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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
this book was way too long. lots going on, but it was an ok read. the male mc was really obnoxious for majority of the book and the female mc was standing up for herself in the beginning but towards the end she didn’t.
I’m changing this to a 3.5 because the more I think about the third act break up the more I needed that man to grovel more not send a bird. What was that.
I normally love this author's books but this one is not her usual caliber for so many reasons.
1. Too many tropes: enemies/lovers, boss/employee, wounded by love (both of them), ex-military/tragic friend, rich guy can't love poor little me, etc. etc. There was just too much going on here.
2. The Poe metaphor was waaaaaaaaaay overdone. I was over it by about 25%, when I got to 65% I could hardly take it, and it just kept going. It's too much. I also am not a fan of Poe, so a lot of the jokes they made in this regard just kind of went past me and I couldn't be bothered to look them up.
3. The relationship: they were so venomous to each other at the beginning. I get it was an insta-hate situation but it was also way overdone. The insults, the arguments, the name-calling - all of it was totally inappropriate in a "someone should have called the cops" way. It wasn't cute, it was bordering on mean-spirited. Then they were suddenly confiding in each other with minimal transition from the "hate you" phase. The big blow-up at ~ 70% was over the top. The intimate scenes were so overdone they were almost a little cringy to read.
4. The dialogue and writing were not what I expect with this author. It was frequently awkward, stilted and self-conscious. The story itself felt rather simplistic and the same ideas/discussions/plot points were re-hashed repeatedly. The characters were flat and uni-dimensional: they loved their jobs and hated each other, they were both burned by past relationships, then they fell in love. We learn precious little else about them as people. This felt like a book that needed another round of beta-reading and then another round of edits to get it to this author's typical writing style, character development, flowing dialogue, and overall quality. The prior "Bossy" book also had issues with the writing and characters, but in a very different way (see my review for details). This felt more like the author's writing style, but an insufficiently edited version of a manuscript.
I read to the end because I wanted to see how this ended and I kept hoping it would improve, as I really like this author. But this book was a slow read because it's hard to stay engaged.
1. Too many tropes: enemies/lovers, boss/employee, wounded by love (both of them), ex-military/tragic friend, rich guy can't love poor little me, etc. etc. There was just too much going on here.
2. The Poe metaphor was waaaaaaaaaay overdone. I was over it by about 25%, when I got to 65% I could hardly take it, and it just kept going. It's too much. I also am not a fan of Poe, so a lot of the jokes they made in this regard just kind of went past me and I couldn't be bothered to look them up.
3. The relationship: they were so venomous to each other at the beginning. I get it was an insta-hate situation but it was also way overdone. The insults, the arguments, the name-calling - all of it was totally inappropriate in a "someone should have called the cops" way. It wasn't cute, it was bordering on mean-spirited. Then they were suddenly confiding in each other with minimal transition from the "hate you" phase. The big blow-up at ~ 70% was over the top. The intimate scenes were so overdone they were almost a little cringy to read.
4. The dialogue and writing were not what I expect with this author. It was frequently awkward, stilted and self-conscious. The story itself felt rather simplistic and the same ideas/discussions/plot points were re-hashed repeatedly. The characters were flat and uni-dimensional: they loved their jobs and hated each other, they were both burned by past relationships, then they fell in love. We learn precious little else about them as people. This felt like a book that needed another round of beta-reading and then another round of edits to get it to this author's typical writing style, character development, flowing dialogue, and overall quality. The prior "Bossy" book also had issues with the writing and characters, but in a very different way (see my review for details). This felt more like the author's writing style, but an insufficiently edited version of a manuscript.
I read to the end because I wanted to see how this ended and I kept hoping it would improve, as I really like this author. But this book was a slow read because it's hard to stay engaged.
I've read nearly all of Nicole's work & loved them, especially as an easy read between my more heavy "romantasy" series.
I enjoyed this book up til around 80% or so...
I enjoyed this book up til around 80% or so...
Spoiler
DNF'd due to the "miscommunication trope" which is a huge pet-peeve of mine, especially in the last 25% of a book.
Dakota is minding her own business, just having bought the last cinnamon roll in a shop, when a stranger in a suit offers her increasingly exorbitant amounts of money for the roll. Stubbornness makes her refuse his ridiculous offer, but the ensuing confrontation leaves them both furious. When Dakota attends a job interview the next day, she’s horrified to realise the stranger is actually Lincoln Burns, the CEO of the company she’s interviewing for. She gets the job but the pair cannot stop butting heads - until they start realising they’re attracted to one another. When a co-worker suggests their chemistry could be utilised as part of an ad campaign for bridal wear - where they’ll both pose as a couple - their first instinct is to refuse, but it’s not long before the lines between real and fake start to blur. Unfortunately, though, both of them have been burned by past relationships - making everything all the more complicated for them.
