Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher

1 review

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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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. 

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