carefulfearanddeaddevotion's reviews
155 reviews

I liked the characters at first, and I love a fake dating enemies to lovers plot, but they got so annoying and melodramatic as the book went on.

Not the biggest fan of the way this author writes. Like every other sentence was a metaphor -and not a good one either. Like, give it up bro. "My heart was beating like a horse running down a burning racetrack." Just say "my heart was beating out of my chest." Like???? Maybe romances aren't for me? Or maybe just this author isn't for me.

That your father won't release your (30 year old woman) trust fund unless you get married--and that he's allowed to do that--is actually crazy loco. But you know what? I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.

A bit annoyed that

Natalie decided to give up her whole New York financier dream for a man she hated three weeks prior but whatever. She found ~acceptance~ and ~belonging~ and ~love~ or some inane shit like that

Also, I'm pretty sure Tessa Bailey has a knee fetish. Secretly Yours was full of mentions of Hallie's "dirty knees." And knees make more than a couple guest appearances in Unfortunately Yours, too. Icky.

4.9999999/5 bc apparently Ms Jenkins Reid was going for a

bury your gays world record. damn. not one of those bitches made it out alive

the story was captivating, the characters were well-rounded and complicated, and the dual timelines were well-executed. she managed to make me care for Monique even though we spent significantly less time in the present. i liked the way the husbands were split up into their own little segments and the little qualifiers before each of their names. 

i really really really liked it until the last maybe 100 pages—

bury your gays pops up to say hello

—when i started liking it marginally less. so if i’m being really really honest with myself it might be more like 4.5 or maybe even 4 stars. but the story and characters were so well-crafted that i feel compelled to give it a 5. i’ll def pick up another TJR book.

 some of the stories were repetitive or dragged on for too long, but mostly captivating and oftentimes funny

 It took me about a chapter to go from "God this woman is insufferable" to "won't someone please swaddle her, bury her under a mountain of pillows, and bring her whatever she wants?????". Cameron Caldani, you're so valid, because I, too, would protect Adalyn Reyes at all costs. What a sad little kicked puppy of a woman (affectionate) <3<3 Andrew Underwood, David whatever the fuck your last name is, sleep with one eye open.

Enemies to lovers trope? check. NO(!!!!) miscommunication trope? check check check. I cannot stress ENOUGH how happy I am with how that final fight went down. It was so so clear that Adalyn's reaction was coming from her past trauma, it wasn't out of nowhere, but at the same time, it wasn't really portrayed as being justified. The whole time she was thinking "damn why am I acting like this, stop pushing him away" (same queen) and Cameron, for his part, tried his hardest not to let her push him away. A tiny bit disappointed it didn't work, but happy it was resolved so quickly. Given both their pasts, it wasn't a conflict that made me go "this relationship won't last," but one that made me think it would.

Also Maria Vasquez? You will always be famous. What a fantastic little girl, loved her so so much. Perfect, no notes.

Also kinda glad we never found out why Cameron is so scared of goats? He just is, and that was funny and quirky and didn't really need explanation imo.

Not really sure I can explain why it's not a 5, but it was a very good R (X?) rated romcom. Not a frustrating read at all (looking at you, Sincerely Yours). Also didn't realize until the end that it was written by the same person who wrote The Spanish Love Deception which has been in my tbr for ages and I now own. This book def made me look forward to that one.


ETA: therapy mention? What a dub. More romcom characters should consider therapy 

didnt realize this book was X rated when I picked it up, and it's the first of its kind ive read so maybe im just not familiar with the genre, but the writing and characters (especially Julian) were really...weird? idk how to describe it, very stilted, immature, and oftentimes difficult to like. the best character was by far Natalie, so even though im not sure i liked this book or Tessa's writing, i might read hers just to spend more time with her (plus it has my favorite trope: fake relationship). maybe the author was just unsuccessful at portraying someone with anxiety/panic attacks/ptsd? idk. 

i also hated the lack of communication. like i get miscommunication is a big trope in romance, but this was a bit much. like?? you're 30 years old, it's very clear you're into each other (especially after the

mutual masturbation

like hello???) just make an effort to say like one (1) sentence instead of...walking away?? hard to believe they'll last with those kinds of communication skills. 

also, and i've tried to think of a better way to word it, but it's just this: Julian gave me the ick SO often. Just when i was like "heheh cute" he'd be like "the world will end if i dont see an Hallie Smile tm" and i'd need to go rushing to the nearest trash can. nasty. like just so weird. the constant simultaneous infantilization and objectification of Hallie was a bit much. but maybe im the weird one idk.

edit: the secret admirer letters are so marginally relevant to the story that i even forgot to include them in this review. Hallie, as the secret admirer, writes a total of 3 letters. Julian responds once. And im supposed to believe that it's a central part of story? it's not. they got to know each other wayyyyyyyy more in person than they did through the letters. the only purpose they served was the, frankly senseless, final conflict.

like getting Hallie out of the house to have Julian have a panic attack over it could have been accomplished by any other mean

.

ALSO! and this is a small thing but

Hallie barelyyyy knows Natalie, she had no right to offhandedly tell her to get her drinking and sleeping in under control?? especially in context.

6/5 stars. loooooved it. loved the

subway sex

way less, but the book was enjoyable enough that it could be overlooked. was worried at first, bc chapter 1 August was insufferable, but i'm so glad she let her roommates love her. the supporting cast was very fleshed out and three dimensional, which allowed the book to be as immersive as it was. 

OMG!! This series shot to the top of my favorite book series ever, it's only second to TRC. Love love love the writing, love love love the characters. I say this with nothing but love, I'm not sure there really is a plot here lol. But, as we know, I am a characters over plot ass bitch and I didn't even realize that I'm not sure anything much happened until I started writing this review.

I loooooved Belen (and her and Libby <3), so I  am a little disappointed she (Olivie Blake) killed her. She was just felt like a plot device and a waste of a good character.

Also, I know I said I love the characters, but I do not like Reina. Or at least, I feel like we didn't spend as much time with her, her motivations, her feelings, as we did for the other characters. And then when started spending more time with her, I did not really like what I saw. I guess really my only criticism of the series is that she doesn't feel as 3(4)D as the other characters. I don't even think she's 2D. Even when she started her whole "I'm a god" thing, I was like "oh alright, i guess...when is the POV gonna switch?" She just feels very bland, especially compared to the others. Unhappy about how the thing with her and Nico went? Like it was just so frustrating.

I can’t do it. I can’t finish this book. I’ve tried again and again. It’s so boring and I do not understand all the praise for the writing. I am a characters over plot ass bitch but this book has neither plot nor characters.