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saara_ilona_muu's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This could have been a cute story, and in a lot of ways, it was. However, Drew (lead male) was a pediatrician and broke confidentiality in a HUGE way. His 4 year old patient's conversation skills left me wondering if the author had ever even spent time with a child, let alone a sick one? And finally, the mother of the sick child actually said, "PLAYING THE CANCER CARD," which?????? I have an incredibly hard time believing that anyone with a newly diagnosed kid would say that!
Then there was Alexa's (lead female) neurotic relationship/ breakup talk, the self-hating talk about every starchy thing consumed, the general jealous not-good-enough self-talk. My goodness! For a black woman in her 30s with a successful career and friends galore... she needed a therapist more than a love interest. It just wasn't believable.
And the simpering and the crying and oh my goodness, the amount of alcohol consumed. Yeah. Therapists all around, or that relationship was certainly heading for a crash and burn.
So, points for a diverse cast of characters and interesting scenery. Fun dialogue, good message about troubled teens. But points taken away for all of the other stuff. Mostly, that last conversation with the patient's mom and the doctor. Sooooooo cringe.
Then there was Alexa's (lead female) neurotic relationship/ breakup talk, the self-hating talk about every starchy thing consumed, the general jealous not-good-enough self-talk. My goodness! For a black woman in her 30s with a successful career and friends galore... she needed a therapist more than a love interest. It just wasn't believable.
And the simpering and the crying and oh my goodness, the amount of alcohol consumed. Yeah. Therapists all around, or that relationship was certainly heading for a crash and burn.
So, points for a diverse cast of characters and interesting scenery. Fun dialogue, good message about troubled teens. But points taken away for all of the other stuff. Mostly, that last conversation with the patient's mom and the doctor. Sooooooo cringe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Medical content, and Alcohol
itsmeyseniab's review
lighthearted
3.0
I picked this one up to kickstart my content for 2023 as well as my new series "Redux Review" (you can find the video here).
I originally gave it 5 stars back in 2018, but sadly this rating did not hold up for me. Some of the aspects that I really enjoyed were that we got dual POV (which is something that I actually prefer in my romances), and that we got a switch in perspective during the same event that was occurring within the story (ie. we would jump from Alexa's perspective to Drew's mid conversation). I felt as though this added more depth to the story and it was interesting to see how both characters were feeling in real time via their internal dialogue. I also loved the representation, the meet-cute itself was adorable (and leaves me wondering why I never got stuck in an elevator with a cute doctor LOL), and I LOVED how career driven our main character Alexa was.
Where the novel lost me was the fact that I didn't feel ANY chemistry between Alexa and Drew beyond the physical. It felt as though this novel was a series of long distance booty calls disguised (and marketed) as a cutesy romance/love at first sight story. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for sex-positivity and loved how open they were about their physical attraction to one another, but Guillory's characterization of Drew specifically lacked nuance in my eyes (it was almost as if she takes the BS "fact" of 'the average man thinks about sex every 7 seconds' literally. It felt like he became a caricature and not the heartthrob as she intended. I also wish thatthey didn't get engaged at the end - it ultimately felt rushed, much like their romance as a whole. Also, if you aren't a fan of the miscommunication (or lack thereof) trope, I would not pick this up. The spicy scenes were there, but they were mostly "fade to black" so I do think that this is a great introduction to the adult romance genre as a whole, just wasn't my favorite couple or story in general.
October 2018: 5 stars
I originally gave it 5 stars back in 2018, but sadly this rating did not hold up for me. Some of the aspects that I really enjoyed were that we got dual POV (which is something that I actually prefer in my romances), and that we got a switch in perspective during the same event that was occurring within the story (ie. we would jump from Alexa's perspective to Drew's mid conversation). I felt as though this added more depth to the story and it was interesting to see how both characters were feeling in real time via their internal dialogue. I also loved the representation, the meet-cute itself was adorable (and leaves me wondering why I never got stuck in an elevator with a cute doctor LOL), and I LOVED how career driven our main character Alexa was.
Where the novel lost me was the fact that I didn't feel ANY chemistry between Alexa and Drew beyond the physical. It felt as though this novel was a series of long distance booty calls disguised (and marketed) as a cutesy romance/love at first sight story. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for sex-positivity and loved how open they were about their physical attraction to one another, but Guillory's characterization of Drew specifically lacked nuance in my eyes (it was almost as if she takes the BS "fact" of 'the average man thinks about sex every 7 seconds' literally. It felt like he became a caricature and not the heartthrob as she intended. I also wish that
October 2018: 5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Racism, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I was really excited for my first Jasmine Guillory read. Unfortunately, I felt this one was underwhelming. I didn't feel any connection or engagement with the characters or stories. They felt one-dimensional and flat. However, I am still keen to read more from Guillory.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Minor: Classism
iamsammie27's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcohol
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