I've been the worst ARC reader since I got to London...This was published on September 30th I believe, and I finished the book about 10 minutes ago.
*2.75 stars *
though this was better than an ARC I gave 2.9 stars too, so maybe I should edit that
I read book 1, and I wanted to find out what happened in book 2 to conclude the duet, so I requested this ARC, even though I told myself I wasn't getting any more ARCs! Which I said to myself earlier this week when I got another ARC 😅
Aura's goody-two-shoes (spelling ?) really annoyed me. Girl, accept the money already, okay? I hate when heroines in books do that. No one should say no to free money.
To be honest, I wasn't sure what Kalum saw in her exactly besides a caring woman and a good mom, humbleness, sex appeal, and beauty. In other words, I didn't feel enough of a connection between them. It was cliche (pretend there is an accent mark there) how Aura realized she was still in love with Kalum right after they had sex.
I like a good OTT, possessive hero, but Kalum was a bad parody of one. He put his arms around the neck of a guy he was proposing to do business with because the guy was interested in Aura. Then every guy was interested in Aura. I know she's beautiful, but it was just too much. I also hate the trope girl thinks she's not pretty, but every guy does. It's okay to be a little insecure if the woman has body or image issues, but then those need to be explored more. There were parts of the book that felt like a self-insertion fantasy on behalf of the author, and this was one of them.
Another one was this line: "Janine fans herself with the manilla folder. “I’m about to cry. This is some The Notebook-type shit right there." --I got that the author thought it was really romantic & cute before she had the side character state the obvious.
I tolerated it when Aura's first son was named Lane Jr. after his father because the family was very wealthy & then Lane died, so that was nice to honor his memory. But when she and Kalum named their son Kalum Jr...I mean that's just a little pretentious 😭. The author couldn't think of any more children's names?
Below is what I'm talking about when Kalum went too far. Seriously, the threat was enough!
He leans closer, and my fists clench. “You know, you can order whatever you like. I will be more than happy to pay the bill. Maybe we could go somewhere after dinner?” he asks, giving her a wink.
Fuck it. I dismiss the waiter and I look Mike dead in the eyes. He leans back in his chair with a nervous expression. “Look at her one more time, and I swear I will take this fork and stab your eyes out. If you ever so much as look at her or talk to her, I will end you.” I reach over the table like a madman in a movie and grip him by the throat and squeeze his pathetic excuse of a neck. The utensils and empty glasses rattle on the table, and people seated at the other tables begin to gasp next to us, but I don’t care. I’m seeing red. He makes a noise trying to get air inside his lungs."
Every time I read this one line below, I can't help but burst out laughing.
She tilts her head to the side and smiles. “I would like a hot dog.” I chuckle. “A hot dog?” “Yes, please. With mustard and ketchup.” The thought of a hot dog shaped like a penis going inside her mouth has me wanting to bust out of my pants. I want to be that hot dog.
Oh god, I do not want to be that hot dog 🤣🤣🤣
I felt that the author was shaming people who eat fancier food through her characters (because of what Aura said in her inner monologue). Or it was just another self-insert thing of her food preferences.
Some scenes also ended weirdly. In one case, part of it repeated...but I'm sure that was corrected in the manuscript. This was the ARC copy, but it still needed at least two more rounds of thorough proofreading. I see that "Years" is still misspelled on the ebook up on Amazon right now, and that looks really bad since it's the first page.
There were a few really cute scenes and lines that barely saved this book from being 2 stars. For instance, when Kalum sent Aura flowers asking what the worst part of her day was, she answered, "Waking up without you; when you're not here."
But at the same time, I skimmed a little bit toward the end. For a 179-page book, it felt long. I think this book would have been so much better with more beta readers & a developmental editor because I thought the concept had so much potential. I would have liked a little more show than tell, but that would have made the story longer.