I received this book as an ARC. Unfortunately, I’m nothing if not honest, so here goes…
I found this book very uneventful. The only moment of exposition happened in the first chapter of FMC being cheated on. My thoughts are out of order but this is how they came to me as I was writing this out.
- The nicknames gave me the ick and were SO overused. Then the “explanation” of “Mia Lia” came at like 75% in of the book and that was obvious, explanation not needed.
- There were a TON of typos and grammatical errors- including details that didn’t match up (I.e. MMC picked up FMC for the gala with a driver, then got clothes from his truck that was somehow there?) and why was so much of the book italicized? Half the time “mia Lia” was capitalized, the other half it wasn’t, all while being used the same way.
- There was no storyline/ plot. Where are the character back stories? Why is the only thing mentioned about either past having to do with a sports injury or crazy ex? What else could have been added to show character development and depth? What’s the real reason mom and Lia weren’t close? Then they suddenly were again because she stopped wearing boots her mom didn’t like? Odd.
- Once FMC and MMC got together, that was it for the whole story.
- MMC POV was not believable as a male point of view at many points in the story.
- Ex-fiancé came crawling back, got rejected, spewed gross names and made gross comments. Shocking. Saw it coming in the first chapter. MMC left his job and because a baseball coach, saw it coming as soon as he left the firm and talked about his baseball injury.
- What was the purpose of the breaking news crime snippet at the end? Almost had me thinking Lia had a double life or Liam left Amber and she went nuts, but nope, it was just random.
- Intentionally referencing things from the beginning of the book wasn’t necessary- we read it, we remember that it happened. No need for “referring to ___ event from (beginning of book)”
- Why was being cheated on and having a crappy boyfriend written as such deep rooted trauma without more to it? No, I’m not diminishing trauma and everyone responds differently to it- I’m just saying the extreme way it was described didn’t match what we saw throughout. Fiancé had been controlling and annoying but it would have made more sense if he had been worse “behind closed doors” or alienated her from friends and family, or if we had seen more of their story together, more than a few gestures that made FMC wildly rage in secret.
- How many times does “rising like a phoenix from the ashes” have to be mentioned? And transformation? And rising from what really?
- A lot of the writing was repetitive, or extreme (I.e. very large emotions and feelings that didn’t match the situation) or had random explanations that weren’t needed.
- Why was there so much “we can’t do this, we’re fighting what we’re feeling so hard, I’ll only be happy if they’re happy even if it’s not with me?” No true explanation was given as a reason to keep them apart. So she is his old friend’s ex? MMC dropped the friend in the very beginning and yes, FMC needed space to figure things out but if it was clear they were both interested, but both said “we can’t” what’s the reason?
- Sex scenes were even odd- mind blowing nipple licking, then being seemingly satisfied? “Hold me!” Two seconds after finishing? A lot just gave me the ick.
I had high hopes for this story but I found myself not wanting to finish it, having to reread pages because I couldn’t stay interested and just hoping for a story to come to fruition and it didn’t.
I loved the reference of OTH and one of the sex jokes at the end made me laugh, but that’s all I have.