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katelynndzindzio's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Zahra, an average gal just trying to overcome the betrayal she faced with her ex.
"I gave up the person I was for a man who couldn't handle the woman I was meant to be." -Zahra
Sparks fly between Rowan and Zahra and neither of them can understand or explain why.
"He's the Devil, Zahra. Well, that explains why Eve fell for his tricks. If the devil looked half as good as Rowan, I'd eat the damn apple too. Screw the consequences." -Zahra
Rowan is determined to get his task done that his grandfather left him to do after passing. At what cost though? As it turns out being a billionaire isn't always as awesome as it sounds... Ridiculously Awesome that is.
"The list is endless with one universal lesson: Trust no one." -Rowan
Zahra however, is a breath of fresh air. A creative. A free spirit. She goes above and beyond. She will be the way Rowan accomplishes his goals. Hell, she was already working with his grandfather before he passed.
"I officially need to find out what kind of woodland fairies raised this woman because there's no way she's a product of the real world." -Rowan
Rowan realizes that he can't be himself with Zahra. Well, more like he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to be the same guy he was before they met.
"Because to love someone else means to trust them enough to not abuse the power they have over you." -Rowan
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Alcoholism
Minor: Pregnancy
michaelahoyman's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, and Pregnancy
siriuslyz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
This is your typical grumpy-sunshine, I-love-my-boss kind of book. It's nothing too exciting, but leaves you wanting for more.
The main characters are Rowan and Zahra. Rowan is your typical alluring, brooding, mysteriously silent boss, while Zahra is a ray of sunshine. Don't worry though, she has a backbone and knows her worth.
Zahra's personality is so inspiring, the way she knows her worth and when to put her foot down is admirable. She has a strong personality and is so selfless it hurts. Treating everyone with the utmost respect, she is the kind of female main character we've all needed.
I also loved Claire, Zahra's best friend, and Ani, Zahra's sister, and the support they have for Zahra and the amount of care for her wellbeing.
Rowan was alright, but I kind of think that his personality is too cliché. He makes mistakes, but he makes up for them and Zahra makes him grovel. A little. Because Rowan understands his actions and faults, he finds a way to make up for them in thoughtful ways.
All in all, I did like this book, but for me it was just lacking (if you know what I mean). I didn't get the excited tingles I feel when I really love a book, and it is kind of like all the other books that are currently trending. You don't need a Rowan, just go read the Twisted series and you'll have the same guy, the same outcome. This book wasn't anything special.
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, and Death of parent
bri__'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
neevabeeva510's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Alcohol, Cancer, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Mental illness and Pregnancy
albasapri's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
Firstly I must say I picked this book up without knowing much about it other than it concerning an inheritance and what these millionaires must do to secure it. Mistake, it's a romance.
(Now that I think about it there's another popular millionaire inheritance book thar is a thriller. So I might have mixed them up.)
I quickly readjusted my expectations and had several things I didn't personally enjoy but can understand are part of the genre. These features I know are loved by others, think "
Having said that, I struggled with some of the choices made.
The character archs didn't hit as hard as I would've liked them to.
Yes there was a clear arch for one of our main protagonists, but some of the growth didn't come from their own journey. Realising the flaws in their logic came only because it was what was necessary to achieve something character A wanted in the first place. It was necessary for them to fit in with what other characters wanted from them to achieve something they wanted in the first place. Very much like "oh I like that thing, I need to change my ways to get it? Okay then!"
When there's such a clear advantages to changing your ways, when there's a clear gain to it, in cheapens the characters journey.
It also felt like some of the characters wrong doings were swept under the rug for the sake of moving on with the plot without actually having them be as serious an issue as the characters were pointing out. I'll give a silly expample: "hey you ate the cake I spent 2 months preparing. Oh you're sorry? And you mean it?
All is forgiven and the character moves on forgetting that this has happened only for it to be brought up when convenient for the eventual misunderstanding before the end of the book. Why hasn't there been a struggle with the situation beforehand? Especially when the characters have stated how troubled they've been by it.
The most succinct way I can put it is I would've liked a bit more "show, don't tell".
Kind of ironic given some statements in the book, I know xd
All in all it was an entertaining read. Just didn't satisfy me as much as I would've liked. Plus I like books where smut feels more incorporated into the story and evenly distributed. Less of a "and now... they fuck" and more of "a and how couldn't they fuck? But wait! This happens... and then we're in bed again and what else has happened? How does that affect our characters and the bond they're creating?"
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Cancer
Minor: Fatphobia, Ableism, Medical content, and Pregnancy
edietz22's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Gaslighting, Addiction, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Vomit, Classism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
amateur_bookworm's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
tiffanne11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The pair meet at an employee meeting and are immediately at odds and also attracted to each other.
The first 70% or so of this book was a 4 or 5 star. The plot outside of the romance was intriguing and kept you interested. The spice was well written but not too vulgar.
However, there were two things that really pulled me out of the story.
First, Rowan is concerningly possessive of Zahra. He "jokes" that she doesn't have a choice when it comes to various things in their relationship. Ironically, her outspokenness is one of the things he initially liked about her. I think it was supposed to be steamy in a dominant kind of way, but it didn't work for me.
Second, there is a third act break up. I expect it, especially with a romance this long, but *damn*. He quite literally didn't learn from his mistake WITH HER in the early part of the book. I was hoping for a weird twist relating to the will but instead we got the bane of my romance existence.
Overall, I would likely still recommend this book, with the above warnings to potential readers.
Spice: 3/5 🌶️ - acts on page with detail
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
jelkebooks's review
- 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
3.0
Anyway, let's start with the positive. Dreamland is a very obvious Disney stand-in and the author makes no effort in hiding it, but honestly it's kind of fun. Especially because in this book we really focus on the theme park. I thought it was quite a fun workplace for these characters. It gave a reprieve from the typical, boring office job most billionaire romances are set around. I also quite liked Rowan. He definitely was a very typical character archetype for stories like this one, with a very predictable progression, but I do think it was very decently done. I really liked the depth given to the character, and I quite liked seeing him deal with the more difficult family dynamics he grew up in. He's also a likeable asshole. You know? I also quite liked the cast of side characters, and even though we got relatively little from Rowan's brothers I am really excited to read their romances.
My one big negative however is Zahra. Gods, I HATED her with such a burning passion. I just mainly thought she absolutely did not read like a real person. She was so quirky it hurt. She also didn't have a spine. The book portrays her as a badass who knows what she wants but she lets very small inconviences stand in the way of her dream life. It got so incredibly annoying to read. I also found that often her actions stood directely opposed to her inner monologue/motivations, which is just a sign of how incredibly badly written her character was as well. I also felt like she went through 0 developement throughout the novel, and had a bit of a hollier than thou attitude. I was a little annoyed by her at the start of the book, but by the end I hated her so incredibly much that it made my blood boil.
Therefore I also wasn't super invested in the romance. I do think it was decently enough developed, and there were some moments between them that I did quite liked. I don't hate their match completely. It's just that when you absolutely despise one character that makes up the relationship it's really hard too root for said relationship, especially as in the third act conflict I would argue that they both have equal fault, and yet only Rowan grovels and apologises. So yeah, this book wasn't necececarily my favourite, but considering there were enough elements in this that I really enjoyed and I've heard the books only get better, I'm quite excited to continue on with this series.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer and Alcoholism