Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - The Happily Ever After Playlist

This Jimenez is plot-heavy, which I love. The celebrity plot is interesting and authentic, even though it seems like it would easily be inauthentic. The characters, as usual for Jimenez, have perfect chemistry and are both fully fleshed out. I love her dual POV style. They are respectful of one another, fully in sacrificial love, and help one another through their struggles.

That being said, my lack of 5⭐s is the usual - the random poor decision or trauma dump near the end! I wouldn't hate a last-minute wrench in the love story. What I do hate is a poorly chosen last-minute wrench. What Jason did was completely out of character!

Also, I have empathy for what Lola went through with the music industry, but NOTHING, absolutely *NOTHING* excuses sexual harassment and assault. If the genders of Jason & Lola had been reversed, the assault would have been considered unforgivable by everyone. It was unacceptable for the woman they were touring with to push Jason toward helping Lola. There are professional mental health specialists and, if push comes to shove, police, for a reason.

I give Erin Mallon 3.5/5⭐. I hate her male voice! It sounds like an old wizard haha. And she enunciates with her mouth kind of closed. Plus, I think she was sick while recording this? She sounds stuffed up. But her female voice is average/good. As usual, Zachary Webber gets 5/5 ⭐ from me. Always a perfect delivery - he IS the voice of The Book Boyfriend.

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bookscatcoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

3.5

This book was good but not my favorite from this author. I really appreciated the author note that explained the impetus for creating these characters. However, I felt that there was very little growth in the male main character compared to the female MC. Entertaining despite the references to hunting. I did appreciate the music industry’s nefarious practices being highlighted! And there were some hilarious moments at the beginning. Worth reading! 3.5 stars

Contemporary romance

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kingsnail's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

This broke me and I spent the last hour of the audiobook with tears streaming down my face.
Would recommend.

Rock star and a widow— on tour together and lots of misunderstandings

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sophia_bd's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

I loved listening to the songs on “The Happy Ever After Playlist” as I read this book (GO find the playlist on Apple Music/Spotify!!). It helped me tear through it, too. I laughed and cried and gasped, had to pause when I dreaded what I knew would happen next, and couldn’t put it down as I sobbed through the ending. SO beautiful!!!

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aren18's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

Rating: 4.5
The first half. Call me a big old mush but I feel like fate is real. The dog. The way they found each other, especially Sloan, navigating her grief. I do realize there was a lot of codependency, and I do realize it’s unhealthy, but I also realize I’m so codependent so it was kinda relatable lol. You know when everything is going so perfect at 60%, what the heck could happen? Well, it happened. And it happened ALL THE WAY TIL THE END. the reason this wasn’t a full 5 stars for me, is the way the ups/down happened for so long, and yes sometimes that is real life. And then the ending was SO SUDDEN?
I felt so bad for Lola. I felt so bad for Sloan. I felt so heart broken for Jason. She definitely should’ve made him work a little harder after upturning her entire life. I wanted more good in between the ending & epilogue.

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zemily83's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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emmaruthpotter's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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beate251's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Okay, so this is better than The Friend Zone, but that's not hard. This is Kristen's friend Sloan's story, whose fiancée Brandon had to die in the first book so she could have her story with Jason. If you ask me, she was better off without all that drama.

She'd mourned Brandon for two years, but once she meets Jason she is in totally over the top insta-love, and so is he. Yippee, no "I can't have kids therefore we can't be together" nonsense. But there has to be a problem or the book would be pointless. We have to wait a bit but then there it is: Jason is a musician on the way to stardom and a 14 months international tour. Yeah, not ideal. But they love each other so much, it will be ok, right? Wrong.

The rest of the book is basically misunderstandings, tears and heartbreak. Hearts constantly splinter into a million pieces, or something like that. It's a wonder there is anything of them left to shatter again! My eyes nearly broke from the eye rolling. It's a shame because it had started well. I loved Tucker the dog but I'm not sure I even liked Jason - he came across as selfish and controlling.

Remind me not to fall in love with a famous musician, it doesn't seem worth it. Also, what was the playlist about? I have to admit I completely didn't get why there was one.

It's kind of funny how the author manages one or two mentions of Nadia Cakes (her own business) in every book, LOL.

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