You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ratetheromance's Reviews (659)
ATTENTION! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!...
I READ A NOVELLA AND LOVED IT!!!
People, this is big news! Ms. Novella-Hater has finally found her novella soulmate.
JOKE'S ON YOU is part of the Starfish series by Lisa Becker, but can be read as a stand-alone. I loved STARFISH so I think you should read it first, but y'know, you do you.
This book follows Oliver and Rowan as they meet each other while dancing at a gay bar (though neither of these two are gay), have a steamy AF one night stand, and reconnect months later.
As with ALL great romance books, this is so much more than "Boy Meets Girl". Becker perfectly weaves other important parts of life into this story including sexual harassment at work, gifted children, following your passion, and finding people who love you for you. But this book doesn't feel weighed down at all. It's hot plenty of sexy banter and laugh-out-loud moments! I also loved that both of the leads have positive friendships outside of their relationship.
And talk about HOT. Wowza! The steamy scenes will fog your glasses, that's for sure. I loooove these characters and I adored this novella! You HAVE to read it!
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I READ A NOVELLA AND LOVED IT!!!
People, this is big news! Ms. Novella-Hater has finally found her novella soulmate.
JOKE'S ON YOU is part of the Starfish series by Lisa Becker, but can be read as a stand-alone. I loved STARFISH so I think you should read it first, but y'know, you do you.
This book follows Oliver and Rowan as they meet each other while dancing at a gay bar (though neither of these two are gay), have a steamy AF one night stand, and reconnect months later.
As with ALL great romance books, this is so much more than "Boy Meets Girl". Becker perfectly weaves other important parts of life into this story including sexual harassment at work, gifted children, following your passion, and finding people who love you for you. But this book doesn't feel weighed down at all. It's hot plenty of sexy banter and laugh-out-loud moments! I also loved that both of the leads have positive friendships outside of their relationship.
And talk about HOT. Wowza! The steamy scenes will fog your glasses, that's for sure. I loooove these characters and I adored this novella! You HAVE to read it!
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
This book deserves 4 stars if you frame it as Women's Fiction, but it is very light on actual romance. It's a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion and it's a fresh take. But I wasn't swooning and I didn't find myself particularly engaged.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I can't win this month with my reading list! I have three major issues with this book.
(1) The story actually started out well and then got incredibly slow and was overly long. There were entire chapters that could have been cut. The editor could have axed 100 pages and the book would gave been better for it.
(2) These characters are in their 20's and they all speak like 80 year olds. It was so odd to read. Starting sentences with "You see, ..." and saying "She's a young thing and she's eight months pregnant." or "They were dressed up real fine...". All of the dialog feels like it is written by an older woman who has no idea how 20-somethings speak.
(3) The female lead is struggling with wether or not she should share her abusive childhood with her boyfriend. Will it scare him off? Will he consider her "broken"? She turns to a mentor for advise and the mentor basically tells her she shouldn't share that part of her past with those she loves. WTAF? This is an outdated and emotionally harmful stance and should not be in this book. Holding back and keeping secret large chunks of your life experiences from someone you are in a serious and committed relationship with is a horrible idea. It supposes that revealing that about your past makes you less lovable in some way. Or that your partner can't handle knowing the real you, only the easy and positive parts of your life experience. Need I say that not only is this utter bulls*it, but it's also really unhealthy, both for the individual and the relationship.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
(1) The story actually started out well and then got incredibly slow and was overly long. There were entire chapters that could have been cut. The editor could have axed 100 pages and the book would gave been better for it.
(2) These characters are in their 20's and they all speak like 80 year olds. It was so odd to read. Starting sentences with "You see, ..." and saying "She's a young thing and she's eight months pregnant." or "They were dressed up real fine...". All of the dialog feels like it is written by an older woman who has no idea how 20-somethings speak.
(3) The female lead is struggling with wether or not she should share her abusive childhood with her boyfriend. Will it scare him off? Will he consider her "broken"? She turns to a mentor for advise and the mentor basically tells her she shouldn't share that part of her past with those she loves. WTAF? This is an outdated and emotionally harmful stance and should not be in this book. Holding back and keeping secret large chunks of your life experiences from someone you are in a serious and committed relationship with is a horrible idea. It supposes that revealing that about your past makes you less lovable in some way. Or that your partner can't handle knowing the real you, only the easy and positive parts of your life experience. Need I say that not only is this utter bulls*it, but it's also really unhealthy, both for the individual and the relationship.
I received an ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I'm not usually a fan of novellas, but I just loved this book! Why? Because the author seamlessly blended the love story with heat, romance, and the main character being paralyzed.
I learned so much about paralysis and the challenges that comes with, both emotionally, sexually, and physically. But this book never feels preachy or tragically sad. Instead we get heat and sizzle and real life along with a sweet love story.
This is definitely a novella I would recommend!
I learned so much about paralysis and the challenges that comes with, both emotionally, sexually, and physically. But this book never feels preachy or tragically sad. Instead we get heat and sizzle and real life along with a sweet love story.
This is definitely a novella I would recommend!
I thought to myself, "Well, surely I'm almost done with this book!" and when I glanced down I was at 63%. Then I gave up.
Now, why would I give more than 1 star to a DNF? Because the characters are well-written and the book is good—it was just way too slow for ME. I could easily see another reader loving this book and liking the slower pacing.
Now, why would I give more than 1 star to a DNF? Because the characters are well-written and the book is good—it was just way too slow for ME. I could easily see another reader loving this book and liking the slower pacing.
3.5 STARS
Listen, I loooove smut. Love it. But I love story and emotional connection and conversations between leads that make the smut that much better. This book is seriously 40% descriptive sex scenes. And that's a problem because there's almost nothing else to create a believable foundation for this relationship.
These characters have almost no discernible personalities. We know pretty much nothing about them. They are likable, but there's no depth.
This is an okay book and would be a good, light, beach read, but there's nothing new or fresh about the story and nothing memorable about these characters.
Listen, I loooove smut. Love it. But I love story and emotional connection and conversations between leads that make the smut that much better. This book is seriously 40% descriptive sex scenes. And that's a problem because there's almost nothing else to create a believable foundation for this relationship.
These characters have almost no discernible personalities. We know pretty much nothing about them. They are likable, but there's no depth.
This is an okay book and would be a good, light, beach read, but there's nothing new or fresh about the story and nothing memorable about these characters.
This book only gets 3-1/2 stars from me.
Stop hating me.
I know you loved it, just hear me out.
Everything here was so right. The story, characters, dialog, diversity, laughs, good writing...BUT...where was the chemistry? By 40% through the book the main characters were finally friends. But, besides the occasional times when Hazel expressed how attractive Josh was, there was no sizzle.
Yes, we knew they were best friends. We knew they enjoyed each others' company. But what else? I was missing sexual tension. This felt like friends with benefits who suddenly said they were in love. I just wished there were more tingling touches, stolen glances, almost kisses.
It just felt choppy and surface-level to me.
RATING:⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
STEAM LEVEL: Rated R
Stop hating me.
I know you loved it, just hear me out.
Everything here was so right. The story, characters, dialog, diversity, laughs, good writing...BUT...where was the chemistry? By 40% through the book the main characters were finally friends. But, besides the occasional times when Hazel expressed how attractive Josh was, there was no sizzle.
Yes, we knew they were best friends. We knew they enjoyed each others' company. But what else? I was missing sexual tension. This felt like friends with benefits who suddenly said they were in love. I just wished there were more tingling touches, stolen glances, almost kisses.
It just felt choppy and surface-level to me.
RATING:⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
STEAM LEVEL: Rated R
This book was perfectly fine. And that's all I can really say about it. It was FINE.
Everything here feels like an assembly line of romance novel parts that are strung together in working order, but there's nothing more. Nothing new. Nothing fresh or memorable.
It's a decent way to pass an afternoon (it's fewer than 200 pages long), but the moment you close that back cover you'll never think of this story or these characters again.
Everything here feels like an assembly line of romance novel parts that are strung together in working order, but there's nothing more. Nothing new. Nothing fresh or memorable.
It's a decent way to pass an afternoon (it's fewer than 200 pages long), but the moment you close that back cover you'll never think of this story or these characters again.
It's hard to give this book a proper review. The beginning is just......so......slow.......I know, character development and all that, but PEOPLE, I almost entered a coma. The ONLY THING that kept me going was the assurance from my bookstagram friends that this would all be worth it.
It WAS worth it, but I'm still ridiculously indignant about the first half. This book hard core FAILED my 30% rule. The main characters don't even meet until 40% through the book and forget about any chemistry before then. And yet, still a book worth reading.
The SECOND half of this book is wonderful! There is decent chemistry, a great story, wonderful friendships, and a very realistic happy ending. I really wish an editor had axed 25% of the beginning of this book, but you should still read it.
STEAM LEVEL: Rated PG-13
♥️ Did you read this book? What did you think of the pacing?
It WAS worth it, but I'm still ridiculously indignant about the first half. This book hard core FAILED my 30% rule. The main characters don't even meet until 40% through the book and forget about any chemistry before then. And yet, still a book worth reading.
The SECOND half of this book is wonderful! There is decent chemistry, a great story, wonderful friendships, and a very realistic happy ending. I really wish an editor had axed 25% of the beginning of this book, but you should still read it.
STEAM LEVEL: Rated PG-13
♥️ Did you read this book? What did you think of the pacing?