NJ
After reading [b:The Spanish Love Deception 54189398 The Spanish Love Deception Elena Armas https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610900883l/54189398.SY75.jpg 84555384], I couldn't get through another book with needlessly combative main characters. In both these books, the mcs interaction was almost exactly like thisheroine: I have a problem but I absolutely don't want your helphero: you obviously need my help. Take it!heroine: no, absolutely not!rinse and repeat about 200 times until the hero helps the heroine and then although she's upset it works out in the end.I truly don't understand why these authors kept putting their heroines in positions where the heroes would continually violate their wishes and this was framed as a good thing? In these situations, the heroine is being so needlessly stubborn in the name of feistiness that the heroes' overbearing actions seem like common sense but I hate the implications of this. I'm very uncomfortable when people's explicit wishes are ignored so I particularly hate it when authors construct situations where ignoring someone's wishes is the right thing to do. Don't see myself finishing this.
3.5 stars
There's so much here to like but the last 80% was irritating. The hero keeping his identity a secret from Cori was out of line. I also didn't enjoy that he constantly shamed her about her Met matches. At the end I wasn't really rooting for the hero. however, for a debut this was well-written and generally enjoyable. I will probably pick up Camille Baker's next book.
Admittedly I'm not an expert on Austen but I'm confused by a few of the reviews which state that this was not an authentic Austen retelling. Many of my favourite P&P plot points are covered in this novel:
* Darcy/Wills's cutting comment after the first dance
* Elizabeth/EJ's muddy walk to comfort a sick Jane
* Darcy/Will's letter writing
* the whole Wickham saga etc...
Even when there's a deviation from the original, there's a nod to what was and it feels very intentional. For example, Will doesn't jump straight into telling EJ his feelings in this novel. However, he writes a letter to that effect but is advised against any declarations of love by his sister and Zara for very good reasons. So even though in this respect, it doesn't follow the original text, the author very clearly acknowledges the original P&P plot point.
The Bennet Women is undoubtedly a P&P retelling, it just isn't my favourite. I didn't really connect with the characters. I just couldn't sink into the storyline the way I tend to with a really good romance.
I wanted to like this more but the characters had very little chemistry. By the end of the book I believed they had built a supportive friendship but I struggled to see them in a romantic context. In fact, I found myself rooting for the heroine's other romantic interest, as I felt the author did a better job writing the sexual tension between them.
This romance lacked any sort of depth, especially in the case of the heroine. We saw very little character development from that quarter. Nothing happened to her and for her, that wasn't related in some way to the hero. There was also very little development in the romance department. We saw the hero and heroine have maybe 3 meaningful interactions and suddenly they were in love? The romance was definitely lacklustre.
However, what did work for me was the hero's lack of elite-level talent. Often in sports romances, it feels like every player is a star, especially when they are being pitted against formerly famous parents, the characters always end up on top. It was therefore really refreshing to read a sports romance where the main character was significantly less talented than their family members and had to come to terms with what that meant for them. It was also nice to see the hero eventually succeed in a slightly different arena. I really enjoyed that aspect of this book otherwise it would probably have been a 2 star read for me.
4.5 stars
Mhairi McFarlane's characters are always human in the best possible way. Each of these characters could easily have been a caricature in the hands of a less talented writer. But McFarlane made me empathise and laugh with each of them.
It's interesting to see McFarlane 'wage war' on the idea of the nice guy in her two most recent novels. In both [b:Just Last Night|54870201|Just Last Night|Mhairi McFarlane|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1606106948l/54870201._SY75_.jpg|78642686] and [b:If I Never Met You|51213487|If I Never Met You|Mhairi McFarlane|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595853597l/51213487._SY75_.jpg|71665792], there's a stereotypical good guy whose flaws are not just brushed over due to his niceness. The heroines take them to task and instead end up with the less conventionally pleasant love interest. In both novels (but more so in [b:If I Never Met You|51213487|If I Never Met You|Mhairi McFarlane|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595853597l/51213487._SY75_.jpg|71665792]), Mhairi touches on the cowardice and misogyny that often underlies this nice guy's niceness. But more generally, McFarlane highlights through these 'good guys', how all of us, despite our best intentions (and the lies we tell ourselves) are capable of being harmful, even to the people we claim to love. This idea is buttressed by Susie's betrayal and how Eve has to come to terms with and forgive her for it even in Susie's absence. By the end of the novel Eve still considers Susie her best friend despite the revelation of the 'big bad'.I can't deny that I felt justified when all my reservations about Ed's character were confirmed by the narrative. This would have been a 2-star review if Eve had ended up with Ed. I was so mad at him for the first 80% of the novel but I liked that their friendship did not implode when Eve called him out. It is a testament to Mhairi's character crafting ability that after spending much of the book disliking him, I was happy in the end that Eve didn't totally lose his friendship.
I truly loved this book. I probably won't be rereading it because so much of it was sad and difficult to get through (had to take multiple breaks), but I can't wait to read more McFarlane.
Talia Hibbert is one of the few romance authors who consistently gets me to laugh out loud.
This was the perfect Christmas novella. I'll probably be rereading it in the near future.
Did not enjoy this as much as [b:Dear Emmie Blue 52761268 Dear Emmie Blue Lia Louis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579444175l/52761268.SY75.jpg 73727666]. Was not a fan of all the jokes at the expense of short men.
I actually enjoyed this! I am pleasantly surprised because I haven't enjoyed the past few CL releases.
On reread a month later: 4.5 stars!
Their relationship was so cute
At this point in time, I'm reading for pure escapism and this book just didn't cut it. I didn't enjoy reading about two people whose lives were going awry. I just want to read a nice, fluffy contemporary romance where the main characters were neither close to homelessness nor about to lose their lifelong dream. It was too much. This book made me want to escape into a happier book
4.5 stars
This was wonderfully absurd. It was such a joy to read; I laughed out loud countless times.
This CCJ was not a favorite. Usually if there's OW drama in CCJ's books, she usually humanises the ex, so that her characters don't fall into the crazy ex-girlfriend trope. This was particularly noticeable because while Logan had an ex, who was trying to use her family connections he was redeemed in the end, while the same grace wasn't extended to Pierre's ex. Additionally, I didn't enjoy the surprise pregnancy. I've read much better CCJ's
2.5 stars.
That extra 0.5 star is purely because the last 1/3rd of the book was a great improvement upon the first 2/3rds. This book was frustrating for a few reasons:
1. Flora spent most of the book without a backbone. It's truly surprising she was able to walk anywhere without one. But well, miracles do happen.
2. Jack is probably the most of oblivious man that ever lived. His obliviousness is second only to Flora's spinelessness. There were multiple times in the first half of the book where his daughter was unforgivably rude to Flora but he still insisted that his daughter liked Flora
This book was so sweet. Very little angst and next to no conflict.
It was nice to read a romance about two mature characters who had a lot of stuff to work through, but still managed to treat each other with care and respect.
This book also had positive representations of therapy and a hero who struggled with self-worth but was not a raging asshole.
Overall, there's a lot to like.