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marni521's review against another edition
2.0
In the previous 2 books, the guys were jerks at the onset, but they had redeeming qualities. Connor has the jerk part down but lacks in the redeeming qualities. To be fair, Rory is a jerk to him as well. I don't mind the harmless jokes and antagonizing but sometimes those pranks involve work and the possibility of losing jobs. That's not entertainment -- that's 2 people making very sad decisions.
As with the last book, things turned around a bit and I ended up being OK with them as a couple. But seriously -- they are cruel to each other. On the upside -- the Bradfords are once again involved.
As with the last book, things turned around a bit and I ended up being OK with them as a couple. But seriously -- they are cruel to each other. On the upside -- the Bradfords are once again involved.
nitzanschwarz's review against another edition
4.0
Look what I found - my old notes on this book!:
- I loved how there was no misunderstanding between them in this book. They had enough going around them and didn't need extra him-going-on-his-knees-for-forgiveness-for-a-fuck-up thing, and I loved that it didn't happen. I was kind of anxious it might, and heaved a breath of relief when it didn't.
-What slightly pissed me off was Connor's behavior toward her job. I get he doesn't want her hurt, but what a caveman view; that she should fetch his drinks and let those jobs to men. It's what she loves to do, so let her do it. You're so worried, then stick around her like glue and make sure she'll be okay. There did seem to be a change in his actions regarding that by the end of the book, but I wish I'd seen that change in his thoughts too.
-Can I add that this is the one NFH book I can't seem to recall a single thing about?? I just read the three latest novels in the series and tried (unsuccessfully) to recall what the third was about. I remember Jason and Haley. I adore Trevor and Zoe. I even remember the plot of Truce (if not their names). But this book?? Total blank! When I read the notes above it did trigger something (especially about her and his job), but boy...
- I loved how there was no misunderstanding between them in this book. They had enough going around them and didn't need extra him-going-on-his-knees-for-forgiveness-for-a-fuck-up thing, and I loved that it didn't happen. I was kind of anxious it might, and heaved a breath of relief when it didn't.
-What slightly pissed me off was Connor's behavior toward her job. I get he doesn't want her hurt, but what a caveman view; that she should fetch his drinks and let those jobs to men. It's what she loves to do, so let her do it. You're so worried, then stick around her like glue and make sure she'll be okay. There did seem to be a change in his actions regarding that by the end of the book, but I wish I'd seen that change in his thoughts too.
-Can I add that this is the one NFH book I can't seem to recall a single thing about?? I just read the three latest novels in the series and tried (unsuccessfully) to recall what the third was about. I remember Jason and Haley. I adore Trevor and Zoe. I even remember the plot of Truce (if not their names). But this book?? Total blank! When I read the notes above it did trigger something (especially about her and his job), but boy...
charms1976's review against another edition
3.0
Huh?…What happened? While Conner definitely was another hot male in this series, I wasn’t a fan of Rory or the story. Two rivaling companies, coming together for one project, living next door to each other, and hating each other from childhood. Oh, and throw in some sex, egos, and tons of side characters. There was plenty of plot, but lots of repetitive dialogue that made it drag. I wanted to throttle Rory more than embrace her. The side characters — along with Conner’s sarcastic commentary –is what made this book bearable for me. Even though I didn’t like it as much as the first two, I definitely want to read more in the series to keep up with the Bradford family and friends.
laanba's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
gabbysreading's review against another edition
3.0
3.3
I didn't like it as much as the two before it. It was funny and it had its sweet moments. But, it took me longer to get into compared to Playing For Keeps and Perfection. If I'm honest with myself, it wasn't until the halfway point where I actually started to like the characters.
I didn't like it as much as the two before it. It was funny and it had its sweet moments. But, it took me longer to get into compared to Playing For Keeps and Perfection. If I'm honest with myself, it wasn't until the halfway point where I actually started to like the characters.
