Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy, Sierra Simone

23 reviews

agw622's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense 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

4.25

This is a cute read. I love how it does sprinkle in some social commentary, but of course the romance and charecter arcs are where it's at. 

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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challenging fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Read For:
šŸ˜¬ Insta Love
ā˜ƒļø Holiday Theme
šŸ«  Annoying Characters
šŸŽ„Christmas Movie Filming 
šŸ¤¢ Overuse of Holiday Lotion

I bought the book on accident (confusing it for a different book with a similar cover) I didnā€™t notice until I was home and live too far from the bookstore to return it.  So this was a spite read if Iā€™m being honestā€¦ and I hated this book.  Where was the ā€œMeet Cuteā€ in this book because donā€™t remember reading one?  It wasnā€™t even a Christmas book either it was like the whole title was a lie or joke or something.

Merry āŒ
Little (418 pages) āŒ
Meet Cute āŒ

It was so cheesy and the characters gave off that whiny YA kind of vibe even though it wasnā€™t a young adult book.  The first person point of view made it feel so one dimensional and flat.  It was really difficult to care about what happened.  I hated everyone the longer I read. 

I have never read good fat rep in a book so I didnā€™t think this would be the exception.  You want to normalize fat characters then please stop bringing up all the fat talk, mention it and move on.  You donā€™t need to bring it up all the time.  As a fat person itā€™s super annoying to read about it as if these characters arenā€™t just normal people at the end of the day.  Iā€™m here for the inclusion but my gosh you donā€™t have to make it their only personality point.

I have no idea how this was 418 pages because it takes half the book for anything slightly interesting to happen, and even then itā€™s pretty boring.  It dragged out for no reason, but Iā€™m so happy to note all the times the one character jerked off with gingerbread lotion so thanks for ruining that holiday scent for me.  And donā€™t get me started on who uses lotion in the damn shower?!  That should be a crime.

On that note it was super weird that Bee was way too over sexualized to the point Nolan kept using her porn name in his head all day the time.  It like she was just an object the entire time.

ā€œYou can take the girl out of the sex work, but you canā€™t take the sex work out of the girl.ā€  - (Chapter 18, Page 249) 

Like what did I just read?  

Nolan was so damn annoying and there was more chemistry between Bee and a random stripper than him if Iā€™m being honest.  They were just horny.  There was zero romance and Iā€™m not sure how the authors thought romance and sex are that same thing but here we are.

Sure there were things like mental health rep, LGBTQIA+ rep, body and sex positivity, sex work and each of these were written so poorly.  For example when Bee was bisexual and in the porn business.  News flash most people in porn are bi (or gay for pay), why is this so shocking??  Girl on girl is literally fetishized all the time and itā€™s treated like Bee is the only bisexual porn star.

How was the done so badly?!  I knew I wouldnā€™t like it because it seems very heterosexual (even with bi characters) but my gods, this was so much worse.

So in conclusion this book was awful and felt like banging my head against a concrete wall.

Release Date: 20, September 2022
POV: Dual, First Person
Spice: šŸŒ¶ļøšŸŒ¶ļøšŸŒ¶ļøšŸŒ¶ļø (mentioned nearly every page)
Rep:  Bi (MCs), Trans (SC), Bipolar (SC)

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kleinekita's review

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funny lighthearted

4.0

Cute and funny yet 100% R rated.

I love bi4bi couples!

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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

4.0

This was a spicy holiday book about a plus sized porn star and an ex boy band member. Really, thereā€™s not more to say about it! It was funny, it was sexy, it was predictable, it was a perfect book for December. Bi positive MCā€™s with other LGBTQIA+ characters in the mix. 

I really didnā€™t like the epilogue and I donā€™t know why the authors through it was necessary to add it? Really did nothing for the book or me. But a solid 4 star read. 

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kloughlin's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

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4.75

 12/16/2023
I adore Bee and Nolan so much šŸ„° a biconic couple šŸ’œ

4/22/2022
***I received an ARC of this book from Avon, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.***

Content Warnings: Parent with bipolar disorder, loss of a parent, fatphobia, explicit sexual scenes, and discrimination/harassment/hate towards sex workers [not by the authors or main characters its discrimination the characters face by the media/strangers within the book].

When I first heard about this book, about a month ago, I knew that I needed to get my hands on it. I sped on over to Netgalley and hit request so fast, so when I logged on to my PC yesterday and it said Iā€™d been approved for the ARC I was ECSTATIC! So judge all you want but I DEVOURED this Christmas book in Aprilā€¦and I feel no shame!

From the very start of this book, I was laughing out loud, giggling, and firmly invested. A huge fan of dual narrative I adored going back and forth between Bee and Nolanā€™s perspectives! I also love how the prologue perfectly set up the story but came from a 3rd narrative/perspective that was hilarious!

Bee has always loved performing, even though sheā€™s faced a lot of discrimination, and disrespect, due to her being plus-sized. Having found confidence, community, and family while creating adult content online, Bee is enjoying life but always contemplates her childhood dream of taking on more mainstream roles. So when Beeā€™s producer calls and tells her he needs her to star in a Hope Channel production, with a list of rules to prevent anyone from connecting her to her online persona, though extremely nervous she decides to give it a shot.

Having grown up in the limelight Nolan knows what it feels like to live under a microscope. Being part of this Hope Channel movie could open doors, and opportunities that could ensure he has a steady income to support his family, and finally shed the bad boy image thatā€™s always followed him. After his father passed Nolan felt the need to take care of his younger sister and mom. Being employed means having the medical insurance and money his family needs to ensure his sister finishes school, and his mother is able to get the doctorā€™s appointments and medication she needs for her bipolar disorder.

I loved that Bee has been a fan of Nolanā€™s since his boy band days and Nolan has been a fan of Bee since he first saw her profile on ClosedDoors, a few years ago, and is a top-tier member/supporter of hers. The fact that they both are fans, and longtime supporters, of each other without knowing is so cute!

It may be April but I devoured this Christmas book in less than 24 hours and now Iā€™m just sad that Iā€™ll have to wait, hopefully not super long, to jump into more books in this series. Iā€™m excited to see what other love stories come out of this series, there are quite a few potentials, just based on all the different characters we meet in this book.

If youā€™re looking for a fun holiday romance between a hot/fat,/bisexual/sex worker and a reformed/sexy/bisexual/boy band man that also has great representation youā€™re going to want to pre-order this book right away! 

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littleflowerfairy's review

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funny 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? Yes

4.75


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wilybooklover's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

This was cute, but it was waaay too long and felt a bit lacking in emotional connection for me. It was hard for me to suspend disbelief that anyone in this book actually thought the lead actress and producer being in the porn business would never get out. It also wasnā€™t as hot as I expected it to be given the premise. So many references to kinks and toys and lube but barely any of it used on page! 

It was quite enjoyable though and I did love the sex (and sex work) positivity, body positivity, and how virtually everyone was queer, including the two leads. 


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jackiepreston's review

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I liked both Nolan and Bee individually, but I never really bought them as a couple. It never felt like their relationship went beyond wish fulfillment for either one of them. Bee was obsessed with Nolan because he was her teen crush and Nolan was obsessed with Bee because she was his favorite porn star. I never felt like they cared about each other outside of that. 

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stephaniezd's review

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

4.0

Very cute story, easy read. Well written. Reached outside the normal tropes. 

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