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kimberleyh's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
shrenik_g's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.25
Too many characters introduced from the get go, couldn't relate whatsoever to the main characters and didn't bother reading past pg 94
gdigiacomo's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
bluesbooksnbobbins's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility
hannahkitto's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-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
caseymac's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I really like Beth Moran’s characters, and the cast of people here is no different…but the story is rubbish. The writing is lighthearted, but the story is sad and messy. This is definitely not a romcom though the writing and dialogue and cover make it seem that way. Tbh it’s not even like a bad story, it’s just not… what it’s supposed to be if that makes sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility
cinnamon_and_rye's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Preface: Listened to asIAudiobook.
I have never disliked a book like this one. It is a poorly written and often cringey story that gives me such an ick. It's not even uncomfortable the way some darker themed books tend to be. It's just extremely cringey. The plot is so convoluted almost as if the author tried to ensure it wasn't an expected ending. Nothing like the blurb, this is not a rom com but a pityful attempt at a soap opera. I can see the characters being likeable but they had so many conflicted traits that you couldn't not hate them.
Even if you decide to read this book: Steer clear of the audiobook. The performance is very poor and shallow and some of the voices verge on outright offensive, especially the Italian mother.
Too many characters, though personally not hard to keep track of, meant that the book was tripping over it's own feet many times.
Finished only as it was one of my Audible titles.
I have never disliked a book like this one. It is a poorly written and often cringey story that gives me such an ick. It's not even uncomfortable the way some darker themed books tend to be. It's just extremely cringey. The plot is so convoluted almost as if the author tried to ensure it wasn't an expected ending. Nothing like the blurb, this is not a rom com but a pityful attempt at a soap opera. I can see the characters being likeable but they had so many conflicted traits that you couldn't not hate them.
Even if you decide to read this book: Steer clear of the audiobook. The performance is very poor and shallow and some of the voices verge on outright offensive, especially the Italian mother.
Too many characters, though personally not hard to keep track of, meant that the book was tripping over it's own feet many times.
Finished only as it was one of my Audible titles.
creativelifeofliz's review against another edition
3.0
I struggle quite a bit with how to rate this book.
Emma is a baker and has been single for a long time after having her childhood love get caught making out with her enemy 2 weeks before their planned nuptials. She also has 4 younger sisters that she is extremely close to.
Cooper has been in love with Emma's youngest sister, Bridget, since their university days. The problem is that she is now engaged to her childhood love.
Cooper and Bridget's boss, a professor of neuroscience, makes an extremely terrible bet with a psychology professor at a banquet, saying that he can manage to find 2 people to get married and fall in love so easily, just like the psychology professor does on her famous TV show, demonstrating the lack of rigor in psychology as a science. This, of course, becomes a problem for Cooper and Bridget to actually figure out. After getting tons of terrible applicants, they're very stressed. Because Emma has had many terrible dates, she decides to sign up for the matchmaking program. Cooper wants to get over Bridget, so he signs up too, making his answers align with Emma's so they get matched.
So they get married, which is, of course, a terrible idea. Emma tries really hard to fall in love with Cooper while dealing with a ton of family drama and Cooper tries to fall in love with Emma while forgetting about Bridget. Throughout this all, Emma's sisters are all dealing with their own drama and we see the struggles they're going through and how they try to support one another and figure things out.
All in all, this book isn't really a romance, despite how it's marketed. It's really a women's fiction novel, with the focus of the book being on Emma and her sisters figuring out their lives. I think I could have enjoyed it more if I went into the story expecting it to be about the Donovan sisters, not about Emma and Cooper falling in love (spoiler alert: they don't). The marketing just really through off how I thought this story was going to go and made me question a lot of the choices being made throughout.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Emma is a baker and has been single for a long time after having her childhood love get caught making out with her enemy 2 weeks before their planned nuptials. She also has 4 younger sisters that she is extremely close to.
Cooper has been in love with Emma's youngest sister, Bridget, since their university days. The problem is that she is now engaged to her childhood love.
Cooper and Bridget's boss, a professor of neuroscience, makes an extremely terrible bet with a psychology professor at a banquet, saying that he can manage to find 2 people to get married and fall in love so easily, just like the psychology professor does on her famous TV show, demonstrating the lack of rigor in psychology as a science. This, of course, becomes a problem for Cooper and Bridget to actually figure out. After getting tons of terrible applicants, they're very stressed. Because Emma has had many terrible dates, she decides to sign up for the matchmaking program. Cooper wants to get over Bridget, so he signs up too, making his answers align with Emma's so they get matched.
So they get married, which is, of course, a terrible idea. Emma tries really hard to fall in love with Cooper while dealing with a ton of family drama and Cooper tries to fall in love with Emma while forgetting about Bridget. Throughout this all, Emma's sisters are all dealing with their own drama and we see the struggles they're going through and how they try to support one another and figure things out.
All in all, this book isn't really a romance, despite how it's marketed. It's really a women's fiction novel, with the focus of the book being on Emma and her sisters figuring out their lives. I think I could have enjoyed it more if I went into the story expecting it to be about the Donovan sisters, not about Emma and Cooper falling in love (spoiler alert: they don't). The marketing just really through off how I thought this story was going to go and made me question a lot of the choices being made throughout.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.