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natttbuggg's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved this book so much. Although it was grumpy x sunshine it was able to have both characters be more developed and multidimensional instead of just being a ball of literal sunshine and a man who hates everything. They felt like real people who have had hard lives and are just trying their best however they know how. Zahra is suffering with depression which makes her seem more value in the world and uses that to make other’s lives better. Rowan deals with his own feelings of inadequacy by being the man he should be, in his fathers eyes, while not caring about the repercussions. He does end up learning that there are people who are effected by these actions and in a way uses that to help him overcome his need to please his father. He finds that he is able to make change to become the man he and those who care about him want him to be.
I did love that there was a plot to this book, since a lot of the books I read are more character centered than plot. This allowed me to take a break while not taking a break, since this did a great job of mixing both plot driven narrative and character driven narrative. I have little to no issues with the book itself but rather I had to really put my leftist brain to rest while reading this because in this world it is very UNLIKELY that a BILLIONARE will sacrifice their profits to benefits those who work for them. But once I was able to get past that I was able to enjoy their love story. I absolutely love the way that Asher incorporates disabilities and mental health issues into her book. I recently tried to read another book that just so happened to have a character with Down Syndrome and that portrayal was absolutely infuriating. That portrayal was absolutely only for diversity for the sake of diversity where as Asher does it great in incorporating Ani as a person first.
I was also reading this knowing that I will be leaving for Disney (for the first time in 13 years) in a couple weeks!! Disney trip on the horizon made this book so much more fun to read IMO.
I have started Terms and Conditions which will be the first marriage of convenience that I will have read, but knowing that Asher’s writing is something I love will help ease me into the story. I am aiming to finish T&C before Final Offer is release to the public so wish me luck!!
Tropes: Grumpy x Sunshine, Forbidden Romance (Boss/Employee), Workplace Romance
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
hannahmcl394's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The perfect grumpy/sunshine pairing.
Zarah is the embodiment of a ray of sunshine despite her past heartbreak and struggles of the past. Rowan is a grumpy billionaire with complex feelings of his own he hast to overcome and Zarahs the one to help him along the way.
While the romance was enjoyable the book was really made for me with the introduction of Ani (Zarahs autistic sister) I found her absolutely hilarious and loved her menacing ways. Her relationship with Rowan and seeing the progression of his character growth by spending time with her really turned this book around for me where I felt it was beginning to fall a little flat.
I loved this workplace knock-off Disneyland style of romance. Definitely a feel good book with just enough heartbreak and miscommunication to make it Interesting. The perfect start to this series and left me wanting more of the Kane brothers!
Initial Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars (subject to review at the end of the year)
Spice Rating: 🌶🌶🌶 2.5/3 spice
Favourite Quotes:
“Zahra’s it for me. I know it with everything in me, and my intuition has never been wrong before. There’s nothing in the world I’ll find more beautiful than her. Not the sun. Not the moon. Not even the entire galaxy compares to the light she radiates wherever she goes.”
“I’ll never stop being greedy when it comes to Zahra. She will always be the exception to any rule and the one person I’m willing to screw the world over for. Because if she’s not happy, I’ll ruin whatever stole her smile, myself included.”
“You better have a massive dick to back up that attitude or else people will be mighty disappointed.”
“Kissing Zahra is like reaching Heaven after an eternity spent in purgatory. Like I’ve spent most of my life hopelessly ambling around, waiting for her to show me the way back to the light. She’s divine with enough wickedness to make a sinner like me want to pray in devotion.”
Would I read again? Yes
Would I recommend? Yes
Zarah is the embodiment of a ray of sunshine despite her past heartbreak and struggles of the past. Rowan is a grumpy billionaire with complex feelings of his own he hast to overcome and Zarahs the one to help him along the way.
While the romance was enjoyable the book was really made for me with the introduction of Ani (Zarahs autistic sister) I found her absolutely hilarious and loved her menacing ways. Her relationship with Rowan and seeing the progression of his character growth by spending time with her really turned this book around for me where I felt it was beginning to fall a little flat.
I loved this workplace knock-off Disneyland style of romance. Definitely a feel good book with just enough heartbreak and miscommunication to make it Interesting. The perfect start to this series and left me wanting more of the Kane brothers!
Initial Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars (subject to review at the end of the year)
Spice Rating: 🌶🌶🌶 2.5/3 spice
Favourite Quotes:
“Zahra’s it for me. I know it with everything in me, and my intuition has never been wrong before. There’s nothing in the world I’ll find more beautiful than her. Not the sun. Not the moon. Not even the entire galaxy compares to the light she radiates wherever she goes.”
“I’ll never stop being greedy when it comes to Zahra. She will always be the exception to any rule and the one person I’m willing to screw the world over for. Because if she’s not happy, I’ll ruin whatever stole her smile, myself included.”
“You better have a massive dick to back up that attitude or else people will be mighty disappointed.”
