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groovygirl858's review
1.75
1.75 stars
I almost didn't read this book because I did not like the dynamic between these two characters in the previous book. They didn't intrigue me or make me root for them. I actually thought they just needed to break up and be done with each other because their relationship was portrayed pretty terribly in the last book. I decided to go ahead and read this book for three reasons: 1. In case there's a twist that explains their horrible dynamic, 2. In case their story from their perspectives makes a difference in how I perceive their relationship. Perhaps their perspective gives insight into why their relationship is so terrible? 3. I rated the previous book in this series five stars.
SPOILERS:
At 6 percent: "And now, I feel like the little girl he’s convinced I am." Not only does she feel it, but her actions in this scene confirm she IS a little girl. Immature, but she's 17, so I'll let it slide.
At 8 percent: The immaturity got worse and I'm not letting it slide. The FMC needs to grovel and MAYBE then she can be forgiven by the MMC. What she did was awful. She threw the MMC to the wolves to save herself. And this is after he saved her life the day before and after he tried to leave and she begged him to stay. Without her begging, he wouldn't have even been in the situation.
At 12 percent: I'm so confused. Nothing is making sense. The FMC is a Mafia princess. The MMC was beaten almost to death by her brother's men. A year later, the FMC is engaged in an arranged Mafia marriage. And...she can just hop a plane to go to LA with the MMC with no Mafia repercussions? Not even any fear of them? I understand the engagement was broken by the FMC's fiance but that doesn't mean she's just free to do whatever she wants. But okay. (After reading more, the explanation for this is horrible. Why even make the FMC a Mafia princess if the book isn't going to treat her as one?)
At 13 percent: I'm feeling highly uncomfortable with this book. I don't care that the FMC is 18. Her thoughts and actions are those of a 13 or 14 year old and it's icky. I hope this book time jumps soon because I'm close to DNFing it.
At 14 percent: The FMC doesn't know where her clit is and has never masturbated before. But the MMC caught her with her hand down her pants? Doing what then!? And she used to read spicy books but never found a time to masturbate? And she even grinded against the MMC a year ago! She hasn't put her hand down her pants not once since then? But she's bold enough to drop to her knees in front of the MMC to give him a blowjob? She panicked and ran off before doing anything but still. It doesn't make sense that she has the guts to drop to her knees in front of him, AFTER mentally acknowledging he hates her, but she has never put her own hand down her pants AT ALL in the privacy of her own bedroom. I'm not sure if this book can dig itself out of the one star hole it is currently in.
At 17 percent: The FMC keeps throwing herself at the MMC and it's pathetic. She gets to his house and decides she is not going to be a doormat for him. So what does she do? Jumps in his pool naked while he's swimming. That's a messed up thought process, but okay. I would think refraining from taking his orders would be the way to go but this FMC has the maturity of a 12 year old so... She jumps in a pool naked.
At 28 percent: There's sexy. There's hot. There's scorching. But there's also ridiculous. Trying too hard. And embarrassing. This book, so far, is of the ridiculous variety with the spice. Can crawling across a table be hot? Absolutely. Is it hot the way it happens in this book? Nope. Not even a little bit. It's ridiculous.
At 45 percent: I'm now reading just to see how messy this gets. This is a mess and both main characters are immature. At this point, I don't think they are good together. At all. The MMC feels more like a parental figure to me even though their age gap isn't that large (4 years.) It feels icky and it's solely because the FMC is so childish.
At 54 percent: "I haven’t seen him face-to-face in a month." According to the timeline of the book, it's been four months. (Sigh)
At 59 percent: "The last few weeks, we’ve coordinated through his PR manager and made sure our schedules coincided so we could be seen together. This way, they’d leave us alone the rest of the time. It helped us play to the #Declene fans, and that kept us both relevant and top-of-mind with the media. Not that the pictures were all posed.” At least, not on my side." So...the FMC says this THE SAME DAY as the quote from 54 percent from above. It went from not seeing him face-to-face in a month to seeing each other the last few weeks through coordinated visits. Which, this is the first time the reader is being told of these meetings. This book is a mess.
