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A review by haletostilinski1
Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthology by Charlie Cochet, May Archer, Leslie Copeland, Leslie Copeland
4.0
Whew! Finally finished.
Overall: 4 stars!
THE SET-UP - ☆☆☆
Cute little short story that sets up the rest of the short stories, although I admit it took me a few short stories to realize that Bailey leaving to go out with the cute nice guy without double-checking for any errors with the Heart2Heart algorithms set in motion all of these men falling in love together ;)
THE MAGICIAN AND THE MORTICIAN by A.E. Wasp - ☆☆☆ and a half, rounded down to three stars
I love A.E. Wasp, and this was a solid 4 star read for me until the hint that these two might invite third parties into their relationship later on down the line, and it's never cleared up on wether they're still for or against that once they really got to know each other. It bothered me and it was out of left field, I thought, especially this author hasn't done anything like that before. Most probably won't mind this, especially because a threesome doesn't actually happen, but I minded, so it's more a personal preference that is going into my rating.
Although the insta-lovey thing usually isn't my thing and I found it still to be a tad ridiculous here, the two MC's did have chemistry, for what it was worth and the sex, as it usually is with A.E. Wasp, was super hot ;).
Overall a fun story, though.
THE PROFESSIONAL GAMER AND THE PARANORMAL PHOTOGRAPHER by Alison Hendricks - ☆☆☆☆
I enjoyed this one. It was the complete opposite of the first story, though. No insta-love to be had here. Actually the date was not going well at all. But eventually these two made it work and actually turned out to be quite sweet together, with some great chemistry.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE DOG WALKER by Charlie Cochet - ☆☆☆☆☆
I loved this one. Cochet always manages to make me laugh and this one was no different, and at the same time she brings in the feels. She even managed to have another couple in the background seem like a real possibility and I wanted a story for them pronto ;).
THE CRIMINAL AND THE SOMMELIER by Chris Owen - SKIPPED
THE SUPERHERO AND THE NSA AGENT by Hailey Turner - ☆☆☆☆
I really enjoyed this one. It was sweet and cute and heartwarming. Also, it was interesting to read Hailey Turner's writing outside of the metahuman world she's created for that wonderful series. Still had some involvement with crime/law enforcement though which was fun.
THE TATTOO ARTIST AND THE WRITER by Lily Morton - ☆☆☆☆☆
I love Lily Morton and I loved this one. It was my favorite story of all these short stories. Morton was able to give these two a great, built in connection with them having been best friends all their lives, and why they never got together earlier was given a believable reason. These two had great chemistry together as well and this was the story I was most riveted to. Loved it.
THE UBER DRIVER AND THE PHONE SEX OPERATOR by Lucy Lennox - ☆☆☆☆
I liked this one. It didn't really touch on the Heart2Heart connection that much, though, and I feel like the story would be more aptly name "the two dancers" or something like that, because there wasn't much of them being an uber driver or a phone sex operator in this story at all.
Still a fun read and I liked their connection. They were good together. I still liked this one overall. Fun story :)
THE BAKER AND THE SEAL by May Archer - ☆☆☆☆ and a half stars, rounded down to four stars.
This was a fun one and written by one of my favorite new authors, May Archer. I really liked this one, and despite the silly, manufactured misunderstanding in the beginning, it worked out for the best because the misunderstanding didn't drag out and it didn't create a super amount of unnecessary drama, and it was actually kind of a fun misunderstanding. Unnecessary, definitely. But it was still fun.
And these two had a connection I felt and enjoyed a lot.
THE EVENT PLANNER AND THE ELECTRICIAN by Poppy Dennison - ☆☆
This was my first work of this author's that I've read and it didn't go well. I liked at first when it had a potential meet cute - Harvey is the electrician called in to where Theo works to help, Theo is on a ladder and falls and Harvey goes to catch him - but instead of him falling into his arms and them having a moment, Theo accidentally elbows Harvey in the nose and breaks it. Ouch. But probably more realistic than the swoon worthy romantic scene I was expecting.
I thought it was going well at first, but in this case even with the realness, these two didn't have a connection right off the bat, and continued not to have a connection through their date - and it didn't help when we were mostly told that they had fun and were talking without actually seeing any of it. Even when the previous stories did something like that, it had a balance of scenes where the characters were connecting. This didn't.
I found myself skimming it - especially the sex scene, even - and this was a short story. It just wasn't holding my interest. Then Theo was rude and indignant to Harvey over basically nothing and then Harvey had to be the one to apologize? And Theo's friend/boss acting like Harvey was in the wrong too? Like? This nice, kind guy did nothing and Theo was judging him for things he hadn't even done - and Harvey was the one who had to apologize?
Theo didn't want an older guy he was dating to look at how old he was and to judge him for his age - then maybe he shouldn't act so immature? Jesus.
Not a fan of this one.
THE LAWYER AND THE LOBSTERMAN by Ruthie Luhnow - ☆☆☆☆
This was also a new-to-me author but this went a lot better than the last story. I really enjoyed this and I thought Will and Isaac had a very great connection. This was another "disaster date" that turned out to work. These two made it work and I love stories where two people have nothing in common but they find that connection anyway. I love it because it shows that even if you had almost or nothing in common with someone, if you're able to get along and have chemistry, that doesn't matter. A relationship isn't all about the interests you share, imo.
Definitely enjoyed this one and I may check out this author in the future :D
THE FLORIST AND THE LAWYER by Sloane Kennedy - SKIPPED
THE FALLOUT - ☆☆☆
The fallout to Bailey's accidental screw-up. Ryder, as we come to know his name, was really sweet and kind and perfect for Bailey. They were cute, what little we got of them, and it rounded out all these short stories. The perfect bookend to, well, end the book lol.
Overall a slew of wonderfully enjoyable stories, worth the money - that is for charity, I believe - and worth a read. Definitely recommend :)
Annddd I'm done - reading all these short stories just took me awhile. Now, onward! :D
Overall: 4 stars!
THE SET-UP - ☆☆☆
Cute little short story that sets up the rest of the short stories, although I admit it took me a few short stories to realize that Bailey leaving to go out with the cute nice guy without double-checking for any errors with the Heart2Heart algorithms set in motion all of these men falling in love together ;)
THE MAGICIAN AND THE MORTICIAN by A.E. Wasp - ☆☆☆ and a half, rounded down to three stars
I love A.E. Wasp, and this was a solid 4 star read for me until the hint that these two might invite third parties into their relationship later on down the line, and it's never cleared up on wether they're still for or against that once they really got to know each other. It bothered me and it was out of left field, I thought, especially this author hasn't done anything like that before. Most probably won't mind this, especially because a threesome doesn't actually happen, but I minded, so it's more a personal preference that is going into my rating.
Although the insta-lovey thing usually isn't my thing and I found it still to be a tad ridiculous here, the two MC's did have chemistry, for what it was worth and the sex, as it usually is with A.E. Wasp, was super hot ;).
Overall a fun story, though.
THE PROFESSIONAL GAMER AND THE PARANORMAL PHOTOGRAPHER by Alison Hendricks - ☆☆☆☆
I enjoyed this one. It was the complete opposite of the first story, though. No insta-love to be had here. Actually the date was not going well at all. But eventually these two made it work and actually turned out to be quite sweet together, with some great chemistry.
THE ASSASSIN AND THE DOG WALKER by Charlie Cochet - ☆☆☆☆☆
I loved this one. Cochet always manages to make me laugh and this one was no different, and at the same time she brings in the feels. She even managed to have another couple in the background seem like a real possibility and I wanted a story for them pronto ;).
THE CRIMINAL AND THE SOMMELIER by Chris Owen - SKIPPED
THE SUPERHERO AND THE NSA AGENT by Hailey Turner - ☆☆☆☆
I really enjoyed this one. It was sweet and cute and heartwarming. Also, it was interesting to read Hailey Turner's writing outside of the metahuman world she's created for that wonderful series. Still had some involvement with crime/law enforcement though which was fun.
THE TATTOO ARTIST AND THE WRITER by Lily Morton - ☆☆☆☆☆
I love Lily Morton and I loved this one. It was my favorite story of all these short stories. Morton was able to give these two a great, built in connection with them having been best friends all their lives, and why they never got together earlier was given a believable reason. These two had great chemistry together as well and this was the story I was most riveted to. Loved it.
THE UBER DRIVER AND THE PHONE SEX OPERATOR by Lucy Lennox - ☆☆☆☆
I liked this one. It didn't really touch on the Heart2Heart connection that much, though, and I feel like the story would be more aptly name "the two dancers" or something like that, because there wasn't much of them being an uber driver or a phone sex operator in this story at all.
Still a fun read and I liked their connection. They were good together. I still liked this one overall. Fun story :)
THE BAKER AND THE SEAL by May Archer - ☆☆☆☆ and a half stars, rounded down to four stars.
This was a fun one and written by one of my favorite new authors, May Archer. I really liked this one, and despite the silly, manufactured misunderstanding in the beginning, it worked out for the best because the misunderstanding didn't drag out and it didn't create a super amount of unnecessary drama, and it was actually kind of a fun misunderstanding. Unnecessary, definitely. But it was still fun.
And these two had a connection I felt and enjoyed a lot.
THE EVENT PLANNER AND THE ELECTRICIAN by Poppy Dennison - ☆☆
This was my first work of this author's that I've read and it didn't go well. I liked at first when it had a potential meet cute - Harvey is the electrician called in to where Theo works to help, Theo is on a ladder and falls and Harvey goes to catch him - but instead of him falling into his arms and them having a moment, Theo accidentally elbows Harvey in the nose and breaks it. Ouch. But probably more realistic than the swoon worthy romantic scene I was expecting.
I thought it was going well at first, but in this case even with the realness, these two didn't have a connection right off the bat, and continued not to have a connection through their date - and it didn't help when we were mostly told that they had fun and were talking without actually seeing any of it. Even when the previous stories did something like that, it had a balance of scenes where the characters were connecting. This didn't.
I found myself skimming it - especially the sex scene, even - and this was a short story. It just wasn't holding my interest. Then Theo was rude and indignant to Harvey over basically nothing and then Harvey had to be the one to apologize? And Theo's friend/boss acting like Harvey was in the wrong too? Like? This nice, kind guy did nothing and Theo was judging him for things he hadn't even done - and Harvey was the one who had to apologize?
Theo didn't want an older guy he was dating to look at how old he was and to judge him for his age - then maybe he shouldn't act so immature? Jesus.
Not a fan of this one.
THE LAWYER AND THE LOBSTERMAN by Ruthie Luhnow - ☆☆☆☆
This was also a new-to-me author but this went a lot better than the last story. I really enjoyed this and I thought Will and Isaac had a very great connection. This was another "disaster date" that turned out to work. These two made it work and I love stories where two people have nothing in common but they find that connection anyway. I love it because it shows that even if you had almost or nothing in common with someone, if you're able to get along and have chemistry, that doesn't matter. A relationship isn't all about the interests you share, imo.
Definitely enjoyed this one and I may check out this author in the future :D
THE FLORIST AND THE LAWYER by Sloane Kennedy - SKIPPED
THE FALLOUT - ☆☆☆
The fallout to Bailey's accidental screw-up. Ryder, as we come to know his name, was really sweet and kind and perfect for Bailey. They were cute, what little we got of them, and it rounded out all these short stories. The perfect bookend to, well, end the book lol.
Overall a slew of wonderfully enjoyable stories, worth the money - that is for charity, I believe - and worth a read. Definitely recommend :)
Annddd I'm done - reading all these short stories just took me awhile. Now, onward! :D