Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
lighthearted
medium-paced
Overall this is cute. It’s a book for book lovers and especially romance readers. The MMC feels like the man we all want to find IRL - one who reads romance, who listens, who pays attention. This book feels very tropey and kinda meta, but I think that was on purpose. I had issues with the pacing (too slow at the beginning, too fast at the end), story felt too long, FMC was a bit annoying, and I don’t love the lack of communication and secret identity tropes. There were some things that made me laugh out loud tho!
🌶️🌶️
🎧Karissa Vackers (love her female and male voices!), Brandon Francis (a new one for me and I enjoyed him!)
🌶️🌶️
🎧Karissa Vackers (love her female and male voices!), Brandon Francis (a new one for me and I enjoyed him!)
I liked the plot line and the twists.
The negatives:
I’ll preface my review by admitting I’m not usually a fan of the enemy to lovers trope. The 2 main characters, but especially the FMC, continually assumed the worst intentions about each other and acted meaner than rational rivals would without ever attempting anything like basic communication. This kind of writing evokes such annoyance in me.
But then, in the midst of thinking something mean-spirited about Ryan, Jose launches into a spicy thought about him. The ‘enemies’ theme just didn’t have any nuance. Like the reader needed to be hit over their head to know they’re rivals.
The positives:
The MMC, Ryan, had a few really endearing moments towards Jose.
I did like how the author wrote about why both the romance genre as well as the literary fiction genre fill a valuable niche for their readers and provide life lessons.
There were a few well-written spice scenes.
And I will always enjoy an ending where everyone in the story gets a Happy Ending.
The negatives:
I’ll preface my review by admitting I’m not usually a fan of the enemy to lovers trope. The 2 main characters, but especially the FMC, continually assumed the worst intentions about each other and acted meaner than rational rivals would without ever attempting anything like basic communication. This kind of writing evokes such annoyance in me.
But then, in the midst of thinking something mean-spirited about Ryan, Jose launches into a spicy thought about him. The ‘enemies’ theme just didn’t have any nuance. Like the reader needed to be hit over their head to know they’re rivals.
The positives:
The MMC, Ryan, had a few really endearing moments towards Jose.
I did like how the author wrote about why both the romance genre as well as the literary fiction genre fill a valuable niche for their readers and provide life lessons.
There were a few well-written spice scenes.
And I will always enjoy an ending where everyone in the story gets a Happy Ending.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
I will now refer to every third act break-up as the "decision point"!!
Such a cute book with a wonderful performance on audio.
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"You've got mail" but set in a bookstore. Cute, compelling, and draws you in. Would recommend. However the pacing toward the last 100 pages was extremely fast compared to the rest of the book and the attraction between Josie and Ryan at times felt forced/too fast for the part of the story we were at (ie. The Maine trip). Also wish the side characters (especially the family members and the cats) were a bigger part of the story. But I also really appreciated the lack of a 3rd act break-up.
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes