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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have officially found my second favorite book of 2023. I cannot express how much I absolutely loved Only For The Week. When I started this book, I immediately fell in love with Janelle. I mean, what’s not to love about her?!!! She’s a young black female living life unapologetically on her terms, she’s an OB/GYN looking to open a practice that caters to women of color, (specifically black women), she has a strong circle of friends who uplift each other, and she’s thickalicious and curvy packin’ a shyt ton of confidence. Janelle was that bytch and she knew it. But, my love for her quickly faded into frustration. Janell took the phrase, “When they go low, we go high” to the extreme. Putting everyone else’s needs ahead of her own became commonplace for her even when it wasn’t deserving.
Her older sister, Amerie, is engaged to her ex. Now, this isn't an issue for Janelle considering she’s the one who broke up with Arnold. She realized six months into their relationship, they were not well suited for one another and she was grown up enough to see that he and Amerie were much more compatible as a couple. Amerie, on the other hand, can't get past her own insecurities to see Janelle is no longer checkin’ for Arnold. She's made up this whole scenario in her head that has her believing her sister wants her ole boo thang back and, because of this, commenced to making Janelle’s life miserable the entire time she planned her wedding. The constant nitpicking, insults, backhanded “compliments”, and just out right disrespect was relentless. Amerie went out of her way to hurt Janelle anyway she could.
Rome Martin pulled up and said, “not taday” and not on his watch. The way this man became Janelle’s peace and came to her defense without question was admirable. Rome had already been secretly attracted to Janelle when she was dating Arnold so, protecting her from Amerie’s wrath was an automatic given. “Amerie?” She turns at the sound of my voice. “I think the words you’re looking for are thank you. I’m sure you didn’t mean to come off rude as f*ck to your fiancé, your sister, and your friends. It’s okay, shit happens. It’s been a stressful morning, so we can just accept your thank you and move on. Right, y’all?” Come on Rome! It’s the BDE for me. This man had me ready to throw my panties at my iPad. When I say he worshipped Janelle, he worshipped her. Rome catered to her every want, need, and desire. If girlfriend even sneezed the wrong way, he was right there to wipe her nose. Rome Martin more than earned his status as top tier book bae.
I absolutely adored Only For The Week. If I could give it 10 stars I would. I laughed, I cried, I gave Janelle and her mama more than a few side eyes, and I most definitely called Amerie all kinds of bytches and heauxs. Trust me, she deserved it. The storyline, the character development, and plot development were A1. There just aren’t enough positive things I can say about this book. This was my first read by Natasha Bishop and to say sis impressed me would be an understatement. She is wicked with the pen and I look forward to reading more from. Matter of fact, lemme go stalk her catalog right damn now.
Her older sister, Amerie, is engaged to her ex. Now, this isn't an issue for Janelle considering she’s the one who broke up with Arnold. She realized six months into their relationship, they were not well suited for one another and she was grown up enough to see that he and Amerie were much more compatible as a couple. Amerie, on the other hand, can't get past her own insecurities to see Janelle is no longer checkin’ for Arnold. She's made up this whole scenario in her head that has her believing her sister wants her ole boo thang back and, because of this, commenced to making Janelle’s life miserable the entire time she planned her wedding. The constant nitpicking, insults, backhanded “compliments”, and just out right disrespect was relentless. Amerie went out of her way to hurt Janelle anyway she could.
Rome Martin pulled up and said, “not taday” and not on his watch. The way this man became Janelle’s peace and came to her defense without question was admirable. Rome had already been secretly attracted to Janelle when she was dating Arnold so, protecting her from Amerie’s wrath was an automatic given. “Amerie?” She turns at the sound of my voice. “I think the words you’re looking for are thank you. I’m sure you didn’t mean to come off rude as f*ck to your fiancé, your sister, and your friends. It’s okay, shit happens. It’s been a stressful morning, so we can just accept your thank you and move on. Right, y’all?” Come on Rome! It’s the BDE for me. This man had me ready to throw my panties at my iPad. When I say he worshipped Janelle, he worshipped her. Rome catered to her every want, need, and desire. If girlfriend even sneezed the wrong way, he was right there to wipe her nose. Rome Martin more than earned his status as top tier book bae.
I absolutely adored Only For The Week. If I could give it 10 stars I would. I laughed, I cried, I gave Janelle and her mama more than a few side eyes, and I most definitely called Amerie all kinds of bytches and heauxs. Trust me, she deserved it. The storyline, the character development, and plot development were A1. There just aren’t enough positive things I can say about this book. This was my first read by Natasha Bishop and to say sis impressed me would be an understatement. She is wicked with the pen and I look forward to reading more from. Matter of fact, lemme go stalk her catalog right damn now.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.75/5
First and foremost , I did not know how smutty this book was going to be. Truly, I was so surprised lol. For me personally, I don’t mind smut, but there needs to be substance behind the smut and a little bit of build-up to it, which in this one, I will admit, there’s not a lot of buildup, and it’s a little too Insta love for me , but I did love these characters so much that I was able to let it slide, and it somehow did feel so believable how much they love each other. Like, for not one second did it give off the vibe of there just using each other for their bodies. Like, it very quickly turned into, Oh, they really, really like each other, which is why I liked the dual POV that really helped. I do think this book suffered just a little bit having back-to-back smut scenes. Like, don’t get me wrong, they’re immaculately written, like truly lol, but like by session 3, I was ready to skip the rest of them. I just didn’t care enough I wasn’t super invested in the characters at that point. It very much felt like watching a couple from the outside being super lovey-dovey, and their little lovey-dovey bubble, and you’re just on the outside like, “OK, cute, there’s so far gone lol.” Like, only they get it type vibe. By the end, I was more invested in them, Rome and Janelle. They’re such lovely characters. I loved how much he loved and cared for her. Like, he truly just wanted everything good for her and literally stood his ground since day one. I loved Janelle. She’s just so reassured and confident in herself as she should be. And can stand up for herself like I just admire her so much I loved her and her love for her job being a doctor and wanting to open her own sort of private practice for Black women specifically. I thought that was such a great part in the book. I just wish we got more time with our characters by themselves in the beginning to really get invested into them as individuals and then them together. Other than that, the side characters were fun and easy to follow, and the friendships were some of the best parts. I enjoyed the destination wedding but wanted more descriptions of Tulum. Overall, this was a fun read. Just know it’s heavy on the smut, and you’ll enjoy it!
First and foremost , I did not know how smutty this book was going to be. Truly, I was so surprised lol. For me personally, I don’t mind smut, but there needs to be substance behind the smut and a little bit of build-up to it, which in this one, I will admit, there’s not a lot of buildup, and it’s a little too Insta love for me , but I did love these characters so much that I was able to let it slide, and it somehow did feel so believable how much they love each other. Like, for not one second did it give off the vibe of there just using each other for their bodies. Like, it very quickly turned into, Oh, they really, really like each other, which is why I liked the dual POV that really helped. I do think this book suffered just a little bit having back-to-back smut scenes. Like, don’t get me wrong, they’re immaculately written, like truly lol, but like by session 3, I was ready to skip the rest of them. I just didn’t care enough I wasn’t super invested in the characters at that point. It very much felt like watching a couple from the outside being super lovey-dovey, and their little lovey-dovey bubble, and you’re just on the outside like, “OK, cute, there’s so far gone lol.” Like, only they get it type vibe. By the end, I was more invested in them, Rome and Janelle. They’re such lovely characters. I loved how much he loved and cared for her. Like, he truly just wanted everything good for her and literally stood his ground since day one. I loved Janelle. She’s just so reassured and confident in herself as she should be. And can stand up for herself like I just admire her so much I loved her and her love for her job being a doctor and wanting to open her own sort of private practice for Black women specifically. I thought that was such a great part in the book. I just wish we got more time with our characters by themselves in the beginning to really get invested into them as individuals and then them together. Other than that, the side characters were fun and easy to follow, and the friendships were some of the best parts. I enjoyed the destination wedding but wanted more descriptions of Tulum. Overall, this was a fun read. Just know it’s heavy on the smut, and you’ll enjoy it!
I absolutely loved the premise of this book and it had me well and truly hooked! Rome is a serious book boyfriend contender and Janelle wasn't overbearing and annoying like most FMCs. The ending had me kicking my feet
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Whewww! I just wrapped up Only for One Week via audiobook on the Libby app, and let me just say—this was a vibe from start to finish. No slow burn here, folks. By chapter three, it was already giving ✨spicy✨ and never looked back.
