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amateur_bookworm's review
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-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
4.5
My summary: Rowan Kane is grieving his grandfather’s death. Shortly after the funeral, Rowan and his brothers receive letters that his grandfather had written before his accident that detail what each of them must do in order to receive their shares of their family’s Dreamland company. Rowan must tap into his buried childhood aspirations of creating and become the director of the Dreamland theme park and develop a renovation plan addressing the park’s shortcomings. This seems like an impossible task for Rowan; after losing his mom to cancer and surviving his childhood with an abusive and alcoholic father, Rowan’s dreams had died long before his grandfather did. Soon after Rowan arrives at Dreamland, Zahra stumbles right into Rowan’s lap. Just a lowly minimum wage Dreamland employee, the gorgeous and eccentric Zahra once worked on a project with Rowan’s grandfather and hoped to one day become a Dreamland Creator. After drunkenly submitting a critique of an expensive new ride being developed from which her cheating ex-boyfriend stole the idea from her, Zahra is expecting to be fired but instead receives a promotion. Zahra may be just what Rowan needs to nail his renovation plan, but she also may be just what he needs to heal his brokenness too.
My thoughts: I found this to be an unexpectedly sweet love story for a grumpy/sunshine trope that delved into some deeper issues throughout the plot. And who doesn’t love a billionaire romance set in Disne—er, Dreamland?!? Lauren Asher did a great job portraying Rowan’s brokenness at the hands of childhood grief and verbal abuse and how that manifested in adulthood. I enjoyed Zahra’s positive disposition and selfless interest in helping people. The juxtaposition of the natures of each of their characters made for a good romance read. This is a great light-hearted, opposites attract love story that has enough substance to it that makes the story feel fuller than I had expected. This first book of this trilogy did not disappoint and I’ll be moving straight into the next one.
Content Warnings
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
lighthearted
fast-paced
- 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
I really enjoyed the setting and characters in this book. Zahra is an employee (cast member) at Dreamland, a theme park in Orlando(WDW). Rowan's family owns the entire franchise, and he personally is responsible for some terrible working conditions the employees have. After his grandfather's death, the will reveals a stipulation. Each of the three brothers much complete a task before they will be able to inherit their portion of the company. Rowan must work as a director of Dreamland and come up with an improvement.
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
meadow_sunrayz's review
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
lynxalot26's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
zias's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The only thing I hate about this book is loving the billionaire. In real life? Eat the rich. In fiction? I love Rowan. I thought I had figured out the twists but I still was shocked by a few developments. I loved the characters and the representation of Zahra’s sister having Down syndrome, and how her sister had almost as much of an impact on Rowan as Zahra did. The banter was funny and witty and I loved the journey this book took me on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Medical content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Grief
sierrabowers's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really liked this book! It is about two people who work at Dreamland aka a knock off of Disney. There is a family secret involving billions of dollars at stake. I really enjoyed the fact that her sister had a disability. I think that people with disabilities aren’t mentioned enough in popular books so it came as a nice surprise, especially at the end when he proposed that Dreamlands character costumes include prosthetics, wheelchairs, and other types of disabilities.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, and Gaslighting
elliott_the_clementine's review
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Sexual content
Moderate: Mental illness and Child abuse
luna_lovelace's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
Tropes:Opposites Attract, Billionaire, Age Gap, Office Romance
There were so many funny interactions between the MCs. So many good one-liners, can't wait to read their other books!
I'm not a big fan when it comes to Disney World, but I didn't mind the plot being taken place in a similar place.
I love Zahras's character so much. She knows her worth and I loved how the author wrote about her journey overcoming depression.
There's a lot of spice with a good amount of plot, a well-rounded book!
There were so many funny interactions between the MCs. So many good one-liners, can't wait to read their other books!
I'm not a big fan when it comes to Disney World, but I didn't mind the plot being taken place in a similar place.
I love Zahras's character so much. She knows her worth and I loved how the author wrote about her journey overcoming depression.
There's a lot of spice with a good amount of plot, a well-rounded book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Sexual content, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Infidelity
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
karly_ackley's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism
eggfartz's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship