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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
fast-paced
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While I love the fat representation and the people of mystic falls, this book has some issues. For one there are a lot of typos for an edited book. The writing is rather repetitive and bumpy. And the pacing of the book just seems off. The first book could hold my attention because of the plot but this one while cute wasn't interesting enough for me to finish. All in all it has a lot of potential but needs some work.
ARC Review- Spotlight on Poppy by Mary Warren
Thank you Mary Warren for trusting me w/ an ARC of your latest creation. NOTE:I have never read the first book in the Mystic Falls series, this is the first thing I’ve read of Mary Warren.
This story was absolutely ADORABLE! Josh Turner is a clear contender for BOOK BF 2023! He was sweet, attentive & get this…EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE & COMMUNICATED! Gotta love fiction! Josh definitely HIT ALL the boxes on the BF Chart for me. As a hustla myself, I respect his hustle but also I LOVED his heart.
Poppy Smith is a complicated subject for me. I even had to have a discussion about this character with my bestie over Margaritas. When I started the book, I COULD NOT STAND POPPY! I thought at one point I wouldn’t finish this book because she had my blood pressure rising. I don’t wanna give any spoilers, but Poppy had me feeling some type of way. (My book journal is not very kind to Poppy in the beginning.) Then Poppy had her AH HA moment. The light bulb went on in her head and that's when it happened yall. MY light bulb went on too! It clicked why Poppy annoyed me so damn much.
Poppy…was 20 yr old me. A person who annoys the f*ck outta me (THANK YOU GROWTH!) I was sadly taking my personal issues on Poppy. Bendito, I’m so sorry Poppy! By mid story Poppy grew on me and I realized she and I had SO much in common. Now, Poppy Smith is a kindred spirit. Love her and am so happy for how her story ended.
The story was cute, I love a small town setting, and "He Fell First” is my dream. The supporting characters were interesting & I love the part they all play in Poppy & Josh’s lives.
The best constructive criticism I can give however, is maybe a re edit. There were a few times where there were words missing or the wrong word. I know it’s an ARC so I’m hopeful those will be corrected by the release date (3/14/23). I could have finished this book much sooner, but I had to stop reading a few times & take a break because the flow wasn’t there. In one paragraph 6 out of 7 sentences started with HE. It was stressful for me. More like a to do list than a story.
Overall, I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this book, its a quick cute romance with a plus sized FMC, a lil bit o’magic & a dash of spice (safe for public consumption. Except maybe in a place of worship.) You won’t regret reading it.
Thank you again to Mary Warren for the ARC & I will be going back to read Mystic Falls #1 later this year.
Thank you Mary Warren for trusting me w/ an ARC of your latest creation. NOTE:I have never read the first book in the Mystic Falls series, this is the first thing I’ve read of Mary Warren.
This story was absolutely ADORABLE! Josh Turner is a clear contender for BOOK BF 2023! He was sweet, attentive & get this…EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE & COMMUNICATED! Gotta love fiction! Josh definitely HIT ALL the boxes on the BF Chart for me. As a hustla myself, I respect his hustle but also I LOVED his heart.
Poppy Smith is a complicated subject for me. I even had to have a discussion about this character with my bestie over Margaritas. When I started the book, I COULD NOT STAND POPPY! I thought at one point I wouldn’t finish this book because she had my blood pressure rising. I don’t wanna give any spoilers, but Poppy had me feeling some type of way. (My book journal is not very kind to Poppy in the beginning.) Then Poppy had her AH HA moment. The light bulb went on in her head and that's when it happened yall. MY light bulb went on too! It clicked why Poppy annoyed me so damn much.
Poppy…was 20 yr old me. A person who annoys the f*ck outta me (THANK YOU GROWTH!) I was sadly taking my personal issues on Poppy. Bendito, I’m so sorry Poppy! By mid story Poppy grew on me and I realized she and I had SO much in common. Now, Poppy Smith is a kindred spirit. Love her and am so happy for how her story ended.
The story was cute, I love a small town setting, and "He Fell First” is my dream. The supporting characters were interesting & I love the part they all play in Poppy & Josh’s lives.
The best constructive criticism I can give however, is maybe a re edit. There were a few times where there were words missing or the wrong word. I know it’s an ARC so I’m hopeful those will be corrected by the release date (3/14/23). I could have finished this book much sooner, but I had to stop reading a few times & take a break because the flow wasn’t there. In one paragraph 6 out of 7 sentences started with HE. It was stressful for me. More like a to do list than a story.
Overall, I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this book, its a quick cute romance with a plus sized FMC, a lil bit o’magic & a dash of spice (safe for public consumption. Except maybe in a place of worship.) You won’t regret reading it.
Thank you again to Mary Warren for the ARC & I will be going back to read Mystic Falls #1 later this year.
this was just SO cozy! if you love when the mmc in an m/f relationship is just DOWN BAD for the fmc from the jump and is constantly pining in his POV, this is the ONE for you!! josh was such a golden retreiever, and WHEW he was sweet in the streets, but a (still very sweet) dom in the sheets ;) i really liked his and poppy's story. definitely recommend this one!
⚠️: death of parent, abandonment, alcoholism (parent), cancer, grief, car accident, violence
⚠️: death of parent, abandonment, alcoholism (parent), cancer, grief, car accident, violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Violence
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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:
No
This was a solid read, but a bit of a let down in comparison to “A Highlander for Hannah”, which I absolutely loved. Warren has great writing, and is super funny and relatable. I absolutely loved that there’s this little nod to the show Friends (from a popular Tiktok trend) at the beginning of the novel: “Poppy was happy for her best friend. Yes, Happy and not at all jealous.” Of the bat, this novel has me gripped and laughing. With the exception of my personal icks (I fucking hate when men call women ‘Princess’) my only hang up with this the absence of certain scenes.
For instance, we know that Poppy and Josh are in a play together where the two kiss, but in the novel we are never given a glimpse of Poppy and Joshes feelings when they share the stage kiss. I really feel like people who have feelings for each other would feel a spark or even have emotions even from something like a stage kiss. So that kind of bothered me that it wasn’t really addressed. Another example would be when Josh fights that guy from Broadway. We get a quick summary of the moment Josh punches him after the fact. We don’t get a real glimpse at what happened, what exactly was said and what brought that douchebag and Josh together to even have that interaction.
I know it seems like this is a negative review for something I gave 4-stars too, but it is because I know this is a novel many people will enjoy, and preventing people from picking up this book because of my own personal icks, that likely wouldn’t bother anyone else, seems like too much of a shame. The writing is good, the characters are believable and relatable. I love the closeness of the town, and the logistics of Poppy having to deal with a lot of her feelings on her own (Hannah is on her honeymoon!!).
Great book for someone ready for a touch of magic in their romance, some wonderful plus-size representation and all-in-all good fun.
For instance, we know that Poppy and Josh are in a play together where the two kiss, but in the novel we are never given a glimpse of Poppy and Joshes feelings when they share the stage kiss. I really feel like people who have feelings for each other would feel a spark or even have emotions even from something like a stage kiss. So that kind of bothered me that it wasn’t really addressed. Another example would be when Josh fights that guy from Broadway. We get a quick summary of the moment Josh punches him after the fact. We don’t get a real glimpse at what happened, what exactly was said and what brought that douchebag and Josh together to even have that interaction.
I know it seems like this is a negative review for something I gave 4-stars too, but it is because I know this is a novel many people will enjoy, and preventing people from picking up this book because of my own personal icks, that likely wouldn’t bother anyone else, seems like too much of a shame. The writing is good, the characters are believable and relatable. I love the closeness of the town, and the logistics of Poppy having to deal with a lot of her feelings on her own (Hannah is on her honeymoon!!).
