Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert

12 reviews

autumnwitch14's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Moderate: Medical trauma, Classism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

jourdanicus's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

5/5 on the spicy scale 🌶️ as usual, which I've come to expect and appreciate from Talia Hibbert. Sadly I felt the plot was a little rushed, which, I guess, ok, it's a novella. Worse than the pacing for me though was the emotional immaturity of Cash. I didn't really like that it was

his mom who ended up telling Bailey all about their traumatic past.

I felt like that should have been a moment between Cash and Bailey.

Also, something about the homeless person savior subplot rubs me the wrong way but idk. And the fact that Cash had

watched Bailey in the coffee shop enough to draw her a lot without her knowledge...

Seems kinda stalkerish in hindsight I guess?

Obviously I will continue to read more by the author, she's one of my favorites especially for romance and erotica, with POC and ND representation. This one just didn't hit like the others for me personally.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Stalking, Mental illness, and Classism

xandriaisreading's review

lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A cute and quick Christmas read! Boss/employee and miscommunication are things I'm not particularly a fan of so it lost me for a bit.

The characters are stubborn. The love story is only 2 months with the majority of their interactions in the second month. Then a 5 year time jump? For a short read, it really tried to stuff as much as it could in to it.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Stalking

bekacrook's review against another edition

hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I usually love Talia Hibberts books but this one just moved too quickly and was too short for me. I generally liked Cash and Bailey and all the surrounding characters. There were some really sweet moments and I loved that he seemed to unconsciously draw her all the time. 

But the pacing of the book just didn't fit with some of the themes included. I know it's a romance book so it's not meant to be realistic but a man with a lot of childhood trauma and complex emotions around love is not going to miraculously change the way his mind thinks or what it tells him in one conversation outside a church with a woman. The same goes for Bailey's issues surrounding love, they appeared to just disappear overnight. 

The epilogue was very sweet though. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

itschelseaw's review

emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A cute, quick read. I just really like Talia Hibbert’s style of writing, so most of her books will be a win for me. Even though this was more of a novella than full on novel (the version I read was 132 pages long) we still got to know the characters well and saw the development of them. The big conversations were satisfying, as was the smut and seeing them fall in love.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

rickireadss's review against another edition

emotional funny fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

i wanted to love this SO bad. i honestly think if i had read the ebook, i would have enjoyed it more since i didn't really like the narrator. i did like the grumpy/sunshine aspect, the plus size rep, and the fact that our mmc was TATTED *swoon* but overall, i just felt like it was choppy and didn't really flow. like some of the scenes felt just thrown in there or abruptly happened, and i was like "woah, wait what???" not my favorite of talia's for sure, but i know many have loved it.

⚠️: domestic abuse, emotional abuse, home invasion, death of parent, mental illness, bigotry towards unhoused people, stalking, cancer, grief, adult/minor relationship (past, fmc’s mother) 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Grief, and Cancer

penguinsquack's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, and Sexual content

Homelessness

kbairbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was short, and sweeter than I had expected! Yes I imagined there would be sexy parts but the heart behind it was really lovely.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A very cute read by Talia Hibbert! Given that it's a novella, some plot elements weren't as fleshed out as they could have been. But that didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

Minor: Ableism

bryelle's review against another edition

emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Emotional and cute Christmas love story. Both parties have past childhood trauma.  They learn to give space to heal while learning to love. Realistic “Happily ever after”. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Stalking