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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
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:
Complicated
Oooo Greer can get these hands for real! This book was a delight from start to finish. The reading experience was like a hug. This is an elder millennial love story filled with black culture and I loved it! Ari is an amazing architect and unapologetic big girl starting over after moving back home. Porter is a nepo-baby trying to work his way to the top, when the women of his dreams turns out to be his new partner. The chemistry is fireworks all the way through and I love both of their families. I can't believe this is a debut and I can't wait to read more form Tati.
hopeful
relaxing
fast-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
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
Okay first off, this had such a strong start! Love that we’ve got dual POVs and the audiobook has two separate narrators as well! Plus having the female character, Ari, being the only woman in a male-dominated field/office is great. I love seeing a fat, over-40 female main character who is still super confident in herself! She’s really funny as well, while the male main character, Porter, is incredibly charming & only ever a ray of sunshine toward Ari. I do think he’s a bit too perfect and a good example of a man written by a woman. They do have great chemistry and are almost immediately attracted to one another which does cause some nice tension, even though they both acknowledge that nothing should be happening between them, so also have that forbidden element. Ari has previously been burned by dating a coworker, while Porter is competing to be named a partner at their architecture firm.
That said though, at just shy of the halfway point, we have the first sex scene and I can’t help but feel that things were a bit rushed given the setup. I want more longing, more intentional touches, and cute moments at their office. However, they end up in a friends-with-benefits situation where they keep doing a will-they-won’t-they and it just feels dragged out. Ari’s big hold-up is that she doesn’t want their relationship to be a conflict for their job, but she initially okays sleeping together— which would also be a conflict. And that’s a perfect example of an ongoing issue I had in the latter half, logic was being ignored. They act like a couple all the time but are shocked when people reveal that they know something is happening between them. Ari constantly excuses away everything to say they’re not dating, but they are in everything but name. It just was ridiculous.
This also very much feels like romance romance-alone plot. Sure, they’re also working to plan a new stadium and end up having competition in the form of the office douche, but that’s not much. This did ramp up a bit more in the latter half, with Ari’s past job and bad relationship also being mixed in, which was a little surprising, and I actually did really enjoy how it was resolved. Even so, when she’s first made aware of it, Ari just doesn’t talk to Porter at all, even though he’s involved in the issue as well! Logic, who is she? Oh and there was also a bit about Porter’s brother being an alcoholic, which just felt half-baked.
The ending was cute and I’m not going to knock it for a pregnancy in the epilogue since it acknowledges fertility issues that come with age.
That said though, at just shy of the halfway point, we have the first sex scene and I can’t help but feel that things were a bit rushed given the setup. I want more longing, more intentional touches, and cute moments at their office. However, they end up in a friends-with-benefits situation where they keep doing a will-they-won’t-they and it just feels dragged out. Ari’s big hold-up is that she doesn’t want their relationship to be a conflict for their job, but she initially okays sleeping together— which would also be a conflict. And that’s a perfect example of an ongoing issue I had in the latter half, logic was being ignored. They act like a couple all the time but are shocked when people reveal that they know something is happening between them. Ari constantly excuses away everything to say they’re not dating, but they are in everything but name. It just was ridiculous.
This also very much feels like romance romance-alone plot. Sure, they’re also working to plan a new stadium and end up having competition in the form of the office douche, but that’s not much. This did ramp up a bit more in the latter half, with Ari’s past job and bad relationship also being mixed in, which was a little surprising, and I actually did really enjoy how it was resolved. Even so, when she’s first made aware of it, Ari just doesn’t talk to Porter at all, even though he’s involved in the issue as well! Logic, who is she? Oh and there was also a bit about Porter’s brother being an alcoholic, which just felt half-baked.
The ending was cute and I’m not going to knock it for a pregnancy in the epilogue since it acknowledges fertility issues that come with age.
Don’t like workplace romances. Read really slow and I wasn’t connecting to the main characters
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
hopeful
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:
Complicated
emotional
funny
lighthearted
Way too heavy on the insta-lust, "can't keep our hands off each other". I wanted to see their relationship building, but felt like that was tossed aside in favor of them behaving like horny teenagers. I did not buy them as people in their 40s, at all, both MCs, and many of the side characters, acted ridiculously immaturely.
The dialogue was super cringe and the premise, while entertaining, was not super well-written.
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced