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turquoiseavenue's review
5.0
Whenever I’m having a bad day, or (ahem) a bad week, I can always count on Emma St. Clair and her sweet romantic comedies to cheer me up! I absolutely LOVED The Buy-In.
Emma St. Clair kept me laughing, quite literally, out loud with her characters’ antics and the hilarious, dramatic scenes that unfolded in this second-chance-at-love, marriage-of-convenience mashup. I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters, Patrick and Lindy, who were down-to-earth and fully relatable!
The romance was the perfect combination of spark and sizzle and I personally loved how Pat pursued Lindy and determined to love her well. There were so many moments that really touched my heart. Speaking of heart, I loved how each of the main characters had a close, deep relationship with their family members and friends. Those secondary characters added to the story in a really tangible way, making it even more enjoyable! Throw in the small-town vibes and I was completely won over.
I found The Buy-In to be a quick, easy read with a creative story line that kept me highly engaged. In fact, I had trouble putting it down! Overall, this was a great read that was fun, flirty, and most certainly heartwarming. I can’t wait for the next installment in this series and I highly recommend Emma St. Clair’s Love Cliche series as well.
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary e-copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts below are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.
Emma St. Clair kept me laughing, quite literally, out loud with her characters’ antics and the hilarious, dramatic scenes that unfolded in this second-chance-at-love, marriage-of-convenience mashup. I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters, Patrick and Lindy, who were down-to-earth and fully relatable!
The romance was the perfect combination of spark and sizzle and I personally loved how Pat pursued Lindy and determined to love her well. There were so many moments that really touched my heart. Speaking of heart, I loved how each of the main characters had a close, deep relationship with their family members and friends. Those secondary characters added to the story in a really tangible way, making it even more enjoyable! Throw in the small-town vibes and I was completely won over.
I found The Buy-In to be a quick, easy read with a creative story line that kept me highly engaged. In fact, I had trouble putting it down! Overall, this was a great read that was fun, flirty, and most certainly heartwarming. I can’t wait for the next installment in this series and I highly recommend Emma St. Clair’s Love Cliche series as well.
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary e-copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts below are my own and I was not required to post a positive review.
zmcrobert001's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.75
reeyabeegale's review
3.0
I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm really sad to give this book a 3-star rating because when I first read the premise of this book, I knew I would be into it. I love the marriage of convenience trope, and with this book almost being exactly like Schitt's Creek in terms of buying and owning a small town, I thought I found what will be one of my favorite books this 2022.
To be honest, I'm easily amused so I did find the humor in this book entertaining -- especially with all that verbing of a noun . It's silly and cheesy, but I'm easy to please that way.
Here are some of the scenes I enjoyed:
1. When Jo first met Pat. I LOVE THIS SCENE! It was too cute.
2. The scene with Pat, Lindy, and Lindy's mom. It was so sweet and wholesome, it mostly made up for everything I didn't like in this book.
3. The court scene in the Epilogue. I found it to be so funny and I was just giddy until the end.
I've read two books by this author last year, and I found one of them to be okay, while the other I loved to bits. And then I saw teasers for The Buy-In being shared by the author on Instagram and I was hooked. However, I ended up disliking a lot of things about this book.
The pacing is okay, it's not boring but I've caught myself taken out of the story multiple times because it felt dense. It info-dumps about the Sheeters and their lifestyle instead of allowing the readers to see it through as the story unfolds.
I tend to gravitate towards straight-up rom-com or a cozy romance with as little drama as possible because I don't like subjecting myself to heavy emotions most of the time. But if you're at least going to insert drama and conflict, might as well go all in. In this book, you have almost two villains, the Waters and Rachel, and I do find the potential of how they could stir up good drama, yet it was not maximized. All of their efforts to create conflict and become a challenge for Lindy did not materialize. With the Waters and all their political control within the town, you'd think they would be significant but apart from annoying every person in town with their power trip , they don't play that big of a role. I don't know if this was strategically done as an introduction, which will come into play in the next book/s in the series but for me, it was unnecessary to include most of the run-ins the characters had with them in this book.
Patrick Graham is made to be too sweet, almost like the perfect man and I am not fully on board with this. I like my characters closer to realistic ones where they are flawed, so I can appreciate their growth throughout the book. Apart from his flighty tendencies and impulsiveness, I didn't see a lot of weaknesses and flaws, which made him almost one-dimensional.
The internal monologues of the characters are okay, sometimes they can be entertaining too, but for the most part, they were over the top and repetitive. I don't mind reading their thoughts, but almost with everything they do, you get an actual internal monologue and it can be a bit much.
Lastly, I am not a fan of Lindy. I understand that the stress of taking on the responsibility for your niece and your parent while you're at the peak of your career can be A LOT. I would understand the mess and the doubts, but to fail at maintaining your own home and keeping up with your hygiene, I think that's exaggerated. I'm not dismissing the fact that this can be true in real life for a lot of people, especially for a single parent/guardian, but it just didn't work for me in this book. Women and single parents/guardians can be strong and responsible even in times of stress, and going in that direction instead, would have been something better to read about in my opinion.
I am all for women empowerment and feminism, but as I've said, I already found the heroine weak with the exception of raising her niece and being responsible for her mother (because that takes a lot). I understand Lindy's doubts and inhibitions towards accepting Pat back into her life after learning of their past, but I found it unfair how she treated him as well. Don't get me wrong, I love a little groveling (regardless of which gender is doing it), so I am all for the idea that Pat needed to win her back. So throughout the book, it was fine, but that custody hearing scene was the last straw for me. Even if a person is overwhelmed with feelings, I'm sure he/she can muster up the effort to give assurance, especially if you know they needed it. Instead, she thought the worst of him and then ended up making him feel guilty for taking time for himself to sort out his emotions and take a breather from it all. Anyway, Lindy was meant to learn a thing or two about relationships and about expressing oneself, but it didn't stop me from feeling annoyed with the direction it went.
Overall, I think this book was not fleshed out to be the best it could be. The story flows smoothly but somehow it feels flat and detached. There were times when it felt like the story couldn't fully decide on which direction it wants to go, almost like it wants to be multiple things all at once, which really ruined it for me. Don't get me wrong, this book definitely has an HEA. Even though I rated this 3-stars, it's a disappointment for me since I did have high expectations going into it.
I love this author, and I would continue reading her books (I still have to get through her backlist), but sadly this will not be a part of my favorites this year like I hoped it would. Nonetheless, if you ever end up reading this book, I hope that you enjoy it more than I did.
I'll be posting a review of this on my blog some time soon, so if you want a more cohesive and in-depth review, please consider visiting my blog as well (link is in my profile).
I'm really sad to give this book a 3-star rating because when I first read the premise of this book, I knew I would be into it. I love the marriage of convenience trope, and with this book almost being exactly like Schitt's Creek in terms of buying and owning a small town, I thought I found what will be one of my favorite books this 2022.
To be honest, I'm easily amused so I did find the humor in this book entertaining -- especially with all that verbing of a noun . It's silly and cheesy, but I'm easy to please that way.
Here are some of the scenes I enjoyed:
1. When Jo first met Pat. I LOVE THIS SCENE! It was too cute.
2. The scene with Pat, Lindy, and Lindy's mom. It was so sweet and wholesome, it mostly made up for everything I didn't like in this book.
3. The court scene in the Epilogue. I found it to be so funny and I was just giddy until the end.
I've read two books by this author last year, and I found one of them to be okay, while the other I loved to bits. And then I saw teasers for The Buy-In being shared by the author on Instagram and I was hooked. However, I ended up disliking a lot of things about this book.
The pacing is okay, it's not boring but I've caught myself taken out of the story multiple times because it felt dense. It info-dumps about the Sheeters and their lifestyle instead of allowing the readers to see it through as the story unfolds.
I tend to gravitate towards straight-up rom-com or a cozy romance with as little drama as possible because I don't like subjecting myself to heavy emotions most of the time. But if you're at least going to insert drama and conflict, might as well go all in. In this book, you have almost two villains, the Waters and Rachel, and I do find the potential of how they could stir up good drama, yet it was not maximized. All of their efforts to create conflict and become a challenge for Lindy did not materialize.
Spoiler
I understand that Rachel being a no-show was to back up what Lindy has been thinking and fighting for -- that she's unfit to be a responsible parent. But custody battle was what spurred this entire marriage of convenience in the first place, and yet it didn't have enough impact apart from the "stress" it puts on Lindy.Patrick Graham is made to be too sweet, almost like the
The internal monologues of the characters are okay, sometimes they can be entertaining too, but for the most part, they were over the top and repetitive. I don't mind reading their thoughts, but almost with everything they do, you get an actual internal monologue and it can be a bit much.
Lastly, I am not a fan of Lindy. I understand that the stress of taking on the responsibility for your niece and your parent while you're at the peak of your career can be A LOT. I would understand the mess and the doubts, but to fail at maintaining your own home and keeping up with your hygiene, I think that's exaggerated. I'm not dismissing the fact that this can be true in real life for a lot of people, especially for a single parent/guardian, but it just didn't work for me in this book.
Spoiler
It's all over the place and it felt like a set-up in the story so that Pat can sweep in and be this responsible, loving, and perfect knight in shining armor that Lindy needs.I am all for women empowerment and feminism, but as I've said, I already found the heroine weak with the exception of raising her niece and being responsible for her mother (because that takes a lot). I understand Lindy's doubts and inhibitions towards accepting Pat back into her life after learning of their past, but I found it unfair how she treated him as well. Don't get me wrong, I love a little groveling (regardless of which gender is doing it), so I am all for the idea that Pat needed to win her back. So throughout the book, it was fine, but that custody hearing scene was the last straw for me. Even if a person is overwhelmed with feelings, I'm sure he/she can muster up the effort to give assurance, especially if you know they needed it.
Spoiler
Pat wasn't asking a lot apart from Lindy to throw him a line, a tiny hope, and assurance that this is going towards the direction he's been hoping. After all, he's proven himself and his intentions quite clearly throughout the book, yet he was expected to still be understanding despite feeling tired and confused.Overall, I think this book was not fleshed out to be the best it could be. The story flows smoothly but somehow it feels flat and detached. There were times when it felt like the story couldn't fully decide on which direction it wants to go, almost like it wants to be multiple things all at once, which really ruined it for me. Don't get me wrong, this book definitely has an HEA. Even though I rated this 3-stars, it's a disappointment for me since I did have high expectations going into it.
I love this author, and I would continue reading her books (I still have to get through her backlist), but sadly this will not be a part of my favorites this year like I hoped it would. Nonetheless, if you ever end up reading this book, I hope that you enjoy it more than I did.
I'll be posting a review of this on my blog some time soon, so if you want a more cohesive and in-depth review, please consider visiting my blog as well (link is in my profile).
jessshine's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Cute, small town romance. Found the characters a bit annoying at times - the main female character has been through a lot and is trying to get permanent custody of her child so it makes sense in context, but she also came across as selfish and bitter and taking the main male character for granted for much of the book. The main male character was sweet, but also single mindedly bending over backwards to pursue the female (at the expense of any other plot function in the book, such as helping his dad fix up the town), which also got annoying at times. The little girl was adorable, but not written as a 5 year old -- even precocious genius 5 year olds don't talk and act like she does in this book -- the author really should have made her like 9 or so to make her character seem real.
niinamusic's review
challenging
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
madisongdavis's review
5.0
Listen. If you want the cutest, sweetest romance with tons of adorable and fun tropes sprinkled throughout, while being wholesome, clean, and almost accidentally holding to a Christian worldview throughout the book, then this is it. ☺️
mama_chell's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
lolovesbooks3's review
3.0
So you marry the guy who you know is in love with you (because he is up front and told you) because you need him to make you seem more “put together” so you can keep custody of your niece. He bends over backwards to help you in every possible way. THEN (after you marry him) you slap down a set of rules that involves no sex (fine), no kissing and no touching (like at all?) What!? I’m sorry but it was too dumb. I’m all for making the guy work for it, but completely shutting him down for no reason seemed so weird. Unless your reason is he did something you didn’t like years ago and you have the emotional intelligence of a toddler… maybe that was it. I’m all for the man giving his all in a relationship, but this relationship was so one sided it was painful to watch. I just really felt like Lindy needed to grow up a bit and Patrick deserved better.
It had cute moments, but it had the potential to be great and wasn’t.
It had cute moments, but it had the potential to be great and wasn’t.