_megansara_ 's review for:

Forbidden Bonds: In My Professor's Bed by Lillian Oklobia

1.5

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

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I received an advanced readers copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

 

This book is partially what I expected (fast read, age gap romance, taboo relationship, etc), and partially not (iffy grammar, no plot, boring spice, and a borderline abusive behavior from MMC). Romance books are my jam – they’re quick, spicy, they don’t require a lot of brainpower, and they’re vaguely entertaining. I was excited for the opportunity to read this ARC because, based on the synopsis, it sounded like it would tick all of the boxes. Unfortunately, this fell short of my expectations:

 

Here are my opinions:

 

1. This book did not have a plot & not in a good way. Romance books that don’t have plots NEED to have good spice, and the “spice” in this book was boring. It felt like the author was slightly uncomfortable writing open-door spice, which is fine as everyone has different comfort levels, however the book was marketed as spicy & it was not.

 

1. The grammar was virtually non-existent. It read like a Wattpad story that had been hastily written and no one proofread it. There were parts in the dialogue where it seemed disjointed almost like the character had been reacting/replying to something that the author had removed. It threw me off.

 

1. The ‘touch her & die trope” is one of my favorites! Unfortunately, the MMC came off as an abusive jerk because he took out all of his anger and frustration out of the FMC. He was emotionally manipulative – a prime example is when he let her feel bad for accidentally running into his ex-wife while out of a date.

 

1. It was mostly dialogue, and very little description of anything else. I think this book would have benefited from additional description of the characters, the scenarios (clubbing with friends, the classroom, etc).

 

There were glimpses where I could see the author’s vision, and IMO this book has the bones to be a good romance book. In spite of all I disliked, I would read other new works by the author for two reasons:

 

1. I can (kind of) see what she was trying to do; and

 

1. If Goodreads is correct, this is only the second book published by the author. I have read initial books from authors & disliked them, but read later works and loved them due to writing growth.

 

The author seems incredibly passionate about writing, and that is amazing! I am looking forward to seeing how she grows in her career!