Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Mercy by Sara Cate

11 reviews

katierosecrane's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Only Sara Cate can write a character I hate and make him into someone I understand and love. Beau has a great character arc, along with Maggie. The beginning isn't all that, slightly predictable. but once you get to the 70 percent mark it picks up. I love Sara Cate books she is simplistic in her writing style but still manages to pack so much emotion into her plots.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

inkdrinkers's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

"We collided like two stars moving in the same direction for longer than we knew. There was no changing course or avoiding it. I didn't mean for it to happen. But there's no going back now."

Maggie knows what she's good at - managing shit. She can whip a business into shape in seconds, delegate directions to people seamlessly, and keep every moving part well-oiled - Except her own life. But when she suddenly finds herself taking a second look at her friend's son of all people - and Beau butts his bratty head into her life, what seems easy to control becomes a lot more loaded than either of them anticipated.

Will Sara Cate ever not make me ugly sob?? Can this woman let me LIVE?! I wasn't looking forward to Beau's story, I thought it was far too much of a jerk for me to even remotely find it in my heart to redeem him, let alone love him - but I was wrong. There is so much to say about this story, particularly, that just hit different for me. Maggie's worry that her time is running out, her issues with reclaiming her sexuality after religious trauma, and on top of it all - her body issues, really made this book climb to the top of my favorites this year.

The Salacious Players Club series has undoubtedly shocked me with my sheer joy as I read them. Maybe I finally just embraced it in a point in my life when I needed it, but every conversation and topic brought up in these novels has been nuanced and beautifully done. Discussions aren't handled lightly, every hard subject is really handled with a level of care that is noticeable throughout. Reading Cate's acknowledgements in this book, however, had me fighting back tears. There's a scene where Maggie remembers being told her heart will never recover if she has sex - that she's physically giving pieces of it away each time - and to have that suddenly appear in a book when I heard it my entire life growing up made me pause and reconsider everything. I loved this, I'm now a fierce advocate that anyone who has ever had to come back from any kind of sexual trauma should read these. They're so wonderfully done and I'm so happy Sara Cate wrote them.

Content Warnings: Sexual content (there's pegging, lads), Violence/Injury/Injury detail (both in sexual contexts with impact play and a third act plot), Body shaming (brief internal), Infidelity/Toxic relationship (in past)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

annahamburger's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Sexual content, Grief, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Infidelity, Blood, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Emotional abuse

alilbitofeveryth1ng's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Hate crime, Violence, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Bullying

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism, Body shaming, and Cursing

Minor: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

rickireadss's review against another edition

4.0

this was vvvvvvvvvvery hot ;) i hated beau in book 1 so i was nervous to even read his book. he came around, i guess. i'm still not a huge fan of him BUT i do think him and maggie are a great couple. they balance each other and just had me smiling a lot.

⚠️: violence, injury/injury detail, body shaming, infidelity, toxic relationship, purity culture references, bigotry

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Body shaming, and Infidelity

Minor: Religious bigotry

sdupont's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this book! I liked getting to learn more about Maggie, since she was the friend in the group we had known the least about. Up until this book I hadn’t liked Beau very much. Over the course of the book I found myself liking him more, he gained a little more depth that helped round out his character. This book is great for readers who want a smutty read that doesn’t involve a third act break up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming and Religious bigotry

Minor: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

merenguita's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I had little to no expectation for this book (It's the first of the series I've read) and I honestly loved it. The relationship between the main characters was intresting and there were a lot of sex scenes whitout it being repetitive. The only thing I would say is that the inner monologues get repetitive at times, especially towards the last third of the book and that got me a bit bored. 
Other than that, if you like erotic BDSM books I would recomend checking this one out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Infertility

kyeruhh's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am SHOCKED at how much I enjoyed this. I typically really don’t like age gaps, especially ones with someone in their 20s, but I found I didn’t mind this one as much?? I love a man with daddy issues and Beau has a whole host of them. I also loved that Maggie was in her 30s, it’s refreshing to read about a romance heroine who wasn’t 22. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Violence, Confinement, and Torture

Minor: Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity