Reviews

This was very white. I’ve never watched “Pretty Woman” and never will so I can’t compare it to that but I found this overly cliche. The over use of crystals became comical and corny.
(At the end the rich white dude bought a house where the lady used gems and crystals throughout the whole house and it made it “artsy” and that made me chuckle..)
Teddy was cute though.

deepbutdazzlingdarkness's review against another edition

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3.0

I have mixed feelings about this. It’s a fun tropey premise and I read it in one sitting, and I enjoyed most of it. When we got to the conflict at the climax…okay, because of the short time frame, it’s understandable that they didn’t immediately trust each other, but making assumptions believing that this person you like so much is a huge liar when it’s OBVIOUS that they’re not involved in the shady shit is just…ugh.

Especially combined with the other romance novel trope I hate which is the characters falling in love in a comically short period of time. At least the characters acknowledge that it’s ridiculous here, but come on. Also the fact that every time I thought the conflict was over it resurfaced…it’s not even a 200 page book and this happened multiple times!!!!!

Also this might just be me being nitpicky, but POVs changed so often that sometimes I did get confused whose POV we were in (not helped by the formatting, since they always happened in the middle of the page, but this was an ARC, so idk if it was on purpose or not). I was planning on giving this 2 stars, but I liked them as a couple and the ending made me cry, so I bumped it up one.

Oh also it’s written in present tense?? I hardly EVER notice that kind of thing when I’m reading fic, but it did stand out to me here and was kind of jarring.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the digital copy, all opinions are my own.

tasha1207's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense 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

4.0

hexentart's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

The characters in this book felt very real to me. They are raw, flawed, vulnerable, and they really make a hash of things more than once…as folks do.

Teddy is so very relatable; his openness and huge heart have caused him a world of hurt and regrets.

He gave me very ND vibes, which made me love him even more.

Cole seems to have it all, but at what cost? He exchanged the shackles of his father's expectations for ones of his own making; rules to keep him safe and allegedly happy.

Yeah, no. Shackles are shackles, my dude.

Together they have the power to help each other heal, if they would only get out of their own way first.

This book wrecked me in the best of ways. I ugly cried more than once, wishing I could reach through the pages and give them both comfort and love. Maybe a Gibb's slap in the back of the head when needed too.

My only regret with this book is that the villain seemingly gets away scot free. His plan is thwarted but he just disappears into the sunset. I would have liked to see him pay for what he did to not only the MCs, but also Nicko.

I would love to see a story where Nicko gets his own HEA. That man deserves to find someone to love him as fiercely as he longs to love another.

This book isn't for everyone. Far too many readers out there looking for their cookie cutter Queer characters, predictable tropes, formulaic romance, and sex, sex, SEX.

While this has some of those elements, it's more out-of-the-box than usual and that's what makes it even better, IMO. It's about heart, hurt, and healing. Yes, there's intimate scenes but those are a bonus, not the point.

As with their YA novels, Steven Salvatore has once again delivered a book with a sucker punch of heart and soul.

I can't wait to see what they write next.

YMMV, of course. ✌🏻

Content Warnings

millah's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.25

This was an entertaining story, with a fake relationship, opposites attract, and charming idiots falling in love. There were disgustingly rich people and not so rich people. There were sex work and flowers. A wedding. Humour. Heartbreak. There were fluff, smut and angst. The hot times were hot. In my opinion, some of the characters acted a bit immaturely at times. I'm old, though. I wished parts of the story were more developed.

myb1023's review

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

hannahb1533's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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