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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Everyone should go and do themselves a favor and read this book, the characters are amazing, the story is amazing.
Tati did a wonderful with these characters.
Tati did a wonderful with these characters.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ari is the best part of this book. Loved that the main character is a plus size Black woman that wasn’t fetishize and her size made a joke. I never saw it for Porter but if Ari likes it I love it. I wish we knew more about her time at Hampton but overall still a great read.
The main characters became annoying and repetitive
This was a great dual POV, steamy workplace romance debut featuring two BIPOC MCs that tackled a lot of sexism in the office issues. New to the firm Ari gets paired up with Porter for a new stadium design project and the sparks between these two are off the charts but she tries (and fails) to keep things professional (and then later on the DL). Great on audio narrated by Vance Goodwin & Anna Lynn Wright and recommended for fans of authors like Talia Hibbert and Denise Williams.
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, I really enjoyed this one! I think this is a really strong debut novel, and I am excited to see what Richardson writes next!
Ari is an architect working in a male dominated field. When she starts a new job she meets Porter. Sparks fly from the start for both. I thought the push/pull of whether to enter a relationship with a co-worker was realistic, but it did go on a bit too long for my liking. I also sometimes struggled with whose POV I was reading in each chapter because they felt very similar.
Tropes:
- Black Love
- Workplace Romance
- Plus Size Rep
- Slow Burn
- Forced Proximity
Ari is an architect working in a male dominated field. When she starts a new job she meets Porter. Sparks fly from the start for both. I thought the push/pull of whether to enter a relationship with a co-worker was realistic, but it did go on a bit too long for my liking. I also sometimes struggled with whose POV I was reading in each chapter because they felt very similar.
Tropes:
- Black Love
- Workplace Romance
- Plus Size Rep
- Slow Burn
- Forced Proximity
This is a fantastic debut contemporary black romance novel. I loved that the couple was in their 40s. Content warnings for grief, death of a parent, fatphobia and alcoholism. I'd read more from Richardson and I'll check out her podcast too.
Unfortunately, this book was really disappointing. I had issues with the writing, the characters and the romance.
My first issue was the writing style. I couldn't connect with it; it felt flat and awkward. There was also quite a bit of telling without it being backed by any showing through the characters' behaviour. I also had issues with some small scattered things throughout the portion of the book that I read, but when you add that up with everything else it impacted my enjoyment. There were multiple times when a character would describe something as funny or laugh at a "joke" that wasn't funny at all. Also, in the first chapter, a character said they expected the FMC to be a man because of her name, but her name is Ari. Which to me is a feminine name.
Next the characters. I'm always up for reading romances that have plus-sized MCs but in this book, the author would frequently bring up Ari's size and I believe the intention was to show how comfortable Ari was with her body while other people had issues or how smaller people could take accommodations for granted but after a while, it just started to feel there was too much focus on her body and the other was showing a neon saying saying "remember Ari is fat". Also one of the partners at the firm came off as a cartoonish antagonist to contrast the other nicer partner and it just felt ridiculous.
Finally the relationship. It was very Insta- lusty and to me, the connections that the characters kept referring to was just not shown.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia