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mayareadsxo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Alcohol
Minor: Outing and Injury/Injury detail
daisy2050's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Alcohol
kiingchika's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Anyway, those specific qualms aside, Nik is such a dreamboat and Aria is a fucking dream like I love my bisexual rockstars! Oh to be in a villa in Spain pretending like I’m not falling in love with God’s gift to man who is obsessed with me. Thank you, Talia Hibbert.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Biphobia
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Yall know I'm a fake dating hoe and I'll die on the hill that it's not that unrealistic because people are so conflict avoidant and will do anything but tell the truth sometimes! Also, I don't blame them. Our society has pushed forward this idea that we should all be people-pleasers and that boundaries are somehow toxic, so like, I get it.
Anyway, I love the rebranding of the title, and the new covers for this series of standalone romances <3 This one was fun, but I don't know about the audiobook just because the way the narrators did the Greek accent was .. interesting. I'm not Greek, so I won't speak to that, but I will just say idk if it worked for me. Regardless though, I listened to this in one sitting hahaha.
Overall, this was another fun, sexy, hilarious romcom from one of my absolute favorite authors! Aria deserves everything and more, and Nik was swoon-worthy and super hot.
steam rating: 4 out of 5 - I love the way Talia Hibbert writes steam. It's delectable!
Graphic: Biphobia, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Violence, and Stalking
readingwithtemperance's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved how opposite these two were. And how they balanced eachother out while simultaneously getting the other to be able to be vulnerable and trust.
I'm not usually a sports romance person, but Nik definitely changed that. This man is just far too beautiful and sincere. An absolute himbo, and I love him for it.
Aria is so smart and gorgeous and TALENTED. I want a tattoo from her! It made me so happy that she
She and I also have a couple things in common, trust issues and ptsd. I understand how hard it is to allow yourself to love after such a big tragedy. And I was so incredibly proud of her for allowing herself to love and be loved and to trust again.
I think my favorite aspect of this book was the decades later epilogue.
I had so much fun while reading this. Even if at times the futbol guys were a bit much. Like omg did it feel like a frat house in Spain 😂.
Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Moderate: Biphobia, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, and Stalking
peachmoni's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Biphobia, Gun violence, and Sexual harassment
reminiscences's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Biphobia and Sexual content
rachelfayreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Biphobia, Violence, and Kidnapping
30something_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It's a little bit insta-lovey for my taste, but still absolutely swoony. Nik is a loveable doofus who is absolutely obsessed and Aria is a badass with her emotional shield all the way up. I do love her for bringing and entire box of sex toys with her on a week long, fake dating getaway.
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Biphobia
tyras_bookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Aria is a hot, tattooed RBF type with a deep need for affection, recovering from romantic trust issues and betrayal (way more seriously than I thought when I first opened this book).
Nik is a hot, rich sl*t recovering from his own hubris, a busted knee ensuring in a career change and a lifestyle of apoiled behaviors.
Basically the whole book is love at first sight, “he falls first” and spends the book lying and wooing her with his loveable, vulgar friends. The conflict and ending were (as one expects in a contemporary romance) predictable.
*spoliers*
I guess I don’t believe in love at first sight though so it was hard to suspend my disbelief for that. The “love” of it all felt kinda shallow, especially since Hibbert skipped the 6 weeks of courting I would have wanted to see as it was the reason Nik felt like he wanted Aria forever.
I know I read romance for the unbelievable storyline (though as Kennedy Ryan points out, a person treating you with love, honor and respect should not be so far-fetched) but still. I was hooked by the foot kicking, precious-ness of it but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the falling.
The 🌶️ of this one was unreal. Seriously my jaw dropped. Anyway, I will not be discussing but wow. It’s a…wow.
I appreciated that Nik was finally honest and that the break up didn’t come from his secret being revealed. I personally don’t see Nik’s lie as that bad, but I do see how Aria will felt betrayed with her trust issues and previous trauma.
I do wish Talia had done something with Shenker though so that that drama was worth it. That just felt like a thread we didn’t resolve other than Aria telling him off. He seemed like he was going to be a bigger problem, though I guess he was a catalyst for Aria’s acceptance of her feelings. And maybe a foil of Nik to make his more desirable.
Talia did the “beast inside him” thing too much for this not to be a fantasy. That took me from the story a bit too. I was, early on, expecting him to grow some fur and fangs with all that “mine” business.
I’m really really glad that Aria got her HEA and that the epilogue was so far in the future. It’s a nice deviation from Hibbert’s usual epilogue pacing. That said, it definitely needed more detail and flavor to be worth the addition. It scratched the itch but I would have like more backstory if we were going to have such a big time jump.
And more story overall really. This was a quick, novella type but she certainly could have lain into the details more.
But Hibbert did what she always does; crushed it and I loved it. Though comparing this book to the Brown sisters universe, it’s lower on my list of favorites.
Graphic: Gun violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Biphobia and Kidnapping