Scan barcode
A review by jaimejustreadsromance
Cream of the Crop, Volume 2 by Alice Clayton
3.0
3.5 Stars
I love, love, love Alice Clayton's writing style. I literally laugh out loud every time I read one of her books and she does a great job writing about the female friendship dynamic. I seriously want to be a part of the circle of friends from both this series and from her Cocktail series. For those things alone I can't bring myself to rate this book any lower than 3 Stars.
However, this just wasn't a story that I fell in love with. Perhaps it's the high hopes I had after reading Nuts and for reading about a real, honest to god plus-sized heroine, but I just didn't connect with this story.
Speaking as a big girl I know I'm supposed to be excited that Natalie was a confident, proud, plus-sized woman but constantly hearing about how every man wanted her and how she turned heads walking down the street got a little old. There was too much focus on her curves and even saying that makes me feel like I lose my big girl card, but I'm just being honest. It threw me off from really getting to like her for more than how she looked. At times she came across too confident and it didn't feel authentic. That's probably my own personal hang up speaking though.
Then there is Oscar. I was so excited to get to know more about this gruff, brooding man and, at times, I did feel like I got to know his sexy, sweet, fun side but I just didn't feel fully connected to him and so I couldn't completely fall in love with him. I had issues with the way he tended to drop everything to run to the side of his ex-wife. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great they remained friends but at what point is coming to her defense going too far. Especially when she was being petty and rude. Even when that behavior was discussed, he just sort of brushed it off. It actually seemed to go that way for most of the arguments that he and Natalie had. I definitely think that there should have been more talking and less make-up sex between them at times.
That being said, I didn't hate this story, it definitely had some great moments, but it just didn't give me the same feels as the first book in the series but it doesn't stop me from looking forward to the next one either.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review
I love, love, love Alice Clayton's writing style. I literally laugh out loud every time I read one of her books and she does a great job writing about the female friendship dynamic. I seriously want to be a part of the circle of friends from both this series and from her Cocktail series. For those things alone I can't bring myself to rate this book any lower than 3 Stars.
However, this just wasn't a story that I fell in love with. Perhaps it's the high hopes I had after reading Nuts and for reading about a real, honest to god plus-sized heroine, but I just didn't connect with this story.
Speaking as a big girl I know I'm supposed to be excited that Natalie was a confident, proud, plus-sized woman but constantly hearing about how every man wanted her and how she turned heads walking down the street got a little old. There was too much focus on her curves and even saying that makes me feel like I lose my big girl card, but I'm just being honest. It threw me off from really getting to like her for more than how she looked. At times she came across too confident and it didn't feel authentic. That's probably my own personal hang up speaking though.
Then there is Oscar. I was so excited to get to know more about this gruff, brooding man and, at times, I did feel like I got to know his sexy, sweet, fun side but I just didn't feel fully connected to him and so I couldn't completely fall in love with him. I had issues with the way he tended to drop everything to run to the side of his ex-wife. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great they remained friends but at what point is coming to her defense going too far. Especially when she was being petty and rude. Even when that behavior was discussed, he just sort of brushed it off. It actually seemed to go that way for most of the arguments that he and Natalie had. I definitely think that there should have been more talking and less make-up sex between them at times.
That being said, I didn't hate this story, it definitely had some great moments, but it just didn't give me the same feels as the first book in the series but it doesn't stop me from looking forward to the next one either.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review