“Kissing Zahra is like reaching Heaven after an eternity spent in purgatory. Like I’ve spent most of my life hopelessly ambling around, waiting for her to show me the way back to the light. She’s divine with enough wickedness to make a sinner like me want to pray in devotion.”
Would I read again? Yes
Would I recommend? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Cancer, and Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Blood, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
culzean's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Cursing, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
zc2's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.75
I would say it would be one of my favorites however I feel likethey shouldn’t have been together. I was mad that Zahra took him back after the whole hospital scene( which really pissed me off cause he treated her like a burden in which I was like wtf is wrong with you she’s laying in a hospital bed where she almost died , and bestie is all like oh if she died in my bathroom that would suck/ be a lot of paper work. Bro really made me mad there like fr) miss girl put so much trust in him like he had her heart and soul wrapped around his fingers and he squished her heart like a grape. My trust issues are far more extreme I would have left him to get hit by a car and not care by that point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
faidramonique's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Blood, Medical trauma, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Cursing, and Chronic illness
hiraeth_'s review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Don't get me wrong on the 2.75 rating - it's giving everything what it has been advertised as, it just wasn't my cup of tea lol. We get an rich and bossy ✨emotionally unavailable man✨ and a quirky, loving sunshine woman that works for him. What more can I say?
I actually liked the grumpy x sunshine dynamic in the end even though it's obv very cliché. The characters grew on me even though Rowan is a possessive alphahole (to quote SJM) and Zhara felt a little too not-like-other-girls from time to time. I enjoyed their story even though it was very predictable and some of the struggles seemed unreasonable (the 2nd conflict was so unnecessary). You see? It was a nice, quick read which had me cringing more often than i hoped (some really strong wattpad vibes) but was also able to force a little silly smile out of me. If i had been able to fully immerse into the story the backstories might have made me more emotional, but half of the time i couldn't take Rowan and his daddy issues seriously (even though they are obv understandable, but it just felt very stereotypical).
I really like romance novels but i catch myself being hyper aware of red flags every time i pick a book like that up which leads to me not being able to fully enjoy it. I am a huge advocate for the whole "it's not the same! no, but it's not the same!" when it comes to enjoying (romance) books which display things that are questionable. But i need the story to be written very thoughtfully so i'm emotionally invested before cringe or my red-flags-alarm kick in. Often times I wished the author would've chosen to "show, don't tell".
So: A nice read for everyone who can shut their brain up when sth along the lines "i want to own you" or "you don't have a say in this" comes up. Or who can enjoy reading a billionaire romance without rolling their eyes at the amount of unchecked privilege and classism it displays/reproduces.
Otherwise this book got everything you want from christian-grey-like-flexing-with-wealth (v over the top dates which one can only dream of), a little bit of kind-of-forbidden romance over girl turns icy guy into a simp to tragic backstories.
I actually liked the grumpy x sunshine dynamic in the end even though it's obv very cliché. The characters grew on me even though Rowan is a possessive alphahole (to quote SJM) and Zhara felt a little too not-like-other-girls from time to time. I enjoyed their story even though it was very predictable and some of the struggles seemed unreasonable (the 2nd conflict was so unnecessary). You see? It was a nice, quick read which had me cringing more often than i hoped (some really strong wattpad vibes) but was also able to force a little silly smile out of me. If i had been able to fully immerse into the story the backstories might have made me more emotional, but half of the time i couldn't take Rowan and his daddy issues seriously (even though they are obv understandable, but it just felt very stereotypical).
I really like romance novels but i catch myself being hyper aware of red flags every time i pick a book like that up which leads to me not being able to fully enjoy it. I am a huge advocate for the whole "it's not the same! no, but it's not the same!" when it comes to enjoying (romance) books which display things that are questionable. But i need the story to be written very thoughtfully so i'm emotionally invested before cringe or my red-flags-alarm kick in. Often times I wished the author would've chosen to "show, don't tell".
So: A nice read for everyone who can shut their brain up when sth along the lines "i want to own you" or "you don't have a say in this" comes up. Or who can enjoy reading a billionaire romance without rolling their eyes at the amount of unchecked privilege and classism it displays/reproduces.
Otherwise this book got everything you want from christian-grey-like-flexing-with-wealth (v over the top dates which one can only dream of), a little bit of kind-of-forbidden romance over girl turns icy guy into a simp to tragic backstories.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Cancer, Cursing, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexism
emilygh1345's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness
merlesstorys's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.5
I’m so in awe with Rowan and Zahra…. I love it.
The writing style was really nice and easy plus fast to read, with a great plot throughout.
Also the characters were amazing… except Declan Lancelot Kane, he was an a-hole.
The writing style was really nice and easy plus fast to read, with a great plot throughout.
Also the characters were amazing… except Declan Lancelot Kane, he was an a-hole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Medical content
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Classism, and Mental illness
Minor: Abandonment, Cancer, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
maxima5's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism and Cancer
masona's review against another edition
funny
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Abandonment, and Addiction
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail