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First of all, I have this rule that if I bothered finishing the book, I can't mindfully rate it lower than 3 stars. However, The Stopover deserves no more than 2 stars, and I have BEEF with it.
I'm usually a very good sport about many books, even some cheesy and questionable ones.
And I'm pretty sure I've read some T.L. Swan books before without any issue.
But, The Stopover.
The plot was promising. Emily, on a trip from London to NYC, gets upgraded, meets Jim, and during an unplanned stopover in Boston, they hook up, the hook up of their lives, we know the deal. A year later, she gets her dream job but surprise, surprise, the CEO is none other than Jim, or more exactly Jameson Miles.
Here's where everything goes to shit. They could have had a cute forbidden relationship, getting to know each other and overcoming their different backgrounds. NO!
Jameson is an entitled, self-centered, condescending asshole who'll get anything he desires. He insults the FMC anytime he's a little stressed, calls her a bitch, and uses her for sex 24/7 (and I'm pretty sure they don't know anything about each other except for their bodies... which would be fine for a smut novella, not a full-on office romance book)! He even destroys her around 80% of the book and comes back trying to "be friends" and wonders why she's angry at him. And God is he controlling, like toxic controlling, no sexy alpha male controlling.
And Emily is no better. She's moralizing her friend Aaron about his relationship, but she's ready to lick crumbs off the floor if Jameson leaves them. And she's jealous, with reasons since Asshole is kind of in a relationship plus fucking his masseuse in the beginning, but she's really jealous, like even when he could be going to prison, Emily is there calling non-stop all "I love you, please believe me, it's a misunderstanding blablabla." Girl! Stop making this about you and let him deal with the PRISON issue first, please...
60% of the book is them arguing and insulting each other while fucking in between, like teenagers creating problems to exist. And the other 40% is them still arguing and snapping at each other, shit going down, no communication, Jameson blaming then hurting Emily (same as when Josh fucked Jules just before getting rid of her. IYKYK) and Emily only focusing on her feelings. And when Emily FINALLY takes her independence, he's the one focusing on his feelings only, coming back like he's now the one ready to lick the crumbs off the floor... stating that they are fate and even though he apologized and she told him countless times to fuck off, he won't stop pursuing her ever because they're meant to be. His grovelling has nothing on Alex and Ava, his apology being:
«My job is to look after you and make the hard calls, ones that you can't make for yourself.» Bitch. He also wants to fuck her as an apology, but thank God she did not let him off the hook so easily (at first, because after...):
«"The morning you left after the second stopover, you broke something between us. I have never been so upset in all of my life. It was devastating for me. Having sex with you is the very last thing that I want to do." "Em, I couldn't talk to you because it killed me to push you away. I was battling myself over it."». Sure, it makes everything (your BIG betrayal) better, asshole! AND THEN! When she's on her way to forgiveness, he gives her an ultimatum. GAAAH!! I hate this man.
So yes, I didn't dislike the book in itself, I despised the characters, which was a first.
So, no hate against T.L. Swan! But I would not recommend this particular book.
Side note: at least when Josh fucked Jules and dumped her like trash, it was obvious he was mad. The sex was rough and angry. I barely forgave him for that, but at least he was somewhat upfront. Jameson, on the other hand, was full on "let's replay our sweet meet-cute, MAKE LOVE (not fuck), and then I'll dump you because no good reason truthfully." I do not forgive him.
I'm usually a very good sport about many books, even some cheesy and questionable ones.
And I'm pretty sure I've read some T.L. Swan books before without any issue.
But, The Stopover.
The plot was promising. Emily, on a trip from London to NYC, gets upgraded, meets Jim, and during an unplanned stopover in Boston, they hook up, the hook up of their lives, we know the deal. A year later, she gets her dream job but surprise, surprise, the CEO is none other than Jim, or more exactly Jameson Miles.
Here's where everything goes to shit. They could have had a cute forbidden relationship, getting to know each other and overcoming their different backgrounds. NO!
Jameson is an entitled, self-centered, condescending asshole who'll get anything he desires. He insults the FMC anytime he's a little stressed, calls her a bitch, and uses her for sex 24/7 (and I'm pretty sure they don't know anything about each other except for their bodies... which would be fine for a smut novella, not a full-on office romance book)! He even destroys her around 80% of the book and comes back trying to "be friends" and wonders why she's angry at him. And God is he controlling, like toxic controlling, no sexy alpha male controlling.
And Emily is no better. She's moralizing her friend Aaron about his relationship, but she's ready to lick crumbs off the floor if Jameson leaves them. And she's jealous, with reasons since Asshole is kind of in a relationship plus fucking his masseuse in the beginning, but she's really jealous, like even when he could be going to prison, Emily is there calling non-stop all "I love you, please believe me, it's a misunderstanding blablabla." Girl! Stop making this about you and let him deal with the PRISON issue first, please...
60% of the book is them arguing and insulting each other while fucking in between, like teenagers creating problems to exist. And the other 40% is them still arguing and snapping at each other, shit going down, no communication, Jameson blaming then hurting Emily (same as when Josh fucked Jules just before getting rid of her. IYKYK) and Emily only focusing on her feelings. And when Emily FINALLY takes her independence, he's the one focusing on his feelings only, coming back like he's now the one ready to lick the crumbs off the floor... stating that they are fate and even though he apologized and she told him countless times to fuck off, he won't stop pursuing her ever because they're meant to be. His grovelling has nothing on Alex and Ava, his apology being:
«My job is to look after you and make the hard calls, ones that you can't make for yourself.» Bitch. He also wants to fuck her as an apology, but thank God she did not let him off the hook so easily (at first, because after...):
«"The morning you left after the second stopover, you broke something between us. I have never been so upset in all of my life. It was devastating for me. Having sex with you is the very last thing that I want to do." "Em, I couldn't talk to you because it killed me to push you away. I was battling myself over it."». Sure, it makes everything (your BIG betrayal) better, asshole! AND THEN! When she's on her way to forgiveness, he gives her an ultimatum. GAAAH!! I hate this man.
So yes, I didn't dislike the book in itself, I despised the characters, which was a first.
So, no hate against T.L. Swan! But I would not recommend this particular book.
Side note: at least when Josh fucked Jules and dumped her like trash, it was obvious he was mad. The sex was rough and angry. I barely forgave him for that, but at least he was somewhat upfront. Jameson, on the other hand, was full on "let's replay our sweet meet-cute, MAKE LOVE (not fuck), and then I'll dump you because no good reason truthfully." I do not forgive him.
Both characters are so bleh I can just tell I'm not gonna like them
Got pulled right in and could have kept reading about Emily and Jameson!
DNF @ 53% Абсолютно не си заслужава да си губя времето с нещо толкова зле написано и скучно
Really loved this book. It was actually my first romance book I had ever read (I was solely a fantasy/ mystery reader) and I’m so glad that this book kickstarted me into the genre.
I loved the story and the chemistry the characters had! Their passion came off the pages. And the big fight at the end (every romance novel has it) was actually really really good. It was different and worthy of an actual fight.
Read it if you like romance novels!
I loved the story and the chemistry the characters had! Their passion came off the pages. And the big fight at the end (every romance novel has it) was actually really really good. It was different and worthy of an actual fight.
Read it if you like romance novels!
DNF @ 65%
Cringe and toxic relationship. Wanted more sexual tension and less pouty teenager vibe.
Cringe and toxic relationship. Wanted more sexual tension and less pouty teenager vibe.
The relationship between Jensen and Emily is so toxic that I rolled my eyes more times than I should have had to.
He’s a cold and detached CEO who always gets what’s he wants, and his behavior showed it.
She’s a petulant stubborn woman who lashes out when she’s challenged.
Together, it felt like watching a weird mating ritual between the worlds cattiest bitches who throw hands for 2 seconds, back up and circle each other for a few minutes, hug real quick and then fight again.
They confused lust and infatuation for love, and you can’t tell me they’re not going to be the talk of every gossip magazine because they’re just going to fight aaaaaall the time.
The only time she felt remotely believable was during the big “grand gesture” bullshit at the end, and even then…she let him off too easy for that whole thing. It almost felt like he manipulated “in the cutest way” her to get back to where they were before he jumped off the fucking ledge.
If I didn’t have a friend telling me the next in the series is so much better than this one…I wouldn’t be continuing. But alas, Tristan was nothing but kind and cute in this book, so I will be moving on.
He’s a cold and detached CEO who always gets what’s he wants, and his behavior showed it.
She’s a petulant stubborn woman who lashes out when she’s challenged.
Together, it felt like watching a weird mating ritual between the worlds cattiest bitches who throw hands for 2 seconds, back up and circle each other for a few minutes, hug real quick and then fight again.
They confused lust and infatuation for love, and you can’t tell me they’re not going to be the talk of every gossip magazine because they’re just going to fight aaaaaall the time.
The only time she felt remotely believable was during the big “grand gesture” bullshit at the end, and even then…she let him off too easy for that whole thing. It almost felt like he manipulated “in the cutest way” her to get back to where they were before he jumped off the fucking ledge.
If I didn’t have a friend telling me the next in the series is so much better than this one…I wouldn’t be continuing. But alas, Tristan was nothing but kind and cute in this book, so I will be moving on.
dnfed @20% was not for me
t.l swan is definitely not for me and thats okay.
t.l swan is definitely not for me and thats okay.