Let’s talk characters:
- Eva? The real MVP. The kind of friend who’ll ride at dawn and ask questions never. We all need an Eva in our lives.
- Rhi (Janelle’s sister)? Lawd. She had me gritting my teeth and ready to jump through the audiobook. She needed a good verbal drag—and maybe a little smack. Beep!
- And Rome… whew. The book boyfriend I didn’t know I needed. Protective, thoughtful, and that man knew exactly what to do to soothe Janelle’s anxious soul. Plus, he’s not afraid to throw hands when needed. 😏 Love that for us.
The storyline? Fast-paced, entertaining, and filled with moments that made me blush, laugh, and shout “YESSSS.” Rome wasn’t your typical dark romance hero, but he definitely had that “touch her and I’ll ruin you” energy, and I was here for it.
This was my first read by Natasha Bishop, and I’m so glad I hit play. It felt refreshingly real, and it definitely had that Black book talk energy—shoutout to the influencer who said it, because now I get it. The dialogue, the banter, the pacing? 10/10. A whole experience.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Especially if you want a protective bae, a strong female lead, and a friendship dynamic that makes you want to call your bestie immediately. I gave it 4.5 stars only because I don’t have anything to compare it to yet in this genre. But trust me—Natasha Bishop is now on my radar.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Emotional abuse
The amount of drama surrounding this book was insane. When I started reading it at first I was like okay, maybe Nicole was on to something. The FMC was a bit cheesy, and the characters were giving unrealistic (just a bit). I tried to continue reading with an open mind, and was thoroughly rewarded. First of all Romeeeeee. His thoughtful actions were written so well. I read this a couple weeks ago so I can’t remember the FMCs name but I think it was Nessa
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
The family drama, the humor, the spice, and a down bad man. Pleasantly surprised!
My review of this books has more to do with my personal taste then the quality of book. So take it with a grain of salt.
The Negatives:
The book was funny, it was warm it was dreamy. It was however, a drag to my mental health in the sense of people not getting the damn karma they deserved. Now while the “adult thing” may have been the right thing it didn’t satisfy me as a reader not one bit. Also, I hate lemme be the bigger person FMC’s who are mistreated. It speaks too much to reality, and that’s not the vibe I really wanted out of this.
The better:
Rome was cool I feel like I blinked and they were together tho but their banter was just so good.
“Sometimes the people who are supposed to love you the most are the ones who hurt you the worst. They don’t get a pass just because their family. Choose yourself”-Rome
“where is the guy imma boo his ass”
“Sometimes we lose ourselves in our compromises and forget no is a full sentence”
He just had so many good moments sometimes cheesy but it got me through for sure!
The Best:
“Well is he gonna be a problem? Because you don’t need Jesus to be the fence. I’m the fence and I wish a motherfucker would try and get through me “
The dynamic of the friends was great. If you erase the older sister the friend group was just so funny to me. Think Best Man movies mixed with a Living Single. The mean time and inbetween time was good and honestly I was invested in every last one of them.
I also loved that we showed the complexity of male relationships and how quickly they get over shit. I thought that was unique.
“If there’s one thing men are never short on it’s audacity”
The Negatives:
The book was funny, it was warm it was dreamy. It was however, a drag to my mental health in the sense of people not getting the damn karma they deserved. Now while the “adult thing” may have been the right thing it didn’t satisfy me as a reader not one bit. Also, I hate lemme be the bigger person FMC’s who are mistreated. It speaks too much to reality, and that’s not the vibe I really wanted out of this.
The better:
Rome was cool I feel like I blinked and they were together tho but their banter was just so good.
“Sometimes the people who are supposed to love you the most are the ones who hurt you the worst. They don’t get a pass just because their family. Choose yourself”-Rome
“where is the guy imma boo his ass”
“Sometimes we lose ourselves in our compromises and forget no is a full sentence”
He just had so many good moments sometimes cheesy but it got me through for sure!
The Best:
“Well is he gonna be a problem? Because you don’t need Jesus to be the fence. I’m the fence and I wish a motherfucker would try and get through me “
The dynamic of the friends was great. If you erase the older sister the friend group was just so funny to me. Think Best Man movies mixed with a Living Single. The mean time and inbetween time was good and honestly I was invested in every last one of them.
I also loved that we showed the complexity of male relationships and how quickly they get over shit. I thought that was unique.
“If there’s one thing men are never short on it’s audacity”