Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Right Move

This book went viral all over the place and all I kept hearing about was the infamous Ryan Shay so I finally had to check him out for myself. Now, for me, I first 60% or so were a drag for me to read that I even considered dnfing it at one point. (i'd like to note, that I didn't read the first book)

My thoughts on the first 60%:

I understand why people are obsessed with Ryan he's really thoughtful and really adheres to my love language of "listening"/act of service. One of the things I admire is when people pay attention to the little things about you and then act on them. He's so considerate too.
Getting her vegetarian meals. Buying her her own bed. Letting her use his card for new dresses and shoes. Wanting to learn sign language just to communicate with her dad. Etc.
My only qualm is that I'm not really into his jealousy and subtle possessiveness.
Like she couldn't even dance with Rio, her friend, without him being so threatening and I didn't like that, especially considering they weren't even together at that point. I just find that behavior unsettling. Like relax bro, she's not even your girlfriend?!
It's not anything too crazy. I've read worse, but it's still not my thing. Also, he's pretty mean to her at the start of the book so I found it even harder to be convinced that he liked her.
As I was getting halfway through, I liked how attentive Ryan can be, however, I still wasn't really feeling connected to this book. Everything felt so surface level and this book feels EXTREMELY tropey. Don't get me wrong the characters have chemistry, but in my opinion, this book lacks a lot of emotional depth in the first half. I felt like Indy and Ryan lacked a lot of emotional intimacy. Anytime when they're close to reaching it, things become overtly sexual between them. This is just personal preference but I prefer when the characters have more emotional moments before they start with the whole sexual talk. It was obvious they cared for one another, but it felt more lusty. I wasn't convinced why they liked each other beyond physical attraction so it rendered a lot of the nice things that Ryan did for her mute for me because I felt like there wasn't much warranting it aside from him being nice.
And honestly, everything about this book feels surface-level. We're told that Ryan loves his sister and has this crazy connection towards her and she's the only one he trusts but we don't really get any intimate moments between them to convey WHY they're as close as they are (aside from them being twins). We're just told. With Indy, we know she deals with infertility and is traumatized by her ex, but that's it. The only part of her trauma that we're shown is that she can't sleep alone and that she hasn't orgasmed in eight months. Like girl, what?! And the whole thing with why Ryan is so closed off and celibate feels so underdeveloped to me.
Like we're just told about his college ex and how she wanted to get a baby out of him so she could get 18 years' worth of child support out of him. And that's just supposed to be it. We're told this through like a page and that's IT! Again, the lack of emotional depth is what I was talking about earlier.
Just a lot of telling and not showing in this book.
I usually tend to "go with the flow" when I read romances, but this book was soooooo tropey that I just couldn't suspend my disbelief. Like you're telling me that she's made it overtly known that she's attractive to him, they flirt ALL THE TIME, and he even made her come just by using his leg (i'm sorry but that scene was so weird i had to look away🤣), and he showers her with all this thought and consideration and jealousy. And you expect me to believe neither one of them is aware that they like each other. Like, be so for real!😭 And don't get me started on how Ryan is always described as ungodly gorgeous with a giant package and Indy as a showstopper that has every guy's head turning. Aside from their traumas, they have no flaws.
And it was because of all the issues I listed previously that I just wasn't feeling this book. I just felt so disconnected from it. And because I wasn't feeling the book I found the couple mid so the tropey stuff just didn't have its desired effect. At that point, I was feeling a 3.5/5. Lowkey wanted to dnf.
I loved Rio though in this book! He was the saving grace, but I wasn't going to dnf I was determined! And surprisingly I'm glad I didn't because the last 40% MADE THIS BOOK!

My thoughts on the last 40%:

Shockingly enough after their first "intimate" scene the book just went uphill for me. It was actually pretty endearing how encouraging he was and how he just let her be and let her take charge in her own way by letting her take the agency to be taken care of. He REALLY put her first and that's something I rarely see in books. I feel like at that point their relationship was finally established and they finally expressed their feelings for each other and that's when all the tropey stuff started to HIT! Ryan was PHENOMENAL! I finally understood the Ryan Shay hype and it was everything! He was literally the ideal boyfriend. Even his possessive caveman moments hit.😅 And I also started feeling for Indy too! I didn't really care much for her character up till this point. I think around this mark is where we got to see a lot more emotional depth and a bit more complexity from the characters and just how much their traumas hurt them really serves to benefit the story in my opinion. I also like how Indy cared for Ryan too! Too often in romance books we just see the girl being pampered, but it was to see her being considerate of him too (maybe not to the same extent that he did, but it's something)! Everything just went uphill from there and it was just sooooo good! I even teared up during some moments in this book because I can totally relate to how untrusting one becomes when they've been hurt by someone that they once loved. It makes you not trust your own judgment and in turn, your own heart.

The little "conflict" they had I felt was pretty reasonable and I feel like it was handled well by the characters.
Although I know it's just a book and I feel like it fits the characters' story and situation, however, if my partner bought us a whole house without me consoling me first I wouldn't like it. But in context to the book, it was a very sweet gesture from Ryan.
Again, Rio is just A1! The way he helped Indy!🥰I hope he gets his own book! I loved him! His friendship with Indy was top-tier. Also, by this point, I really enjoyed the found family aspect of this book. Again, I don't know what magic sprouted after the 60% mark but I started to really enjoy this book and finally understood why it was so hyped and why people love it so much! (wasn't a big fan of the epilogue;
I just don't care for kids in romance books. Again, this book is very tropey.
)

The first 60% of the book was a 3.5/5 for me, but the last 40% was a 4.25/5 so I met in the middle and gave this book a 3.75/5. If the whole book was done like the second half I felt like I would've rated this book much higher. (I don't know if i'll continue the series, we'll see, but I'll most definitely be patiently waiting for Rio's book; also loved that Indy was a romance book girly😂)

Spice Rating:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Content Warnings

frantically's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.0

This was fun! I was a bit hesitant on Ryan at first but he really grew on me <3 Ryan and Indy's relationship is SO tender and really just quiet love and reading about them was so sweet. I think at times the book was too long-winded and couldn't keep my attention as long as the previous one did, which is why it isn't 5 stars but it was always fun when I picked it up again!

rio book when

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ga_bby4's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful relaxing 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

ambercunningham's review

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emotional lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

kirareadssometimes's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

There has never been a more perfect man than Ryan Shay. The DEFINITION of written by a woman. Indy was so sweet and fun. Their relationship felt so organic and genuine, you really couldn’t help but root for them. Their respective struggles were very real and I loved the way they were able to open up to each other and work to help the other make forward progress. This book is more than just soft and sweet but that is the feeling I have at the end of the book. Pure happiness for them! 🥰

Content Warnings

wts_tiffany's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Content Warnings

rd77's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

I’m a bit conflicted with this one- the best way to put it is that when it was good, it was really good, and when it was bad, it was pretty bad.

All in all, it was a pretty standard romance, predictable but not in a bad way. There were some really cute moments and I liked how it didn’t take 500 pages for them to realize their feelings (aka not too much of a slow burn).

The main issue was the writing felt juvenile and simplistic, especially in the beginning. The author also tried to make the characters multidimensional but it felt more like an afterthought that was stated rather than shown. There was also this weird thing where all of the « conflicts » were pretty much just the characters refusing to speak to each other. They weren’t ever really mad, just wouldn’t communicate to the other person because they wanted to wait? Several days? And not explain that they wanted to do that? It just seemed like trying to find conflict where there wasn’t anything.

I hadn’t read the first book in the series, and I don’t think it’s necessary to.

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