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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
It's rare that a second book in a series is better than the first, but this one delivered! The only thing that would have made me enjoy it more is if it has been duel POV.
lighthearted
relaxing
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
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don’t like it when the MCs are stupid. They dated in high school. She got pregnant. She texted him the news & his mom contacts her & pays her to get an abortion. She doesn’t. 10 years later they meet again. I get being 17 and not clocking that his mom intercepted the message and didn’t tell him, but by the way he’s acting 10 years later, you can tell he doesn’t know. She just told him & now he’s screaming, all upset, saying she’s lying & using him as a “meal ticket.” Like.. both of y’all are ridiculous and I don’t root for you. DNF.
I loved this book. It has great voice, super characters, and a mostly realistic plot.
One isolated rant - I'm going to get mom-judgy because I was a single mom. Why is her only job working in a nightclub when her only child is 9? I have a 9-year-old now. They go to school during the day. The daytime hours are a great time of day for a working single mom to earn some money, at a job, where they give you health insurance, which is damn important if you don't have someone else covering your child's insurance, which Poppy did not. And you don't have to pay someone else to watch your kid every night when you go to work. That bugged me. Of course, she can make a lot more money at night, but enough to make up for no insurance, paying for babysitting (which is not cheap), and worth being away from her kid every minute that she works, when she could be working when he's in school and won't miss her? Take a job with his school district so you have off all the days he does. Maybe it made sense for the years when her aunt was still alive and they were living together, she had free babysitting for every shift. But the aunt has been gone for a while. Long enough for Poppy to figure out she needs to find a day job until Ace is old enough to be a latch-key kid without someone calling CPS on her. I knew lots of single parents when I used to go to Parents Without Partners meetings. I could believe it more if Poppy worked at this nightclub while her aunt was alive, and now only works certain shifts for extra money when she can line up a sitter. But this is set up that she's staring at the walls not making any money and not fixing the squeaking fence all day everyday while Ace is in school and then gone every night working at the club.
Okay, done with that rant. I know they wanted it for the meet-cute. It was a sweet meet-cute. I liked TK and Poppy. I was almost worried that this romance wouldn't have enough conflict to sustain it, as they clearly both had feelings for each other still. There was the big secret of Ace's parentage, and that was handled realistically and pretty well. And then, things were sailing along. Almost too easy. The author did a good job of bringing in the dark moment organically through the plot. I was glad that the author addressed that issue, and won't name it for spoiler avoidance.
I'm definitely reading the rest of this series. Super easy-fun read, read it in a day. Great voice in this, and I know the author has lived the experience of an NFL wife. I liked that it was from just Poppy's POV and not the usual back and forth of most romance novels. I liked how we had to keep guessing what TK was thinking, just like Poppy was left wondering.
Overall a great read.
One isolated rant - I'm going to get mom-judgy because I was a single mom. Why is her only job working in a nightclub when her only child is 9? I have a 9-year-old now. They go to school during the day. The daytime hours are a great time of day for a working single mom to earn some money, at a job, where they give you health insurance, which is damn important if you don't have someone else covering your child's insurance, which Poppy did not. And you don't have to pay someone else to watch your kid every night when you go to work. That bugged me. Of course, she can make a lot more money at night, but enough to make up for no insurance, paying for babysitting (which is not cheap), and worth being away from her kid every minute that she works, when she could be working when he's in school and won't miss her? Take a job with his school district so you have off all the days he does. Maybe it made sense for the years when her aunt was still alive and they were living together, she had free babysitting for every shift. But the aunt has been gone for a while. Long enough for Poppy to figure out she needs to find a day job until Ace is old enough to be a latch-key kid without someone calling CPS on her. I knew lots of single parents when I used to go to Parents Without Partners meetings. I could believe it more if Poppy worked at this nightclub while her aunt was alive, and now only works certain shifts for extra money when she can line up a sitter. But this is set up that she's staring at the walls not making any money and not fixing the squeaking fence all day everyday while Ace is in school and then gone every night working at the club.
Okay, done with that rant. I know they wanted it for the meet-cute. It was a sweet meet-cute. I liked TK and Poppy. I was almost worried that this romance wouldn't have enough conflict to sustain it, as they clearly both had feelings for each other still. There was the big secret of Ace's parentage, and that was handled realistically and pretty well. And then, things were sailing along. Almost too easy. The author did a good job of bringing in the dark moment organically through the plot. I was glad that the author addressed that issue, and won't name it for spoiler avoidance.
I'm definitely reading the rest of this series. Super easy-fun read, read it in a day. Great voice in this, and I know the author has lived the experience of an NFL wife. I liked that it was from just Poppy's POV and not the usual back and forth of most romance novels. I liked how we had to keep guessing what TK was thinking, just like Poppy was left wondering.
Overall a great read.
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
3 stars. Martin has definitely improved in her writing since book one and thank God she dropped the cringy hashtags. And while I absolutely loved the heroine, Poppy, the hero, TK, was not it for me. He was an asshole with a capital ass. There were hints as to why he was the way that he was but it gets revealed way too late and I still don’t think it justified anything that he had done. Therefore the romance didn’t work for me unfortunately because I spent half the time wanting to push him off of a cliff.
But, like I said Poppy was awesome and she makes this book. She’s so likable. She’s witty and loving but definitely knows how to hold her own. And her son, Ace, was adorable and I loved their bond. It was super cute.
I appreciate that there was no big dramatic third act blow out breakup between Poppy and TK and that they handled everything like adults. That was refreshing. I really did want to like their relationship but the way he would act and respond to things made that impossible for me. It was still a fun read because the heroine is so charming but as a romance it misses the mark.
{Challenges completed:
✔All Challenges All The Time: Gilmore Girls Challenge
✔The Lost Challenges: When I Grow Up Challenge
✔The Lost Challenges: Wedding Traditions Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Camping Team Challenge}
But, like I said Poppy was awesome and she makes this book. She’s so likable. She’s witty and loving but definitely knows how to hold her own. And her son, Ace, was adorable and I loved their bond. It was super cute.
I appreciate that there was no big dramatic third act blow out breakup between Poppy and TK and that they handled everything like adults. That was refreshing. I really did want to like their relationship but the way he would act and respond to things made that impossible for me. It was still a fun read because the heroine is so charming but as a romance it misses the mark.
{Challenges completed:
✔All Challenges All The Time: Gilmore Girls Challenge
✔The Lost Challenges: When I Grow Up Challenge
✔The Lost Challenges: Wedding Traditions Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Camping Team Challenge}