Audrey
I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars but alas, that's not allowed.
Love Scenes is about Sloane Ford, Joseph Donovan, and Sloane's famous family. Sloane is an actress who has been out of work for a while after she was let go as a character on a TV show. She's feeling a bit stuck. However, her famous family hires her to be a sort of production assistant/whatever they need on the set of their movie. Her sister is the director, her step-father is the writer/producer, her mother is a producer/actress, and her brother works on the music. Though she's not excited about her job, as she would rather be acting, she takes the job. Unfortunately, her least favorite former co-star is the male lead of this period romance piece, and he's flopping. She decides it's her job to make sure that he doesn't ruin the movie.
Sloane then becomes the female lead of the movie, due to an unexpected mishap with the lead actress. This forces her to work alongside a very sorry, Joseph. Their story truly begins there.
The family aspect of this book was great, I really enjoyed how it was true to real family life. It's complicated, messy, and sometimes shitty. The aspect of fame adds a great spin to it as well. The author gives flaws to all the family members, including Sloane, which makes it so much more like reality. However, at some points, it became confusing because of how large her family was. Her mother and father had three kids including her. And then her father remarried. Twice, which gave her two different stepmothers, and one half-sister. And then her mother got remarried as well. It seems like some of the family was forgotten at some points in the book and then brought back up again. Also, there were some unresolved conflicts that we see once or twice and then are never brought back up again.
And as for the love story, I liked it. It was an enemies-to-lovers/coworker romance. However, the hatred was one-sided because Joseph had no issue with Sloane. Sloane's hatred does have bearing though as you read on. As she learns more about him, they become friends and slowly start to fall in love. It's a slow burn, but not too slow. And then a bombshell is dropped by Joseph and shit hits the fan. They argue. And they finish the movie cordially but stay away from one another.
We then see Sloane realize a lot about herself and her life, and how broken she really is. After something happens with one of her family members that makes her rethink her life, she meets with Joseph (through her mother's pushes). They rekindle their romance.
I'm happy the two of them ended up together, I am. And I believe they did so in a really healthy way as well. However, I was left wanting more. This book was realistic in its portrayals of the ups and downs of life, yet the ending felt rushed and almost too on the nose. Maybe a view into their future was what I needed.
All that being said, it was a good book with great writing.
DNF @ 10%, thought I'd give it a try even though it's not usually my cup of tea but couldn't get through it
Honestly, this wasn't bad. However, I couldn't finish because my nervous tick started acting up with the different tics that are present in this story. And for my sanity, I didn't finish it.
Paris is Always a Good Idea, right? Chelsea Martin, a workaholic who can't remember when she felt most happy, must answer that herself as she embarks on a trip abroad to “find herself”. She realizes the last time she was truly happy and in love was her post-grad year in Ireland with Colin, Jean Claude in France, and Marcellino in Italy, right before her mother had passed away from cancer.
Chelsea realizes her life has been at a dead end after her father's announcement to remarry, out of the blue, angers her. Her sister's surprising happy reaction for their father, along with a reality check, causes Chelsea to search for that joy she once felt. However, up and leaving isn't as easy as it seems, as she is the top fundraiser for the American Cancer Coalition, and she is the middle of one of the biggest deals for donation yet.
Her boss agrees to let her go, but only if she teams up with her charming, yet annoying and goofy, coworker, Jason Knightley. He enjoys messing with her, which is why she isn't thrilled, but she agrees. Late-night calls about work turn into debriefs of her traveling tales, where she learns that Knightley isn't the idiot she thought he was. Until he unexpectedly shows up in her flat in Paris after she loses her luggage. However, it benefits the two of them, as their client is there as well. The two grow closer, and she starts to question if Knightley is just a coworker anymore.
This book was great! I loved it because it gives Chelsea flaws, she's not the perfect MC that gets boring, she fucks up, and she runs away from shit. Shit, that's good for her. And Jason, he's flawed as well, he doesn't think everything through, which can sometimes lead to issues between the two of them. But I loved them together because they went from enemies to friends to lovers, a natural progression as well. The writing and description of the places she visits are amazing. And the dynamic characters she creates are great as well.
It was a bit of a slow read at first, I had to push through the first couple of chapters, but I am glad I did. I also wished they tied up the loose ends left at the end with Jason and Chelsea, because it seemed like their conflict wasn't 100% resolved, at least in my opinion. However, awesome book!
Diana Casillas's life revolves around two of the sweetest boys in the universe and their antics. Becoming the legal guardian of her nephews may be a lot, but she's got it down pat. And through all the tragedy that has struck their lives, they're happy in their little bubble. Until Dallas comes along.
Dallas Walker is a rough and tumble guy with a past, he's “married” and totally off limits, as Diana told herself. She's not interested in her nephew's new baseball coach/neighbor. He's kind of an asshole as it is, I mean she definitely WAS NOT flirting with him. And her and the boys are happy on their own.
But what's a little neighborly favor? Of combing out lice, helping with a fence, or shooing off unwanted guests. Through Dallas's acts of kindness, Diana realizes that he isn't as bad as she thought, he's loving and so sweet to her and the boys, despite his hard exterior. Will she finally let him into her family?
This book was amazing. It was a SLOW, SLOW burn. And that bugged me at first, however, I pushed through it and I was SO GLAD I did. They are adorable, Dallas is the sweetest gentleman to Diana and so unbelievably in love with her and the boys. The relationship that he has with both of them is beautiful. Their friendship developing first was adorable and so lovely to read.
I appreciated the issues of grief, alcoholism, broken marriages, and the diversity of the cast. A Latina main character, woop woop! Zapata's humor was great, it had me giggling more times than not. I highly reccomend!
So this is the first Colleen Hoover book I've tried. There's so much hype around her so I was excited. But this book? Not it for me. DNF at like 20%. Things happened too fast for me, and while I like complex characters, I didn't find redeeming qualities in Ryle. Lily was okay, I met Atlas for just a second.
I also didn't love how Ryle and Lily had so much angst which was basically built up only meeting each other twice and barely talking with one another. It was entirely unrealistic to me. I want to read another Colleen in the future, but I need recommendations. We'll see if her writing is for me or not.
I liked this book at first but honestly didn't love how he was so possessive. That's why I stopped reading, very unhealthy man to be honest. DNF at 30%.
DNF @ 57% got bored but also I felt like there was no real tension and it all happened too quickly
DNF @ 20% The male characters were aggressive and the MC acted sort of bratty. Good descriptions though! Sad that my first 2023 read wasn't awesome