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ryanpfw's review against another edition
2.0
2022 update:
I’ll discuss my re-read of the entire series after five years, and my thoughts on More Than Enough.
First of all, I truly thought for years I rated this book at 3 stars. I really struggled with it the first time. 4 stars? Wow.
I’m a fan of the fish-out-of-water, create-your-own-family process plotline of More Than This and that drew me in. I’m not exactly the target audience, and there are parts that always get on my nerves, but that’s the same with every book I read. (For the record, “I clean the guns when my sister’s boyfriend comes over, and even though my high school girlfriend lived with us and my friend lived in a cabin with his girlfriend in high school and all these girls belong to us, my sister’s not dating until she’s 30” toxic bullshit for starters.)
Still, I’m poised to read every book in this series, warts and all. There’s so much humor and so much family, and that’s what I come for. This one just had too many misses, and I set the bar low.
In my first pass of the series I liked everything well enough, loved Forever, and thought this was easily the weakest of the first batch. As Forever was my favorite, I jumped into the Preston series. I was cold on Lucas, warmer on Logan, and really liked Leo because his character calls the others out on their toxic bullshit and defends his family. I wish someone would have tried that here.
So here’s where things stand overall. My opinion of More Than This didn’t change much this time, and even though this is a series of extreme angst and I baked that in on arrival, His and Her drove me up the wall. The angst was off the charts as the characters made crazy life choices. Forever kept top marks, but even the angst there bled into my brain more than the first time.
And now Enough. I was afraid what I’d think. There’s insta-love, regretful characterization (here’s looking at you Holly) and Riley was the doormat to end all doormats. A lot of readers were hugely disappointed that Heidi was not the female lead. I couldn’t care less. There were narrative coincidences and inconsistencies that didn’t quite work, but didn’t tremendously bother me either if that was all we were talking about. Jake doesn’t recognize ‘Riley Hudson’ as the person who destroyed his dad’s office until he meets her face to face, given how much he later knows about Jeremy. I get Dylan was away serving while this all happened, but it was just odd that word didn’t spread (although it’s nothing compared to the secret kept in the second half of the book.) Dylan doesn’t remember Jeremy from school at all, until he suddenly remembers a deep heart-to-heart they had on his lawn. Everyone was totally fine with Amanda the student giving Dylan therapy. That sort of thing.
The unspeakable cruelty in the middle of the book was unnecessary. Dylan goes through so much pain and the worst happenstance to befall a character in a series that includes an entire family murdered in a home invasion, but there was absolutely no reason why it had to impact Riley in the way it did. Looking back at the entire series, Jake and Mikayla had obstacles, Logan and Amanda made terrible decisions driven by the plot to keep readers hooked, Cam was very, very stressed, and Dylan had an actual excuse for his behavior, but instead him saying “this awful thing happened and now I need to make crazy life choices to benefit the plot” he bottled up what happened and NO ONE LIVING IN HER HOUSE SAID ANYTHING to Riley until a literal memorial service. Dylan opted for “I will destroy her life so she’ll leave me on her own and I can stew alone.” The plot pivoted from cruel domestic abuse to “I’m abusive because I love her and I abuse her to drive her away.” I read that in 2022.
Here’s my bottom line. It’s a story about two people who watched someone they loved die in front of them and feel tremendous guilt. It’s not supposed to be an easy read. Riley and Dylan were barely functioning humans. Holly made life decisions for Riley like she was a preteen, Riley never once questioned her ability to do so, nor did any other character after the first 50 pages. While they were the right decisions, that’s not the point. I wanted Riley to make her own choices, not defer to her badly written mother. There were countless opportunities for her to pack up her house and leave, even if she used Jeremy as a crutch and said he would have wanted more for her. Anything.
Holly gave her alcoholic, underage daughter alcohol. Every day. While fearing she wouldn’t live through the day. She found her passed out in the bathtub, not realizing she almost drown earlier in the day, and she kept it up, and had the audacity to get on a soapbox in the back half of the book and lecture everyone about what she would allow and not allow her grown daughter to do. Dylan held Holly’s feet to the fire briefly until she said that she loved her daughter and wouldn’t let her be hurt, which was demonstrably not the case, and then Dylan was all “we shall never speak ill of you again.” Actions, not words, remember?! It was beyond insane and infuriated me. Spoilers for Logan, but there’s a character there who keeps a damaging secret and is cast out by the Prestons for her crime. Different people, different standards, but the narrative treatment of poor decision makers was night and day notable.
There was no growth from Riley once she pulled herself up by her bootstraps. She hung in there with Dylan when he literally terrorized her, wouldn’t back down until her mom made her, and when he finally got back to a good place and hopped back on the tracks in one chapter, it was business as usual for the rest of the book. Narratively, it didn’t work at all.
This wasn’t the messy story of characters who made bad life decisions but got to the right place in the end. This was the story of characters who made bad life decisions, got lucky in the end, and didn’t put in the effort to rebuilding. I’ll keep reading any Preston book that comes out, and will be there for the revival of More Than. I won’t do a full re-read again. I’ll be sticking with This and Forever, but likely won’t return to His/Her/Enough, but credit to Amanda’s character for acknowledging her self-worth.
Three star books are flawed. Two star books leave me angry. I’m far more on that side of the pond.
Original——————-
Coming off More Than Forever earlier this year, with my favorite characters of the series, I struggled with Enough.
I love the secondary characters of this series and it was great to return to the universe for a few days. Jay McLean always has to throw an angsty curveball at you, and I've found the understated ones (Forever) work for me far more than the over the top ones (This/Him/Her), but this was the first one that went for actual cruelty.
Dylan was put into an awful situation, but his response was horrific and what was less acceptable was how little Riley stuck up for herself. The whole "I belong to you...here's his address" characterization triggered more than one eye-roll, and I get what the author was going for in how she handled his behavior, but beyond the romanticized plot line of a novel the message there was "be a doormat and hope for the best." This carried over to her allowing her mother to drag her around like she's a teenager without rights without any discussion. Her character needed a bit more spine.
And while I'm getting things off my chest, Holly's behavior at the start of the novel was unjustifiable and it's difficult to reconcile her with the character we get later in the story, who I enjoyed very much.
The ending rebounded sharply, and I truly enjoyed the entire cast of characters in this sendoff. That second to last reading session was as rough as they came, and at one point this was easing towards a 2-star rating or lower. The counter-revelation, the cops, and the quacking helped mightily.
I’ll discuss my re-read of the entire series after five years, and my thoughts on More Than Enough.
First of all, I truly thought for years I rated this book at 3 stars. I really struggled with it the first time. 4 stars? Wow.
I’m a fan of the fish-out-of-water, create-your-own-family process plotline of More Than This and that drew me in. I’m not exactly the target audience, and there are parts that always get on my nerves, but that’s the same with every book I read. (For the record, “I clean the guns when my sister’s boyfriend comes over, and even though my high school girlfriend lived with us and my friend lived in a cabin with his girlfriend in high school and all these girls belong to us, my sister’s not dating until she’s 30” toxic bullshit for starters.)
Still, I’m poised to read every book in this series, warts and all. There’s so much humor and so much family, and that’s what I come for. This one just had too many misses, and I set the bar low.
In my first pass of the series I liked everything well enough, loved Forever, and thought this was easily the weakest of the first batch. As Forever was my favorite, I jumped into the Preston series. I was cold on Lucas, warmer on Logan, and really liked Leo because his character calls the others out on their toxic bullshit and defends his family. I wish someone would have tried that here.
So here’s where things stand overall. My opinion of More Than This didn’t change much this time, and even though this is a series of extreme angst and I baked that in on arrival, His and Her drove me up the wall. The angst was off the charts as the characters made crazy life choices. Forever kept top marks, but even the angst there bled into my brain more than the first time.
And now Enough. I was afraid what I’d think. There’s insta-love, regretful characterization (here’s looking at you Holly) and Riley was the doormat to end all doormats. A lot of readers were hugely disappointed that Heidi was not the female lead. I couldn’t care less. There were narrative coincidences and inconsistencies that didn’t quite work, but didn’t tremendously bother me either if that was all we were talking about. Jake doesn’t recognize ‘Riley Hudson’ as the person who destroyed his dad’s office until he meets her face to face, given how much he later knows about Jeremy. I get Dylan was away serving while this all happened, but it was just odd that word didn’t spread (although it’s nothing compared to the secret kept in the second half of the book.) Dylan doesn’t remember Jeremy from school at all, until he suddenly remembers a deep heart-to-heart they had on his lawn. Everyone was totally fine with Amanda the student giving Dylan therapy. That sort of thing.
The unspeakable cruelty in the middle of the book was unnecessary. Dylan goes through so much pain and the worst happenstance to befall a character in a series that includes an entire family murdered in a home invasion, but there was absolutely no reason why it had to impact Riley in the way it did. Looking back at the entire series, Jake and Mikayla had obstacles, Logan and Amanda made terrible decisions driven by the plot to keep readers hooked, Cam was very, very stressed, and Dylan had an actual excuse for his behavior, but instead him saying “this awful thing happened and now I need to make crazy life choices to benefit the plot” he bottled up what happened and NO ONE LIVING IN HER HOUSE SAID ANYTHING to Riley until a literal memorial service. Dylan opted for “I will destroy her life so she’ll leave me on her own and I can stew alone.” The plot pivoted from cruel domestic abuse to “I’m abusive because I love her and I abuse her to drive her away.” I read that in 2022.
Here’s my bottom line. It’s a story about two people who watched someone they loved die in front of them and feel tremendous guilt. It’s not supposed to be an easy read. Riley and Dylan were barely functioning humans. Holly made life decisions for Riley like she was a preteen, Riley never once questioned her ability to do so, nor did any other character after the first 50 pages. While they were the right decisions, that’s not the point. I wanted Riley to make her own choices, not defer to her badly written mother. There were countless opportunities for her to pack up her house and leave, even if she used Jeremy as a crutch and said he would have wanted more for her. Anything.
Holly gave her alcoholic, underage daughter alcohol. Every day. While fearing she wouldn’t live through the day. She found her passed out in the bathtub, not realizing she almost drown earlier in the day, and she kept it up, and had the audacity to get on a soapbox in the back half of the book and lecture everyone about what she would allow and not allow her grown daughter to do. Dylan held Holly’s feet to the fire briefly until she said that she loved her daughter and wouldn’t let her be hurt, which was demonstrably not the case, and then Dylan was all “we shall never speak ill of you again.” Actions, not words, remember?! It was beyond insane and infuriated me. Spoilers for Logan, but there’s a character there who keeps a damaging secret and is cast out by the Prestons for her crime. Different people, different standards, but the narrative treatment of poor decision makers was night and day notable.
There was no growth from Riley once she pulled herself up by her bootstraps. She hung in there with Dylan when he literally terrorized her, wouldn’t back down until her mom made her, and when he finally got back to a good place and hopped back on the tracks in one chapter, it was business as usual for the rest of the book. Narratively, it didn’t work at all.
This wasn’t the messy story of characters who made bad life decisions but got to the right place in the end. This was the story of characters who made bad life decisions, got lucky in the end, and didn’t put in the effort to rebuilding. I’ll keep reading any Preston book that comes out, and will be there for the revival of More Than. I won’t do a full re-read again. I’ll be sticking with This and Forever, but likely won’t return to His/Her/Enough, but credit to Amanda’s character for acknowledging her self-worth.
Three star books are flawed. Two star books leave me angry. I’m far more on that side of the pond.
Original——————-
Coming off More Than Forever earlier this year, with my favorite characters of the series, I struggled with Enough.
I love the secondary characters of this series and it was great to return to the universe for a few days. Jay McLean always has to throw an angsty curveball at you, and I've found the understated ones (Forever) work for me far more than the over the top ones (This/Him/Her), but this was the first one that went for actual cruelty.
Dylan was put into an awful situation, but his response was horrific and what was less acceptable was how little Riley stuck up for herself. The whole "I belong to you...here's his address" characterization triggered more than one eye-roll, and I get what the author was going for in how she handled his behavior, but beyond the romanticized plot line of a novel the message there was "be a doormat and hope for the best." This carried over to her allowing her mother to drag her around like she's a teenager without rights without any discussion. Her character needed a bit more spine.
And while I'm getting things off my chest, Holly's behavior at the start of the novel was unjustifiable and it's difficult to reconcile her with the character we get later in the story, who I enjoyed very much.
Spoiler
And was Dylan ever in court for his DUI?The ending rebounded sharply, and I truly enjoyed the entire cast of characters in this sendoff. That second to last reading session was as rough as they came, and at one point this was easing towards a 2-star rating or lower. The counter-revelation, the cops, and the quacking helped mightily.
charlottenw1's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this story. I already loved the characters from the previous books so I was 100% emotionally attached. The book had all the emotional ups and downs with the funny humour fitted in to make it light-hearted.
jen286's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland
Man, More Than Enough was a great read. I read the prior books in the series a while ago now and I don't know why I didn't read this one at the time. I think I didn't realize I hadn't until I was looking up books to get ready for Lucas' release. I looked at it and was just like wait...I didn't read Dylan's story yet?!? I need to get on that. This whole series just is wonderful, and even though Cameron is still my favorite, I loved Dylan as well. I wish I would have had a group of friends like this when I was in high school/college. They are all so great!
I remember Dylan and Heidi from the prior books, but not what happened with them. I don't think we found out, just that they weren't together anymore. They seemed to have had it all, to be for real, but it didn't work out. So I was really excited to see who would grab his attention next. Would it still be Heidi? Or do we get a new girl?
Dylan is in the military. He has just come back from fighting overseas and things are weird for him. His can't really sleep or anything, he can't get comfortable while his brothers are still over there fighting. While the images he has seen stay with him. I honestly can't imagine how these brave people come back and have a "normal" life after some of the things they have to go through. It is not for me, but man they have to be strong to do that. So Dylan is trying to figure things out. He is injured, but hopes to get back to 100% so he can go back. He has friends who are still fighting, people he trusts and wants to help. He was wonderful.
When the neighbor starts blaring music in the morning just when he is about to fall asleep he is not happy. Not happy at all, so he goes over to take care of it. Only he finds a girl who is so broken. Somehow when he is in her room things are a bit better. He can let his guard down and rest. Yes, she is broken. Yes, she is involved in some destructive behavior, but she is not handling things that happened in her past very well. I really enjoyed reading her story. She was such a unique character. Yes, I have read broken people stories before (and I love them), but the way she dealt with things? Amazing even though it was not so good at times. I loved all of her notes and stuff. How she was trying to manage wading through these new waters. Trying to figure out how to move on yet still hold onto the past as well. And Dylan was amazing through it all. He helped her so much and was never jealous of her past. He never made her choose between him and prior people she loved. Oh, I loved him.
Of course things get a bit tricky when some bad things happen. Stuff that messes up everything. Stuff that almost breaks them. Luckily Dylan's lady is strong enough for the two of them. Luckily she wants to try and save him just like he saved her. The two of them together? So wonderful to read.
Man, More Than Enough was a great read. I read the prior books in the series a while ago now and I don't know why I didn't read this one at the time. I think I didn't realize I hadn't until I was looking up books to get ready for Lucas' release. I looked at it and was just like wait...I didn't read Dylan's story yet?!? I need to get on that. This whole series just is wonderful, and even though Cameron is still my favorite, I loved Dylan as well. I wish I would have had a group of friends like this when I was in high school/college. They are all so great!
I remember Dylan and Heidi from the prior books, but not what happened with them. I don't think we found out, just that they weren't together anymore. They seemed to have had it all, to be for real, but it didn't work out. So I was really excited to see who would grab his attention next. Would it still be Heidi? Or do we get a new girl?
Dylan is in the military. He has just come back from fighting overseas and things are weird for him. His can't really sleep or anything, he can't get comfortable while his brothers are still over there fighting. While the images he has seen stay with him. I honestly can't imagine how these brave people come back and have a "normal" life after some of the things they have to go through. It is not for me, but man they have to be strong to do that. So Dylan is trying to figure things out. He is injured, but hopes to get back to 100% so he can go back. He has friends who are still fighting, people he trusts and wants to help. He was wonderful.
When the neighbor starts blaring music in the morning just when he is about to fall asleep he is not happy. Not happy at all, so he goes over to take care of it. Only he finds a girl who is so broken. Somehow when he is in her room things are a bit better. He can let his guard down and rest. Yes, she is broken. Yes, she is involved in some destructive behavior, but she is not handling things that happened in her past very well. I really enjoyed reading her story. She was such a unique character. Yes, I have read broken people stories before (and I love them), but the way she dealt with things? Amazing even though it was not so good at times. I loved all of her notes and stuff. How she was trying to manage wading through these new waters. Trying to figure out how to move on yet still hold onto the past as well. And Dylan was amazing through it all. He helped her so much and was never jealous of her past. He never made her choose between him and prior people she loved. Oh, I loved him.
Of course things get a bit tricky when some bad things happen. Stuff that messes up everything. Stuff that almost breaks them. Luckily Dylan's lady is strong enough for the two of them. Luckily she wants to try and save him just like he saved her. The two of them together? So wonderful to read.
roobie's review against another edition
3.0
⭐3.5 stars⭐
I mean, when you think about it, time is just that...time. It's what life is made of. So time stops when a life ends.
But that doesn't mean you don't fight to make time move again.
I mean, when you think about it, time is just that...time. It's what life is made of. So time stops when a life ends.
But that doesn't mean you don't fight to make time move again.
allibruns's review against another edition
3.0
I had been really looking forward to this as I loved Dylan, what can I say I love them big and brooding, but this left me feeling disappointed and it's not because Heidi isn't the girl in this story. I was one of the few who didn't want this to be about Heidi. I felt that we had already had the story of high school love and beyond with Cam and Lucy and honestly, it could never be as good as that. I liked that Dylan and Heidi were left unresolved because sometimes thats how it happens in life, you grow apart and never really get closure. All that being said I didn't care for the girl in the beginning. She's such a mess that's it's hard to feel sorry for her and I didn't completely connect with her in the beginning. I do think this is on purpose as she's drowning in grief and alcohol that even she doesn't know what's going on in her head. As she pulled herself together I really liked her and I did connect with her.
The first two thirds of this was a 5* read for me, it was the last third probably 2*. Dylan messed up so much and so big that I felt that he never really redeemed himself. Even at the end I wasn't sold on him. My other big problem was the epilouge, I've read all 5 books and I wanted some sort of goodbye to these characters and that epilouge just plain sucked.
The first two thirds of this was a 5* read for me, it was the last third probably 2*. Dylan messed up so much and so big that I felt that he never really redeemed himself. Even at the end I wasn't sold on him. My other big problem was the epilouge, I've read all 5 books and I wanted some sort of goodbye to these characters and that epilouge just plain sucked.
akristinab's review against another edition
3.0
I have so many mixed feelings on this book. I put off reading it because Dylan doesn't end up with the person I want. And I started off not really liking it. I couldn't stand the drinking. Then I couldn't stand the dependency that had on each other. Somewhere along the way that all stopped, or at least died down and I was able to enjoy the book. I saw how good they were for each other. Then BAM! All goes to crap. And I went back to not being able to stand the book. They rely on each other in such unhealthy ways. A recovering alcoholic shouldn't rely on someone to keep them sober, and that's pretty much exactly what happens. And someone with PTSD shouldn't be seeing a friend that is a therapist, they should be seeing someone who has an unbiased opinion and can give you real help. It's all types of screwed up. There were some good parts and they do ended up being good for each other (I guess) so there is that.
mrsjhelms9910reader's review against another edition
5.0
Dylan Banks. Marine. He has always been looking for his purpose in life. After leaving behind his friends and enlist with marines. He's come back on and meets Riley.
Riley Hudson. A girl dealing with grief. She is a recluse of sorts. After having loss someone very dear to her, Riley loses it. Drinking the days away. Writing notes to remember them. While dealing with her grief Dylan shows up.
Through their demons they make it through. Riley stops drinking with the help of Dylan and he's offer to take the pain away. Riley does the same just by being there for him. she shows interest in things that he notices his ex never did. Time goes by things happen and it has them fighting for their relationship and what they want. And in the end, everything turns out great. Dreams come true. they really do.
Gah. I loved this book along with every other book in this series. I'm sad to see this series end but happy to know we get more of Lucy's brothers. This book got me so good. Tears for fucking days. happy, sad, and angry tears. throwing my Kindle or jumping up and down with happiness or just laughing my ass off. oh and the mayhem!!!! I can't wait to see what's up next from jay!
Riley Hudson. A girl dealing with grief. She is a recluse of sorts. After having loss someone very dear to her, Riley loses it. Drinking the days away. Writing notes to remember them. While dealing with her grief Dylan shows up.
Through their demons they make it through. Riley stops drinking with the help of Dylan and he's offer to take the pain away. Riley does the same just by being there for him. she shows interest in things that he notices his ex never did. Time goes by things happen and it has them fighting for their relationship and what they want. And in the end, everything turns out great. Dreams come true. they really do.
Gah. I loved this book along with every other book in this series. I'm sad to see this series end but happy to know we get more of Lucy's brothers. This book got me so good. Tears for fucking days. happy, sad, and angry tears. throwing my Kindle or jumping up and down with happiness or just laughing my ass off. oh and the mayhem!!!! I can't wait to see what's up next from jay!