka Coughy019
>
Books:
enemies-to-lovers
(112)
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my rating |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 4.21
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really liked it
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Jul 03, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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| 3.93
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it was amazing
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May 21, 2024
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May 19, 2024
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| 4.06
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not set
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Apr 14, 2024
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| 4.06
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liked it
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Apr 11, 2024
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Apr 09, 2024
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| 4.36
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liked it
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Mar 30, 2024
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Mar 30, 2024
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| 4.23
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it was ok
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Mar 13, 2024
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Mar 12, 2024
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| 4.06
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it was ok
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Feb 28, 2024
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Feb 27, 2024
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| 4.02
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it was ok
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Feb 22, 2024
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Feb 22, 2024
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| 3.86
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really liked it
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Jan 31, 2024
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Jan 29, 2024
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| 4.32
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really liked it
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Jan 22, 2024
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Jan 24, 2024
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| 3.86
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really liked it
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Jan 25, 2024
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Jan 22, 2024
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| 3.80
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really liked it
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Jan 19, 2024
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Jan 09, 2024
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| 4.01
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it was amazing
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Feb 10, 2024
Jan 20, 2024
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Dec 28, 2023
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| 3.91
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not set
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Dec 25, 2023
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| 3.86
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not set
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Dec 25, 2023
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| 4.16
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liked it
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Dec 27, 2023
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Dec 25, 2023
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| 4.03
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it was amazing
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Jul 11, 2024
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Dec 21, 2023
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| 4.06
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it was amazing
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Feb 02, 2024
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Dec 20, 2023
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| 4.06
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really liked it
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Dec 16, 2023
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Dec 14, 2023
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| 4.47
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it was amazing
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Feb 05, 2024
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Nov 15, 2023
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