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foliageandfiction's review
5.0
4.5 stars, 2 spice
Avery and freaking Luca!! Such an amazing Rivals-to-Lovers. This book had me by the throat, I could not put it down (I was up till 2 am reading the first night)! The banter was so good! THE TENSION! You have to wait a bit for the spice, and they do tease us a bit haha, but when you finally get there it is really good.
Denise and Kels did a great job making these characters feel real. The dialogue felt natural and dynamic, and workplace setting and the ocean conservation aspect were also well done. I am so happy they chose to make this dual POV because Luca's POVs had me melting.
I appreciated that this wasn't just their story, but also included self reflection and growth, especially on Avery's part, as she had to figure out what her career goals really were and what success meant to her.
I am hoping we get to see more of Lily and Nico? Maybe in their own book(s)?
The only thing I would have liked to see in addition would have been Avery meeting Luca's Mami and Papi. They seemed like they would be fun characters, and I wish we saw a bit more resolution with Avery's mother, it felt a little open ended.
Overall such a good book, I have no doubt this will take booktok by storm. It does have some really sought after tropes, in addition to a nicely flushed out story with dynamic characters.
Can't wait for the next one!!! Congrats Denise & Kels on this fantastic Debut novel!
Tropes:
Rivals-to-lovers
Workplace romance (has a unique twist)
Slow burn
He falls first (and hard)
Strong main characters
Merged review:
4.5 stars, 2 spice
Avery and freaking Luca!! Such an amazing Rivals-to-Lovers. This book had me by the throat, I could not put it down (I was up till 2 am reading the first night)! The banter was so good! THE TENSION! You have to wait a bit for the spice, and they do tease us a bit haha, but when you finally get there it is really good.
Denise and Kels did a great job making these characters feel real. The dialogue felt natural and dynamic, and workplace setting and the ocean conservation aspect were also well done. I am so happy they chose to make this dual POV because Luca's POVs had me melting.
I appreciated that this wasn't just their story, but also included self reflection and growth, especially on Avery's part, as she had to figure out what her career goals really were and what success meant to her.
I am hoping we get to see more of Lily and Nico? Maybe in their own book(s)?
The only thing I would have liked to see in addition would have been Avery meeting Luca's Mami and Papi. They seemed like they would be fun characters, and I wish we saw a bit more resolution with Avery's mother, it felt a little open ended.
Overall such a good book, I have no doubt this will take booktok by storm. It does have some really sought after tropes, in addition to a nicely flushed out story with dynamic characters.
Can't wait for the next one!!! Congrats Denise & Kels on this fantastic Debut novel!
Tropes:
Rivals-to-lovers
Workplace romance (has a unique twist)
Slow burn
He falls first (and hard)
Strong main characters
Merged review:
4.5 stars, 2 spice
Avery and freaking Luca!! Such an amazing Rivals-to-Lovers. This book had me by the throat, I could not put it down (I was up till 2 am reading the first night)! The banter was so good! THE TENSION! You have to wait a bit for the spice, and they do tease us a bit haha, but when you finally get there it is really good.
Denise and Kels did a great job making these characters feel real. The dialogue felt natural and dynamic, and workplace setting and the ocean conservation aspect were also well done. I am so happy they chose to make this dual POV because Luca's POVs had me melting.
I appreciated that this wasn't just their story, but also included self reflection and growth, especially on Avery's part, as she had to figure out what her career goals really were and what success meant to her.
I am hoping we get to see more of Lily and Nico? Maybe in their own book(s)?
The only thing I would have liked to see in addition would have been Avery meeting Luca's Mami and Papi. They seemed like they would be fun characters, and I wish we saw a bit more resolution with Avery's mother, it felt a little open ended.
Overall such a good book, I have no doubt this will take booktok by storm. It does have some really sought after tropes, in addition to a nicely flushed out story with dynamic characters.
Can't wait for the next one!!! Congrats Denise & Kels on this fantastic Debut novel!
Tropes:
Rivals-to-lovers
Workplace romance (has a unique twist)
Slow burn
He falls first (and hard)
Strong main characters
Avery and freaking Luca!! Such an amazing Rivals-to-Lovers. This book had me by the throat, I could not put it down (I was up till 2 am reading the first night)! The banter was so good! THE TENSION! You have to wait a bit for the spice, and they do tease us a bit haha, but when you finally get there it is really good.
Denise and Kels did a great job making these characters feel real. The dialogue felt natural and dynamic, and workplace setting and the ocean conservation aspect were also well done. I am so happy they chose to make this dual POV because Luca's POVs had me melting.
I appreciated that this wasn't just their story, but also included self reflection and growth, especially on Avery's part, as she had to figure out what her career goals really were and what success meant to her.
I am hoping we get to see more of Lily and Nico? Maybe in their own book(s)?
The only thing I would have liked to see in addition would have been Avery meeting Luca's Mami and Papi. They seemed like they would be fun characters, and I wish we saw a bit more resolution with Avery's mother, it felt a little open ended.
Overall such a good book, I have no doubt this will take booktok by storm. It does have some really sought after tropes, in addition to a nicely flushed out story with dynamic characters.
Can't wait for the next one!!! Congrats Denise & Kels on this fantastic Debut novel!
Tropes:
Rivals-to-lovers
Workplace romance (has a unique twist)
Slow burn
He falls first (and hard)
Strong main characters
Merged review:
4.5 stars, 2 spice
Avery and freaking Luca!! Such an amazing Rivals-to-Lovers. This book had me by the throat, I could not put it down (I was up till 2 am reading the first night)! The banter was so good! THE TENSION! You have to wait a bit for the spice, and they do tease us a bit haha, but when you finally get there it is really good.
Denise and Kels did a great job making these characters feel real. The dialogue felt natural and dynamic, and workplace setting and the ocean conservation aspect were also well done. I am so happy they chose to make this dual POV because Luca's POVs had me melting.
I appreciated that this wasn't just their story, but also included self reflection and growth, especially on Avery's part, as she had to figure out what her career goals really were and what success meant to her.
I am hoping we get to see more of Lily and Nico? Maybe in their own book(s)?
The only thing I would have liked to see in addition would have been Avery meeting Luca's Mami and Papi. They seemed like they would be fun characters, and I wish we saw a bit more resolution with Avery's mother, it felt a little open ended.
Overall such a good book, I have no doubt this will take booktok by storm. It does have some really sought after tropes, in addition to a nicely flushed out story with dynamic characters.
Can't wait for the next one!!! Congrats Denise & Kels on this fantastic Debut novel!
Tropes:
Rivals-to-lovers
Workplace romance (has a unique twist)
Slow burn
He falls first (and hard)
Strong main characters
Merged review:
4.5 stars, 2 spice
Avery and freaking Luca!! Such an amazing Rivals-to-Lovers. This book had me by the throat, I could not put it down (I was up till 2 am reading the first night)! The banter was so good! THE TENSION! You have to wait a bit for the spice, and they do tease us a bit haha, but when you finally get there it is really good.
Denise and Kels did a great job making these characters feel real. The dialogue felt natural and dynamic, and workplace setting and the ocean conservation aspect were also well done. I am so happy they chose to make this dual POV because Luca's POVs had me melting.
I appreciated that this wasn't just their story, but also included self reflection and growth, especially on Avery's part, as she had to figure out what her career goals really were and what success meant to her.
I am hoping we get to see more of Lily and Nico? Maybe in their own book(s)?
The only thing I would have liked to see in addition would have been Avery meeting Luca's Mami and Papi. They seemed like they would be fun characters, and I wish we saw a bit more resolution with Avery's mother, it felt a little open ended.
Overall such a good book, I have no doubt this will take booktok by storm. It does have some really sought after tropes, in addition to a nicely flushed out story with dynamic characters.
Can't wait for the next one!!! Congrats Denise & Kels on this fantastic Debut novel!
Tropes:
Rivals-to-lovers
Workplace romance (has a unique twist)
Slow burn
He falls first (and hard)
Strong main characters
alliebellie's review
4.0
4.25⭐️
cute but it felt very fast for me and there wasn’t much of a dilemma in the book but it was still so cute!! loved the he got her the coffee machine with EVERY flavour syrup
cute but it felt very fast for me and there wasn’t much of a dilemma in the book but it was still so cute!! loved the he got her the coffee machine with EVERY flavour syrup
jana_'s review
5.0
“You and me, Ave, is so much better than you versus me.”
Merged review:
“You and me, Ave, is so much better than you versus me.”
Merged review:
“You and me, Ave, is so much better than you versus me.”
dreamlandivy's review
5.0
I absolutely loved it! Such a delightful debut novel! I can't believe I hadn't posted a written review yet! I loved this book so much as soon as it came out and it really was how I knew I'd love each book from them.
biaborges2000's review
5.0
LOVED IT! Everything. Single. Thing. About.It.
I was so surprised by the quality of the book.
I saw that the booktokers Kels and Denise wrote a book and decided to try it out to see how a book "written by the audience" would feel. I was so fucking flabbergasted. I think it's because of that that the book was so good: They knew exactly what we wanted to read about, the tropes, the dual POV, the simp MMC, the adjacent amazing plot to the romance. Everything was exactly right. They did an amazing job! I'm def excited for the next book.
I was so surprised by the quality of the book.
