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A review by knl0819
Heartless by Elsie Silver
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.
0.75
I want to preface this review by saying that this is my second ever single dad romance. I actually read my first one immediately before reading this book. It was learn your lesson by Kandi Steiner and let me tell you it was 10x better than this book. The bones of the two books are practically the same. Both of them are grumpy dad X sunshine live-in Nanny. I started this book excited because I really enjoyed Rhett and Summers‘s book. Unfortunately I did not have a good time and began skimming around 60%. I spoiled the ending for myself on Goodreads and officially DNF at 70%.
From the beginning, I thought Willa was dramatic, but she seemed like a cool girl. However, her biggest downfall for me was cussing around a child. I’m all for speaking to kids like they’re adults and not talking to them like idiots however, to be using swear words around a child under the age of like 12 boggles my mind, especially a kid that isn’t yours.
Cade understandably had a lot of responsibilities and sort of came off a bit rude. I don’t blame him for feeling some type of way towards Willa after he picked up her underwear at a coffee shop and she told him to keep it. I enjoyed Luke as a kiddo and especially Luke and Willa’s relationship. I could see how watching Willa interact with Luke while beginning to see her carefree personality could be a catalyst to Cade’s feelings. But I don’t understand how in two months he was out of control with his attraction to her. I think it was a combination of him being celibate for three years and meeting someone who he was genuinely into. But his inner monologue was insane. I thought I was back reading the off-campus series with a bunch of 20 some things college boys obsessing over some other 20 something college girl. The horned up monologue I can usually move past fairly easily. What I cannot get past are his discussions of Willa’s complexion and his incessant need to remind us that she is 13 years younger than him.
If he wasn’t talking about how young she was, he was talking about how obsessed he was with her paleness. Now 13 years is an age gap I do recognize that but it’s not weird because she’s 25. He was behaving as if she was 18 or freshly out of college or Like he had known her since she was younger. But to meet her at 25 he needs to stop acting like she’s jailbait to him like it’s so creepy. There is an exact scene where cade is says that feeling her breasts is a reminder of how young she is, but he doesn’t let his mind wander there. Like wtf!
My biggest issue is all of these comments about Willa‘s skin complexion. I’m a brown skin, black woman and I have no issues with reading about white characters from white authors. What I do have a problem with is this incessant need to tell us over and over again how pale Willa is. I’ve read a plethora of books and I know that at some point in the book, their skin color, hue, or complexion will be described in someway in the book. I don’t have an issue with that. There were probably over six mentions of Willa’s complexion with the terms milky, creamy, or pale. I’m starting to look at the character sideways and slightly the author sideways. It was starting to give he a racist, and he is into this purified aryan beauty that she had. Honestly, when I saw the term creamy skin for what I felt like was the thousandth time, that was really what told me it’s time to put the book down and give up. Not to mention the fact that I find out that in two months she gets pregnant with this kid and then they get engaged. I know there’s an accident pregnancy book coming, but this was not the book that I was told is accidental pregnancy so the fact that this was a jump scare trope I feel lied to.
For a while, I was like if Willa knew how cade was talking about her skin and weirdly obsessed with her body in this way I felt like she would never be with him, and she would drop him quickly. But honestly, their whole relationship kind of gives white feminism with the racist boyfriend that , she gives a pass.
I am actually excited for the next book and then the pregnancy book because we know that she’s pregnant OK and I also am wanting a reason to not hate winter so because from Summers book she’s a horrible person.
Currently summer is the top girl Willa is at the bottom and the other three girls are in the middle with winter one step above Willa. For the guys, Katie is at the bottom I fear.
From the beginning, I thought Willa was dramatic, but she seemed like a cool girl. However, her biggest downfall for me was cussing around a child. I’m all for speaking to kids like they’re adults and not talking to them like idiots however, to be using swear words around a child under the age of like 12 boggles my mind, especially a kid that isn’t yours.
Cade understandably had a lot of responsibilities and sort of came off a bit rude. I don’t blame him for feeling some type of way towards Willa after he picked up her underwear at a coffee shop and she told him to keep it. I enjoyed Luke as a kiddo and especially Luke and Willa’s relationship. I could see how watching Willa interact with Luke while beginning to see her carefree personality could be a catalyst to Cade’s feelings. But I don’t understand how in two months he was out of control with his attraction to her. I think it was a combination of him being celibate for three years and meeting someone who he was genuinely into. But his inner monologue was insane. I thought I was back reading the off-campus series with a bunch of 20 some things college boys obsessing over some other 20 something college girl. The horned up monologue I can usually move past fairly easily. What I cannot get past are his discussions of Willa’s complexion and his incessant need to remind us that she is 13 years younger than him.
If he wasn’t talking about how young she was, he was talking about how obsessed he was with her paleness. Now 13 years is an age gap I do recognize that but it’s not weird because she’s 25. He was behaving as if she was 18 or freshly out of college or Like he had known her since she was younger. But to meet her at 25 he needs to stop acting like she’s jailbait to him like it’s so creepy. There is an exact scene where cade is says that feeling her breasts is a reminder of how young she is, but he doesn’t let his mind wander there. Like wtf!
My biggest issue is all of these comments about Willa‘s skin complexion. I’m a brown skin, black woman and I have no issues with reading about white characters from white authors. What I do have a problem with is this incessant need to tell us over and over again how pale Willa is. I’ve read a plethora of books and I know that at some point in the book, their skin color, hue, or complexion will be described in someway in the book. I don’t have an issue with that. There were probably over six mentions of Willa’s complexion with the terms milky, creamy, or pale. I’m starting to look at the character sideways and slightly the author sideways. It was starting to give he a racist, and he is into this purified aryan beauty that she had. Honestly, when I saw the term creamy skin for what I felt like was the thousandth time, that was really what told me it’s time to put the book down and give up. Not to mention the fact that I find out that in two months she gets pregnant with this kid and then they get engaged. I know there’s an accident pregnancy book coming, but this was not the book that I was told is accidental pregnancy so the fact that this was a jump scare trope I feel lied to.
For a while, I was like if Willa knew how cade was talking about her skin and weirdly obsessed with her body in this way I felt like she would never be with him, and she would drop him quickly. But honestly, their whole relationship kind of gives white feminism with the racist boyfriend that , she gives a pass.
I am actually excited for the next book and then the pregnancy book because we know that she’s pregnant OK and I also am wanting a reason to not hate winter so because from Summers book she’s a horrible person.
Currently summer is the top girl Willa is at the bottom and the other three girls are in the middle with winter one step above Willa. For the guys, Katie is at the bottom I fear.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Racism
MMC makes the age gap a bigger deal than it needs to be!