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katelynndzindzio's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.5
Imagine being a billionaire and having to get married and have a baby inorder to earn your inheritance and become CEO of your grandfather's company.... Declan understands the struggle. Unfortunately for him, he has no prospects for a wife so his assistant Iris has to find him one.
Iris found the fake wife but after just moments with Declan she quits. Leaving only one solution, Iris has to marry Declan.
These two have a spark that is ignoring between them and now they can't ignore it. Now that they are more.
Iris found the fake wife but after just moments with Declan she quits. Leaving only one solution, Iris has to marry Declan.
These two have a spark that is ignoring between them and now they can't ignore it. Now that they are more.
"Well he might be considered cold to the rest of the world, he makes me burn."-Iris
At the ceremony they realize they were screwed.
"The kiss I shared with Iris in the church was electric. The kind that shouldn't feel as good as it did, given our circumstances." -Declan
In order to sell their fake marriage, Iris created a plan for them to fake date but that only makes them question every single touch they share.
"Our marriage might be fake, but these feelings burning inside of me or anything but. It's only a matter of time before I make her mind. She just doesn't know it yet." -Declan
Declan is an asshole and hurts Iris but thankfully he proves to her that he really does love her.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
sierrabowers's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Was a great addition to the first book! I really like when authors have series that are focused around different family members. This was was just as good or even better than the first, with a new perspective on Dreamland.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Medical content, Cursing, Misogyny, Abandonment, Classism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders
summerspence's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Classism, Pregnancy, Grief, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse
bbygirl21's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I enjoyed this book so much more than the first one. I love the dynamic between Iris and Declan and although they may be toxic at times, I enjoyed the progression of their relationship. I love that Iris is the only one that can talk back to Declan and have him not retaliate. It shows that he cared about her long before their initial marriage contract.
One thing I loved about this book over the first one was that there was only one break up rather than the two that was in Rowan and Zahra's book. I think the two breaks ups in the fine print was a bit excessive, so it was nice to only get one "breakup" between Declan and Iris.
This book is also way faster paced than the previous one, which I was quite happy about. I found I didn't need to take at many breaks reading this book at I did with The Fine Print.
So overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend. I'm excited to get into Cal's book.
One thing I loved about this book over the first one was that there was only one break up rather than the two that was in Rowan and Zahra's book. I think the two breaks ups in the fine print was a bit excessive, so it was nice to only get one "breakup" between Declan and Iris.
This book is also way faster paced than the previous one, which I was quite happy about. I found I didn't need to take at many breaks reading this book at I did with The Fine Print.
So overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend. I'm excited to get into Cal's book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Medical content, and Misogyny
gabi_w21's review against another edition
2.5
While I largely enjoyed this book more than Throttled, it, by no means, is amazing. In between Declan treating Iris abhorrently and sneering at everyone around him and crying over his treatment by his father and Iris inexplicably being attracted to him despite his vile treatment, there were moments I loved—their back-n-forth banter, the little things he did to be nice for her, CAL. But any love I had for this book is overshadowed by just how abusive Declan is to Iris; over and over he snaps at her, throws a tantrum, and anytime she pushes back, he just mentions his dead, dead and did I mention dead mom and how he's sooooo unloveable and she forgave him. Also all of his little quirks are due to said dead mom. He likes mimosa and F1? Dead mom did. He likes elephants? Dead mom did. He drives a nice car? It was his mom's. He knows about Iris's learning disability? His mom had the same one. The little dumb word game he and iris play? He and his mom did—jesus, is there anything you enjoy/do that doesn't loop back to your Dead Mom? You can't tell me that him buying her a greenhouse and adopting a dog for her after calling her a failure, which her abusive dad always did, is gonna make her accept his random-ass marriage proposal. Why even make Iris Black if it adds nothing to the narrative? Iris could've been white and everything would've been the same, except she wouldn't have fallen into the “Black character has to do emotional labor for the traumatized, woe-is-me white character/love interest”. Nevermind how overworked she is. I hated Declan with a burning passion and Iris, for that matter. She never stayed angry with him, even when she had every reason to be, and each time she'd feel guilty and sorry for daring to be upset. Get mad, girlie! Don't let him pout and wobble his fucking lip and buy you plant after he hurt you so badly. I don't think I'll ever pick up anything by Lauren Asher again for the amount of bullshit in her books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, Cursing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Cancer
kiwij96's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A slow burn, marriage of convenience romance story. I knew from The Fine Print that these two characters would be endgame because of the chemistry of their interactions in Rowan's story. To see the way that they interacted in this one was a bit different and at times it felt strained.
I enjoyed the love story to a point. I could have done without the abuse Declan hurled at Iris towards the end, but I appreciate the way that Cal confronted him and told him that he was being a dick. Iris stood her ground too but 100% shouldn't have taken him back for that, regardless of whatever he tried to buy for her affection.
I still prefer The Fine Print because Rowan gave up a position for love, but in this one, Declan couldn't even give Iris a break unless it suited him and even then he couldn't leave her alone, because he more than needed her to achieve his inheritance.