This was really, really fun to read, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it as I’ve found Nicole Snow’s novels a bit hit-or-miss in the past. It’s quite a long book but really felt like one I could sink my teeth into - I looked forward to reading it and it was really easy to slip back into after a break. There’s a lot going on in this book. Parts of it are a bit silly and over the top, but it’s genuinely really entertaining. Dakota and Lincoln are genuinely antagonistic towards each other for a big chunk of the book, usually followed by a period of regret where they want to apologise, and it’s just such a delicious angsty cycle that made their relationship a really fun dynamic to watch play out. He was so clearly into her for much of the book and neither of them even noticed, it was so entertaining.
The romance is steamy and sexy, too; they had really good chemistry and there was a decent slow burn for much of the book that built up to them finally acting on their feelings. I also thought their respective backstories played quite nicely into the wider plot - a lot of their decisions, whilst frustrating, did actually make sense considering what they’d both been through.
That said, I did have some issues with the book as a whole. There’s a very melodramatic edge to Snow’s writing that sometimes feels a bit over-the-top, as it didn’t always suit the story. I also think it was too long. Big stretches of it felt very padded out, particularly concerning dialogue. Some conversations were very repetitive - not in the sense that individual conversations happened again and again, but that in each conversation they would rehash the same topic over and over and go round in circles. I just felt like it needed a good edit as a lot of it started to feel like filler and I didn’t think the book needed it.
But overall it was very enjoyable. It was really easy to read - it was definitely a book I could have spent all day reading, and I really did enjoy the central romance, a couple of over-dramatic points aside. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an enemies-to-lovers, boss/employee romance with a slight fake relationship angle.
Content Notes:
Other: On-page sex, infidelity / cheating (in past), mild OM drama
This was really, really fun to read, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it as I’ve found Nicole Snow’s novels a bit hit-or-miss in the past. It’s quite a long book but really felt like one I could sink my teeth into - I looked forward to reading it and it was really easy to slip back into after a break. There’s a lot going on in this book. Parts of it are a bit silly and over the top, but it’s genuinely really entertaining. Dakota and Lincoln are genuinely antagonistic towards each other for a big chunk of the book, usually followed by a period of regret where they want to apologise, and it’s just such a delicious angsty cycle that made their relationship a really fun dynamic to watch play out. He was so clearly into her for much of the book and neither of them even noticed, it was so entertaining.
The romance is steamy and sexy, too; they had really good chemistry and there was a decent slow burn for much of the book that built up to them finally acting on their feelings. I also thought their respective backstories played quite nicely into the wider plot - a lot of their decisions, whilst frustrating, did actually make sense considering what they’d both been through.
That said, I did have some issues with the book as a whole. There’s a very melodramatic edge to Snow’s writing that sometimes feels a bit over-the-top, as it didn’t always suit the story. I also think it was too long. Big stretches of it felt very padded out, particularly concerning dialogue. Some conversations were very repetitive - not in the sense that individual conversations happened again and again, but that in each conversation they would rehash the same topic over and over and go round in circles. I just felt like it needed a good edit as a lot of it started to feel like filler and I didn’t think the book needed it.
But overall it was very enjoyable. It was really easy to read - it was definitely a book I could have spent all day reading, and I really did enjoy the central romance, a couple of over-dramatic points aside. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an enemies-to-lovers, boss/employee romance with a slight fake relationship angle.
Content Notes:
Spoiler
Warnings: Violence (on-page), death of a parent (in past), scenes of illness / hospitalisation, homelessness, harassment.Other: On-page sex, infidelity / cheating (in past), mild OM drama
Spoiler
Heroine’s ex harrasses her to try and win her back, and shows up on-page to confront her about ignoring him. He gets into a physical altercation with the hero, which leads to the hero and heroine separating.
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So cringy and for what?
He didn't grovel enough. That letter he wrote (send by a freaking bird ????) was terrible.
And their vows?
He didn't grovel enough. That letter he wrote (send by a freaking bird ????) was terrible.
And their vows?
4 stars
I always love the stories that this author creates. She creates these characters that leap off the page.
I liked the shuttle connection to this authors prior popular series. Not going to lie, just reading about Edison, the horse, made me a little choked up. These characters leapt off the pages. I hope Meadow and Wyatt get a story because there was so much potential to their individual backstory.
My only complaint were the scenes with Jay. Dakota came off sounding a !little cheesy and childish with her responses with him. And the storyline just didn't work for me in the grand scheme of the rest of this story.
Off-topic, Nevermore was the BEST nickname.
I always love the stories that this author creates. She creates these characters that leap off the page.
I liked the shuttle connection to this authors prior popular series. Not going to lie, just reading about Edison, the horse, made me a little choked up. These characters leapt off the pages. I hope Meadow and Wyatt get a story because there was so much potential to their individual backstory.
My only complaint were the scenes with Jay. Dakota came off sounding a !little cheesy and childish with her responses with him. And the storyline just didn't work for me in the grand scheme of the rest of this story.
Off-topic, Nevermore was the BEST nickname.