End: I finished this book but I couldn't keep pointing out the ridiculousness as I read it or I would have written a book of my own just about this book. There are so many continuity errors in this book, it's just sloppy. Not to mention the endless repetitive inner monologues and nonsensical behavior of the two main characters. The characters would have a big scene where it seemed like they were breaking up, but then they would act like they were together with no explanation. For example, there was one big moment where the MMC decides to choose his job over the FMC (literally saying the actual words that he isn't choosing her), but then the characters act like they are still boyfriend and girlfriend in their inner monologues and when they see each other again. Why the big scene where he makes a choice if they are still together? You could try to make the argument that he was just choosing not to spend time with her but it doesn't hold up to even the slightest bit of scrutiny. It just doesn't make sense. The scene reads like a breakup scene. With that being said, I'm going to give this book 1.75 Stars. It earned .75 stars just from being interesting enough to keep me from DNFing. This book is a mess and makes zero sense but I kept reading just to see how big of a mess it could get. Was it enjoyable? No. If you read the previous book and did not like the dynamic between these two characters, stay away from this book. If you read the previous book and you enjoyed the dynamic between these two characters, this book is for you. Their dynamic was horrible in the previous book and it spirals to be even worse during this one.
I almost didn't read this book because I did not like the dynamic between these two characters in the previous book. They didn't intrigue me or make me root for them. I actually thought they just needed to break up and be done with each other because their relationship was portrayed pretty terribly in the last book. I decided to go ahead and read this book for three reasons: 1. In case there's a twist that explains their horrible dynamic, 2. In case their story from their perspectives makes a difference in how I perceive their relationship. Perhaps their perspective gives insight into why their relationship is so terrible? 3. I rated the previous book in this series five stars.
SPOILERS:
At 6 percent: "And now, I feel like the little girl he’s convinced I am." Not only does she feel it, but her actions in this scene confirm she IS a little girl. Immature, but she's 17, so I'll let it slide.
At 8 percent: The immaturity got worse and I'm not letting it slide. The FMC needs to grovel and MAYBE then she can be forgiven by the MMC. What she did was awful. She threw the MMC to the wolves to save herself. And this is after he saved her life the day before and after he tried to leave and she begged him to stay. Without her begging, he wouldn't have even been in the situation.
At 12 percent: I'm so confused. Nothing is making sense. The FMC is a Mafia princess. The MMC was beaten almost to death by her brother's men. A year later, the FMC is engaged in an arranged Mafia marriage. And...she can just hop a plane to go to LA with the MMC with no Mafia repercussions? Not even any fear of them? I understand the engagement was broken by the FMC's fiance but that doesn't mean she's just free to do whatever she wants. But okay. (After reading more, the explanation for this is horrible. Why even make the FMC a Mafia princess if the book isn't going to treat her as one?)
At 13 percent: I'm feeling highly uncomfortable with this book. I don't care that the FMC is 18. Her thoughts and actions are those of a 13 or 14 year old and it's icky. I hope this book time jumps soon because I'm close to DNFing it.
At 14 percent: The FMC doesn't know where her clit is and has never masturbated before. But the MMC caught her with her hand down her pants? Doing what then!? And she used to read spicy books but never found a time to masturbate? And she even grinded against the MMC a year ago! She hasn't put her hand down her pants not once since then? But she's bold enough to drop to her knees in front of the MMC to give him a blowjob? She panicked and ran off before doing anything but still. It doesn't make sense that she has the guts to drop to her knees in front of him, AFTER mentally acknowledging he hates her, but she has never put her own hand down her pants AT ALL in the privacy of her own bedroom. I'm not sure if this book can dig itself out of the one star hole it is currently in.
At 17 percent: The FMC keeps throwing herself at the MMC and it's pathetic. She gets to his house and decides she is not going to be a doormat for him. So what does she do? Jumps in his pool naked while he's swimming. That's a messed up thought process, but okay. I would think refraining from taking his orders would be the way to go but this FMC has the maturity of a 12 year old so... She jumps in a pool naked.
At 28 percent: There's sexy. There's hot. There's scorching. But there's also ridiculous. Trying too hard. And embarrassing. This book, so far, is of the ridiculous variety with the spice. Can crawling across a table be hot? Absolutely. Is it hot the way it happens in this book? Nope. Not even a little bit. It's ridiculous.
At 45 percent: I'm now reading just to see how messy this gets. This is a mess and both main characters are immature. At this point, I don't think they are good together. At all. The MMC feels more like a parental figure to me even though their age gap isn't that large (4 years.) It feels icky and it's solely because the FMC is so childish.
At 54 percent: "I haven’t seen him face-to-face in a month." According to the timeline of the book, it's been four months. (Sigh)
At 59 percent: "The last few weeks, we’ve coordinated through his PR manager and made sure our schedules coincided so we could be seen together. This way, they’d leave us alone the rest of the time. It helped us play to the #Declene fans, and that kept us both relevant and top-of-mind with the media. Not that the pictures were all posed.” At least, not on my side." So...the FMC says this THE SAME DAY as the quote from 54 percent from above. It went from not seeing him face-to-face in a month to seeing each other the last few weeks through coordinated visits. Which, this is the first time the reader is being told of these meetings. This book is a mess.
End: I finished this book but I couldn't keep pointing out the ridiculousness as I read it or I would have written a book of my own just about this book. There are so many continuity errors in this book, it's just sloppy. Not to mention the endless repetitive inner monologues and nonsensical behavior of the two main characters. The characters would have a big scene where it seemed like they were breaking up, but then they would act like they were together with no explanation. For example, there was one big moment where the MMC decides to choose his job over the FMC (literally saying the actual words that he isn't choosing her), but then the characters act like they are still boyfriend and girlfriend in their inner monologues and when they see each other again. Why the big scene where he makes a choice if they are still together? You could try to make the argument that he was just choosing not to spend time with her but it doesn't hold up to even the slightest bit of scrutiny. It just doesn't make sense. The scene reads like a breakup scene. With that being said, I'm going to give this book 1.75 Stars. It earned .75 stars just from being interesting enough to keep me from DNFing. This book is a mess and makes zero sense but I kept reading just to see how big of a mess it could get. Was it enjoyable? No. If you read the previous book and did not like the dynamic between these two characters, stay away from this book. If you read the previous book and you enjoyed the dynamic between these two characters, this book is for you. Their dynamic was horrible in the previous book and it spirals to be even worse during this one.
emlovestoread8's review
5.0
Thank you L. Steele for letting be part of of your ARC team.
As soon as I started reading this book I was instantly hooked. What an emotional roller coaster who at the end made my heart so happy. This story is so well written with so much details it doesn't give you vague details it goes straight to the point. The spice and the story line is so great. It was honor to be part of the ARC team. The Rebound is a story where love, second chances, misunderstandings, boy obsessed, and angst made this story line everything I love in a book. They were each other hell and heaven. Declan went through everything you could ever imagine just to show Solene his love was genuine. Solene acted so mature for age I loved it. Both characters made so much progress and they had so much glow together. Also I love the mentioned of other celebrities. Like I said in the beginning this book is a must read.
As soon as I started reading this book I was instantly hooked. What an emotional roller coaster who at the end made my heart so happy. This story is so well written with so much details it doesn't give you vague details it goes straight to the point. The spice and the story line is so great. It was honor to be part of the ARC team. The Rebound is a story where love, second chances, misunderstandings, boy obsessed, and angst made this story line everything I love in a book. They were each other hell and heaven. Declan went through everything you could ever imagine just to show Solene his love was genuine. Solene acted so mature for age I loved it. Both characters made so much progress and they had so much glow together. Also I love the mentioned of other celebrities. Like I said in the beginning this book is a must read.
bookpagesanddogpaws's review
1.0
I DNFed the book as it dragggggggs. The age gap is not appropriate and the MMC has no possibility of redemption.
pixiepages's review
4.0
This story took you on a wave of emotions. When Declan and Solene first met Solene was underage which caused all her issues back then. Solene is the reason Declan is the way he is today. She messed up his life without even realizing she did. Fast fwd they run into each other again and it's not as perfect as Solene would like. If anything Declan wants revenge. I really enjoyed this book, some parts were a bit too much drama but overall I enjoyed it.
Spice: 4
Spice: 4
caseroo7's review
3.0
Declan and Solene were frustrating, yet I had to keep reading. I don't know what it is about L. Steele's books...they aren't great yet I can't stop wanting to read them. This one was better than Cade & Abbey's book but not by much. Yet I still want to read more in this world.
beastreader's review against another edition
5.0
As soon as I started reading this book, i was instantly hooked. I could feel the angst and the intense tension between Solene and Declan. It was so intense that I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat a few times.
Every spicy scene between these two had me reaching for a tall, ice cold glass of water. If I wore eyeglasses, they would have been fogged up. Declan can boss me around anytime he wants. Yes, sir!
The progression of Solene and Declan's relationship grew stronger and steamier. I really found myself sucked into this book. Reading for long periods of time. I now need a physical copy for my bookshelf. If you are looking for your next age gap read, you need to rush and download this book now.
Every spicy scene between these two had me reaching for a tall, ice cold glass of water. If I wore eyeglasses, they would have been fogged up. Declan can boss me around anytime he wants. Yes, sir!
The progression of Solene and Declan's relationship grew stronger and steamier. I really found myself sucked into this book. Reading for long periods of time. I now need a physical copy for my bookshelf. If you are looking for your next age gap read, you need to rush and download this book now.
gigiof5's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
kreadsoften's review
2.0
When Solene and Declan first met, it was kind of insta-love. Declan saved Solene from a gang of four guys who had ill intentions for her. Things went wrong when he discovered just how young she was. Solene was only 14 and Declan was 21. Because Solene was the reason Declan was harmed, he got out of her life and they didn’t see each other again…until four years later.
When they see each other again, the sparks are still there. They both have career aspirations that would put them in the spotlight, so they realize pretending to be together could help them achieve their respective goals. They spend a lot of time arguing and going back and forth, back and forth. Honestly, I felt like it was a bit too much.
I did have a bit of a hard time getting into this book. Declan was pretty cruel to Solene and his behavior just seemed a bit childish. When he finally got his head on straight, then he was more likable.
This book had some suspenseful moments and a few twists. There was so much drama with Solene and Declan with the way they argued and kept going around in circles. I will say that I did find some parts to be a little cringey, and I just didn’t really enjoy it.
** Update **
Apparently the author changed the ages of the characters, probably from the negative feedback. Regardless, the story was just not for me.
When they see each other again, the sparks are still there. They both have career aspirations that would put them in the spotlight, so they realize pretending to be together could help them achieve their respective goals. They spend a lot of time arguing and going back and forth, back and forth. Honestly, I felt like it was a bit too much.
I did have a bit of a hard time getting into this book. Declan was pretty cruel to Solene and his behavior just seemed a bit childish. When he finally got his head on straight, then he was more likable.
This book had some suspenseful moments and a few twists. There was so much drama with Solene and Declan with the way they argued and kept going around in circles. I will say that I did find some parts to be a little cringey, and I just didn’t really enjoy it.
** Update **
Apparently the author changed the ages of the characters, probably from the negative feedback. Regardless, the story was just not for me.
bookreviewsbykayla's review
3.0
Tropes:
Fake dating
Billionaire hero
Second chance
Revenge
"You’re the most important thing in the world for me. You’re more important than the very air I breathe. You’re it for me, baby. And I won’t let even death take you away from me.”
Fake dating
Billionaire hero
Second chance
Revenge
"You’re the most important thing in the world for me. You’re more important than the very air I breathe. You’re it for me, baby. And I won’t let even death take you away from me.”
billiepariseau's review against another edition
This book needed some trigger warnings. I went into it expecting a cute second chance romance. Instead I was thrown into a 14 year old’s POV, who was reading very sexual books. Uncomfortable. It had mafia elements, which normally I love but the fact our FMC is 14 it was rough. When we meet the MMC he is 21, and the FMC is 14 acting sexual towards him. This just was not for me. There is also attempted rape. I love a good backstory, but this was a little too much as we were in current time having her POV.