I enjoyed the love story to a point. I could have done without the abuse Declan hurled at Iris towards the end, but I appreciate the way that Cal confronted him and told him that he was being a dick. Iris stood her ground too but 100% shouldn't have taken him back for that, regardless of whatever he tried to buy for her affection.
I still prefer The Fine Print because Rowan gave up a position for love, but in this one, Declan couldn't even give Iris a break unless it suited him and even then he couldn't leave her alone, because he more than needed her to achieve his inheritance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy
kimmy0__0's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I didn't quite like this as much as the first one. Declan was eh. The female audiobook narrator was bad. It sounded like Izma from Emperor's New Groove so instantly grossed out during 🌶️ scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Child abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.5
After reading and enjoying "The Fine Print", I wanted to continue reading this romance series.
"Terms and Conditions" follows the next grumpy brother, Declan, and his assistant, Iris. Following their grandfather's death, three brothers each have to achieve an objective in order to secure their future roles and shares in the billion-dollar family business: Dreamland. Declan wants to become the future CEO, but in order to do so, he must marry someone and have a baby with them within a year. The only problem is that Declan is VERY unpleasant and no woman wants to be around him. In order to help her boss, Iris steps in and offers to marry Declan so that his father will not continue to have such a chokehold over the amusement park and subsequently, their lives. Can these two work through their issues and make this marriage a happy one, or is this all destined to blow up in their face?
Declan is an insufferable man. He knows full well what he is doing hurts those around him, but he is so ruthless and focused on the end goal, he does not comprehend that he is becoming the real villain. Throughout the ENTIRE story he continues to make decisions to do things that will hurt Iris. We see very early on that he clearly cares for her, and has for much longer than their arrangement, but it takes him WAY too long to learn from his actions and make better choices.
Iris has dyslexia, and she was ridiculed for her challenges in the past, so she works twice as hard to hide it. It is heartbreaking to see her working herself into the ground because she struggles to read and write but she does not want to ask for help or accommodation. I did enjoy seeing this representation and I think the conversations around her dyslexia were done so thoughtfully and I appreciated where that plot point ultimately ended up.
Declan and Iris together reminded me of fire and gasoline; they were either encouraging each other in the best way or they were moments away from a massive explosion. Their relationship felt like it was more out of convivence and not love, which I think was kind of the point? Declan is about to lose his job unless he gets married within a year AND has a baby? THAT seems like a ludicrous situation, laced with ill-intent. People will do absolutely crazy things to keep their money, so to strongarm someone into feeling forced to have a baby is so wrong. A baby should be wanted, brought into the world with love, not a bargaining chip.
I did have a fun time with this story because I love Dreamland (*Disney*). I am definitely still intrigued and intend on picking up the third book soon.
"Terms and Conditions" follows the next grumpy brother, Declan, and his assistant, Iris. Following their grandfather's death, three brothers each have to achieve an objective in order to secure their future roles and shares in the billion-dollar family business: Dreamland. Declan wants to become the future CEO, but in order to do so, he must marry someone and have a baby with them within a year. The only problem is that Declan is VERY unpleasant and no woman wants to be around him. In order to help her boss, Iris steps in and offers to marry Declan so that his father will not continue to have such a chokehold over the amusement park and subsequently, their lives. Can these two work through their issues and make this marriage a happy one, or is this all destined to blow up in their face?
Declan is an insufferable man. He knows full well what he is doing hurts those around him, but he is so ruthless and focused on the end goal, he does not comprehend that he is becoming the real villain. Throughout the ENTIRE story he continues to make decisions to do things that will hurt Iris. We see very early on that he clearly cares for her, and has for much longer than their arrangement, but it takes him WAY too long to learn from his actions and make better choices.
Iris has dyslexia, and she was ridiculed for her challenges in the past, so she works twice as hard to hide it. It is heartbreaking to see her working herself into the ground because she struggles to read and write but she does not want to ask for help or accommodation. I did enjoy seeing this representation and I think the conversations around her dyslexia were done so thoughtfully and I appreciated where that plot point ultimately ended up.
Declan and Iris together reminded me of fire and gasoline; they were either encouraging each other in the best way or they were moments away from a massive explosion. Their relationship felt like it was more out of convivence and not love, which I think was kind of the point? Declan is about to lose his job unless he gets married within a year AND has a baby? THAT seems like a ludicrous situation, laced with ill-intent. People will do absolutely crazy things to keep their money, so to strongarm someone into feeling forced to have a baby is so wrong. A baby should be wanted, brought into the world with love, not a bargaining chip.
I did have a fun time with this story because I love Dreamland (*Disney*). I am definitely still intrigued and intend on picking up the third book soon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Bullying, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death
plueschi77's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
melissa_rueff's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is just fine? I didn’t hate or like the main characters. But I do hate this man trying to trap a woman with him through manipulative tactics and just weird power grabs? I understand that the main lady doesn’t care about it but even when you don’t feel like you’re being manipulated or like controlled by a romantic partner you are? I feel like, if you have like a controlling partner thing you might be into this, but for me, it was just a lot of red flags decorated in like acts of service and ways to show your love through like presents and things. So if you’re in any of that, I think you’d be into this book but for me, I got a bit of a ick but I wanted to finish.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Ableism, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse