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A review by laurenxwilkins
Gloves Off by Stephanie Archer
3.75
new favourite microtrope: men wearing jewellery which was made for them by kids
sports romances like this one always have a lot of themes and tropes which i really enjoy - FMC wearing MMC's jersey, him getting injured and her running to him mid game, etc etc. means that most of the time they're kind of instant classics for me and good books to pick up when i'm unsure what to read / am in a bit of a rut. for this one, i'd just finished a more intense slow-burn and just wanted something a bit easier (and icl more spicy lol) - Gloves Off was perfect for that
i wont lie i'm not massively keen on fake dating / marriage of convenience tropes at the moment. i think i've just read sooo many at this point and after a while they all feel quite samey. and i will say that this book didn't particularly anything different with that trope either - it was a pretty standard plot for the fake marriage trope. but i don't mind that as long as i go into it with that frame of mind. i knew what i was signing up for and it was what i wanted to read, so i genuinely have no complaints. from that pov it was actually a 4 star book because i did really enjoy it for the frame of mind i was in at this particular moment. i did want to keep it slightly more objective than that though because, when i look at this book vs other books i've rated four star recently, this one just wasn't as good when you step away from the mood reading aspect of it all. the only thing i really wish there was more of was Georgia's job at with the Storm - like she's literally part of the medical team yet we don't see her treating anyone or even really properly at work, but we see Alexei at work in quite a few scenes? idk personal preference probably but i love the whole subplot where she works alongside him / his team in that kind of medical or training or treatment capacity and i wish there had been more of that here
and there were definitely some super unique elements in this book which i really enjoyed - the whole idea of each bouquet Alexei sent Georgia having a different meaning and his developing feelings being highlighted by the different flowers he was sending her was a really sweet touch to their story. and icl something about the men wearing friendship bracelets and beaded jewellery which kids have made them is a random storyline element which i am really loving - MMC did the same in Beg Borrow or Steal and i LOVED it then too lol
this is a very long explanation for a pretty simple concept lol but essentially it was a 4 star mood read but 3.75 in the grand scheme of things - the book itself wasn't massively deep and didn't do anything different in terms of plot / tropes / character types etc
sports romances like this one always have a lot of themes and tropes which i really enjoy - FMC wearing MMC's jersey, him getting injured and her running to him mid game, etc etc. means that most of the time they're kind of instant classics for me and good books to pick up when i'm unsure what to read / am in a bit of a rut. for this one, i'd just finished a more intense slow-burn and just wanted something a bit easier (and icl more spicy lol) - Gloves Off was perfect for that
i wont lie i'm not massively keen on fake dating / marriage of convenience tropes at the moment. i think i've just read sooo many at this point and after a while they all feel quite samey. and i will say that this book didn't particularly anything different with that trope either - it was a pretty standard plot for the fake marriage trope. but i don't mind that as long as i go into it with that frame of mind. i knew what i was signing up for and it was what i wanted to read, so i genuinely have no complaints. from that pov it was actually a 4 star book because i did really enjoy it for the frame of mind i was in at this particular moment. i did want to keep it slightly more objective than that though because, when i look at this book vs other books i've rated four star recently, this one just wasn't as good when you step away from the mood reading aspect of it all. the only thing i really wish there was more of was Georgia's job at with the Storm - like she's literally part of the medical team yet we don't see her treating anyone or even really properly at work, but we see Alexei at work in quite a few scenes? idk personal preference probably but i love the whole subplot where she works alongside him / his team in that kind of medical or training or treatment capacity and i wish there had been more of that here
and there were definitely some super unique elements in this book which i really enjoyed - the whole idea of each bouquet Alexei sent Georgia having a different meaning and his developing feelings being highlighted by the different flowers he was sending her was a really sweet touch to their story. and icl something about the men wearing friendship bracelets and beaded jewellery which kids have made them is a random storyline element which i am really loving - MMC did the same in Beg Borrow or Steal and i LOVED it then too lol
this is a very long explanation for a pretty simple concept lol but essentially it was a 4 star mood read but 3.75 in the grand scheme of things - the book itself wasn't massively deep and didn't do anything different in terms of plot / tropes / character types etc