Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Highest Bidder by Sara Cate

8 reviews

theotherboleyn's review against another edition

emotional relaxing 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Child death

absolutely_court's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Terminal illness

unicornofthesea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Alcohol, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Terminal illness, Cancer, Car accident, and Medical content

rickireadss's review against another edition

3.0

did i think i would love this one? yes. did i? absolutely not. i could NOT for the life of me get over the fact that ronan was her mom's ex. i guess that is my hard NO when it comes to taboo romances. i am all for ex's parent but parent's ex is just too icky for me, i'm sorry. while i liked being in ronan's head (for the most part) i hated being in daisy's head. she was insufferable. i hated the whole on-going lie which obvi caused the 3rd act breakup. also the disordered eating was very not okay with me. it was not mentioned in the content warnings at the beginning of the book but it’s plays a role throughout the book, so if that’s a trigger for you, i would definitely skip this one. i love sara cate and have enjoyed this series, but this one was not for me, and that's okay.

⚠️: grief, death of parent, child death, death of spouse, pregnancy, car accident, cancer, terminal illness, disordered eating

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Car accident, and Pregnancy

rvidareads's review against another edition

challenging emotional fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Sexual content

Moderate: Terminal illness, Child death, and Death of parent

book_lover56's review against another edition

emotional tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Cursing

Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Stalking, Vomit, Car accident, and Pregnancy

ollie_again's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Sexual content

Moderate: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

weelasswithabook'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

4.0

*** ARC received in exchange for an honest review ***

CW: graphic sexual content, cancer, grief, death of loved ones, deception, homelessness

⭐️ Age Gap romance
⭐️ BDSM erotic romance 

🌶 Daddy kink 
🌶 Impact play
🌶 Pleasure dom
🌶 Restraints

Okay this one surprised me...

The SPC series is widely known for it's extremely spicy scenes and having a true emotional connection. They are notoriously wonderful romance novels. 

However, the whole tone of Highest Bidder felt extremely different (not in a bad way, just generally). This was much softer and emotionally driven with the themes of grief and loss pushing the characters through the story. 

This didn't detract from the erotic content of the book whatsoever (for those who follow the SPC series more for the spicy aspects) in fact, with the softer tone, it created a more startling contrast when it came to the erotic content. There was plenty of spice and kink in there to 110% categorise is as an erotic romance 👀

My only criticism was the instalove (or more just a really speedily falling in love would be a fairer description) vibe I got. And this is simply a me issue, not a reflection on the standard of the book itself. I think had there been a little slower of a burn, the emotional connection between the two might have been a little more impactful in the long run. 

The conflict in itself was pretty solidified right at the start, but there was that anxious anticipation of not knowing when it was going to crop up. So it saved it from being predictable. I liked that it appeared when it did and how it did because it really propelled the character's relationship into a flux. And it's not a petty miscommunication trope either, it's a biggie.

One thing I really appreciated was the fact that the heroine wasn't saved or left needing to be saved by the hero. She healed and grew on her own to come to terms with her grief and take care of herself. 

I cannot wait to see what's to come next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Cancer, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Car accident, and Child death