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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Deal Breakers is a nice little romance about 2 best friends who fall in love, make a huge mistake and neither deals with it well. Riley’s mistake is that he’s afraid to admit his feelings to his best friend, while Devyn thinks that trying to call once to tell a world-changing news is giving her best shot. I digress…
Let’s talk about the writing. I feel like this book could have been great, if only the writing went a bit deeper. The pacing felt off to me. The first 3 years of college pass in a blink, and while we’re shown that Rye and Dev have a deep bond of friendship, we never actually see it develop. Through those little snippets of their interactions we know for sure that Riley is ALWAYS into Devyn, but it never goes further than that. That is, until she asks him for one night and he totally woos her, and then leaves her in the morning and never calls her back.
The pacing becomes a bit better once they’re reunited 5 years later, but it still goes by too fast. Again, we are told that they rekindle their friendship, for the sake of everyone involved, and that they still have a lot of chemistry, but we hardly see them actually interact. I would have liked to actually read their relationship blossom both times, rather than to be told that it did.
As a result of what I said above, both characters felt little fleshed out. Again, we are told about their growth, but we aren’t shown that, and that’s a shame. Because while Riley is said to be the king of flings, I got the notion from page one that he was dating all those girls because the person he loved didn’t want him. And Devyn, even after those 5 years, had grown a lot, but in some ways she didn’t… you need to read to get it.
Slight SPOILER (really, if you didn’t get this one from the blurb, I don’t know…). The kid is super cute! Nathan is a riot, and his interaction with his parents are the best thing. When the 3 of them are together, they fit, and I loved reading about them actually becoming a family. I really liked that ending… I would have even liked it more if the ring had been in his possession for a lot longer…
The book has super funny and super sweet moments, and the plot, although quite obvious, is funny and full of potential. My problem was that the book didn’t go deep enough, into the characters and into their story, and it felt lacking.
It was still a very nice read and I would recommend it easily. This is the kind of book where you can totally picture the movie in your mind…
I enjoyed reading about Devyn's relationship with Riley. They were close friends from the beginning and he was the only one she could trust with an important task before she graduated.
I really liked how Riley saw Devyn as more than just a girl, but saw her as a person with a personality and beauty and insecurities. I liked the way he treated her when they were in school and how he was after they met back up 5 years later. I did feel like the dialogue was sometimes a bit rushed and the characters didn't get into the dialogue as much as they wanted to. I wanted the relationships to go a little deeper and the book to go a little longer. But overall, I greatly enjoyed the book!
I've received this ARC from the publisher via NegGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm in the mood for a best-friends-into-lovers romance so I really liked this one. I've never read anything written by Laura before but I have the strong feeling that I will read the sequels to this series.
I liked all the characters - well, except Jackson - and the chemistry between them was great. The character development is also good in Riley's case as he admits he made a huge mistake when he let Devyn down and mans up to be a father to his amazing son. Devyn and Drew's relationship is adorable, too.
The only thing I didn't like was that the POV is changing after like every two sentences and I would've liked less but longer chapters. The POV switches and the many chapters break the unity and not help with the enjoyment.
All in all it's a good read. Can't wait for the next one!
Thank you for let me read it!
I posted this review on NetGalley and a Hungarian version on my blog as well.
I absolutely loved this book. It seemed like it was going to be man-slut falls for good girl. Good girl sleeps with man-slut, man-slut never talks to her or sees her again, and then when he finds out about the kid he freaks and runs as far away as possible.
However this book very happily went differently, yes Riley falls for Devyn and yes Dev loses her virginity to Ry, but though he tries to forget her he can't and when he finds out she had his kid, he not only isn't mad that she couldn't find her he makes the commitment to her and their child even buying a house in a great school district!
A great happily even after. Also very funny, Nathan is a great, funny, but pretty average 3-4-year-old boy. And Riley's parents and Devyn's brother are great too.
So I had been seeing a lot of this book on GoodReads, and when I realised it was available for request on NetGalley - how could I stop myself!?
It took me only 2 - 2 1/2 hours to get through this book and definitely not in a good way!
Both Devyn and Riley got on my nerves individually and together! Where Devyn was supposed to be the intelligent, she was whiny and stubborn, not to mention flaky - again not in a good way.
Riley was supposed to be cocky and confident - but he just came off as a jerk. But still he was a bit more tolerable than Devyn.
The only reason I am giving this book 2 stars is because of Drew, Devyn's brother. He, honestly was the only one who made sense in this book and who actually thought things through before taking any decision.
This was not a book that I liked, not even the writing itself. That was choppy and it didn't have the usual flare that just might have saved this book from doom!
For The Love of Fictional Worlds
Riley has problems with commitment & Devin is super sweet and what you’d consider a gem find. Unfortunately, their one night didn’t need how they expected and they lost touch for numerous years.
Both R&D have changed I’ve rather lost years and have developed. Now it’s time for them to reconnect.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for the best friends to lovers stories and this one did not disappoint! I loved Riley (the hero) and Devyn (the heroine) in this story. The secondary characters were pretty great too (especially Nathan and Drew).
The storyline itself was predictable, but in a comforting sort of way. Sort of like watching those lifetime movies - you know whats going to happen, but you still watch it! I enjoyed this novel immensely! My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. I definitely recommend it to anyone who like romance novels.
*A free copy of this book was given via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
“Okay, here’s the thing. I’m a virgin. And you need to relieve me of that.”
Riley sprays beer from his mouth all over the table. “The fuck you say?”
Riley immediately has the hots for Devyn but she only wants friendship from him and that's exactly what he gives all those four years at college. Before graduation, Devyn asks Riley for one night of sex so she goes into the world without her V-card. Riley is hesitant at first the agrees. He makes her first time special and everything was going great until Devyn tells him how she feels. Riley freaks and the next morning, they barely talk to each other, cancel their plans and Riley flees from Devyn's life for 5 years until he goes in search for her again. But Devyn has already moved on and doesn't want anything to do with Riley.
Devyn is a strong woman who has gone through a lot in her life along with the death of both her parents but she's still standing strong. Riley is a man-slut but a great friend to Devyn. Their rekindling friendship 5 years later was emotional since Devyn doesn't take Riley back. She's dead set on moving on and for that, I admire her. I wish the author had gone a whole lot deeper on these characters lives during their years at college and those 5 years apart. I feel like there was a gap when the time jumps that it left me kind of lost. The author spent a great deal of pages on only the sex scene and I feel it could have been shorter so to add more important stuff in the story. I wish more character development had been in the story since, once again, their years at college were merely a glimpse and not enough to let us know enough about the characters.
Overall, this book was cute and sweet but it needed more work in the characters and the story.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews