v_nerdbooks's reviews
3145 reviews

2.5⭐ 😬😬

Look, here's the rub.....When you read a book by Ali Hazelwood you know what you are going to get!

You are going to get a super clever woman/girl in STEM, who isn't like other girls, and you are going to get a *super* tall (oh my god he is always sooooo tall) man/boy who has a rock hard chest (which she will ultimately walk into while not looking where she is going) a lot of banter, a lot of "his chislled jaw, his green/blue eyes" etc etc..

You will get either enemies to lovers or insta love, it is the same playbook time after time, and guess what?? I EAT THAT SHIT UPPPP!!!!!

But this one....... I just....didn't 🤷

The book has all of the tropes above...ALL OF THEM...but for some reason the 2 MC's just didn't do it for me at all, i just didn't believe them

The fact that on PAGE ONE of the story we stumble onto an argument between a bf/gf, and then randomly discussing the kinks of said bf with the gf without him being there and giving consent to this is.......yeahhh i felt uncomfortable with it.

And then, after it turns out that our MC loves a bit of kink (WHAT are the chances!!) the gf dumps her bf (while still being best friends with him), sets up our FMC with said bf by getting drunk and spouting out loud that SCARLETT IS A KINKY BITCH TOO, YOU SHOULD FCK EACH OTHER!

Note that they have been together for YEARS by this point (7yrs to be precise), and she is *totally fine* with her new BFF scarlett fcking her (ex) bf because she wants to fck other people too, and incidentally she's got a date, and ughhhhhhh

I don't know, i can usually go with the story as it's popcorn romance, a quicky, if you will.
I usually read them as a pallette cleanser between my Thriller/Horror books, so I enjoy my time with them, but unfortunately not this time.

Which leads me to the narration of the audiobook........

Now I will not HEAR any slander about the amazing Therese Plummer, she is a goddess amongst narrators, and you should bow down to her heavenly feet, and honestly i thought i'd hit jackpot with the male narrator Ben Holtzmuller too (nice voice and also veeeery pretty 😏), he has a lilt of Jacob Morgan about him, and as I knew this one was going to be spicy I was rubbing my grabby hands ready......BUT.......

I think the fact that Lukas, our MC is Swedish, and no dis to my lovely Swedish followers (I love you) but the accent the narrator used just didn't sit right with me, and it didn't seem to gel right, and i think it may have added to the lack of chemistry there, I don't know.

The kink........is just.......lets just say if you are looking for a book with kink in it, this would not be the one that i would recommend to you, unless you like a poor 50 shades.

"It is the beginning of March 2025, and I have already read 3 , *count them* THREE 5 star books!!

This is also my 2nd 5 star read for this author, if you haven't read They Never Learn you should really add it to your TBR quick-smart!

I'm not sure whether you follow my reviews (when I eventually get round to doing them) but I am super stingy with my 5 stars, for reference I only gave EIGHT 5 stars in the whole of 2024!!

Anyhoo, let me now wax lyrical about this book, and be aware that I am reviewing the audiobook, and do for *every*book I read unless specified, I am an *exclusive* audiobook reader.

Right, with that out of the way, lets gooooo!

This is the story, of a story, about the world famous figure skaters Katerina Shaw and Heath Rocha, and we are, as readers, watching the Netflix documentary, about their life, loves, rise to the top, and down again.

They were *famous* like Rock Star famous!! They even had their own version of a Perez Hilton, who I wanted to throw through the wall haha

It is the ten year anniversary of their final skate, hence the "Shaw & Rocha" documentary, and we get to witness all of the juicy gossip about their lives from past skaters, lovers and rivals.

But Katerina doesn't want anything to do with the documentary as it is dragging up old wounds that haven't properly healed, and people gossiping about the "incident" has made her think about telling her own story, in her own words.

And that's where we come in, we are jumping from watching the documentary, to Katerina saying "actually, this is what happened"
We hear all of the stories from when her and Heath first met, up to *that* incident that rocked the world of The Olympics.

If you liked Daisy Jones and the Six, you will love this one, it is in the same sort of style.

Now to the narration.........OMG it was PERFECT!!!!

We have a full cast of people doing such and amazing job, i knew every character, and some of them mad me so mad Lol

Congratulations Ms Fargo *Throws stars*

3.5 stars 

This one started great, a super interesting concept, and an 😳 moment straight away, but by the 3/4 mark I was shouting at my phone!
At some point in the story Poe our MC is talking about her book club, and all the different acronyms we use, and specifically mentions TSTL (too stupid to live) and even says to herself "that's what they would be saying about me" and by the end of the book YES, YES WE ARE 🤦🏻

I'm on a podcast-in a-book hyperfixation at the minute, I love an audiobook that has one incorporated, and this one kinda has, although it's just the reading of the script, not the actual music and things like some books, I was excited to hear it but unfortunately it didn't come.

Look, this book has some really good reviews, so take my one with a pinch of salt, but if you like your thrillers thrilling, I'd pass this one over, but if you want a quick little popcorn filler as a pallete cleanser, this would be great 👍🏻

The end of this super fun spicy little trilogy.

If you are going into this series expecting love and fluff and flowers, back away now, you are getting lots of bad language, lots of dirty dirty sex, and death (think eyeballs/eyelids and poison) if you are ok with this, dive in, you are going to have a GREAT time!!!

Audio recommended because of the narration, it easily makes this series better, athough the first book is narrated by Joe Arden, and after his recent scandal, i will not be recommending anything that he narrates ever again, I know this is not the fault of the author, and she has rectified this by changing the authors on books 2 and 3, so kudos to her for jumping on this so fast.

If you love an Irish accent, lots of banter and a bit of blood and guts, this is a definite series for your TBR

I really enjoyed this one, Grady Hendrix can sometimes be a bit of a hit or miss with me, but usually they are a solid 4 star read, this one however tipped it just over.
I loved hearing the stories about the girls, and because they were all given new names when they first get to the home, they can be whoever they want to be, and although they still carry the shame of being unwed and pregnant (inset eye roll here) they form firm, lifelong friendships.
If you are a fantasy hater like me (grin) you will be pleased to know that the witches/magic in this one is minimal, I mean don't get me wrong, it's there, but the story is more based around the young girls trying to cope with their shitty parents throwing them away because a predatory man got them pregnant (they are all under 18) and instead of calling it out, they lean into the misogyny, and dump them far far away.

The book is filled with the usual awful stereotypes and misogyny, and I would say it's from the 1970's and things are so much better now, but unfortunately all you need to do is open Twitter today, and you will see endless posts victim baming girls and women for shitty mens behaviour.

Fantasy lovers, I think you will be possibly disappointed with this book if you go into it thinking that it is going to be Fantasy, if you go in reading it thinking that it is going to be a historical fiction book, with a few added pages of a little witchcraft, then you are going to have a great time.

The audio was really good, but there is a LOT of giggling, like a LOT, "she giggled" "he giggled" "she laughed" "he laughed" and it doesn't need to be acted out every time 😬
There is also singing, not a lot, but it's there FYI.
I'll still read the next book in the series, it's fun, and as long as you suspend your beliefs at the door before you open the book, or put in your headphones, you'll have a great time 😏

This is what i would call a popcorn thriller, it has all of the necessary things to keep you reading, check trigger warnings for DV

It was a "it's not you it's me" kind of book for me, it started great, and narrated by Andi Arndt, so i knew that i was going to enjoy myself, but things just fell a little flat for me, the twists were not as twisty as i thought they could have been, and then a random paranormal episode pops up, which would usually be fine, but it just didn't help in this case and it made the story fall flat for me.

But hey, there are ,many high ratings for the book, so it may have just being me having an off day.