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bookcaptivated's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Medical content, Classism, and Grief
rickireadss's review against another edition
3.25
this wasn't necessarily a miss for me, but the ending really let me down. it took a bit for me to get into this and be rooting for them, but once i was in, i was in. these two are HOT AF - especially trixie, like damn woman YES TELL THAT MAN HE'S A GOOD BOY but the ending where he yelled at her while drunk???? nooooooooo, i hated it. this may be my trauma talking but i would NEVER get back with a man who did all that to me, drunk or sober. so yeah, this had the potential to be favorite of mine, but it fell flat. i am looking forward to the next book because i LOVED the boss babes!!
⚠️: grief, death of parent, cancer, medical content, parent has heart attack, fire/fire injury, racism, gaslighting, gentrification
⚠️: grief, death of parent, cancer, medical content, parent has heart attack, fire/fire injury, racism, gaslighting, gentrification
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Grief, Cancer, and Medical content
Moderate: Racism and Gaslighting
lalaslibrary's review against another edition
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Cancer
zombiezami's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I feel like I would have much rather read about Trixie and the other boss babes than hear about Andre. He struck me as really immature, and I feel that Trixie would have been better off without him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol
Moderate: Medical content, Gaslighting, Death, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Racism
Gentrificationthefatpaperback's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
ashleycmms's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Medical content, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
caseythereader's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, and Cancer
meganpbennett's review
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
5.0
Happy Endings was a blast. She moved to DC from NOLA ago to prove to her immigrant parents that she can make it in a non-traditional career. She wanted to be a therapist, and now sells sex toys and wants to open her open boutique. He returned to DC from NOLA when his mother got sick, taking over the restaurant and trying to do things as she would have in her honor. They also used to date.
And of course they cross paths when she holds a bachelorette party as his restaurant, with a sex toy display on the table. She's never forgiven him for breaking up with her with a post-in, and he's never stopped loving her. You can imagine where this leads.
She needs the sales to win the grand prize at work so she can open her own boutique, and he needs the sales revenue if he's going to even attempt to keep the shop. It's a match made in heaven. More or less.
My only complaint is that the ending had two really big things happen-the restaurant catching on fire and being declared a complete loss and her father having a large and serious heart attack - that are barely addressed in the epilogue. I wanted a few more chapters about what happens next, and then the jump to the epilogue.
And of course they cross paths when she holds a bachelorette party as his restaurant, with a sex toy display on the table. She's never forgiven him for breaking up with her with a post-in, and he's never stopped loving her. You can imagine where this leads.
She needs the sales to win the grand prize at work so she can open her own boutique, and he needs the sales revenue if he's going to even attempt to keep the shop. It's a match made in heaven. More or less.
My only complaint is that the ending had two really big things happen-
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Cursing, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury
decklededgess's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
content/trigger warnings: sex and nudity, alcohol use, death of parents, cancer, car accident mention, ghosting of a significant other, heart attack, difficult relationship with parents, fire related tragedy, grief
This book was decent despite my initial hesitation, although the "i like it" vibe wasn't consistent throughout. The first 10% was really bland and pissed me off. A lot of tell and no show. Predictably, once the smut picked up I was able to read faster. The pacing was a bit odd though and again once we hit like 70% the book went back to it's tell and no show writing and it felt like a lot of detail that would have made the story flow better was cut out.
I was also not a big fan of Trixie's "I need to deal with my own goals and not worry about Andre's concerns about neighbourhood gentrification because I'm a Bitchin Boss Babe." First of all ew to that group name we're well past the girlboss era of feminism. Please move past that. Second of all, she's a DMV transplant, has no connection to the neighbourhood and the history. So when she decides to opt for her own dreams with no regard for Andre's knowledge of the impact of gentrification and how actually partaking in renting gentrified buildings contributes to further gentrification well....she really went full throttle girlboss and I hated it. There were certainly better ways for her to achieve her goals without literally being part of the problem Andre was so concerned about.