I saw that the booktokers Kels and Denise wrote a book and decided to try it out to see how a book "written by the audience" would feel. I was so fucking flabbergasted. I think it's because of that that the book was so good: They knew exactly what we wanted to read about, the tropes, the dual POV, the simp MMC, the adjacent amazing plot to the romance. Everything was exactly right. They did an amazing job! I'm def excited for the next book.
ohemoh's review
2.0
Lol this book was just bad. There were a couple of cute moments but I was not into this instalove. They fight like children for most of the book and then the moment they finally hook up he’s calling it “our house” “our bed” “our closet” …???? What? Also the drama between them (he was a corporate lawyer and her idol, who was an awful person, died) made absolutely no sense. This book was too long at parts and too short at others. It was almost as if a bot read a bunch of romances then tried to write its own.
Merged review:
Lol this book was just bad. There were a couple of cute moments but I was not into this instalove. They fight like children for most of the book and then the moment they finally hook up he’s calling it “our house” “our bed” “our closet” …???? What? Also the drama between them (he was a corporate lawyer and her idol, who was an awful person, died) made absolutely no sense. This book was too long at parts and too short at others. It was almost as if a bot read a bunch of romances then tried to write its own.
Merged review:
Lol this book was just bad. There were a couple of cute moments but I was not into this instalove. They fight like children for most of the book and then the moment they finally hook up he’s calling it “our house” “our bed” “our closet” …???? What? Also the drama between them (he was a corporate lawyer and her idol, who was an awful person, died) made absolutely no sense. This book was too long at parts and too short at others. It was almost as if a bot read a bunch of romances then tried to write its own.
brittiebeereads's review
3.0
Cute romcom
Was cute ,I really enjoyed the slow burn competition between the main character. The only issue or I guess that's not the right word uhmm... the only thing I would say is there was no real heartbreaking moment. You know the moment where everything seems so up in the air , you don't know how the story will go moment. It was all happy and smooth. Good story very cute like I said. Hallmark movie for sure
Merged review:
Cute romcom
Was cute ,I really enjoyed the slow burn competition between the main character. The only issue or I guess that's not the right word uhmm... the only thing I would say is there was no real heartbreaking moment. You know the moment where everything seems so up in the air , you don't know how the story will go moment. It was all happy and smooth. Good story very cute like I said. Hallmark movie for sure
Was cute ,I really enjoyed the slow burn competition between the main character. The only issue or I guess that's not the right word uhmm... the only thing I would say is there was no real heartbreaking moment. You know the moment where everything seems so up in the air , you don't know how the story will go moment. It was all happy and smooth. Good story very cute like I said. Hallmark movie for sure
Merged review:
Cute romcom
Was cute ,I really enjoyed the slow burn competition between the main character. The only issue or I guess that's not the right word uhmm... the only thing I would say is there was no real heartbreaking moment. You know the moment where everything seems so up in the air , you don't know how the story will go moment. It was all happy and smooth. Good story very cute like I said. Hallmark movie for sure
ajewelofabook's review
1.0
okay, i really didn't want to make a DNF shelf, but this is the second time in a week i downloaded a book from KU library to realize I DNF last year so i need to keep track lol.
dnf at 50%
Merged review:
okay, i really didn't want to make a DNF shelf, but this is the second time in a week i downloaded a book from KU library to realize I DNF last year so i need to keep track lol.
dnf at 50%
dnf at 50%
Merged review:
okay, i really didn't want to make a DNF shelf, but this is the second time in a week i downloaded a book from KU library to realize I DNF last year so i need to keep track lol.
dnf at 50%
rileys417's review
4.0
Wow Luca is so SEXY
Quick read, really enjoyed it. There’s some Spanish in it, so I had to skip that (didn’t know about the glossary/reference until I finished the book!
Overall, really enjoyed this.
Merged review:
Wow Luca is so SEXY
Quick read, really enjoyed it. There’s some Spanish in it, so I had to skip that (didn’t know about the glossary/reference until I finished the book!
Overall, really enjoyed this.
Merged review:
Wow Luca is so SEXY
Quick read, really enjoyed it. There’s some Spanish in it, so I had to skip that (didn’t know about the glossary/reference until I finished the book!
Overall, really enjoyed this.
Quick read, really enjoyed it. There’s some Spanish in it, so I had to skip that (didn’t know about the glossary/reference until I finished the book!
Overall, really enjoyed this.
Merged review:
Wow Luca is so SEXY
Quick read, really enjoyed it. There’s some Spanish in it, so I had to skip that (didn’t know about the glossary/reference until I finished the book!
Overall, really enjoyed this.
Merged review:
Wow Luca is so SEXY
Quick read, really enjoyed it. There’s some Spanish in it, so I had to skip that (didn’t know about the glossary/reference until I finished the book!
Overall, really enjoyed this.