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lmbartelt's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
flowerreadsalot's review against another edition
3.0
Ok so I ACTUALLY liked this book more than the first one but I don’t know………This book follows Liv (not Liz as I kept calling her) who gets fired from her pastry chef job but her boss is a total perv/creep/abuser so she wants to go after him. Enter Braden-fucking-Mack. He is the playboy who is in love with love but has never found it. I love him. The story was CUTE. I loved their romance. Mack is the best. Liv is ok but was redeemed a bit from the first book. I just don’t know though. I hated the end conflict (as I do) and the actual happy ending felt eh. But I think I would recommend? Idk
stephjayne's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
lcreadsromance's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
rereader33's review against another edition
1.0
I will give credit where credit is due, this book was an improvement over the first one. I definitely liked Mack as a protagonist more than Gavin, and he pretty much carried the whole book. But I can't in good conscience give this book more than one star just because Mack was good, because Liv was the ABSOLUTE FUCKING WORST.
I don't have it in me to rant about her character because a) we'd be here all day, b) this review would be a fucking dissertation, and c) I just don't have the energy to. What will say is that she is STILL the most stereotypical man hater until the last 80 something pages when we're supposed to feel bad for her because of her sad, tragic backstory. But guess what?? I don't feel sorry for her. Not after she spent 3/4 of the book victim-blaming all of the women she knew and judging them for not coming forward after they had been sexually harassed by the main baddie. Sorry, her "redemption," if you can even call it that, came way too late as was so superficial and rushed it felt unearned. When I say she's a judgmental, impulsive, toxic feminist piece of shit for 3/4 of the book, that's not a lie. And it destroyed any chance of her being redeemed in my eyes, especially since she was awful to anyone who identified as male purely for being a man.
Also, quick side note, I don't want to hear this, "oh well, she only acts that way cuz she's insecure!" because I'm perfectly aware of that, but she's so poorly written that there's no nuance to it. I didn't feel like she was acting this way to act tough because she's insecure, I felt like she acted this way cuz she's a rude asshole and that's how she comes across in Adams' writing. You can have someone be snarky and sarcastic to cover up flaws, but if that's their character, they have to be written with nuance so that message comes across. Here, it only became clear that's what was going on because it was TOLD to me, not SHOWN to me. See why show, don't tell's so important?
Anyway, this was a marked improvement over the first book, but only because of Mack. I am going to continue the series for my friend, but I wouldn't recommend this to a casual reader.
I don't have it in me to rant about her character because a) we'd be here all day, b) this review would be a fucking dissertation, and c) I just don't have the energy to. What will say is that she is STILL the most stereotypical man hater until the last 80 something pages when we're supposed to feel bad for her because of her sad, tragic backstory. But guess what?? I don't feel sorry for her. Not after she spent 3/4 of the book victim-blaming all of the women she knew and judging them for not coming forward after they had been sexually harassed by the main baddie. Sorry, her "redemption," if you can even call it that, came way too late as was so superficial and rushed it felt unearned. When I say she's a judgmental, impulsive, toxic feminist piece of shit for 3/4 of the book, that's not a lie. And it destroyed any chance of her being redeemed in my eyes, especially since she was awful to anyone who identified as male purely for being a man.
Also, quick side note, I don't want to hear this, "oh well, she only acts that way cuz she's insecure!" because I'm perfectly aware of that, but she's so poorly written that there's no nuance to it. I didn't feel like she was acting this way to act tough because she's insecure, I felt like she acted this way cuz she's a rude asshole and that's how she comes across in Adams' writing. You can have someone be snarky and sarcastic to cover up flaws, but if that's their character, they have to be written with nuance so that message comes across. Here, it only became clear that's what was going on because it was TOLD to me, not SHOWN to me. See why show, don't tell's so important?
Anyway, this was a marked improvement over the first book, but only because of Mack. I am going to continue the series for my friend, but I wouldn't recommend this to a casual reader.
itsdevynd's review against another edition
3.0
In my opinion this wasn't /as/ good as the first book but it was still good! I love the whole bromance plot and everyone helping out. I just feel it wasn't as rom-commy as the first book and that's what I was really looking for. 3.5 stars :)
kats_got_your_bookstagram's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was so good! I loved the enemies to lovers romance between Liv and Mack! There were so many laugh out loud moments. This book was a really quick and easy read. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.