kate_and_books's review against another edition
3.0
So I was all hyped up about the new book unfortuntely it didn't meet my expectations as in the 1st 2 books with perfection and playing for keeps but I also think that it had a lot to do with the Bradford men! Connor is such a pig and well Rory is Rory I guess. They both had a really sucky arritude and I got annoyed must of the time. There were good moments involved (but all the Bradfords were around when they happened)
thedailykaylee's review against another edition
3.0
I’ll be gracious and give it 3 stars
This book gets 3 stars for the sake that I enjoyed reading about the life long pranks/torture the main couple subjected the other to over the course of their entire lives. I did laugh quite a bit. BUT there were some things I didn’t quite enjoy which is why I just can’t give it more than 3 stars. Let’s get into those reasons now:
1. I liked Connor for the most part, but several times throughout the story, even up to like 73% in, he still looked at Rory as less than him because of her being a woman. They both run a construction business that rivals the other, and Rory has spent her life learning the trade and is dang good at what she does, but apparently in Connors eyes, she should give her company up and merge with his and let him run it because she’s a woman, duh. She just needs to hush up and fetch his coffee. She should also be the one to sell her house because she apparently had help remodeling her home while he did his all himself. What?! She still designed it, and did the work, who cares if her brothers helped her do the labor or not? He also had the bright idea that he could steal her brothers out from under her and get them to work for him. HER BROTHERS who it is made clear that love their sister so much and would do anything for her. They even supported her in starting her business and chose to work for her as her employees, but he seriously thinks he’s gonna get her family to turn against her. It was just wayyyy too far fetched. In the end, Connor did realize that he would give up his business, home and everything to Rory to keep her in his life, BUT not because he knew she was a capable woman who successfully runs a construction business, or that her house is just as good as his with the work that she’s done, no, it was just simply to keep from losing her. I mean, I like that he realized she’s more important than his pride, but I wanted him to acknowledge that she’s a capable strong woman, and he never did that. Blah. And it seemed so contradicting but several times he mentioned that Rory wasn’t like other girls, she didn’t do drama, was strong willed and could hang with the boys, but when it came to business, she clearly couldn’t handle it because she was a woman. It didn’t make sense.
2. Rory was a strong female character throughout the book, but there were a couple of times I had to roll my eyes at her decisions. For example, she does an amazing thing and helps out Connors friend in a time of desperate need, but she didn’t tell Connor because she didn’t want to hurt him if her plan failed. Connor, not knowing what she was up to, got the idea that she was cheating on him. Long story short, he breaks off their engagement and once he finds out the truth he makes her apologize and forgives her for not telling him!!! I get that she should have told him what she was up to, but to go so far as to MAKE HER APOLOGIZE after he believed the worst of her and tied her up to break up with her?! Nah.
3. The violence. Okay, I read a lot of dark books, so violence isn’t really an issue for me, but this violence was just ridiculous at some parts. I know it was supposed to be funny, and at times it was, but a lot of it was just unbelievable. I mean the whole thing with her cousins and food. They literally threaten a young pizza delivery boy because the food wasn’t right when it was delivered. I understand being upset because you paid for something, but to threaten bodily harm over it? It wasn’t funny to me. Connor duct taping rorys assistant to a chair and leaving him for hours. Again, it was kind of funny, but at the same time, this isn’t his employee, and if something like that happened to me, you can bet there would be hell to pay. Again, it was just a little too far fetched and fell a little flat in the “humor” department in those scenes. Also, how do two people shut down an all you can eat buffet indefinitely? You’re telling me that they ate SO much that this restaurant is completely out of food and can’t order more from their food distributors and have to shut down? AGAIN with the far fetched thing.
4. Rorys dad. Rorys dad has always made her feel inadequate, and we later find out his reasoning behind his actions, And he does tell her how much she means to him, BUT I wanted her to give him hell for making her feel so unworthy, to acknowledge the way he made her feel all these years, she didn’t.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad book, but I really can’t justify giving it more than 3 stars. And 3 stars is honestly pushing it.
This book gets 3 stars for the sake that I enjoyed reading about the life long pranks/torture the main couple subjected the other to over the course of their entire lives. I did laugh quite a bit. BUT there were some things I didn’t quite enjoy which is why I just can’t give it more than 3 stars. Let’s get into those reasons now:
1. I liked Connor for the most part, but several times throughout the story, even up to like 73% in, he still looked at Rory as less than him because of her being a woman. They both run a construction business that rivals the other, and Rory has spent her life learning the trade and is dang good at what she does, but apparently in Connors eyes, she should give her company up and merge with his and let him run it because she’s a woman, duh. She just needs to hush up and fetch his coffee. She should also be the one to sell her house because she apparently had help remodeling her home while he did his all himself. What?! She still designed it, and did the work, who cares if her brothers helped her do the labor or not? He also had the bright idea that he could steal her brothers out from under her and get them to work for him. HER BROTHERS who it is made clear that love their sister so much and would do anything for her. They even supported her in starting her business and chose to work for her as her employees, but he seriously thinks he’s gonna get her family to turn against her. It was just wayyyy too far fetched. In the end, Connor did realize that he would give up his business, home and everything to Rory to keep her in his life, BUT not because he knew she was a capable woman who successfully runs a construction business, or that her house is just as good as his with the work that she’s done, no, it was just simply to keep from losing her. I mean, I like that he realized she’s more important than his pride, but I wanted him to acknowledge that she’s a capable strong woman, and he never did that. Blah. And it seemed so contradicting but several times he mentioned that Rory wasn’t like other girls, she didn’t do drama, was strong willed and could hang with the boys, but when it came to business, she clearly couldn’t handle it because she was a woman. It didn’t make sense.
2. Rory was a strong female character throughout the book, but there were a couple of times I had to roll my eyes at her decisions. For example, she does an amazing thing and helps out Connors friend in a time of desperate need, but she didn’t tell Connor because she didn’t want to hurt him if her plan failed. Connor, not knowing what she was up to, got the idea that she was cheating on him. Long story short, he breaks off their engagement and once he finds out the truth he makes her apologize and forgives her for not telling him!!! I get that she should have told him what she was up to, but to go so far as to MAKE HER APOLOGIZE after he believed the worst of her and tied her up to break up with her?! Nah.
3. The violence. Okay, I read a lot of dark books, so violence isn’t really an issue for me, but this violence was just ridiculous at some parts. I know it was supposed to be funny, and at times it was, but a lot of it was just unbelievable. I mean the whole thing with her cousins and food. They literally threaten a young pizza delivery boy because the food wasn’t right when it was delivered. I understand being upset because you paid for something, but to threaten bodily harm over it? It wasn’t funny to me. Connor duct taping rorys assistant to a chair and leaving him for hours. Again, it was kind of funny, but at the same time, this isn’t his employee, and if something like that happened to me, you can bet there would be hell to pay. Again, it was just a little too far fetched and fell a little flat in the “humor” department in those scenes. Also, how do two people shut down an all you can eat buffet indefinitely? You’re telling me that they ate SO much that this restaurant is completely out of food and can’t order more from their food distributors and have to shut down? AGAIN with the far fetched thing.
4. Rorys dad. Rorys dad has always made her feel inadequate, and we later find out his reasoning behind his actions, And he does tell her how much she means to him, BUT I wanted her to give him hell for making her feel so unworthy, to acknowledge the way he made her feel all these years, she didn’t.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad book, but I really can’t justify giving it more than 3 stars. And 3 stars is honestly pushing it.
owlbereading's review against another edition
3.0
I guess I may be alone in this review, however I really did not think this is one of RL's best. After finishing PFK, Perfection and reading the first two books in the Pyte and Sentenial series, I found myself in love with RL's playful and witty writing style. I had highly anticipated the release of Checkmate and constantly checked her Facebook page for information on release. On Oct 30th it was released early and I bought it and immediately began reading, but much to my surprise I just couldn't get into this book. It took me 4 days to read a 248 page book, as I would just stop reading. I felt like the feud between was not developed very well and the flashbacks were sometimes very random. I quickly became sick of her "hot cocoa" fix and their constant highs and lows. Sometimes the situations in this book were drawn out to long and I quickly lost interest in the description and skipped over their dispute. Oh and I really just need to get this out.. I'm SO tired of reading "I'm going to take you over my knee" every one of her books that I have read says that even when it isn't appropriate nor matches the character, I just roll my eyes and move on.
Although I love the Bradford family, their first appearance in this novel was really awkward. I found myself unsure about why she had even incorporated them. However because I love them, I'm glad to see them pop in for a little while.
This book wasn't over all horrible, I liked Rory, she was displayed as a beautiful tomboy who didn't take shit from anyone and the change in feelings Connor had for her over the book had me swooning at times ie: when he told her she deserves more.
Although I love the Bradford family, their first appearance in this novel was really awkward. I found myself unsure about why she had even incorporated them. However because I love them, I'm glad to see them pop in for a little while.
This book wasn't over all horrible, I liked Rory, she was displayed as a beautiful tomboy who didn't take shit from anyone and the change in feelings Connor had for her over the book had me swooning at times ie: when he told her she deserves more.