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I enjoyed this one more than the last one. It got very good just before the half way point and I enjoyed the story from there. Declan Kane is a very attractive man ;))

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amateur_bookworm's review

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emotional lighthearted 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

4.0

My summary: Declan’s grandfather wrote into his will that Declan has to get married and have a baby before he can claim his inheritance and become CEO of Dreamland. Iris, his assistant, has spent months trying to find a suitable and willing woman to marry him. When Declan scares the chosen bride off minutes before the engagement party, Iris steps up and offers herself up to be his bride. Iris has been Declan’s assistant for three years and is best friends with his brother, Cal. Iris tells herself that she’s only doing it because she wants to help him out and Declan is adamant that his inheritance will always come first. But nothing is that simple as they’ve each harbored hidden feelings for each other. Even though their mutual respect begins to develop into real feelings after executing their marriage contract, their respective unresolved emotional issues may ultimately tear them apart.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one! This is a tough one to review because I really enjoyed almost all of it but a few parts kind of ruined it for me. Parts of it gave me some stomach swoops, and there were some witty parts, but it also dragged a bit for me. Throughout most of the book I enjoyed the evolving of Declan and Iris’s relationship from boss/assistant to fake marriage to love. But there were some parts that definitely left me scratching my head a bit. There were moments where it felt like a huge jump occurred in their relationship but without it having been explained very well. The way the character development (or lack of) towards the end made me feel was tough to reconcile with the vibes I had for the rest of the book. Also, *please* let someone help poor Iris get to a doctor to get her asthma under control if she can’t even laugh without wheezing. Even with the epilogue and extended epilogue, there were a lot of loose ends. I’m hoping the third and final books explain some of the missing events here, even though I know it moves onto Cal’s story next.

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abigail_moffat's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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abi2xoxo's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This book was so good!
It just missed out on being 5⭐️ in my opinion but honestly these characters were so easy to read about and I truly enjoyed their love story!
Who doesn’t love a grump who is torn by love!!!

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hello_lovely13's review against another edition

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emotional 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

2.75

Overall, I liked this couple better than than the previous book's. The troupe is marriage of convenience, and, yes, Declan is established as a very selfish character, so was this couple particularly healthy? No, but I wasn't expecting them to be. I wanted to be entertained and not cringe too much, and that was achieved. One major flaw with their relationship's progression was that it happened way too fast. There either should have been a pre-established recognition of attraction between the two, but it is repressed due to their working dynamic, or the pacing of the relationship and realization of feelings should have happened much more slowly. I liked Iris as a character (was not entirely sold on the narrator's voice, though: gave Carrigan from Casper vibes). The third act break-up makes sense for their characters, but I do think that fairly good communication had been established previously in the book, so a healthy conversation and then a united front to overcome their main professional obstacle (

Declan's father

) would have been preferred.

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