I also wasn't to hot on how all of that responsibility of growth was thrown on Andre. Trixie's maturity and independence happened off page. We didn't get to see her grow into her confident (albeit annoyingly girlboss) self. Meanwhile Andre was flogged for being closed off and unable to communicate, which yeah sure he was a bit emotionally tight lipped. But when he raised concerns about the gentrification issue it's brushed aside as aggressive and unsupportive. He gets a POV in the book but it didn't feel much like the author was giving him an actual chance.
Anyways, the book ends with a nice little deus ex machina so it all worked out. Plus the smut was obscenely good so there's that.
This book was decent despite my initial hesitation, although the "i like it" vibe wasn't consistent throughout. The first 10% was really bland and pissed me off. A lot of tell and no show. Predictably, once the smut picked up I was able to read faster. The pacing was a bit odd though and again once we hit like 70% the book went back to it's tell and no show writing and it felt like a lot of detail that would have made the story flow better was cut out.
I was also not a big fan of Trixie's "I need to deal with my own goals and not worry about Andre's concerns about neighbourhood gentrification because I'm a Bitchin Boss Babe." First of all ew to that group name we're well past the girlboss era of feminism. Please move past that. Second of all, she's a DMV transplant, has no connection to the neighbourhood and the history. So when she decides to opt for her own dreams with no regard for Andre's knowledge of the impact of gentrification and how actually partaking in renting gentrified buildings contributes to further gentrification well....she really went full throttle girlboss and I hated it. There were certainly better ways for her to achieve her goals without literally being part of the problem Andre was so concerned about.
I also wasn't to hot on how all of that responsibility of growth was thrown on Andre. Trixie's maturity and independence happened off page. We didn't get to see her grow into her confident (albeit annoyingly girlboss) self. Meanwhile Andre was flogged for being closed off and unable to communicate, which yeah sure he was a bit emotionally tight lipped. But when he raised concerns about the gentrification issue it's brushed aside as aggressive and unsupportive. He gets a POV in the book but it didn't feel much like the author was giving him an actual chance.
Anyways, the book ends with a nice little deus ex machina so it all worked out. Plus the smut was obscenely good so there's that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Death, and Death of parent
leahsbooks's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.
Trixie is a tough, confident, and highly motivated Vietnamese-American woman who is striving towards making her dream a reality, without letting anyone holding her back. This includes her traditional parents, who want her to follow their career trajectory, and a major motivating factor for her is to show them that she can be a success without having to be a doctor, lawyer, or pharmacist. Trixie just wants to help people, and for her, that route involves selling sex toys. I loved seeing her express her confidence and share it with others, no matter their age. Her character also portrayed the fine line that children of immigrants often walk, especially when their parents hold tightly to traditional values.
Andre was a difficult character. I got the impression that he really did mean well, but he went about everything the wrong way. So often, he tried to fix everything on his own without even considering any input from others, or how it would affect them. He was endlessly frustrating, although I did understand that his heart was in the right place.
I was able to empathize with the emotional components of this story. There were parts that made me laugh and cry, and I was truly invested in the outcome of the story. However, the romance aspect was the weakest part in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong — the sex scenes were incredible and had my Kindle practically melting, but I struggled with the actual romance. Trixie was able to communicate her emotions with everyone in her life, except for Andre, it seemed like. And Andre, for his part, didn’t really seem capable of sharing much of his emotions with Trixie. He didn’t respect boundaries and she was far too willing to disregard red flags that they were on different pages. I liked seeing how things changed between them through the course of the book, but initially, I wasn’t as caught up in the romance between them as I was in the rest of the story.
Overall, I liked the story, how everything unfolded, and the diversity in the story. The way the characters needed each other to make their own goals possible made things feel more believable, and the pace was perfect. I was able to get into the story, and the writing flowed naturally. This was an enjoyable debut, and I am really looking forward to more from this writer. Especially if it includes more recipes at the end, which I thought was a particularly nice touch. I can’t wait to try Vietnamese iced coffee!
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
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