Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Window Shopping

Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

44 reviews

m4evzie's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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

3.5

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bookishlucy's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.75

This book genuinely surprised me and by the time I came close to finishing it I was wishing it wasn't such a short book. It took me less than 50 pages to completely fall in love with our main characters, especially Aiden.
All the characters felt very realistic and this book had that Hallmark feeling without being cliché or overdone. It’s the perfect little read for the holiday season and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a light, cute book!
( The way I went absolutely feral for Aiden is kind of embarrassing 😂)

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beckyyreadss's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

This book was gifted to me by a family member to get me to feel festive. For some reason this year, I am feeling so festive and wanted to read more Christmas reads this month. This book was short but so full of depth and smut.

This book has two points of view. The first is Stella, she is trying to get back on her feet after being released from prison. It is two weeks before Christmas and she is walking down Manhattan, looking at what her life could have been. She is standing alone outside the famous Vivant department store, when a random and charming man named Aiden asks for the opinion of the window decor. Stella is unable to lie and says it’s a tragedy in tinsel. He asks for a better idea with a twinkle in his eyes, does Stella know he owns the place? No, he just put her on the spot. Now she is working for the man and trying to ignore the fact that he is extremely hot. However, she knows an opportunity when she sees one and she is determined to make it last. She will put her heart and soul into dressing this holiday window. She will work without stopping. And if she loses the battle with temptation, she will try and remember she’s just window shopping. The second point of view is Aiden, he is sick of not having control over the store that he runs on the day-to-day, whilst getting ready for another depressing Christmas, he takes the chance on the girl who’s just called his window display tragic. There is something about this girl that is making Aiden forget about board meetings, now he must convince the board which is his family, and his employees that Stella’s past isn’t going to interfere with her work and that she's not trying to get with him for money. However, Aiden is refusing to have power over her until they sign the HR paperwork – will he be able to resist her until the paperwork is signed? Will they be able to get over her past?

I loved this book. It was fluffy, smutty but also talks about difficult subjects like rehabilitating after prison and discrimination and how hard it can be for ex-prisoners to get a job. I love Aiden as a character. He was so funny and sweet, and I just loved him so much. The chapter where he was defending Stella was just so damn hot. I wanted to hug Stella so much during this book, my heart broke for her and her self-confident issues. I loved the development arc she had in this book, she went from overthinking and doubting every time to being like no I'm doing this right and it’s going to work and I'm going to be happy.

The only weakness I would say this book had been that it’s too short, I wanted it longer and I would love for this to be a series with Nicole trying to do well and finding love and being happy etc and Aiden’s assistant, I just want everyone to be happy and merry.

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nicole_zx's review

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fast-paced

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

3.0

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clareasday's review against another edition

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3.75

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kam_be's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? No

4.25

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timelord10's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

I wish I liked this more than I did, but honestly, I was disappointed by several aspects:

1. This is marketed as a Christmas party, but besides the brief mention of decorations and Christmas parties and of the main characters' past Christmases, it wasn't all that Christmassy.

2. Aiden and Stella were constantly marveling over the fact that they can be so open with each other, yet most of their conflict was from a lack of communication. It was kind of frustrating.

3. Some of the dirty talk made me cringe.

4. There was a lot of repetitive descriptions (example: Aiden is big or he smells like peppermint).

Personally, I did like Stella and Aiden. They just annoyed me sometimes. I related to some of Stella's feelings of imposter syndrome. And I related to Aiden always wanting to please his family so that they'll maybe accept him. Not the best first book of the year, but oh well.

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