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becky_anne7's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Infidelity
stewartj0421's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-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? Yes
4.0
Despite the copious amount of grammatical errors in this book, I completely fell in love with Carter and Olivia. This was a great palate cleanser for me, while still having the right amount of emotional depth and complexity that makes it more than just a fluff read. I wasn’t a huge fan of the miscommunication trope that happens later on in the book, but thankfully that was pretty short-lived.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Car accident, Sexual harassment, and Blood
tamsterdam_reads's review
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Panic attacks/disorders
taylorjade's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, and Pregnancy
britbrit29's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
kirareadssometimes's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy
anouverlinden_'s review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
The best thing about this was, honestly, the synopsis.
I read the synopsis and thougth, you know what this actually sounds interesting and I was actually looking forward to reading this. Sad to say, but my excitement quickly died and was never found again. At 10% in I was ready to dnf this book and never think about it again but i thought, naively, I won't give up because who knows maybe it will get better and than I didn't give it a fair chance. I regret that decission to this moment. I blame it on my fear of missing out and incapability to dnf a book that I had to sit through (idk) 500+ pages of absolute horrible romance (which I would argue isn't really romance but I will come to that. So yeah, yet again fooled by a good written synopsis and as a result lost, yet again, many braincells.
possible spoilers!
The thing is the synopsis made it sound as if this was going to be a slowburn/ angsty romance between a 'normal' girl and the hockey star of Canada, play boy, ... you get it. I'm not saying I expected quality or the best written romance ever because, I mean, I never expect that from these kind of romances but this book was even worse than that.
Carter, THE hockey playboy of Canada/ the sexiest man alive (apparently), sees Olivia (a super tiny woman who is the best friend of the girlfriend of his best friend, and who is just a normal girl because they always are) and immediately thinks 'this is THE WOMAN for me, I have to get her'. To clarify, Carter is introduced to us, the reader, as a typical playboy (every night with another woman he never knows the name of because he sleeps with so many, and doesn't want to commit to a relationship because he doesn't have time for it) and the moment he sees Olivia, from across the room, he is ready to throw his lifestyle out of the way to commit to her because *he knows her so well and is so in love with her he can't do anything but be with her*. I think this is the fastest insta-love I have ever read (it took him one glance of her ass and he was swooned) and I hate that trope, with a burning passion. Had I known the romance would be based on insta-love I would have never ever picked up this book, ever. I wanted angst and slow burn, them yearning for each other when they aren't even in relationship terms... it could have been so good.
So the romance was a big flop but so were the characters. You know I think Olivia is tiny? But i cannot sya for sure because it wasn't repeated enough in the book. *eye-roll* I almost want to bet on how much they continued to say how small she is and I think it was atleast every five pages someone said something about it. It was exhausting. I started to count because I thought it would be cool to show how much with an actual number but I lost track. If it wasn't by other characters, it was Olivia whining about her height and I get it must be a hard life living as a tiny person but in my opinion she was just an attention seeker. I get that 5 foot 3 (1m55) is small next to 6 foot 4 (1m93) but she acts as if she can't live a normal with her height. The way she complained about her height was as if she had dwarifsm and I found it really annoying and uncomfortable. She cannot reach kitchen cabinets that are above the counter (you know what I mean), she is so tiny that she has a tiny bed and when Carter lies in it his legs dangle of the bed. I'm sorry but is she sleeping in a childrens bed??? In my country you buy beds on standard sizes, so like if you get a double bed (for two adult people) they are all the same size (and 2m long), I don't know how bed buying works in Canada but at this point I'm convinced she just never got an adult bed and still slept in her childrens bed.
Ofcourse Carter finds her tinyness endearing and is totally obsessed with it. At some point he is even talking about how he can throw around like a rag, because she is so small, and I, personnaly don't see the romantic of this.
