virgo_reader's reviews
1298 reviews

When I started this book I realized I had tried and DNFd it maybe a few years ago? Didn't get farther than a few chapters in. I remembered immediately what set me off - (mild spoilers for the opening chapter): she's a jeweler's assistant and tasked with dropping off a piece for him. He's naked and in bed with another (sleeping) woman. He insults her by insinuating she's the jeweler's side piece. She goes off on him. 

I just don't love when the hero has a bunch of other sexual exploits. But he treats her with respect and is faithful once they get together.

I have a bit of a hard time with celebrity / musician romances. Because you add the other woman drama (here it was with his ex-wife, not groupies or hook ups) and the media/fans. There were a lot of external conflicts for them - his ex-wife, his daughter, her ex, and...

the leaking of her revenge porn. I was like, WHYYYYYYYYYYY. It just made me sad.

Let me just say this is entirely a "ME" thing in why I am DNFing. I haven't gotten far enough in to have an opinion on the book.

I'm just not in the right headspace/mood for a YA / fantasy ... I know I'm going to push off reading this until my Libby expires so I just returned it to give the next person a chance to read it. 

Definitely want to revisit this book! Again it's a ME thing, 100%.

OOH GIRL I HATED THIS BOOK. This book had me FUMING. 

And let me say: I've read quite a few books from Alexandria House. I REALLY like her books. They're fun and spicy. But this one..........

I rarely read a romance book where I'm like, "they should not be together." Because I'm willing to suspend disbelief! I love a happy ending! I want everyone to be happy! BUT THIS BOOK???? THEY WERE BOTH SO AWFUL.

The groundwork was there. I LOVE a childhood friends trope. They were neighbors. They've known each other since they were kids. Her twin was his best friend. They were little kid enemies who grew into friends.

And they just kept. EFFING. UP.

How many times did they get together only to break up or fight or stop talking???? 

I mean, at the start of the book they're divorced and not on great terms. But the entire book is told in "Then" and "Now" chapters and in every other "Then" chapter they were breaking up!

Let me try to summarize what I remember for the break up / back together dance:

They finally confess their feelings
She ghosts him for a while
He makes a move at her graduation
They're together for a short time
He ghosts her and then breaks up with her
She blocks him and refuses to talk to him
He goes to see her at college and they're together
She goes to see him at college and they're together
She literally DISAPPEARS without telling him and they just don't talk for like....... over a year
He goes to see her in New York and they hook up... are together
Get married and aren't even happy very long??????
They decide to get divorced and it ends with him saying "Bet" and just leaving - no more talking

WHO ENDS A MARRIAGE BY SAYING "Bet" AND WALKING OUT THE DOOR

BOY U GOT ME FUCKED UP

Also they're fighting up until the end. I just could not root for them. Just two really awful people who should NOT be together.

I love Shu (the man). The strong silent brother usually has my favorite book but ultimately Set still takes the cake for me.

TW for parental abuse. Rape of a minor/pregnancy.

Still really liked this one but book 1 is my faaaav.

I saw another review say this book was "milf getting her black blown out on a regular basis". And like, TRUE. But it was also SO GOOD.

It's an erotic novella, meaning there's high heat and lots of steam. There were certain parts of the not-romance aspects that were underdeveloped... like a finality of Set's relationship with his parents, now. Or Kareema's daughter or fuckboy ex. But you have to take those things with a grain of salt, this book was like 100 pages!

I loved the "fwb" set up they had. For 3 years - since they reconnected at their 20 year high school reunion - they've been hooking up on "vacations". Meeting at a different city and spending the weekend together. They've unknowingly fallen in love. And at the start of the book she's going to HIS city, to HIS home.

I just loved it. STEAMY STEAMY STEAMY.

I got 18% in and just wasn't enjoying this. The writing, the plot, etc. I have so many books checked out on Libby I don't have time for lackluster.

The authors are a couple. The husband CHEATED ON HIS WIFE. Emotionally then physically and MOVED OUT AND GOT AN APARTMENT WITH THIS WOMAN. And they just gloss over it. They mention infidelity like three times in this book. RIDONCULOUS

this book started strong then was sooooooooo slooooooooow

I picked up this book because I'm trying to read more about Zionism's origins - I want to read actual texts from before the founding of Israel. I started with American Jewess, a magazine published 1895-1899. In the first issue was an article about Nahida Remy and her book, The Jewish Woman. 

You can read yourself online (link below). I don't know what I was expecting from this book - I'm still new to the topic/research... but it was mainly information about specific Jewish women throughout history. What I found most useful/interesting was the history aspect woven into some chapters. This focused a lot on the Middle Ages. 

Parts of this book felt like a backhanded comment about Jewish women... for example, on the "modern" Jewish woman: (modern meaning when this was published in 1895)

Jewish women appeared to the observer, in former times, as the most faithful wife, the most devoted mother, and the chastest woman. Is it still so? In general, perhaps; but no more as a rule without exceptions, as it was formerly the case. The ladies of our period seem to exist more for society than for the home; to dress attractively, more for the sake of strangers than for the sake of the husband. 

Read yourself:
https://ia801309.us.archive.org/cors_get.php?path=/16/items/nahidaremysjewis00remy/nahidaremysjewis00remy.pdf