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A review by wanotori
Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
3 stars. i'll just say all the smut dialogue literally killed every vibe in this book.
i didn't mind the characters. i actually really liked emma a lot up until the end. i don't dislike her. still like her. but i was just so annoyed by how she handled it and yeah just the ending annoyed me to hell lmao.
i got this book in a BDWAB last year and finally read it. i wasn't expecting it to be a hockey romance but it was, kind of. not intensely hockey focused but was still central in a way, but don't go into it if you're expecting in-action hockey. it was still nice, though. the writing style was really nice and descriptive with a good flow, but when the thoughts started bleeding into the narrative (read: when the very HORNY thoughts bled into the narrative), it started to get really obnoxious. lowered the rating off the bad, because it was overtly in my face off the bat when emma and lucian met.
i liked lucian, mostly. i liked the concept of him. i hated how in-your-face horny he was. like, what is it with presumably cishet authors and always having to painstakingly, in great detail, tell us how hard the MMC's dick is and how it's straining against his pants like oh my god. hate that so bad. hate it. anyway i like that lucian is good at cooking and baking and that there's a backstory for it. it's also cute that he's handy around the house with carpentry and stuff.
the smut wasn't poorly written or anything but i skimmed like 89% of it. i really don't care for smut and i usually just skip it unless i know it's going to be a porny book and that's what i'm going for, but if it's not and not necessary to the story, i just gloss over it. the dialogue in the sex scenes in this book were really bad. like, first of all let me preface this by saying the nicknames used in this book were obnoxious. those nicknames turned into innuendos and puns that made their way into dialogue during sex, such as lucian referring to emma's vagina as a "sweet honey box" like ARE WE KIDDING LMFAO??? that alone dropped its rating. the dialogue altogether dropped its rating. there was so much smut. and then we spent the span of like 50 pages talking about emma's nipple like you've got to be kidding me right.
and spoiler for the ending:lucian is a former pro hockey player who had to retire because he was getting debilitating migraines due to the number of head injuries he's had. after some charity event, he's approached by his former team and gets an offer to go back and play for them, which he entertains. emma and lucian's family obviously don't get it well because they're worried about his safety and life.
on one hand, i understand their side completely, but it annoyed me that the author didn't write a single one of them even trying to understand lucian's perspective. at least emma, for fuck's sake. like, i understand their apprehension and their fear for him, but i would've loved some inner thoughts where emma considered why lucian wants to do this and at least why he'd want to see it through. it was just a practice skate to test the waters, not a full-on game.
because i understand it from lucian's perspective. hockey was his entire life and he had to retire early while his body is otherwise in pristine condition, save for the chronic migraines. i understand him wanting to go out and tease the idea, just to see if it'd work, just to know for sure. the whole entire book, though, after that charity event, i was waiting for the career twist in lucian becoming a coach for a local kid's team, or even for a high school or college or, hell, even an AHL team, or other minor league team. like, yes, it was teased earlier on that he'd entertain the idea of becoming delilah's pastry chef, which i also would have loved to see, but he could do that part-time with coaching? best of both worlds? he loves cooking and baking, and he also loves hockey. if he coached, he could fulfill that love of hockey without the danger.
when emma and the others were talking about lucian's big beautiful hockey brain, i was just WAITING for someone to say to put it to use as a coach. that was disappointing. idk if the author just didn't consider it, but that seemed like such an obvious solution and a complete miss that it wasn't, in fact, the solution. it felt like lucian settled while emma got it all. like, sure, maybe the message is that hockey doesn't have to be lucian's entire life anymore and that he's found fulfillment outside of it, but like, damn, there's something else he could do to still keep everything he loves.
anyway this book wasn't terrible but those things really irked me, and the ending really, really disappointed me.
i didn't mind the characters. i actually really liked emma a lot up until the end. i don't dislike her. still like her. but i was just so annoyed by how she handled it and yeah just the ending annoyed me to hell lmao.
i got this book in a BDWAB last year and finally read it. i wasn't expecting it to be a hockey romance but it was, kind of. not intensely hockey focused but was still central in a way, but don't go into it if you're expecting in-action hockey. it was still nice, though. the writing style was really nice and descriptive with a good flow, but when the thoughts started bleeding into the narrative (read: when the very HORNY thoughts bled into the narrative), it started to get really obnoxious. lowered the rating off the bad, because it was overtly in my face off the bat when emma and lucian met.
i liked lucian, mostly. i liked the concept of him. i hated how in-your-face horny he was. like, what is it with presumably cishet authors and always having to painstakingly, in great detail, tell us how hard the MMC's dick is and how it's straining against his pants like oh my god. hate that so bad. hate it. anyway i like that lucian is good at cooking and baking and that there's a backstory for it. it's also cute that he's handy around the house with carpentry and stuff.
the smut wasn't poorly written or anything but i skimmed like 89% of it. i really don't care for smut and i usually just skip it unless i know it's going to be a porny book and that's what i'm going for, but if it's not and not necessary to the story, i just gloss over it. the dialogue in the sex scenes in this book were really bad. like, first of all let me preface this by saying the nicknames used in this book were obnoxious. those nicknames turned into innuendos and puns that made their way into dialogue during sex, such as lucian referring to emma's vagina as a "sweet honey box" like ARE WE KIDDING LMFAO??? that alone dropped its rating. the dialogue altogether dropped its rating. there was so much smut. and then we spent the span of like 50 pages talking about emma's nipple like you've got to be kidding me right.
and spoiler for the ending:
on one hand, i understand their side completely, but it annoyed me that the author didn't write a single one of them even trying to understand lucian's perspective. at least emma, for fuck's sake. like, i understand their apprehension and their fear for him, but i would've loved some inner thoughts where emma considered why lucian wants to do this and at least why he'd want to see it through. it was just a practice skate to test the waters, not a full-on game.
because i understand it from lucian's perspective. hockey was his entire life and he had to retire early while his body is otherwise in pristine condition, save for the chronic migraines. i understand him wanting to go out and tease the idea, just to see if it'd work, just to know for sure. the whole entire book, though, after that charity event, i was waiting for the career twist in lucian becoming a coach for a local kid's team, or even for a high school or college or, hell, even an AHL team, or other minor league team. like, yes, it was teased earlier on that he'd entertain the idea of becoming delilah's pastry chef, which i also would have loved to see, but he could do that part-time with coaching? best of both worlds? he loves cooking and baking, and he also loves hockey. if he coached, he could fulfill that love of hockey without the danger.
when emma and the others were talking about lucian's big beautiful hockey brain, i was just WAITING for someone to say to put it to use as a coach. that was disappointing. idk if the author just didn't consider it, but that seemed like such an obvious solution and a complete miss that it wasn't, in fact, the solution. it felt like lucian settled while emma got it all. like, sure, maybe the message is that hockey doesn't have to be lucian's entire life anymore and that he's found fulfillment outside of it, but like, damn, there's something else he could do to still keep everything he loves.
anyway this book wasn't terrible but those things really irked me, and the ending really, really disappointed me.