A must for romance stories is chemistry between the two people. Sadly, this was not present in this book, at all. They were never really friends, in my opinion, to become friends to lovers but also never enemies. He just saw her, wanted her and she accepted. Although she tries to convince us that she doesn't want him because of his past but ultimately she gave in just as quickly and they had sex in the first 20%. ew. I want angst, let him work for it at least and if she is so keen on not being with a playboy show it. The whole time she is 'You are gonna hurt me, I can't be with you' but not long after she is in bed with him having, apparently, the best time and then she is 'I made a mistake, I can't do this'. Olivia was exhausting to read about. but so was everyone. I did not find one character that was likeable.
Carter calls his dick 'the sword of thunder' and I could not be more repulsed, how does anyone find his attractive? If anything it counts as a red flag in my book. still traumatized by it and I don't think I will ever recover, like ever.
Last quick rant, why does every woman in these kind of romance books end up pregnant??? Why can't they end the book with just the couple living a good life, why does there always have to be a kid/ baby (in my opinion the most annoying creatures on earth) involved? If anything this just shows that women are always reduced to having kids which is their ultimate goal in life. I mean, we have 500 pages of her finding her love with Carter and building a life together but it has to end with her being pregnant? This basically means her endgoal is achieved when she has a baby and not when she is just happy with her man so she can take care of the baby at home while the man is the breadwinner in the house (ah yes he earns 13 million a year). I just hate that we haven't progressed from this conservative trope and still, implicetly, tell women that we are only truly happy when we have children. it's just disgusting.
The way they talk about pregnancy in this book is just disgusting in itself, they never say 'can we get pregnant' or something like that, no it's always like 'I put a baby in her'???? This just amplifies that women are seen as a baby machine. 'I put a baby in my woman and my job is done, the rest is for her because the only thing I can do is put my dick in my woman and make sure I leave a baby there'. The longer I think about it, the more this books becomes antiwoman and it's just sad.
So yeah, not a good book. And I think the author needs to hire an editor (or a better one) because a lot of the sentences did not make any sense which led to me having to reread a lot to figure out what she wanted to convey. A good editor would have cut out at least 40% of the contents (mostly things about her height) because this was way to long for its own good.
when will I learn and stop reading these trash romances with the naked men on the cover... when will I learn?
I read the synopsis and thougth, you know what this actually sounds interesting and I was actually looking forward to reading this. Sad to say, but my excitement quickly died and was never found again. At 10% in I was ready to dnf this book and never think about it again but i thought, naively, I won't give up because who knows maybe it will get better and than I didn't give it a fair chance. I regret that decission to this moment. I blame it on my fear of missing out and incapability to dnf a book that I had to sit through (idk) 500+ pages of absolute horrible romance (which I would argue isn't really romance but I will come to that. So yeah, yet again fooled by a good written synopsis and as a result lost, yet again, many braincells.
possible spoilers!
The thing is the synopsis made it sound as if this was going to be a slowburn/ angsty romance between a 'normal' girl and the hockey star of Canada, play boy, ... you get it. I'm not saying I expected quality or the best written romance ever because, I mean, I never expect that from these kind of romances but this book was even worse than that.
Carter, THE hockey playboy of Canada/ the sexiest man alive (apparently), sees Olivia (a super tiny woman who is the best friend of the girlfriend of his best friend, and who is just a normal girl because they always are) and immediately thinks 'this is THE WOMAN for me, I have to get her'. To clarify, Carter is introduced to us, the reader, as a typical playboy (every night with another woman he never knows the name of because he sleeps with so many, and doesn't want to commit to a relationship because he doesn't have time for it) and the moment he sees Olivia, from across the room, he is ready to throw his lifestyle out of the way to commit to her because *he knows her so well and is so in love with her he can't do anything but be with her*. I think this is the fastest insta-love I have ever read (it took him one glance of her ass and he was swooned) and I hate that trope, with a burning passion. Had I known the romance would be based on insta-love I would have never ever picked up this book, ever. I wanted angst and slow burn, them yearning for each other when they aren't even in relationship terms... it could have been so good.
So the romance was a big flop but so were the characters. You know I think Olivia is tiny? But i cannot sya for sure because it wasn't repeated enough in the book. *eye-roll* I almost want to bet on how much they continued to say how small she is and I think it was atleast every five pages someone said something about it. It was exhausting. I started to count because I thought it would be cool to show how much with an actual number but I lost track. If it wasn't by other characters, it was Olivia whining about her height and I get it must be a hard life living as a tiny person but in my opinion she was just an attention seeker. I get that 5 foot 3 (1m55) is small next to 6 foot 4 (1m93) but she acts as if she can't live a normal with her height. The way she complained about her height was as if she had dwarifsm and I found it really annoying and uncomfortable. She cannot reach kitchen cabinets that are above the counter (you know what I mean), she is so tiny that she has a tiny bed and when Carter lies in it his legs dangle of the bed. I'm sorry but is she sleeping in a childrens bed??? In my country you buy beds on standard sizes, so like if you get a double bed (for two adult people) they are all the same size (and 2m long), I don't know how bed buying works in Canada but at this point I'm convinced she just never got an adult bed and still slept in her childrens bed.
Ofcourse Carter finds her tinyness endearing and is totally obsessed with it. At some point he is even talking about how he can throw around like a rag, because she is so small, and I, personnaly don't see the romantic of this.
A must for romance stories is chemistry between the two people. Sadly, this was not present in this book, at all. They were never really friends, in my opinion, to become friends to lovers but also never enemies. He just saw her, wanted her and she accepted. Although she tries to convince us that she doesn't want him because of his past but ultimately she gave in just as quickly and they had sex in the first 20%. ew. I want angst, let him work for it at least and if she is so keen on not being with a playboy show it. The whole time she is 'You are gonna hurt me, I can't be with you' but not long after she is in bed with him having, apparently, the best time and then she is 'I made a mistake, I can't do this'. Olivia was exhausting to read about. but so was everyone. I did not find one character that was likeable.
Carter calls his dick 'the sword of thunder' and I could not be more repulsed, how does anyone find his attractive? If anything it counts as a red flag in my book. still traumatized by it and I don't think I will ever recover, like ever.
Last quick rant, why does every woman in these kind of romance books end up pregnant??? Why can't they end the book with just the couple living a good life, why does there always have to be a kid/ baby (in my opinion the most annoying creatures on earth) involved? If anything this just shows that women are always reduced to having kids which is their ultimate goal in life. I mean, we have 500 pages of her finding her love with Carter and building a life together but it has to end with her being pregnant? This basically means her endgoal is achieved when she has a baby and not when she is just happy with her man so she can take care of the baby at home while the man is the breadwinner in the house (ah yes he earns 13 million a year). I just hate that we haven't progressed from this conservative trope and still, implicetly, tell women that we are only truly happy when we have children. it's just disgusting.
The way they talk about pregnancy in this book is just disgusting in itself, they never say 'can we get pregnant' or something like that, no it's always like 'I put a baby in her'???? This just amplifies that women are seen as a baby machine. 'I put a baby in my woman and my job is done, the rest is for her because the only thing I can do is put my dick in my woman and make sure I leave a baby there'. The longer I think about it, the more this books becomes antiwoman and it's just sad.
So yeah, not a good book. And I think the author needs to hire an editor (or a better one) because a lot of the sentences did not make any sense which led to me having to reread a lot to figure out what she wanted to convey. A good editor would have cut out at least 40% of the contents (mostly things about her height) because this was way to long for its own good.
when will I learn and stop reading these trash romances with the naked men on the cover... when will I learn?
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy
kb33's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Most romances are so short you either get insta-love and get to them in a relationship, or you get the slow burn and they get into a relationship right before the end. In this book you get the slow burn and you get to enjoy the relationship. I had really hoped to get through the whole thing without the third act breakup, but no luck. I did love Carter’s character - he’s a lovable goofball.
CW/TW: Threat of revenge porn
CW/TW:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
lucyrudd's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Grief, Cursing, Death, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
bookishaddy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"She’s like…waking up on Christmas morning when you’re three years old and you finally understand what it’s all about. She’s the moment the rain stops and the sun comes out, lighting up the sky with color, and everything smells new and fresh. She’s the first skate on a frozen lake, surrounded by snowy mountains and pine trees and the freshest breath of air. She’s rolling over in the middle of the night, pulling that warm body into yours and curling around it, and everything’s just right."
It's easy to fall into the charms of one of the biggest hockey players there is, especially ones that look like Carter Beckett. On the outside, he's everything you assume about your stereotypical jock... Gorgeous obviously, arrogant, self absorbed, and the biggest playboy. Everything he wants he gets... except for Olivia Parker.
Olivia doesn't have time for Carter's playboy antics and flirting. As pretty as he is to look at, there's no point, because he doesn't do relationships. Ollie is hanging on by a thread, trying to resist him... but his charms and big heart are making her consider him...
__________________________________________
THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN I COULD HAVE EXPECTED. Kudos to Becka Mackfor being the first author to make me cryyyy while reading a hockey romance.
I loved these characters. ALL OF THEM. Carter is your classic reformed playboy and I loved it. I have never read a more lovesick, sappy, swoony, golden retriever man in a book. He is ostentatious (which he proudly owns), gooey, hotter than sin, and so in love with Olive it's insane. I adored Olive.. She is fierce and takes no bullshit.. especially from Carter. Her constantly putting him in his place is hilarious. I wish the fact that she is short is talked about less.. it gets a bit old after a while, but either way I was able to get over it. I really appreciate that a good majority of this book is focused on them trying to build a relationship, and the chase didn't drag on for too long at all. It was genuinely just a great story about them falling for each other.
One of my favorite parts about this book, is the dynamics with all the characters. The boys are the team are IDIOTS. And I mean that in the most endearing way possible. Their antics are so funny, more than often juvenile, but they really do love and support each other. I am just waaaaiting for Adam's book. Cara is literally the ideal best friend, she is badass. But my absolute favorite side character is easily Hank. Carter's 80ish year old best friend. Their relationship will bring tears to your eyes and fill you with so much love.
This a fantastic sports romance>, it has everything you could ever want great side characters, a big found family, golden retriever MMC, and so much spice. I love this and I cannot wait for the rest of the boys stories.
4.90 stars
It's easy to fall into the charms of one of the biggest hockey players there is, especially ones that look like Carter Beckett. On the outside, he's everything you assume about your stereotypical jock... Gorgeous obviously, arrogant, self absorbed, and the biggest playboy. Everything he wants he gets... except for Olivia Parker.
Olivia doesn't have time for Carter's playboy antics and flirting. As pretty as he is to look at, there's no point, because he doesn't do relationships. Ollie is hanging on by a thread, trying to resist him... but his charms and big heart are making her consider him...
__________________________________________
THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN I COULD HAVE EXPECTED. Kudos to Becka Mackfor being the first author to make me cryyyy while reading a hockey romance.
I loved these characters. ALL OF THEM. Carter is your classic reformed playboy and I loved it. I have never read a more lovesick, sappy, swoony, golden retriever man in a book. He is ostentatious (which he proudly owns), gooey, hotter than sin, and so in love with Olive it's insane. I adored Olive.. She is fierce and takes no bullshit.. especially from Carter. Her constantly putting him in his place is hilarious. I wish the fact that she is short is talked about less.. it gets a bit old after a while, but either way I was able to get over it. I really appreciate that a good majority of this book is focused on them trying to build a relationship, and the chase didn't drag on for too long at all. It was genuinely just a great story about them falling for each other.
One of my favorite parts about this book, is the dynamics with all the characters. The boys are the team are IDIOTS. And I mean that in the most endearing way possible. Their antics are so funny, more than often juvenile, but they really do love and support each other. I am just waaaaiting for Adam's book. Cara is literally the ideal best friend, she is badass. But my absolute favorite side character is easily Hank. Carter's 80ish year old best friend. Their relationship will bring tears to your eyes and fill you with so much love.
This a fantastic sports romance>, it has everything you could ever want great side characters, a big found family, golden retriever MMC, and so much spice. I love this and I cannot wait for the rest of the boys stories.
4.90 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Bullying
Minor: Pregnancy and Infidelity