Status Updates From A Reason To Stay (Blackwood...

It's quite weird to read a book that has mostly sex happening off the page mixed with increasing flowery descriptions of genitals to be suddenly bombarded with ONE single explicit word to go back to fade-to-black sex off the page.

I'm so confused. Did the author write this as a teen and then had an editor with a funny bone that threw that one word in?

Each time Rhett smiles and is happy when Ava is clearly uncomfortable by their social and wealth differences is so predatory and a major red flag. Rhett does not like or care for her, he's just very much a possessive asshole who's sexually attracted to her.
Exhibit A:
Hello, BEAUTIFUL
Good night, BEAUTIFUL.
[...], BEAUTIFUL
Does he even know her name?

Exhibit B:
Their date and Serena's jab's at Ava Rhett ignored.

Rhett met Ava's family the previous day, and had never met them before. And if Ava was telling him about them, it always happened annoyingly off-screen (as with everything in this book). And Rhett had 'taken the time to get each person in her family a gift, they were each personalized to their taste' HOW? HE DOES NOT KNOW THEM!

he pulled out a shirt sized box (there are boxes in the sizes of shirts? Did the author mean something flat and quite large like an envelope? So basically forgot the word ENVELOPE?)

We don't want to wake nana. 🤮

Alpha in him 🤮

All the grooming is making me uncomfortable. She's never appreciated as her own person but told how to act by Rhett.

Then at her nana's house apparently there's a 15 foot Christmas tree?!

Author’s vocabulary needs refreshing, at some point I can’t listen anymore to ‘squealing with laughter’ when Rhett again manhandles Ava.
And Ava is just (facepalm) Rhett's story of him owning up to his emotional shortfalls. Ava just automatically says he’s innocent and does all the toxic excusing, just because she’s in love with him, he can’t do any wrong, when opposite should be true.

Non consensual sleeping in Ava’s bed together. Rhett came in at some point at night and held her, while she was drunk she told him to take the couch. Ava is conflicted over if she should be mad, while feeling so relaxed and comforted by his presence. I have an answer - go to police.

Rhett has told a very drunk Ava that he doesn’t care what her friends think of him. After dragging her out of the club(?), and tossing her over his shoulder and strapping her in his car when she wanted to call an Uber home. Major red flags.

That’s it. I’m calling it. Ava is an alcoholic. Her bf stood up their dinner date with her friends, so she got drunk (again). It’s 4h38min in and she has had alcohol related issues 3 times already.

Someone should introduce this author to consent. Because for the (at least) 4th time I have to say ‘Rape much?’ Just because Lizzie is used to having sex casually, doesn’t mean she can just tie her bf to a bed to have sex with him because he’s taking it slow. WTF I’m listening to?

Can’t even do a time difference correctly. London and Boston are 5h apart.

The author has a ‘talent’ for having no actual interesting things happening on ‘screen’. I had to listen to 2 min drivel of how Ava couldn’t pick out her food, and then Rhett picked out specials and we just get that the food was orgasmic. If I’m forced to listen to that, then you could at least explain what she ate. And then their date? They were laughing and flirting and getting to know each other. OFF SCREEN!! FFS!

On top of that she suddenly has mental descriptions of how it’s her favourite dress and somehow her shoes that were red are now cream coloured. And when she’s ready she knocks Rhetts socks off over how gorgeous she is (eye roll). With what? Puke floor dress? Or did her clothes get delivered? Or Rhett shopped for her? I have so many questions to none of which I actually want answers to,

The previous night Ava went out drinking, ending up totally smashed and puking her guts out and then laying on the bathroom floor for a while. Rhett breaks down the door and takes her to his home. Logically she just has her dress and purse with her. But that day she’s preparing for their date with a curling iron (does Rhett has one?) her dress is her favourite (?) that she borrowed from Lizzie.

I’m listening to an audiobook while driving a car and honestly I’m having to start to wonder about road safety, I am raging so much.
The story is a ditzy, stupid ‘smart’ girl with an abusive billionaire (rolling my eyes), who’s using her lust to obtain her consent by repeatedly bashing her with questions and touches. Just screams toxic relationship. If I’d have a physical book, it would get thrown at the wall.

what is this? a romance book I'm liking so far?.... Hallelujah