Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Count Your Lucky Stars

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

40 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

I think I may have read too many of her books too close together, as I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others. I think it was too focused on just the two MCs, and didn't have enough of other characters and things going on outside of the relationship to me. I also just got bored about 50% through. I did like the last 20% just that 30% was boring and I had trouble paying attention to it. It was spicy enough for once! LOL. I also wish she didn't always use the same narrator for all her books.

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dwoht's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

3.75

this one is cute and spicy. second chance romance and friends to lovers what more could you ask for? but the miscommunication trope pissed me off so much. i hate it in any kind of book. i think the first part is kind of hard to read because margot and olivia keeps you on guessing if will they or won't they. it also felt like they barely scratched their issues, together and on their own. it felt lacking in a sense that i feel like their problems aren't solved? idk

it was a good read and the third book that i've read from the author, but in the series i like written in the stars more, i guess.

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themiscyra_anna's review against another edition

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funny inspiring tense slow-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

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hobbithopeful's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

I had to turn on the fan while reading this book because WOW does it get steamy! *fans self* This is the 3rd book in the Written in the Stars series, a point I missed before reading because I picked this book out at the library for a blind book date. The key words that got my attention were: second chance romance and Sapphic! The story follows assistant wedding planner and divorcee Olivia, who has finally gotten her chance to plan the biggest wedding of the season. She is excited, confidant, and ready to succeed until she realize the Best Woman is none other then Margot Cooper. Margot who she hasn't seen in 10 years. Margot who used to be her best friend. Margot who she once spent a week with having the best sex of her life, before their friendship disintegrated.
I love second chance romances, especially if they are done *right*. I need flashbacks, I want angst, I want a SLOW BURN! And hey guess what? This one delivered on ALL FRONTS!! The chemistry between Olivia and Margot, the tension, the LUSTFUL GLANCES! All of the spicy scenes are incredibly hot and *very* well written. ;) The characters are so rounded and of course they have flaws that make you want to shake them at times. This was a great read that put a smile on my face and made my week much brighter.
The Cover
You guys know my number one gripe about romance covers is how unoriginal they typically are. Go into any bookstore and half the books in the romance section have the main characters in this back to back pose.
I do like the background and the design of the cover! It is very pretty and scenic and matches the other covers in the series. I really like the Ombre sky effect, but other then that don't really have much to say other then I do love the characters outfits, it suits their personalities and descriptions perfectly.
The cover illustration is by Elizaveta Rusalskaya

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

Really liked this book. The humor was good, the characters were detailed and pleasant to read, it had second-chance vibes without a heavy angst backstory, and the ending was really cute. Just an overall nice read.

Sapphic
Light Angst
Good Humor
Second Chances
Friends to Lovers

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torikate7's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing 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

3.0

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

I find romances to be fantastic vacation reads, light and fun and easy to jump in and out of as you. So, I was thrilled when my hold on this final book in the "Written in the Stars" romance series came in the week before I was set to travel for a long weekend. I sped through the first half on the flight and finished up the rest over coffee in the mornings before heading out for sight-seeing (and eating and drinking, haha).

The final installation in this series focuses on Margot, Elle's best friend and former roomie who, though very excited for the pairing-off of all her friends (Darcy and Elle, Brendon and Annie), is starting to feel a little bit left out, sort of a fifth wheel. When she shows up to tour a potential venue for Brendon and Annie's wedding, she runs into a very unexpected person: the wedding planner is Olivia Grant, Margot's childhood best friend, longtime crush, first love all rolled into one. Olivia, excited and nervous at this major opportunity in her career, is *just* as surprised to see Margot for the first time in over a decade. They've both lived full lives since then, are coming in with emotional changes, but neither has managed to forget the perfect week they spent together in high school, and those feelings are coming back strong for both as they spend more time together.

As with all the books in this series, when this friend group gets involved, all bets at how supportively nosy they get are off. I honestly love reading about them. I mean, sometimes it walks the line of healthy or not, their emotional codependency, but they're so lovable and cozy and, at the end of the day, so supportive, that I cannot help but feel safe and at home with them. That's probably because I know, despite any disagreements and over-involvement they have, that in the end they will both tell the hard truths and support whatever the other(s) decide...and because it's a romance, it'll end happily.

Other things I loved, in general, included the group text messages with Margot's family. I wish we had gotten to actually meet them, or at least get a little more on page time with their voices, because they were laugh out loud recognizable (thank goodness airplanes are loud, because I am not joking about laughing out loud), with the two brothers and the spot on sarcasm. Also, Bellefleur again crushes the sex writing. The sex scenes are steamy and fantastic. And as a particular highlight of this book, the way she wrote sensuality and sexual tension into the small things, like eating a piece of cake on a fork or the way a shirt lays over a character’s body, is top notch. Finally, and this has gotten better from book to book, in my opinion, I thought the "third act conflict" here was great: realistic and well-handled and not overdramatic. Just a regular fight like anyone would recognize, where things are said that are maybe too aggressive, but not unforgivably hurtful, and both Margot and Olivia are mature enough to want to keep working on it after a little time to cool off/regroup. I so appreciate that, as a contrived situation in this part of the story is really a turn-off for me. Plus, in this case, there was a little tongue-in-cheek disaster humor, the "everything that could go wrong does," that was a bit humorous, since as a reader we already know it will end happily. And on that note, Bellefluer again delivers on the "sparkles and fairy lights and champagne bubbles" style romance vibes that I have come to expect (and love) from her. When you want that, there are few better.

My final note is a small criticism. And to be honest, there is a chance that I was just reading too fast because these romances are the "speed through the pages" type reads for me, so please bear that in mind. But. I found that I struggled to tell Olivia and Margot apart, perspective-wise. Their holding back communication issues about the relationship were basically the same. (However, let me please note that I appreciated that they recognized when they were falling into the insecurity/miscommunication trope. It makes it easier to handle as the reader. I get that it is hard, for real, but the self-awareness is a real balm for me in dealing with this heavily overused way to create tension). Anyways, I’d have liked more separation of development/voice for our two MCs. Even in their dialogue sometimes, I lost the thread of who was speaking. And though their individual stories (jobs, families, life trajectories, etc.) were well developed, their personalities and mannerisms just seemed too similar.

All to say that, I was super pleased with the closure we got for everyone's relationships at the end of this final book. I had fun reading this whole series and this was a spectacular overall ending. This is just really high quality fuzzy and comforting reading material.

“Love isn’t supposed to be quantifiable, relationships held up against one another, pitted against one another. That's a shitty thing to try to do, like asking someone to compare their love for their mother to their love for their partner or their best friend.”

“Reality was different. Talking, sharing, like so many things, was easier said than done. 'Look, normally I am totally team talk about it. But it's so much easier to tell someone to talk than to actually do it. The problem isn't opening my mouth and saying the words - that's the easy part. It's - it's what comes after. When the words are out there, and I can't take them back.'”

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kylieqrada's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.5

3.5 ⭐️s. This series is great, but I think this one is my least fave of the 3. Still love the characters, and Olivia is a great addition to the friend group.

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beccaand's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

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just_klaudia's review against another edition

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relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

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