Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Once Ghosted, Twice Shy

Fab and Likotski are cute characters, but the plot was very slow and it was hard to motivate myself to finish the story, despite its short length. The stakes felt very low and I wasn't especially curious to see what would happen next.

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jade4913's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book. I haven’t read the other books in this series, but you don’t need to in order to understand this one. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is because I don’t like sex scenes. But it’s only really explicit in the last chapter of the book before the epilogue.

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kirani's review

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hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This was cute and you should read if you’re looking for a cute sapphic romance but also I didn’t really love the resolution.

I found it kind of odd that the whole premise was around one of them ghosting the other (when she didn’t ghost, she just called it off without explanation) and then her trying to get an explanation and not accepting that it was over because she was leaving the country? Which was established on the first date??? She was right, there was more, but I didn’t love that she felt she deserved some additional explanation when they were very upfront about it being short lived and she wasn’t owed anything even if feelings had developed. Idk that just bugged me. Maybe I’m missing something because I read them out of order.

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toffishay's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

A fun, quick read. I was hoping for a little more spice, but I liked the formatting of where their relationship was now and flashbacks to the past.

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marareading's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.75

I normally don't read novellas, but I had to with this! In the first book of the reluctant royals series we meet the assistant to the prince, Likotsi. When in New York she has a weekend "fling" and refuses to talk about it. When I found out this novella was about that weekend, I felt like a gossipy b**** leaning in to finally get the details of the obe that got away.

Likotsi had an amazing weekend with an amazing woman, Fabiola. She was sure there was something there, something big. She thought it was for Fab too. But Fav cut it off abruptly with no explanation. Now she is back in New York, and has plans to just try to move on. Then Fab suddenly shows up and they are facing the truth, that there WAS something there!

Honestly, finding out what happened with Likotsi's weekend in New York from book one was enough for me, but also finding out how this unfolds for her and Fab is EVEN BETTER! This was short, and wonderful. A great weekend read. I don't normally read novellas, but I make all the exceptions for Alyssa Cole. I adore her books!

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sapphic_in_the_stacks's review

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

Likotsi, advisor to the prince, is back in New York City trying to forget the woman who made her fall a little bit in love after the first date. Fabiola and Likotsi had a whirlwind romance the last time Likotsi was in NYC, which ended with Fab breaking things off suddenly and ghosting her. Now, on her first day off in months, Likotsi is looking to forget Fab and explore NYC, when she runs into Fab unexpectedly on the train.

For a short romance novella, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. There were some moments where the phrasing was distractingly redundant such as "the carved wooden coffee table of wood", which brought me out of the flow of the story. Other than some of the phrasing, I found the novella easy to read and generally fun. The characters were interesting and the plot was fairly simple, while still being engaging and entertaining.

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memoriast's review

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hopeful reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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