Great book for someone ready for a touch of magic in their romance, some wonderful plus-size representation and all-in-all good fun.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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:
No
DNF at 15%
I was so excited for SPOTLIGHT ON POPPY because I love a fat heroine and this book cover is GORGEOUS.
Sadly, I couldn't continue reading this book past the first few chapters because the editing was non-existent and the writing itself needs work.
I was gifted an ARC of this book, so I went and downloaded the sample chapters from Amazon in case my ARC copy wasn't the final edited version. All the same errors, typos, terrible punctuation, and poor grammar are also in the finished copy.
Typos aside, the writing is very clunky and repetitive. Within two adjacent paragraphs (in chapter 1) the word BEAUTIFUL was used 4 times. FOUR. TIMES.
SPOTLIGHT ON POPPY is written in 3rd person and the author says the main characters' names rough 8 gazillion times per chapter.
Here's an example paragraph from chapter 1: Poppy had to wipe a tear from her own eye. That is what love looked like, and that is what Poppy wanted more than anything. Poppy kept her eyes peeled during the ceremony for the woman who gave Hannah her love spell. If she came, Poppy was going to ask for a spell of her own.
This author needs a bit more time to hone her craft and she absolutely needs an good editor.
I was so excited for SPOTLIGHT ON POPPY because I love a fat heroine and this book cover is GORGEOUS.
Sadly, I couldn't continue reading this book past the first few chapters because the editing was non-existent and the writing itself needs work.
I was gifted an ARC of this book, so I went and downloaded the sample chapters from Amazon in case my ARC copy wasn't the final edited version. All the same errors, typos, terrible punctuation, and poor grammar are also in the finished copy.
Typos aside, the writing is very clunky and repetitive. Within two adjacent paragraphs (in chapter 1) the word BEAUTIFUL was used 4 times. FOUR. TIMES.
SPOTLIGHT ON POPPY is written in 3rd person and the author says the main characters' names rough 8 gazillion times per chapter.
Here's an example paragraph from chapter 1: Poppy had to wipe a tear from her own eye. That is what love looked like, and that is what Poppy wanted more than anything. Poppy kept her eyes peeled during the ceremony for the woman who gave Hannah her love spell. If she came, Poppy was going to ask for a spell of her own.
This author needs a bit more time to hone her craft and she absolutely needs an good editor.
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Thank you to the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was the cutest, most joy filled, Palette cleanser of a romance. I enjoyed the ADHD rep and how it felt seeing certain experiences of mine reflected in a character.
I will say that the first portion of the book felt very fast? I understand why as certain things needed to happen to move along the plot but that did make it harder to get into. I BLEW through the last two thirds of it though because that’s when I really felt like it kicked off. The bull scene? That truly felt like the life and heart of the book had started to shine. From there it was so much fun, so sexy, so emotional, and so lovely. I loved how magic was tied in, and Bridget’s character.
Speaking of characters I really enjoyed Josh. Normally I’m like ‘oh yay that’s good’ in regards to male characters but Josh? I liked him A LOT.
Overall this book was wholesome yet sexy, and happy yet emotional. I really enjoyed it!
This was the cutest, most joy filled, Palette cleanser of a romance. I enjoyed the ADHD rep and how it felt seeing certain experiences of mine reflected in a character.
I will say that the first portion of the book felt very fast? I understand why as certain things needed to happen to move along the plot but that did make it harder to get into. I BLEW through the last two thirds of it though because that’s when I really felt like it kicked off. The bull scene? That truly felt like the life and heart of the book had started to shine. From there it was so much fun, so sexy, so emotional, and so lovely. I loved how magic was tied in, and Bridget’s character.
Speaking of characters I really enjoyed Josh. Normally I’m like ‘oh yay that’s good’ in regards to male characters but Josh? I liked him A LOT.
Overall this book was wholesome yet sexy, and happy yet emotional. I really enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail