Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Screwed by K.M. Neuhold

1 review

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

3.75

READ: Sep 2023 
FORMAT: Digital 

BRIEF SUMMARY: 
In this contemporary romance, a bachelor party brings the Four Bears Construction crew to Las Vegas, where the two best men get blackout drunk and wake up married. Ollie’s got his divorce lawyer practically on speed dial by now, but when Daniel decides to make Ollie’s brother and best friends pay up on a bet, they have eight months to stick it out and play like their sham of a legal marriage was meant to be. Playing at husbands is more difficult than Daniel expected as his allergy to emotions is pushed into dangerous territory by the wonderful, thoughtful, generous monster-in-the-sheets that is Ollie. 

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4 / 5⭐ 
Judging by the synopsis and he context of past books in his series, is this book exactly what I expected it to be? Yes; from cover to cover, it checked off just about every beat that could be predicted. Was t wonderful, delicious fun anyway? Also yes; and this is surprising to me, because I went in with no attachment or affection for our two lead characters, who never particularly sparked my interest while reading the rest of the series. 

Ollie has a track record for botching his quest for his One True Love in catastrophic ways, having been married and divorced no less than thrice with none of those marriages lasting longer than seven months. He’s so in love with the idea of finding love that he willfully blinds himself to his partners’ red flags and any lack of chemistry, brute-forcing the relationship into working until it collapses in on itself. He’s become the butt of his brother and friends’ unyielding jokes, and after his most recent breakup, he’s decided to just throw in the towel. Watching everyone else get their happily-ever-afters one-by-one is torturous, but he has resigned to his fate. 

Daniel had closed the door on commitment, having no faith in the concepts of soulmates or true love, which might as well be inventions by Hollywood to fill theatre seats. It’s always been his experience that partners are just looking to take advantage of him so if all he’s willing to offer is a good time, then nobody is going to get hurt. Daniel is a defender – the last thing he wants is for anyone to be harmed, and most certainly not by his hands – so when he and Ollie end up in an eight-month marriage commitment together, he’s very up-front with his rules, which involve no emotional attachment whatsoever. 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3.75 / 5⭐ 
So my experience with this book was rather opposite of the one I had with the previous book in the series, regarding the surprise subversion of my expectations. Where for Hardwood, I was greatly looking forward to the characters and their story but found both to fall flat, this time I had little interest in the characters or the story, but I had a good time anyway. 

I found the tone overall stayed pretty upbeat, despite the angst that was guaranteed to come with Ollie’s struggle keeping his affections and emotions restrained, while existing as the butt of the jokes of the people closest to him. This positivity is a major part of what attracted me to Neuhold’s works, which I seek out when hoping for something fun and sexy that isn’t going to drain on my empathy battery. I did get a bit riled up over Ollie’s defeatist attitude towards the end of the book, but the last leg of Daniel’s journey never put the book’s happy ending in any sort of danger. 

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3.75 / 5⭐ 
If you like books about weddings, and fake weddings, and sticking it to bullies, and lovesick romantics falling for romance skeptics, this book has it all. It also contains one of the more powerful sex scenes I’ve ever read – we’ll say that it easily ranks in my top twenty, and I’ve spent the past year bingeing romance and erotica books at an unsustainable rate, so I’m basically an expert sex-scene-consumer these days. 

This book has representation for gays, bisexuals, trans men, and nonbinary individuals. There is otherwise little in the way of diversity.

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.
This book contains: mentions of unwanted sexual advances; alcohol use; past toxic relationships; mention of homophobia; injuries (concussion, bruising); and, mention of past bullying and fighting.
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