scrow1022's review
3.0
It took me a while to get used to the style (and why I had set it down previously). But once I got into it that was part of its charm. And the whole story was charming, plus I liked her determination to start over (along with "New Mary" + "Old Mary").
amy_harboredinpages's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Loved the the premise, but the execution lacked consistent flow. I had hoped for more. I liked the characters, but felt they needed more substance, and more build up to key moments, and twists. I would not recommend.
bookjunkie57's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
From Scratch
Welcome to Seaport, Book 1
I Picked Up This Book Because: I cannot remember. It’s been on my TBR for a while and I decided to finally pick it up.
Media Type: eBook
Source: KindleUnlimited
Dates Read: 5/8/23 - 5/21/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s):
The Characters:
Mary Woods:
Miguel Santos:
Billy Knox:
Various residents of seaport
The Story:
Mary has upended her stable life in the academic world to move to a new town and start a bakery of her own. little did she know this move would change not only her profession but her love life in ways she never imagined. There was a lot to unpack in these few pages, but the author did it well and I love Mary's story.
The Random Thoughts:
Welcome to Seaport, Book 1
I Picked Up This Book Because: I cannot remember. It’s been on my TBR for a while and I decided to finally pick it up.
Media Type: eBook
Source: KindleUnlimited
Dates Read: 5/8/23 - 5/21/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s):
The Characters:
Mary Woods:
Miguel Santos:
Billy Knox:
Various residents of seaport
The Story:
Mary has upended her stable life in the academic world to move to a new town and start a bakery of her own. little did she know this move would change not only her profession but her love life in ways she never imagined. There was a lot to unpack in these few pages, but the author did it well and I love Mary's story.
The Random Thoughts:
breadedbookpages's review
5.0
I am so in love with this book but I won't tire you out by making you read 20,000 words. Let's do some bullet points:
-the diversity is so good and like felt casual as heck. I love black writers who are so talented into putting in both social commentary and fluff in a book.
-heroine is: fat, black (dark skinned too, yay for melanin), a baker and an ex-professor of literature. There is nothing about Mary that I don't adore. Including how she came to her own power in the process of the book. She is so strong and she has experienced some real loneliness that made her fight for the comfort she got with Santos and Knox.
-Knox, hero #1, is black, bisexual (in page!) and has experienced a shitty childhood by negligent parents which only made him more loving, caring and amazing to his best friend and to Mary. He's the one that'll make you smile, for sure.
-Santos is Mexican-American and is confirmed pansexual by the author here. Santos is practically in love with his best friend Knox and when Mary enters their life, he finds the trio to be the source of comfort. He's quiet and might come off as stern but he's the caretaker of the trio.
This book has such good social commentary on cops and the police, on misogyny by a gay man directed at Mary, on friendship (Mary's girl friends all deserve their own HEA) and on how the three found their own way of working their polyamory relationship.
Some people have asked some questions and it's third person, all three have points of views, and yes Knox and Santos are as into each other as they are into Mary. You could label this as friends-to-lovers, small town romance.
It was short, pure, fluffy, filthy, emotional, healing and amazing. Please read it.
-the diversity is so good and like felt casual as heck. I love black writers who are so talented into putting in both social commentary and fluff in a book.
-heroine is: fat, black (dark skinned too, yay for melanin), a baker and an ex-professor of literature. There is nothing about Mary that I don't adore. Including how she came to her own power in the process of the book. She is so strong and she has experienced some real loneliness that made her fight for the comfort she got with Santos and Knox.
-Knox, hero #1, is black, bisexual (in page!) and has experienced a shitty childhood by negligent parents which only made him more loving, caring and amazing to his best friend and to Mary. He's the one that'll make you smile, for sure.
-Santos is Mexican-American and is confirmed pansexual by the author here. Santos is practically in love with his best friend Knox and when Mary enters their life, he finds the trio to be the source of comfort. He's quiet and might come off as stern but he's the caretaker of the trio.
This book has such good social commentary on cops and the police, on misogyny by a gay man directed at Mary, on friendship (Mary's girl friends all deserve their own HEA) and on how the three found their own way of working their polyamory relationship.
Some people have asked some questions and it's third person, all three have points of views, and yes Knox and Santos are as into each other as they are into Mary. You could label this as friends-to-lovers, small town romance.
It was short, pure, fluffy, filthy, emotional, healing and amazing. Please read it.
j_ess_reads's review
3.0
5 Star: Loved that it was poly, that each person in the relationship had (the start of) a genuine connection to one another, and that the protagonists weren't stereotypes.
1-2 Star: Writing quality left me wanting. Wished it was more involved, more of a slow burn kind of story where we really got to know everyone, but I understand it wasn't meant to be written that way.
1-2 Star: Writing quality left me wanting. Wished it was more involved, more of a slow burn kind of story where we really got to know everyone, but I understand it wasn't meant to be written that way.
pages_of_sav's review
3.0
While this book was a mix of sweet and sexy, I just couldn’t get with the 3rd person POV. (Which is actually a POV I’m used to) it just felt weird to me I’d describe the POV as a “floaty presence” it wasn’t my favorite and kept me from connecting with the story.
But overall this was a steamy, pure, and sugary sweet read
But overall this was a steamy, pure, and sugary sweet read
grapie_deltaco's review
2.0
2.5⭐️
Why a man of color heard the police force in the town he lives in was corrupt when mentioning he was thinking of joining and still joined anyways is beyond me and a weirdly ridiculous throwaway moment for the author to put in.
But anyways…
Mary, at times, is weirdly omnipotent but that got pretty easy to block out over time and just accept. The chemistry and relationship between Knox and Santos was very interesting.
A bit insta-lovey and the big conflict was super bizarre.
It was overall ok.
CW: explicit sexual content, brief reference to corrupt police, brief references to parental abuse + abandonment, homophobia (brief)
Why a man of color heard the police force in the town he lives in was corrupt when mentioning he was thinking of joining and still joined anyways is beyond me and a weirdly ridiculous throwaway moment for the author to put in.
But anyways…
Mary, at times, is weirdly omnipotent but that got pretty easy to block out over time and just accept. The chemistry and relationship between Knox and Santos was very interesting.
A bit insta-lovey and the big conflict was super bizarre.
It was overall ok.
CW: explicit sexual content, brief reference to corrupt police, brief references to parental abuse + abandonment, homophobia (brief)
creativelifeofliz's review
3.0
3.5 stars. This was a really cute small town romance. The typos were a bit distracting though.
alexkmorland's review
4.0
Polyamory and bakery ftw! The characters are super cute and I would have liked a longer story actually :(
sashreads's review
3.0
3.5
This was super sexy but the pacing was a bit off. If it was a longer book the 'conflict' could have been a bit more fleshed out, but with how short the story is I didn't see the need for the 'conflict'
This was super sexy but the pacing was a bit off. If it was a longer book the 'conflict' could have been a bit more fleshed out, but with how short the story is I didn't see the need for the 'conflict'