Reviews

Rule Breaker by Lily Morton

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imme_van_gorp's review against another edition

4.0

|| 3.5 stars ||

I have quickly come to realise that I absolutely adore romances that have a workplace setting with the boss/assistant and grumpy/sunshine tropes.
So if anyone has any recommendations for me that are like that, I would be forever grateful if you gave them to me.

Anyway, when it comes to this book in particular, obviously I loved the premise and the tropes: they were right up my alley. It also had a lot of great banter, and the progression of the romance was moderately well-paced.

The only problem I had, however, was with how rude and dismissive Gabe could be of Dylan. He was often cold and did not treat him as well as he deserved. I needed Dylan to grow more of a spine, but he never really did.
Then again, I do have to admit that the flipside of this was that I completely loved it every time that Gabe would get overly anxious when he thought that Dylan might leave him. Whenever he fucked up, he would get all nervous and pleading. These were my favourite moments, and it made me swoon to see him care so deeply.

“The truth is that I will always need you more than you need me. It’s also the truth that I’m not a good bet for someone as vital and young as you. I’m bad tempered, a perfectionist who is too serious, and too used to being on my own. You could go out tomorrow and find someone better for you, but the truth is that no one will ever need you like I do. No one will love you like I do. I want you forever, Dylan.”

I didn’t entirely love the characters, only because I got super annoyed at Gabe’s occasional coldness and Dylan’s lack of a spine, but aside from that I thought they were likable, funny and even interesting. They definitely matched together well, and their interactions were often very entertaining.
Dylan was surely a sweet, humble, smart, witty and caring man, so it was nice to be inside his head. That didn’t stop me from wishing we got to see Gabe’s thoughts in certain situations as well, though.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this quite a lot. The romance had lots of great tropes, and the chemistry between them was pretty good as well. It was nice and fun.

'Mixed Messages' series:
1. Rule Breaker - 3.5 stars
2. Deal Maker - 4.5 stars

Short Stories:
1.2. Goodbye Fletcher - 3.0 stars
1.3. Jude’s Intervention - 3.0 stars
1.5. Scrambled Eggs and Lemsip - 2.5 stars
1.7. The Valentine Do-Over - 3.5 stars
2.4. Babysitting Billy - 4.0 stars
2.5. Green Eyed Monsters - 4.0 stars
2.6. Jude’s Christmas - 3.5 stars
3.2. Marrying Jude - 3.5 stars

drez80's review against another edition

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4.0

Couldn't decide on a rating, but I'm going with 3.5 stars. The story was amazing. The chemistry between these two was palpable, and I loved how the other characters mentioned this to them, like they could feel the sexual tension and had to leave the room. And I totally got teary-eyed when it was obvious where the relationship was headed, and my heart broke for Dylan more than once. I loved the snark and banter between Gabe and Dylan, and I love that Dylan was so perceptive and knew what Gabe was doing before he did it, but he also put his foot down, even after the conversation with his mother. I'm happy Dylan stuck to his guns even after Henry and Jude tried to change his mind. Gabe needed to put in the work and effort and make changes; otherwise, what would be the point of Dylan taking him back, so they could get back on the same merry-go-round?

I do wish we got Gabe's POV throughout the book, not just in the epilogue. But my biggest issue with this book was with the grammar. OMG! The writing came across as too formal... Contractions are your friend. Also, so many extraneous words and run on sentences. It took me far longer to read this than it should have because I kept getting pulled out of it to correct the issues in my own head. Made me NUTS! And if I read and then ONE MORE TIME, I think I'd have pulled my hair out. Just say then.

day_dreaming_vampire's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

I loved the beginning and the end but the middle threw me off a bit with Gabe's boyfriend stuff. I'm not used to one of the MMCs already being in a relationship but by the end, you get it. Super hot scenes 🥵

Content Warnings

bookworm21century's review against another edition

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3.75

It was pretty good! It got a little stale in the middle but overall it was sweet.

theoguinto's review against another edition

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5.0

I love love loved this! The insane romantic tension between Dylan and Gabe was amazing to read from the very start.

Adding Fletcher to the mix really gave it a nice spice that really emphasized how Dylan and Gabe perfectly complimented each other.

Everyone else knowing that Dylan and Gabe were clearly attracted to each other was funny too.

I'm a HUGE sucker for BIG emotional fights that aren't one sided and don't get resolved in a few pages, and woo boy did this one draw it out. The only thing I wasn't a big fan of was the "one month later" time skips that happened during the time they were apart since it feels like it would've been great to actually see that time frame, but that's just me personally.

Gabe's trauma preventing him from really truly loving anyone was heart-crushing. I just wish that Dylan and heard it from Gabe himself and not Henry since that kind of softens the blow.