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lgreads44's review
2.0
A little stiff
The writing was a little bit too stiff for me. The dialogue was extremely proper and the author didn't let us experience any actions or emotions between the characters. We were told what was happening/had happened instead.
The writing was a little bit too stiff for me. The dialogue was extremely proper and the author didn't let us experience any actions or emotions between the characters. We were told what was happening/had happened instead.
eurydiceh's review
2.0
Eh
Connor Wyatt hasn’t had the greatest luck, but when he meets Lynn Sutton he feels that all of that will change.
To be fair, this had the makings of a good romance, but the delivery could have been much better. We were told a ton of things that we should have been shown.
Do I like these characters? Yes. And I going to continue the series? Yes. But I’d be wrong to not say that there were problems. Thankfully most of them could have been solved with a good editor.
I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a quick read.
Connor Wyatt hasn’t had the greatest luck, but when he meets Lynn Sutton he feels that all of that will change.
To be fair, this had the makings of a good romance, but the delivery could have been much better. We were told a ton of things that we should have been shown.
Do I like these characters? Yes. And I going to continue the series? Yes. But I’d be wrong to not say that there were problems. Thankfully most of them could have been solved with a good editor.
I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a quick read.
whitneydr's review
1.0
I had to tap out of this book at 51%. Honestly, I’m surprised I made it so far a long.
Warning: Review may contain some spoilers
To say this book wasn’t for me, is an understatement. When I was relaying snippets of this book to my best friend, she articulated exactly what I was having trouble putting into words about what I didn’t like about this book:
The author, an obvious romance reader, put every possible romance novel trope in her book and all of them were executed terribly. Over the top extra for extra’s sake that did nothing for the overall plot and point of the story.
I had to stop reading after Renea confessed her feelings for Lynn to which Lynn threw a tantrum and destroyed her home for no real sensical reason. But I really should’ve stopped at the unnecessary rape story.
I showed my best friend screen grabs of the rape scene and she had the most apt and to-the-point reaction: yuck. Firstly, and admittedly biased, I HATE rape in romance books. I especially hate them when there’s no reason for them to be in the story. Lynn describing her rape to Connor in vivid, gory detail was tasteless and unnecessary. I mean, I can see in real life, telling a potential partner that you’ve been raped and gauging their reaction. And it can also be argued that Lynn telling Connor was testing their friendship, but again, it was extra for extra’s sake. Lynn’s “harrowing” tale was just too much and should have been/could be a novel on its own.
With regards to the main characters, I didn't really like Connor and Lynn, together or separately. Connor came off as a spineless fetishist. When the “hero” himself says in the beginning he only had sex with black women/women of color because he “preferred independent women with kind personalities and big asses. If that kind of woman came with smooth chocolate skin and a pretty smile, I was even more intrigued,” but never actually pursued a relationship with any of them, it sends so many red flags. As I read that little bit all I could think was “is she really going to end up with this guy?” He's spineless because he let himself get married to some white woman he didn't love and whose mother picked for him, and stayed with for years while lusting after another woman. I'm not even going to get into him getting a boner at Lynn’s dead sister’s funeral. Talk about slimeball. Connor's character hadn't really improved by the time I stopped reading. In between lusting for Lynn, Connor treated her like his therapist under the guise of a friend venting to another friend and I was constantly asking what Lynn saw in him.
Where do I start with Lynn? I guess my best way to describe her was bougie but not classy. Yes she was a successful business woman and I give her props. But her haughty way of speaking just made her seem less genuine. The author made her a ‘sexy independent black woman who did need a man’ but she was just as immature and fake-deep as Connor was. And everyone wanted her? From Connor to the client to Renea? Please. Okay that's not everyone, but still. Plus, she wasn't the most feminist of heroines.
But what this novel really suffered the most from was telling-not-showing storytelling. It would've been nice if the author spent more time in the present instead of fast forwarding to the future and telling past stories that truly needed to be in their own books. So many times I asked “why is this relevant? What does this have to do with the actual layover?” I would've loved to have seen Connor and Lynn together more on page fighting their attraction despite that he was married, more on page interactions between Lynn, Connor, and the twins. The things that were on page were just so irrelevant and I didn't care about them at all.
And the long ass paragraphs that were pages long? Girl, the enter-key is your friend and I'm a huge fan of using it liberally.
I know I have a lot to say for someone that couldn't finish this book, but there was so much I couldn't digest and let slide. I won't be reading the rest of the series, but I do wish L. Loren well in her writing career and hope to like her future works.
1 Star
This book was provided by the author in an exchange for an honest review.
Warning: Review may contain some spoilers
To say this book wasn’t for me, is an understatement. When I was relaying snippets of this book to my best friend, she articulated exactly what I was having trouble putting into words about what I didn’t like about this book:
The author, an obvious romance reader, put every possible romance novel trope in her book and all of them were executed terribly. Over the top extra for extra’s sake that did nothing for the overall plot and point of the story.
I had to stop reading after Renea confessed her feelings for Lynn to which Lynn threw a tantrum and destroyed her home for no real sensical reason. But I really should’ve stopped at the unnecessary rape story.
I showed my best friend screen grabs of the rape scene and she had the most apt and to-the-point reaction: yuck. Firstly, and admittedly biased, I HATE rape in romance books. I especially hate them when there’s no reason for them to be in the story. Lynn describing her rape to Connor in vivid, gory detail was tasteless and unnecessary. I mean, I can see in real life, telling a potential partner that you’ve been raped and gauging their reaction. And it can also be argued that Lynn telling Connor was testing their friendship, but again, it was extra for extra’s sake. Lynn’s “harrowing” tale was just too much and should have been/could be a novel on its own.
With regards to the main characters, I didn't really like Connor and Lynn, together or separately. Connor came off as a spineless fetishist. When the “hero” himself says in the beginning he only had sex with black women/women of color because he “preferred independent women with kind personalities and big asses. If that kind of woman came with smooth chocolate skin and a pretty smile, I was even more intrigued,” but never actually pursued a relationship with any of them, it sends so many red flags. As I read that little bit all I could think was “is she really going to end up with this guy?” He's spineless because he let himself get married to some white woman he didn't love and whose mother picked for him, and stayed with for years while lusting after another woman. I'm not even going to get into him getting a boner at Lynn’s dead sister’s funeral. Talk about slimeball. Connor's character hadn't really improved by the time I stopped reading. In between lusting for Lynn, Connor treated her like his therapist under the guise of a friend venting to another friend and I was constantly asking what Lynn saw in him.
Where do I start with Lynn? I guess my best way to describe her was bougie but not classy. Yes she was a successful business woman and I give her props. But her haughty way of speaking just made her seem less genuine. The author made her a ‘sexy independent black woman who did need a man’ but she was just as immature and fake-deep as Connor was. And everyone wanted her? From Connor to the client to Renea? Please. Okay that's not everyone, but still. Plus, she wasn't the most feminist of heroines.
But what this novel really suffered the most from was telling-not-showing storytelling. It would've been nice if the author spent more time in the present instead of fast forwarding to the future and telling past stories that truly needed to be in their own books. So many times I asked “why is this relevant? What does this have to do with the actual layover?” I would've loved to have seen Connor and Lynn together more on page fighting their attraction despite that he was married, more on page interactions between Lynn, Connor, and the twins. The things that were on page were just so irrelevant and I didn't care about them at all.
And the long ass paragraphs that were pages long? Girl, the enter-key is your friend and I'm a huge fan of using it liberally.
I know I have a lot to say for someone that couldn't finish this book, but there was so much I couldn't digest and let slide. I won't be reading the rest of the series, but I do wish L. Loren well in her writing career and hope to like her future works.
1 Star
This book was provided by the author in an exchange for an honest review.
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