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koistyfishy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 Rue Rue Rue Stars โญ
Spicy Level: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ.5/5
This one was a little unusual because it is NOT LIKE any of the other Ali Hazelwood books that I have read. She does give a little "warning" in the front that this is going to be leaning more into erotica than just rom-com-y and boy was she not kidding.
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Rue Siebert is a chemical engineer working for a biofuel company, working on a project at the company to preserve food. But she has an interesting "little sexual appetite" and uses a hookup app to meet strangers for a one-and-done fix. She matches with Eli Killgore on the app and the two agree to meet up at a hotel to get down and dirty but don't as Rue's brother plays "angry cockblocker" so Eli just takes Rue home... BUT BOTH ARE STILL VERY SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER. So she's pretty shocked when the next day she rocks up to her company to find out there's a Hostile Takeover in progress, she could possibly lose her research and job and Eli's company is the one doing the takeover. Now Rue needs to battle her loyalty to the company while also dealing with the fact that she really really really wants to fuck Eli.
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
So I'm not sure if I like Ali Hazelwood as an author. I've tried a couple of her books and they always seem to end up mediocre for me. They're not the type of books that will ever make it on my ride-or-die romance list. They always seem a little bit problematic and I guess I just read them to pass the time. She's like nothing memorable and just something for JIT entertainment... but when it's done I am not going to ever wanna go back. From an entertainment perspective, they deliver exactly what I need. They keep my ears busy while I happen to be watering my plants or doing some crafting and sewing.
There's not much in this but sex and it's basically just vanilla sex with maybe a little bondage and edging. I think most of the interactions between the two of them is Eli just saying Rue's name 17 times in one sentence, 100 times in that chapter and then ending up with them having sex. Now I don't mind that too much, characters are horny but they are totally giving off vibes that that is all there is to their connection. There is NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL! NO CONNECTION!
Obviously, Eli is attracted to Rue, and sometimes a little bit creepy how attracted he is to Rue. The way he thinks about her and talks makes me think he has some sort of DaddyXDaughter kink because he "wants to just take care of her". But then he turns into a bumbling fool and can only really say her name when in his presence. Like the word "Rue" was used 441 times... LET ME REPEAT THAT... 441 times!!!! and her POV is in FIRST PERSON... WHICH is also a little strange - like why have a dual POV book but then one of them is first person and the other is third person? Why are we watching Eli but we are in Rue's HEAD?
Rue and Eli are both very damaged characters so deal a lot with the effects of this trauma throughout the book as they explore what they mean to each other and what each other's presence means in their lives. Eli was actually sweet in everything that he did and besides the weird name thing, he was the favourite of the two - he was very besotted with Rue and fought to make it work. His determination to get her to crack her "no-second" rule was admirable and his tenacity to continue to break her walls down and help her explore new boundaries was sweet. Rue felt like sandpaper without a personality. She is very robotic in her thoughts and does not have "traditional" feelings. It's never explicitly stated in the book, but it's pretty clear that Rue is neurodivergent tending to autistic with her actions and stilted emotional connection to things. She breaks things down so clinically and battles to build connections with people and doesn't always have a filter... I really did not like her as a person and felt her actions were very selfish.
I do want to give kudos to the narrators. I love it when Callie Dalton reads romances. She does such an amazing job. She was joined by Jason Clarke and I swear every time he did an accent, my panties might have melted off right there... The one thing I REALLY loved about the Audio was it did my FAVOURITE THING. Most dual narrations are split into chapters where one narrator will do all the voices in that chapter and the other narrator will do the second POV. However, when Eli spoke in Rue's POV he would be voiced by Jason Clarke even though it was Callie's chapter and this just added such an extra level to the performance.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ and ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dual POV but its First Person POV (Rue) and Third Person POV (Eli)
โถ Instalust
โถ Strangers to Lovers
โถ "Out of Our Systems"
โถ "Fuck It"
โถ Steamy Water Scene
โถ He Fall's First
โถ Forced Proximity
โถ Workplace STEM Romance
โถ "Use Me"
โถ Good Girl
Overall this WASN'T THE WORST ALI HAZELWOOD I have read... but it wasn't the best... It was just sex...
Spicy Level: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ.5/5
This one was a little unusual because it is NOT LIKE any of the other Ali Hazelwood books that I have read. She does give a little "warning" in the front that this is going to be leaning more into erotica than just rom-com-y and boy was she not kidding.
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
Rue Siebert is a chemical engineer working for a biofuel company, working on a project at the company to preserve food. But she has an interesting "little sexual appetite" and uses a hookup app to meet strangers for a one-and-done fix. She matches with Eli Killgore on the app and the two agree to meet up at a hotel to get down and dirty but don't as Rue's brother plays "angry cockblocker" so Eli just takes Rue home... BUT BOTH ARE STILL VERY SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER. So she's pretty shocked when the next day she rocks up to her company to find out there's a Hostile Takeover in progress, she could possibly lose her research and job and Eli's company is the one doing the takeover. Now Rue needs to battle her loyalty to the company while also dealing with the fact that she really really really wants to fuck Eli.
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
So I'm not sure if I like Ali Hazelwood as an author. I've tried a couple of her books and they always seem to end up mediocre for me. They're not the type of books that will ever make it on my ride-or-die romance list. They always seem a little bit problematic and I guess I just read them to pass the time. She's like nothing memorable and just something for JIT entertainment... but when it's done I am not going to ever wanna go back. From an entertainment perspective, they deliver exactly what I need. They keep my ears busy while I happen to be watering my plants or doing some crafting and sewing.
There's not much in this but sex and it's basically just vanilla sex with maybe a little bondage and edging. I think most of the interactions between the two of them is Eli just saying Rue's name 17 times in one sentence, 100 times in that chapter and then ending up with them having sex. Now I don't mind that too much, characters are horny but they are totally giving off vibes that that is all there is to their connection. There is NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL! NO CONNECTION!
Obviously, Eli is attracted to Rue, and sometimes a little bit creepy how attracted he is to Rue. The way he thinks about her and talks makes me think he has some sort of DaddyXDaughter kink because he "wants to just take care of her". But then he turns into a bumbling fool and can only really say her name when in his presence. Like the word "Rue" was used 441 times... LET ME REPEAT THAT... 441 times!!!! and her POV is in FIRST PERSON... WHICH is also a little strange - like why have a dual POV book but then one of them is first person and the other is third person? Why are we watching Eli but we are in Rue's HEAD?
Rue and Eli are both very damaged characters so deal a lot with the effects of this trauma throughout the book as they explore what they mean to each other and what each other's presence means in their lives. Eli was actually sweet in everything that he did and besides the weird name thing, he was the favourite of the two - he was very besotted with Rue and fought to make it work. His determination to get her to crack her "no-second" rule was admirable and his tenacity to continue to break her walls down and help her explore new boundaries was sweet. Rue felt like sandpaper without a personality. She is very robotic in her thoughts and does not have "traditional" feelings. It's never explicitly stated in the book, but it's pretty clear that Rue is neurodivergent tending to autistic with her actions and stilted emotional connection to things. She breaks things down so clinically and battles to build connections with people and doesn't always have a filter... I really did not like her as a person and felt her actions were very selfish.
I do want to give kudos to the narrators. I love it when Callie Dalton reads romances. She does such an amazing job. She was joined by Jason Clarke and I swear every time he did an accent, my panties might have melted off right there... The one thing I REALLY loved about the Audio was it did my FAVOURITE THING. Most dual narrations are split into chapters where one narrator will do all the voices in that chapter and the other narrator will do the second POV. However, when Eli spoke in Rue's POV he would be voiced by Jason Clarke even though it was Callie's chapter and this just added such an extra level to the performance.
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ and ๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dual POV but its First Person POV (Rue) and Third Person POV (Eli)
โถ Instalust
โถ Strangers to Lovers
โถ "Out of Our Systems"
โถ "Fuck It"
โถ Steamy Water Scene
โถ He Fall's First
โถ Forced Proximity
โถ Workplace STEM Romance
โถ "Use Me"
โถ Good Girl
Overall this WASN'T THE WORST ALI HAZELWOOD I have read... but it wasn't the best... It was just sex...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and Stalking
Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
gwenswoons's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Loved this โ I always enjoy Ali Hazelwood and it had been a while. The STEM- and academia-set romances really work for me, as someone who does not work in math/science but IS in a very high-pressure field (and has, as one part of that work, been in and out of academia for many years) โ I love that her female main characters are really good at their jobs, passionate and ambitious, and that they have real-life complexities and struggles with mental health, being taken seriously in their careers (hello accurate world-building), and all else. I also love a romance that has deep and fully-realized secondary relationships; and the friendships here were so detailed in their dynamics even though they didnโt pull focus away from the primary story.
This novel is heavier in some ways than other romances and rom-coms, and I loved Hazelwoodโs note at the beginning of this one that the two MCs are both still processing pretty major childhood traumas; and that that ongoing processing would be part of this story, despite the fact that we could of course look forward to a happy ending. I thought the traumas and the way they continue to resonate and ripple outward were so sensitively and accurately managed, and I loved that the arc of the story didnโt try to correct them (whichโฆyuck, and also itโs not like a rom-com has enough time and space for the people inside it to go to the many decades of therapy they need, soโฆ). I love Ali Hazelwoodโs sex writing and thought it was especially amazing here, though itโs also possible Iโve just been reading slightly more closed-door romance lately and was just bowled over by the sheer AMOUNT of it, haha! But it really is so good, and I loved these characters and their chemistry in particular. The audio narrators for this one were great โ Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke! Sweet and the right amount smutty, haha. I havenโt read her last couple of releases in YA romance and the fantasy/sci-fi romance(?!) โ I always pre-order with her because her writing really works for me, despite those genres not being faves most often โ but sheโs so prolific that I started with this one and Iโll work my way back to the other ones in my Libro.fm library. Anyway!! So good! Loved it and it made a couple long car trips fly by.
This novel is heavier in some ways than other romances and rom-coms, and I loved Hazelwoodโs note at the beginning of this one that the two MCs are both still processing pretty major childhood traumas; and that that ongoing processing would be part of this story, despite the fact that we could of course look forward to a happy ending. I thought the traumas and the way they continue to resonate and ripple outward were so sensitively and accurately managed, and I loved that the arc of the story didnโt try to correct them (whichโฆyuck, and also itโs not like a rom-com has enough time and space for the people inside it to go to the many decades of therapy they need, soโฆ). I love Ali Hazelwoodโs sex writing and thought it was especially amazing here, though itโs also possible Iโve just been reading slightly more closed-door romance lately and was just bowled over by the sheer AMOUNT of it, haha! But it really is so good, and I loved these characters and their chemistry in particular. The audio narrators for this one were great โ Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke! Sweet and the right amount smutty, haha. I havenโt read her last couple of releases in YA romance and the fantasy/sci-fi romance(?!) โ I always pre-order with her because her writing really works for me, despite those genres not being faves most often โ but sheโs so prolific that I started with this one and Iโll work my way back to the other ones in my Libro.fm library. Anyway!! So good! Loved it and it made a couple long car trips fly by.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
chelsea_jh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Pregnancy
ireevesy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Without a doubt, Ali Hazelwood's best book EVER. Everything about this book was truly beautiful, heartbreakingly beautiful, to me. I LOVED the characters, more than any others that she has done before. The two main characters were so incredibly well developed, as I would argue the supporting ones are.
One of the best things that has to be said for this book, which makes it so much better than Ali's other books (which are also incredible) is the DUAL narrative. FINALLY. To be able to hear from the MMC and see his processes. Again, FINALLY.
This book I would argue might not be for the faint hearted. It has some really serious undertones that Ali is very clever in not letting you forget. There are TWs at the beginning, and they are not to be disregarded. I think the subject matters only add to the beauty of the work. The characters are flawed, but beautiful.
I will be rereading this over and over. I absolutely loved it.
One of the best things that has to be said for this book, which makes it so much better than Ali's other books (which are also incredible) is the DUAL narrative. FINALLY. To be able to hear from the MMC and see his processes. Again, FINALLY.
This book I would argue might not be for the faint hearted. It has some really serious undertones that Ali is very clever in not letting you forget. There are TWs at the beginning, and they are not to be disregarded. I think the subject matters only add to the beauty of the work. The characters are flawed, but beautiful.
I will be rereading this over and over. I absolutely loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
kimveach's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love this author and her writing. I would have preferred a little more of the STEM story instead of quite so much erotica, but I still love her traumatized main characters. She also included one of the best descriptions of food insecurity that I've seen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Car accident
garbage_mcsmutly's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
๐ถ๏ธ 5/5
Well, I always really like Ali Hazelwood's stories, and this was no exception! As she says in the authors note, this is "less of a rom-com and more of an erotic romance," which is a bit of a diversion from her usual fare, but she still did an excellent job. This was an interesting story.
Our FMC Rue is traumatized by her childhood, and has social anxiety, so she's... prickly. It takes her basically the whole book to warm up to the idea of love. And when she warms up to it, she's suddenly all in. But growth isn't linear in real life either so... s'all good. This being Ali Hazelwood, Rue is obviously also an accomplished scientist. She's very good at her job and it does kind of make up most of her life, aside from her two friends.
MMC Eli is totally gone for Rue from the start. One of his friends straight up calls him a simp and he doesn't deny it ๐คฃ I loved how he just loved everything about her, even if at times it was a little like.... really bro? can she do NO wrong??? He's also got trauma to address, although he's a lot further on that journey than she is. I gotta say I'm not normally sympathetic to finance bros but Ali did a good job of explaining in a few words how his company is not the typical vulture investor firm. And he was ultimately quite likable.
The plot of corporate intrigue was interesting, and accessible, and took up the right amount of the book IMHO.
Although not so much a rom-com, there was still plenty of joking and humor in the story. I laughed at multiple points. We deal with some pretty heavy subject matter at a couple points, but it is well balanced with the lighter stuff.
๐ง This was duet style narration, which I always love! Both narrators' voices (Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke) felt right for the characters, and the acting was well done. And the spicy scenes were *chef's kiss*.
๐ถ๏ธ There was lots of spice, and shades of kink (light restraints, o control) incorporated into a lot of the spicy scenes. The scenes were ๐ฅต๐ฅ
Well, I always really like Ali Hazelwood's stories, and this was no exception! As she says in the authors note, this is "less of a rom-com and more of an erotic romance," which is a bit of a diversion from her usual fare, but she still did an excellent job. This was an interesting story.
Our FMC Rue is traumatized by her childhood, and has social anxiety, so she's... prickly. It takes her basically the whole book to warm up to the idea of love. And when she warms up to it, she's suddenly all in. But growth isn't linear in real life either so... s'all good. This being Ali Hazelwood, Rue is obviously also an accomplished scientist. She's very good at her job and it does kind of make up most of her life, aside from her two friends.
MMC Eli is totally gone for Rue from the start. One of his friends straight up calls him a simp and he doesn't deny it ๐คฃ I loved how he just loved everything about her, even if at times it was a little like.... really bro? can she do NO wrong??? He's also got trauma to address, although he's a lot further on that journey than she is. I gotta say I'm not normally sympathetic to finance bros but Ali did a good job of explaining in a few words how his company is not the typical vulture investor firm. And he was ultimately quite likable.
The plot of corporate intrigue was interesting, and accessible, and took up the right amount of the book IMHO.
Although not so much a rom-com, there was still plenty of joking and humor in the story. I laughed at multiple points. We deal with some pretty heavy subject matter at a couple points, but it is well balanced with the lighter stuff.
๐ง This was duet style narration, which I always love! Both narrators' voices (Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke) felt right for the characters, and the acting was well done. And the spicy scenes were *chef's kiss*.
๐ถ๏ธ There was lots of spice, and shades of kink (light restraints, o control) incorporated into a lot of the spicy scenes. The scenes were ๐ฅต๐ฅ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse and Toxic relationship
Minor: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Child abuse mainly in the form of neglect and food insecurity in the FMC's past. Nothing violent.violetheart34's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
jadeandherbunny's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ali Hazelwood slapped again.
I loved Rue, the spice, the friendship shenanigans and ice, ice baby (not literally pls).
The fact that there is so much art work online about the characters made me love them more, as I do not have the privilege to have a movie in my head like some of y'all. Like I'm obsessed by that one ice skating illustration featured in the Afterlight edition ๐. I do not have it since I'm not made of money, but the Instagram version does it just fine.
Rue is my queen, I liked her way more than Eli, I guess that's just me being bisexual though.
I only liked Eli because of his obsession with Rue (relatable) and his skills in bed, but I don't find him attractive in his looks nor in his personality.
I started to read for the cover and the author and stayed for Rue (and the author).
I loved Rue, the spice, the friendship shenanigans and ice, ice baby (not literally pls).
The fact that there is so much art work online about the characters made me love them more, as I do not have the privilege to have a movie in my head like some of y'all. Like I'm obsessed by that one ice skating illustration featured in the Afterlight edition ๐. I do not have it since I'm not made of money, but the Instagram version does it just fine.
Rue is my queen, I liked her way more than Eli, I guess that's just me being bisexual though.
I only liked Eli because of his obsession with Rue (relatable) and his skills in bed, but I don't find him attractive in his looks nor in his personality.
I started to read for the cover and the author and stayed for Rue (and the author).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
Moderate: Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
wanderlust_romance's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
First Hazelwood book. I liked it, finding it to be a fast and relatively compelling read. There's this intangible sensuality running through the story. And my god so much yearning. And hunger, both in the literal and emotional sense of the word. All of that combined to make this a really pleasant reading experience. It reminded me a bit of the on-page relationship dynamics in Sherry Thomas' books, but without the rip your heart out of your chest and stomp all over it before handing it back to you with a happily ever after. So you know, slightly less angsty ยฏ\_(ใ)_/ยฏ
Pick this up if you are in the mood for:
Pick this up if you are in the mood for:
- A really sensual read
- Women in STEM representation
- A workplace-ish rivalry
- An FMC with highly fortified emotional walls
- Former college ice hockey x ice skater (MC commonality)
- Emotional caretaking
- Austin, TX setting
- A true SIMP of a MMC (he's got it BAD)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual content
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment
booklvrkat's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
โMaybe people can be happy and sad. Maybe stories are messy and complicated. Maybe endings donโt always include solutions that tie everything together in a bow. But that doesnโt mean that they have to be tragedies.โ
I am a fan. It does not matter what is written on her page, Ali Hazelwood has a forever fan in me. I love the romances that she writes, she makes them real. She doesnโt shy away from the hard parts, and she goes deep with them. Fast paced, different, and actually a very lovely story when it came two these two characters coming together.
โYour damn mouth,โ he murmured, โis the most obscenely lovely thing Iโve ever had the burden of seeing.โ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Abandonment