Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - A Proposal They Can't Refuse

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Proposal They Can't Refuse by Natalie Caña

10 reviews

allingoodtime's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

This is this author’s debut publication and I must say she did a bang-up job. While I found the pacing a bit off (the beginning seemed slow, but the last half flew by), the emotions and connections were great. Her descriptions gave me a clear picture without being too wordy and the dialogue had a lovely flow.

Kamilah and Liam are both wonderful characters. Childhood best friends who grew apart through the years, they’ve still always been in each other’s lives. Their grandfathers have been best friends since their days in the military. While they lead separate lives, they still have always known what was going on in the others. But Liam has a humongous chip (or two, or three) on his shoulder and has pushed Kamilah away while also having deep feelings for her.

It surprised me a time or two when I went from loving Kamilah to being so upset with her. There is a lie, more accurately a “let’s hide the whole truth”, she tells Liam after they have resolved their past problems. That’s something I’m never a fan of, but that’s not why she upset me. Kamilah doesn’t always think about how her actions will affect those around her. She thinks she’s doing the right thing and helping everyone, but that’s not always the case. To be fair, her family can be quite harsh with her and it’s almost as if she has become this way to counteract their dismissal of her. I loved the way she was written because the author didn’t ignore Kamilah’s faults. Instead, she had her confronted with those faults and made her deal with them.

Of course, Liam has his faults too. Most having to do with childhood trauma. Even after he and Kamilah open up about wanting to be together, he often shuts down when his anxiety gets the best of him. I appreciate the mention of therapy and Liam’s grandfather admitting he didn’t handle Liam’s grief in the best way when Liam was younger.

I’m very much looking forward to more books in this series. I loved the cast of characters and there are many to work with. If this author can build on the solid foundation she seems to already have, I see many good things in her future.

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christina789's review

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emotional inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

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marybethlovesbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

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givemaribooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

I loved this book. I especially loved the audiobook. I think the narrator did an amazing job with the accents and getting the Spanish right (and I am super picky about that). She truly brought the book to life for me. The author also did an amazing job of setting the book, and truly making me feel like I was in Chicago and like I knew these people. I liked the side characters, especially the meddling grandpas, but I did not like Kamilah's relationship with her family and how it was resolved. *spoilers* Although I do think Kamilah had some blame on how the family saw her and what she did to her friend, which was never resolved by the way, I think that her family was also in the wrong. Her actions and lack of communication were in direct response to how they treated her, so I am still angry that she was the only one who had to apologize and was treated like the bad guy when everyone in her family had some blame. I hated how they talked to her throughout the book, so the fact that the family did not take real responsibility for how they treated her really pissed me off. If anything, the only one who was not at fault at all was her friend who did not get to go to Paris because of her. *end spoilers*

I was also a bit disappointed by the heat level considering I saw it advertised as spicy all over the place, but we only really get one sex scene that is cut short right as they are getting to the main act. It felt so abrupt considering how sexy and explicit the scene had been up to that point. I felt kind of cheated.

Overall, I really liked this book and this characters and I hope we get to see them again in future books because I want to see what happened with her friends.

CW: parental abandonment, grandfather with terminal cancer, death of parent by sacrificing himself in boating accident (flashback), death of grandmother off page

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amandalorianxo's review

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

3.0

Loved the PR rep and Kamilah + Liam. I just wish the third part of this book had been written differently. Kamilah’s family is toxic af though :/

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kbairbooks's review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad 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

4.25

I liked how fleshed out the characters were, I liked how laugh out loud funny it was, I liked the second chance romance aspect, I liked the pumpkin patch scene, and although it makes my heart hurt (and I hope it gets resolved later on if this turns into a series) I like the realistic aspect of what happened with Sofi. I liked the heart and culture and FOOD behind this book. Really enjoyable read!

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maxima5's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted

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

2.75

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romanceschmomance's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I thought A Proposal They Can't Refuse was a great debut release for the author. You definitely get that hybrid of women's fiction and romance, it felt like it went into the women's fic, which is something I don't tend to gravitate toward. And in saying that, I wish there was more on the romance front.

I have to say that I wouldn't call this a lighthearted romcom, I appreciated the author trying to keep things light, but the undertones were pretty heavy with the MCs trauma.

I truly loved Kamilah and Liam's chemistry, which had a lot of promise towards some great steam, but that fell short for me too.

Overall, not quite what I expected, loved the author's writing and I'm definitely looking forward to what Natalie writes, next.

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100_pages_hr's review

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reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

For as long as this book was it was a quick read. I loved the mix of Latinx and Irish cultures as told through the family lives of Kamilah and Liam. I also loved the glimpses into both restaurant and distillery management. Unfortunately for me personally the Best Craft Whiskey Distillery contest and the Foodie Tour almost took up too much of the story and I would have liked a little more communication and depth from the relationships in the book.

The romance in this book was pretty hot and heavy. There were a lot of pent up feelings hidden behind the fake relationship, it was interesting to see them surface. If you like stories with meddling family members this is definitely for you.

This book did an excellent job highlighting the family first part of Latinx culture.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

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bookwormbullet's review

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emotional funny lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

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