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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Can't decide whether you should read this or not because of the mixed reviews?
It's basically reading a fairytale set in the modern world. Grumpy billionaire hero and Sunshine heroine. Office romance. Daddy issues. 7 year age gap. Dual POVs. Do you think you would like those? If your answer is no, then you should probably skip this one.
Short review: I love this book!
It just put me in a very good mood while reading it.
Absolutely love Rowan's presentation at the end and the realisations that he had. I love the supporting characters, especially the representation of people with down syndrome. I love Rowan and Ani's friendship, that was cute. I love how Claire was always there for Zahra. Declan was really annoying here but I would read the second book. I'm very excited about Cal's too. I have a feeling that he's gonna be my favorite among the three.
There were just some parts that I didn't particularly like because either it was too cheesy or just lame. Like what Rowan did to Lance, Zahra's ex, that was just petty. What Zahra said to Seth Kane was also lame, that was unnecessary. Wasn't a fan of the "instant lust" as well.
2.5 stars.
Zahra: *breathes*
Rowan:
I'll keep it simple. I didn't like the book.
While none of the characters are likable, Rowan, by far, is among the worst love interests I've had the displeasure of experiencing. Rather than write a coherent review, I've provided a comprehensive list of moments that elicited the following response:
Warning: There are many. And they're mostly from Rowan.
"All I care about is finding someone who's practical, fertile, and has a face considered proportionate enough to be deemed attractive." (okay, this one is from Rowan's brother, but it still doesn't bode well for the rest of the book...)
"I'll buy you pizza and a six-pack of your favorite beer if you help me. Please I'm BEGGING" (this is Zahra commissioning "Scott" for some artwork, and I found her constant bartering to get free art with ZERO credit to him more than a little annoying. Time is money, Zahra. So pay artists, or don't ask.)
"There's only one reason for the loss of control and Zahra's curved ass is to blame for all of it." (If you're dying to know what Rowan thinks about Zahra's ass, not to worry. He'll remind you every other chapter.)
"'Until further notice, employees will be expected to work twelve-hour days to increase productivity and creativity.'
'Will we receive a pay raise?' someone in the back [justifiably] pipes up.
Rowan's blanks stare sends a chill down my spine. 'Am I supposed to reward you all for being average? . . . Raises are earned, not given.'" (the way I would've gotten my ass up from that meeting and walked out on Rowan mid-sentence.)
"Jesus. Dial-up internet still exists? That's almost as sad as the beat-up sneakers she swaps with her work flats. I'm disgusted by her big toe peeking from the hole at the front of her tennis shoe." (Mind you, this internal monologue is in response to Rowan's assistant confronting him about the poor living wages he pays her. Yes. He's a fucking villain.)
"Hell, I should turn around and come back later when she isn't sprawled out on the floor, typing away on her laptop with her ass facing the ceiling like it needs to be blessed by God himself." (chile please. for all the talk about Zahra's ass talk, there's very little ass play involved in their vanilla frosting sexcapades.)
"Because I'm a bastard, I make sure my fingers skim her body" (Creepy, because moments prior, Rowan snatched a job application from Zahra's hands and ripped it up, declaring he won't allow her to apply elsewhere.)
"While I might have messed up, I'm done giving her time to think things over." (Hey, Rowan, fuck you.)
"No normal man would steal all the papers with my [phone] number unless he cared." (bitch what?)
"That's a woman's name."
"Your mom could have been progressive"
"My mother was many great things, but even she wasn't that progressive" (did we honestly expect the manly man who aggressively cuts his employees' insurance benefits to subvert the gender binary?)
"dating a billionaire has its perks. Perk One: Taking a random flight to New York City because he feels like it would be a good date spot" (egregious carbon footprint! yay!)
"What's it like to have more money than God?"
"Lonely."
"I'm tempted to wrap my arms around him to give him a big squeeze. I can't begin to imagine how isolating it is to be surrounded by so much wealth to the point that people stop treating him like a real person" (oh boo fucking hoo. Pay your goddamn employees, Rowan)
"I'm tempted to cry from how sweet that is. For months I thought he barely liked me, and here he was watching TV on my account to feel more connected." (again, bitch...what?)
"You're going to burn a hole through my clothes if you keep staring at me like that."
"Remove your clothes then. Problem solved." (stop.)
"I could never imagine someone like Zahra going to therapy. My father told me it was for weak people who were so pathetic, they needed someone else to solve their problems.
'Why would anyone who's happy go to therapy?'" (You know who could use some therapy? You, Rowan. You.)
"He fucks me like he hates me. Like I bring out all those feelings he can't stand." (I repeat: therapy)
"Don't people like to spend [New Year's] with their families?"
"Sure, if they're ninety and in a retirement home." (???????)
"Do I have a choice when it comes to you?"
"Sure. Tonight you can decide how you want to have sex first." (ew.)
"I want to own her smile just as much as I want to own every other part of her." (Do these quips sound like red flags? That's probably because they are. It only gets worse from here.)
"'Are you okay?'
'I will be.' He says the statement with such absolute resolve" (Context: Zahra has been hospitalized. HE should be asking if SHE'S okay.)
"I'm sorry you had to go through all this. I can't imagine how scary it was for you." (Why is SHE apologizing for being hospitalized??? Rowan, you selfish bitch, ihysm)
"Say you care. Say you want me anyway." (Imma need Zahra to stop being so needy for this Dollar General man).
"I step toward the podium, hoping to cage Zahra in." (Once again, Rowan's physically entrapping Zahra to prevent her from quitting. He. is. a. predator.)
"Zahra ignoring me is nothing but a challenge." (No. It means she doesn't want you, you fuck)
"I'm shocked Rowan took my last creation and applied it in his presentation. With so much on the line, it means the world to me that he is willing to risk his twenty-five billion dollars. If that's not him showing how he cares, I don't know what is." (Um. It's him stealing your idea and not giving you credit. Zahra's narration gaslights the readers into thinking Rowan isn't a piece of shit, but it won't work on me!!)
"You were right when you said you deserve better. You always have and you always will. But I refuse to let you go. I can't let you go. . ." (oh look, more red flags)
"Zahra's it for me. I know it with everything in me, and my intuition has never been wrong before." (Uh, this whole story is about you being wrong, tf)
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes. I do."
"Good. I don't want to use a condom with you." (I am on the goddamn floor- chiiilllleeee)
"My eyes become all misty. I shouldn't cry, but it's hard to avoid based on the swell of emotion in my chest. After being manipulated and abused by too many people, he is willing to give up this last bit of control he has over his life [by not wearing a condom] and trust me" (......wut)
"'Now, that I have you, I'll never let you go.' He pushes into me slowly.
I claw at the bed beneath me. 'I don't want you to.'
'It's cute that you think you have a choice'" (wtf is this)
"You're so damn special to me that I don't plan on letting anyone in your vicinity who isn't family or female"
The end. I hated it. Should've DNF'd it, but alas. There's no redeeming qualities to this novel. It's boring. The plot(s), contrived. Zahra is annoying. Everyone around her is one-note. And Rowan is...Rowan. With all the incessant cackling he does, there were only two moments I found remotely funny.
One while they're boinking in a car (my condolences to the driver):
"Our tongues collide, stroking, testing, pushing.
'This isn't safe,' he mumbles between kisses.
I grab his seat belt and buckle him in which earns me a laugh. 'There you go.'"
Like, okay, Zahra, your qUiRkY shenanigans squeezed a begrudged chuckle outta me there. And then this...
"I laugh as I smack his chest. 'Well, I might have told him to fuck off.'
Rowan explodes."
...and it's only because I imagined Rowan literally imploding into pieces right there in the middle of their love sheets. So that's that.
One star.
Lo recomiendo.
I especially liked that she didn’t have the characters just suddenly give into the relationship and completely change. However, there is a bit of the misunderstanding trope.
Overall, by the end of the book I felt it rounded out well and enjoyed the plot.
