shaylee_reads's reviews
207 reviews

Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

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funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Ratings: 
Plot:⭐⭐⭐/5
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐.75/5
Sadness: 0/5 
Romance:❤️❤️❤️/5
Tropes: Friends To Lovers

Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan are about Sixteen-year-old Josie who is incurably smart in all things especially languages, not just English and Latin (and many others) but also languages like high school, college, friends, and many more but one language she struggles with is love. When Josie's old sister announces that she is engaged to a boy that Josie absolutely hates, Josie is unable to think of the wedding as anything but a mistake. 
With these new revelations that Josie may not 100% understand the Language of love, Josie is forced to look inside herself and has to figure out not only what love truly is but what love means to her. 

In my opinion, the biggest strong point of this book is the pacing and writing, I was not expecting to read this book as fast as I did, I had read this book in almost exclusively (I read a couple of pages at home) at work and had finished it in two shifts. The way this book is written just makes it so easy to zoom through it, the writing is truly addictive and one of my favorite parts of this book. 
This book was also incredibly funny, I was laughing throughout the whole book. 

The main character Josie is an incredibly smart person which means at some moments I felt like a complete idiot but I really enjoyed the way the author wrote Josie and the inner workings of her brain. I am going, to be honest, Josie did get on my nerves quite often with the fact that she wouldn't listen to anyone about her feeling about her upcoming sister's wedding and was making everything about her. It also frustrated me so much the way she treated her sister's fiancé and how she kept talking about why she didn’t like him versus trying to truly look and figure out why her sister loves him.  
Josie's best friend Stu is by far my favorite character throughout the whole book, every time he was in a scene, I was laughing throughout the whole scene. I do wish there was a lot more of him in the book because, for someone who is supposed to be Josie's best friend, there weren’t a lot of scenes with him in them. 

Speaking of Stu, Josie and his relationship was basically the whole reason I was reading this book (I’m a sucker for a good friends to lovers book) and though I do think they are really cute together, I don’t think we got enough scenes of them together for me to truly fall in love with them. For the first half of this book, I honestly thought I had been lied to about the friends to lovers plot because I thought her love interest was going to be Stefan because he had way more scenes in the book than Stu did and seemed to spend way more time with Josie then Stu did. 
Speaking of this in my opinion Josie seemed to be close with Stu’s sister Sophie because Josie spent way more time with her than with Stu. Even when she was hanging out with Stu, Sophie still showed up and it seemed that it would turn into her and Sophie hanging out. She even texted and talked to Sophie WAY more. 
Overall, I wish Josie and Stu’s relationship had been a little more developed and that we got more scenes with Josie and Stu together. 

Finally, the last thing I want to talk about is Josie's parents, who frustrated the crap out of me! It bugged me so much that not once did they try and help the girls work through their problems. They never sat down with Josie and explained why the way she is acting towards her sister and her fiancé is not okay, they never once tried to help her see why Kate was acting the way she is. 
It also frustrated me that they never talked to Kate about how some of the comments she was making towards Josie's appearance could be hurtful towards Josie. They never told Kate that just because she is stressed out about her wedding doesn’t mean she can be rude to people. 
There were just so many moments that they weren’t doing the things that a parent should have done and helped their daughters work out their issues with each other. Also for her dad to be someone who works with children’s minds, he really couldn’t see that his daughter is most likely has ASD and she was acting the way she was acting was because of all the changes in her life. 
Overall, I quite enjoyed this book and the writing, I would be interested in reading her other books
All the Lies by S.T. Abby

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has fucked me up... I'm not ready for it to be over! 
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Paint It All Red by S.T. Abby

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Well... It's done. I don't know what to do with my life anymore. I think this might be my favorite series of all time. 
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Just One Day by Gayle Forman

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ratings: 
Plot:⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Overall:⭐⭐⭐.75/5 
Romance:❤️❤️❤️❤️/5 
Diversity: A POC and queer side character. 
Tropes: One day romance 
Just One Day by Gayle Forman is the first book in the Just One Duology and it follows Allyson Healey, who is on a trip exploring Europe when one day she meets a young Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, who is the exact opposite of Allyson- A laid back, traveler, who never stays in the same place for too long, and is always up for an adventure- Willem convinces Allyson to come with him to Paris for just one day. After a day of romance and adventure Allyson wakes up to find Willem is gone and she is all alone in a place that she has never been. After a year of trying and failing to get Willem out of her head, Allyson decides to go back to Paris and try to find Willem or at least some answer. 
I went into this book expecting a cute romance in Paris but no instead I found a book not only about finding lost love but finding yourself. Just One Day tells a very important story about a young girl who came to realize that she wasn’t truly being herself but instead was being the person that her parents wanted her to be. This book is a story about finding out who you truly are and who you want to be, which I had not expected but loved the surprise aspect of this book. 
Don’t get me wrong there is defiantly some romance in this book which I had adored though it really isn’t the main focus of the book which I honestly enjoyed, I enjoyed watching not only their relationship growing but also watching them grow. Forman really knows how to write a romance that you just can’t help but swoon for. 
I have read one other book by Gayle Forman, I Was Here, and though that wasn’t my favorite book I've read there are two things that I enjoyed a lot about Forman’s writing was first the romance and second was the fact that she didn’t shy away from talking about sex. I’ve noticed that in a lot of YA books the authors don’t really talk about sex and when they do they shy away from it which honestly doesn’t make sense to me because all of us have been teenagers once and we are all fully aware that most teenagers are either having sex or know a lot about it. I’m not saying that YA authors need to have graphic sex scenes in their books but I do think that it's important that they at least talk about it because ultimately that is the reality of life, teenagers aren't oblivious to sex honestly it's quite the opposite. 
The only thing that I disliked about this book is the ending, honestly, I was disappointed in the ending or the lack of one, I just wish we had gotten more at the end. 
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and had gotten a lot more out of it than I had expected and honestly after finishing I Was Here by Gayle Forman and not loving it, I didn’t really have any plans to read her other books but this book has changed my mind. I am definitely going to pick up some of her other books in the future. I think this book is a really cute romance that is perfect for the summertime. 
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Claimed By Cupid by Dana Isaly

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.0

 
Update 3/4/2022
I really hate that I have to write this right now because I really enjoyed this book and all of Dana Isaly other works that I have read but because of some information that has come to light about the author, I have decided that I can't with good conscience continue to read and support her.
Because of this, I have also decided to lower the rating of this book from 4 stars to 0 star and I will not be reading any of her future works. 

Ratings: 
Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Overall:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Sadness:0/5 
Romance:❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️/5 
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 
Diversity: Midsized main female character 
Tropes: Age Gap and Daddy Kink. 
Content Warnings: Graphic sex, Rough sex, and some BDSM elements. 
Claimed by Cupid by Dana Isly is the second book in the novella series Nick and Holly and as you can assume it follows Nick and Holly during the Valentine's day holiday and it shows you all of the steamy things they get up to during V-day. 
After reading the first book in this little series during the Christmas series, I was really excited to see what else Isly wrote about this cute little couple that I absolutely love and I was not disappointed. Dana Isly does a great job at writing cute and steamy novellas that are all less than 100 pages but is also still able to include a good amount of character and romance development. 
Overall, I think this is a really cute, quick, and steamy read that is perfect for Valentine's day. I’m really enjoying reading all of the little novellas that Dana Isly comes out with and I’m really excited to see what she does with the rest of Nick and Holly's story. 
Two For Roughing by Lasairiona McMaster

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 Ratings: 
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐.75/5 
Sadness: 💧💧/5 
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 
Diversity: Bisexual main character 
Tropes: Hockey Romance, Brothers Best Friend/Best Friends Little Sister, Forbidden Relationship, Friends To Lovers, Secret Dating, Pining, Slow Burn(ish). 
Content Warnings: Child Abuse, Abandonment, Death Of A Child/Brother, and Mental Health. 
Two for Roughing by Lasairiona E. McMaster is the third book in the Snow Pirates series (A standalone series) and it follows Molly who has been in love with her brother's best friend-Finn- since they meet in high school and Finn feels the same way about her. So what's keeping them apart you ask well Molly's brother and Finn's best friends Will of course. Will has forbidden any of the guys on his hockey team to even look at Molly so when their love for each other becomes too hard to resist, Molly and Finn enter into a secret relationship. 
This book is a really hard book for me to rate because I absolutely loved almost everything in this book but there’s one thing holding me back from giving it a full four stars and that is the pacing. For some reason it took me forever to get through this book (granted I got strep throat a week or two ago and wasn’t reading that much) I can normally read a book like this in 2-3 days but for some reason, this book took me 20 days to read. I just never really felt a need to continue reading, there wasn't a moment where it was hard to put the book down and I never really felt an urgency to pick it back up again. 
I feel as though another reason I struggled with getting through this book was that it's more of a slow-burn romance which honestly isn't my favorite. I just have a really short attention span (thank you ADHD) and one way that is for sure to get my attention and keep it is a steamy romance and I find it hard to stay engaged with a book when those elements don’t really come in until later in the book. 
That being said, I absolutely adored everything else in this book. I had already grown to love Molly from when we saw her in the previous books in this series and this book just made me love her more! I love how much of strong independent character she is and how she isn’t afraid of her sexuality and expressing it. This book has such a powerful message about ‘her body, her choice’ and how a woman shouldn’t be afraid to love sex and shouldn't be shamed for loving it and having an active sex life. I also loved how Molly being bisexual wasn’t made to be a big deal, a lot of authors feel the need to shove that they have LGBTQIA+ representation in their novels, they like to be like “Hey look I have a bisexual character! I support the LGBTQIA+! I’M AN ALLY!!”. That wasn’t a problem in this book, Molly’s sexuality was talked about but wasn’t shoved in your face every five pages. As a bisexual person (technically, I’m pansexual but you know..) I really appreciated that subtle representation. 
Next, let's talk about Finn. Finn has to be one of my favorite male characters from Lasairiona books. I loved how much of a gentleman and romantic he is, I loved how he respected Molly and was always encouraging her to be 100% herself. I also loved how he understood that he might not always be able to give Molly what she needed in bed and that she might need to do some... spicy stuff with other people. He was also so supportive of her sexuality and her being able to express it. I also loved how he didn't let anybody talk shit about her and was always standing up for her even against her brother who is his best friend. 
Finn’s backstory broke my heart and I really loved the little side story we get of him and his mother. I loved watching their relationship mend and grow, It showed that if you reach out and actually try to mend something you broke, forgiveness might not be impossible as long as you try. 
I absolutely adored the relationship between Finn and Molly’s parents. It really showed that family isn’t just blood, it’s the people who care for you like you are blood. I loved that moment where Mr. Mo told Finn that no matter what they will always see him as a son and he will always have a home with them. It just really warmed my heart to see two people offer a home to someone who didn’t really have one and love and protect him like he was their own. 
“Don’t dare talk to me about your deepest darkest fantasies, Molly Morison. Not unless you want me to make them come true. Because I will.” 
Like I said earlier I liked how much of a gentlemen Finn is but I also loved the very dirty side of him. Lasairiona was not kidding when she said Finn was a very dirty man and I loved every minute of it. 
Honestly, I think this book had some of the best sex scenes I’ve read from Lasairiona and I absolutely devoured them. I honestly wish there was more of them, I was actually kinda shocked by the fact that there wasn’t a ton of sex scenes in this book because from what I knew about Molly and Finn from the last two books I had expected there to be a ton more sex scenes but I liked that about it because it showed not only to the readers but to Will that their relationship wasn’t just about sex and that they really did love each other and was in it for the long hall. 
Speaking about Will, let’s talk about him... I liked that he went against what captains of a hockey team are normally depicted like in other hockey romances. Will is nerdy, isn’t smooth-talking, struggles talking to girls, doesn’t have a lot of friends, and isn’t a very tough person which you normally don’t see that in character in hockey romances especially when it comes to captains so at first I really like Will (I still do like him) but then I started to dislike him the farther I got into the book. I honestly understand where he was coming from with the whole Molly and Finn thing, When two people who are really important to you start dating it can be scary because if the relationship doesn’t work out you might have to choose between two people you care about dearly but it’s also very clear that he went about it in a TOTALLY wrong way. Though I REALLY disliked Will at that moment, I do like that he realized that what he said to Molly wasn’t okay and had apologized to her and even had a mature conversation about why he felt the way he did. That being said I do really wish we had an actual conversation between Will and Finn after he apologized to Molly, a moment where Finn could tell Will how much he cares about Molly and that he isn’t going to do anything to hurt her and Will could tell Finn his fears and have Finn be like “I’m not going anywhere”, I think that really would have strengthened their relationship. Even though Will definitely got on my nerves, I’m still really excited to get his book because I know Lasairiona is definitely going to make me love him. 
Lastly, let’s talk about the writing. One thing I have loved about reading this series is seeing the growth in the writing, its amazing to see the writing just get better and better with each book and it really proves that saying “practice makes perfect”. Lasairiona is a really big inspiration to me because she proves to me that with practice one day I too can become a published author and put out great works of writing someday. 
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what Lasairiona does with the rest of this series and in her writing career. 
Secrets We Hunt by Dana Isaly

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.0

 Update: I have lowered all of my reviews by this author to zero stars due to the fact that I no longer wish to support this author. I will not be reading any of her future books and I strongly suggest doing some research into this author and her actions before deciding to pick this book up. 
 

Plot:⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐/5
Spicy:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 
Tropes: Second Chance, Friends To Lover
Content Warnings: Sexual Assault (Past) and Graphic Violence

Secrets We Hunt by Dana Isly is the second book in One Night series and follows Wes who used to be best friends with a girl named Zoë until one day she disappeared from his life. Eight years later while at the wedding of one of his best friends, he and Zoë are reunited and Wes is determined to figure out why she ran from him all those years ago. 

I'm disappointed that I didn't love this book especially because I loved the first one in the series and I've loved every other book I've read by the author. 

The main flaw in this book was the pacing, it went from Wes seeing Zoë for the first time in eight years to him having his hand down her underwear in just a couple pages. It felt as though I had skipped the first hundred pages in a book and I was so confused and felt like I was missing something even though I wasn't. It just felt super insta lovey. 
Another thing was the sexual assault storyline, it honestly just felt like it was only there for shock value versus it actually being there to progress the story and character. If it had been removed from the story nothing would have really changed, it was just unnecessary. 
Honestly I was more interested in what was happening with Owen and Pyro then the actual story. 

Overall, did I absolutely love this book? No. Am I going to read the next one? Yes. 
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Two for Holding by Lasairiona McMaster

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.75

Plot:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Romance:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Diversity:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐⭐.75/5
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Two for Holding is the second book in Snow Pirates Series and it follows Russel Stewart who is a hockey player and a single dad to his two year old daughter Jude and Sabrina Sharma who is an Indian-American college student. This book tells a story about single dad learning to give up control and trust again after his last girlfriend left him and their daughter. 

I absolutely adored this book! I had expected to give this book three stars like I did for the first book in this series but this book blew me away with home much I loved it. Even though this book wasn't published that long after the first one, there was a world of difference between this book and the first one. The author's writing skills had improved so much in this book and I could really see that she has worked hard on developing her skills. 

The sexy scenes in this book were on a whole different level than the last book, there were definitely quite a few of them and I found that they were written very well. 

One of my favorite things discussed in this book was the importance of setting healthy boundaries especially with your loved ones. It also shows how even though they are your family it doesn't give them a right to treat you like shit and to not respect the boundaries you put in place. 

This book was also hilarious, I was dying of laughter throughout this entire book especially when the team was involved! Here are some of my favorite lines from this book that killed me with how funny they where: 

"Else that shit and just let it the fuck go" 
That's how you know Russell is a dad because even during sexy times he's still thinking about freaking Frozen. 

" "It's just a bit of fun. He doesn't do serious"
"and other lie we tell ourselves, by Sabrina Sharma" " 
God Quinn kills me! 

"Quinn had written another note on the pad. I've licked Captain America. He's mine. You can't have him. She shrugged and whispered, "I don't make the rules" " 

The next scene 
"I can see why Quinn licked him." 

There's just so many hilarious scenes and lines throughout this book and I love it. 

I really enjoyed how the team played a bigger role in this book and we got a lot more scenes with not only the team but with the team playing hockey. This book did a great job balancing romance and hockey. We got to get to know some of the other men on the team, especially Finn who we saw a lot of in this book. This book did a really good job of letting us get to know Finn a little more and setting up his book (which is the next book!) and I'm really excited to get to know him more. 

In the first book I found that I didn't really feel a connection with the characters and their relationship but that was not the case with this one! I felt like the author spent a lot more time developing the characters and the romance between the two. I felt like I truly did know the characters and they felt a lot more fleshed out and more third dimensional. 
The character development in this book was so well done, especially Russells. It was really nice watching these characters grow and work through some of the bad habits they have.
I have so much love for these characters and when the book came to the end, I just wanted more of them and their love story. 

Sabrina was the best character in this whole book and I love her with my whole heart! She was so incredibly sweet, caring, and just wanted to help anyone in any way she could. She was so relatable especially with her anxiety and I just completely fell in love with her. I loved watching her grow throughout this book and watching her learn how to stand up for herself and that it is completely okay to set boundaries even with the people that you love. 
I absolutely loved her relationship with Jude, the way she acted towards Jude really warmed my heart. She cared for Jude so much and wasn't afraid to show it! The fact that Jude loved her back just as much made me so freaking happy. 

I didn't think I could love someone as much as I loved Lincoln from the first book but then Russell came along and was like "hold my beer". I have no idea why I loved Russell so much especially with how much he bugged me in this book with the fact that he was completely unable to see how his actions affected and hurt Sabrina and I really wanted to give him a good kick in his ass for how he treated Sabrina at times. I don't know, there was just something about him that made me love him… I guess I just have a thing for hard guys who can be assholes sometimes. Maybe it's the fact that he's a single dad and I love reading about men who are all hard on the outside but then are so freaking sweet with their daughters l. 
I loved watching Russells character development and watching him work through the trauma that was left from his father and Jude's mom. Seeing him learn to trust Sabrina and let her in was honestly very beautiful and it made me very happy to see him get to that place. 

The romance between Sabrina and Russell was to die for! I absolutely loved watching them fall in love. I really like the pacing of their romance and even though they do kiss pretty soon into the book, it didn't feel like it was rushed because there was history between the two that had been established really well. 

I'm gonna be honest there were multiple times in this book where I had thought their relationship wasn't very healthy but you could tell that they both really care about each other and wanted to make things work, they just needed to work on their own personal issues outside of their relationship. This book did a great job showing that balance between their relationship and them dealing with their personal problems and it showed how as they worked on these issues their relationship was stronger for it and became a lot more healthy. 
I love how this book showed that just because at times a relationship may be unhealthy, it doesn't mean that it can't get better and that there's no way those two could be together. As long as those two people are aware of their unhealthy habits and actively working on them and getting better, that relationship could turn into a very loving and healthy one. 

Even though at moments in this book Russell was a big asshole towards Sabrina, I loved how he had helped her stand up to her family and was there for her through it all. I loved how he helped Sabrina to learn that setting healthy boundaries is extremely important especially with your family who are more likely not to respect them.
Lastly, Russell's grand gesture at the end was amazing.  

There's only one thing that I can think of that I didn't like in this book was the argument Sabrina and Russell have about her showing the movie Onward to Jude. I get where Russell was coming from but I also feel like he was overreacting and it felt like a stupid reason to get mad at someone who doesn't really know alot about your situation. 

Overall, I absolutely loved this book! It has definitely made it up there as one of my favorite hockey romances I have read and I'm extremely excited for the rest of the series. 

Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC for an honest review. 
Two for Interference by Lasairiona McMaster

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Ratings:
Plot:⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Romance:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Diversity:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐.75/5
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Two for Interference is the first book in the Snow Pirates Series, a new adult college hockey romance (each book in the series follows a new player on the hockey team. You can read them as standalones but they all do connect with each other). Two for Interference follows Cleo and Lincoln and how after Lincoln texts her under the belief that she is someone else, the unlikely two end up having a conversation which then develops into something more. Two for Interference tells a story about how two people who both believe that the other is completely out of their league might actually be the perfect match. 

Just to be upfront about everything, I was contacted by the author on TikTok about being on her ARC team for the next book (Two For Holding coming out Nov.18th) but all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. 

I had never read a book by this author but I am a whore for hockey romances so as you can assume I was extremely excited to read this book and it didn't disappoint. If I'm gonna be honest I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I really enjoyed the writing in this and the spicy scenes were fantastic. I absolutely loved the characters and the romance between Cleo and Linc. 

I really enjoyed the diversity in this book. Cleo is a person of color (she's latina) and is on the bigger side. I loved how this book showed that just because you are on the bigger side doesn't mean you are not beautiful and that nobody is going to want you. 

Mrs.McMaster needs to apologize for making Lincoln Scott the wonderful boyfriend and man that he is because he has set my expectations of man WAY too high. I mean come on, this man reads her favorite book, calls her Lizzy because of her favorite book, has no problem reassuring her that she is beautiful and that he wants her whenever she needs to hear it, and he made her a freaking period package!!! That's how we know this book is fiction because NO MAN is EVER going to be as perfect as freaking Lincoln Scott! 
Lasairiona I expect a written apology, you know where to find me hehe. 

I felt that this book was a great start to a hockey series that has the potential to be amazing and be one of my favorite hockey series!

Of course no book is perfect and there were some things that I didn't completely vibe with in this book. Biggest one being it felt rushed at the beginning and there wasn't as much build up to them finding out who each other was as I hoped there would be. I also feel like we didn't get as many scenes between the two of them as we should, it just felt like their relationship wasn't fully developed and that we were missing some scenes between the two.
I wish there were more moments with the team because whenever there was a scene with them, I could not stop laughing and I absolutely loved them but they were rare. I like it when my hockey romances have a good balance between romance and hockey and I felt like this book leaned more on the romance side and I would have enjoyed a little bit more hockey being involved. 
This last thing was very minor but I felt like it was cheesy at times and sometimes the writing was trying a little too hard. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and it was a nice hockey romance to add to my collection. I'm really excited to read the rest of this series and I plan on picking up some of her other books (which are also hockey romances so it's perfect.)
A Worthy Opponent by Katee Robert

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Ratings:
Plot:⭐⭐⭐/5 
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Romance:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Diversity:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall:⭐⭐⭐.5/5
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Tropes & Kinks: Marriage of Convenience Trope, Unrequited Love, BDSM Relationship, BDSM Elements (Pain play, orgasm denial, and Shubari), BDSM Sex Club, and Group Sex (five people)

My Worthy Opponent by Katee Robert is the third book in the Wicked Villain series and it's a modern retelling of Peter Pan. My Worthy Opponent asks the question what if Peter was the bad guy forcing Tink to make a five year long deal with the nitrous Hades, owner of a BDSM sex club called The Underworld but when those five years are up Tink has to figure out how she is going to survive the wrath of Peter without the protection of Hades, forcing Tink to make yet another deal with the only person who can help, Hook. 

I absolutely loved Tink in the first two books so I was incredibly excited to learn more about her and see where her story went. Despite my low rating, I did quite enjoy this book, It just wasn't as good as the last two but before we get to things I didn't really like about this book let's start with what I did. 
One of my biggest pet peeves with Peter Pan retelling is when they skinny wash Tink and I'm so incredibly glad that Katee Robert did not do that. Tink is a confident, curvy girl who loves her body and isn't afraid to show it off but one thing that I also appreciated was the fact that even though Tink is very confident and loves her body, she still has insecurities about her body and those are shown in the story. I have found that in a lot of books featuring confident curvy or plus size girls their insecurities aren't shown and if they are it's not very often, everyone is going to have some type of insecurite no matter the size and that's okay. Sadly a person who is curvy/plus size is more likely to have more insecurities than those who are not and it's important that we show these insecurities and show that everyone has insecurities even those who seem to be very confident in their body and size. I'm really glad that Katee Robert shows Tinks insecurities about certain parts of her body and doesn't let that take away from her confidence because that is such an important thing to show. 
Speaking of Tink and her being plus size, I loved how in love with her body hook was. Even though Hook had known Tink when she was on the skinner side, he still sees her as beautiful now and knows that the size of her body doesn't change how beautiful she is. I loved how every chance he got he said how beautiful she was and how much he loved her body. It was nice to see someone so desperately in love with someone on the bigger side and it made me love hook so much more. 
Speaking of Hook, he had to be my favorite character in this book. Yes Hook is still the hard, powerful person we are so used to seeing but he's also the BIGGEST simp and I love it! Seriously, he was so in love with her and I freaking loved it!Hook was so caring and loving, he cares so much about other people and does everything he can to keep the people he cares about safe and I absolutely loved him! I loved the way he handled Tink's and her trauma, he was always there for her and made sure she had everything she needed. Honestly Hook just deserves the world!! 

I absolutely loved how Tink was basically still the same person we know and love from Disney movies. She is still that strong, sassy, very brat-like person and I absolutely loved her character. I loved how strong she was even through all of the things she has gone through and I loved seeing her development throughout this book!
A big aspect of this book is Tink's past with Peter, who physically and emotionally abused her, and the trauma Tink has from that. I honestly loved the way Katee Robert showed Tink's trauma and how it affected her five years later. I loved watching Tink slowly grow and heal from the past, the development of Tink in this book was really well done. I loved watching slowly start to realize it's okay to let people in and to accept help from the people you love and who love you. I loved watching her slowly realize and deal with the affects Peter's abuse had on and slowly start to come out of the darkness he created over her a long time ago. 

One of my favorite moments is when Tink starts to realize how much the girls at the club care about her and how they have been her friends the whole time and her starting to realize that she wants to be their friend as well. It warmed my heart how much the girls cared about her and were willing to do anything to keep her safe. Also can we just quickly talk about Aurora, she is so freaking sweet and I absolutely loved her and can't wait for her book!

I feel like this book has a little bit more character development than the last two books did. We learn a lot more about Tink and Hooks backstory and I feel like I know not only what happens in this story but also what has happened in the past, it made feel I knew the characters a lot more. Not only do we get character development on Hook and Tink, we also learn more about Gaeton and Beast and their backstory. This book really gave us a hint of what to expect in the next book which follows Gaeton, Beast, and Isabelle (Belle) and I'm really excited for their book (and not just because Beauty and the beast is my favorite Disney movie). 
We also learn more about the territories and how this world runs, we also learn about the different territory leaders. This book definitely added more to the world building and I felt like I knew the world a lot more than I did before. 

Ultimately there is only one problem I had with this book and it's the same problem I had with the last two books and that the conclusion to the overarching problem is solved way too quickly and honestly way too easily. Throughout the whole book we are building up to this big moment, this big showdown between Hook and Peter but than the big climax of this problem not only happens but is solved in the last 10-15 pages of the story, honestly if these books where longer and spend more time developing, building up, and solving the overarching problem, I feel like I would like them a lot more. Overall, I just feel like the problems aren't very thought out or developed as they should be. 
Ultimately, the reason I'm giving this book 3.5 stars is just due to my feelings about this book and not because of any big problems. Overall, I had a great time reading this book but it just wasn't as good as the last two and I just feel like it's a 3.5 read. I hope that makes any sense. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading Tink and Hooks story and I think this book is perfect for people looking for a book with the same vibe as Once Upon A Time season 3 but with spice. 
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