Great Story, Unfortunate Narrator

Quote:📖

She wasn’t a flake, I realized, no, she was a shadow who had put up walls around her to survive because people who were supposed to love her didn’t.

Thoughts: 💡

This story was enjoyable and if you’re reading it I would give it a solid 4.5 stars. However, if you plan to listen to it I highly suggest you listen to the sample first. (You might enjoy the narrator even though I didn’t.)

The story itself is very sweet and filled with all the angst you would imagine. The MCs are like oil and water at first. Declan is a very grumpy, angry man who was jilted at the altar and forced to marry someone he felt was inferior to his ex-fiance.

Esme is a victim determined to see the bright side of life and make the world better for the people around her. Her kindness and genuinity eventually win Declan over, but that doesn’t mean won her heart or her trust.

I loved the way Maya Alden portrayed the mindset of survivors. There wasn’t some easy fix and she did a great job explaining how a victim can be locked in a cycle without ever truly realizing that they are.

Writing Mechanics: ✍️

The plot was interesting and well thought out. The MCs and supporting characters had rich back stories and carefully, and entertainingly, explained backstories. I honestly enjoyed everything about this story except the narrator.

Audio:

The sound quality was clear and precise, but the narrator was not. I love smut, but every time he started talking I cringed. I think the goal was silver fox but that is not what was delivered. The accent and volume of the narration modulated in each chapter, not in relation to the story though, it just seemed like the narrator would just run out of steam. He also attempted to use accents but the accents would switch during the chapter for the same character. This didn’t seem to be in relation to dialogue or inner monologues, it just happened randomly. I generally hate giving bad reviews but this narration was rough and I felt it hurt the story when the book itself would be amazing.

Fun Bits:

⚜️ Soo Much Angst

⚜️ Beautiful Love Story

⚜️ Great Side Characters

⚜️ Interesting Plot

⚜️ Postive Mental Health Rep

⚜️ Diverse Cast of Characters

⚜️ Adept Portrayal Of Domestic Violence &

Survivors

Important Note:✨

This is an interconnected standalone with a full story and different couple in each book.

Stats:📊

Spice Scale: 2 🌶️🌶️/ 5

Character Dev: 5 💙💙💙💙💙/5

Narrator (M): 1 🎙️/5

Audio Quality: 3 🎧🎧🎧/5

Genre: Contemporary Romance📕

Tropes: Arranged Marriage, GrumpyX Sunshine, Forced Proximity, Opposites Attract📘

POV: Dual 👩‍❤️‍👨

CW: Domestic Violence ⚠️

Content Warnings

jscarpa14's review

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3.0

Not for me

First of all the reactions in the beginning weren't believable and the characters change their entire demeanor like whip lash fast which yeah no. Real people don't act like that. Then because he's suddenly sorry and made her dinner all the characters behave like he wasn't a colossal a$$ of the first order for the entire beginning of the book and then because she makes an entirely understandable choice near the end she's the bad guy who is supposed to so the grand gesture which no no and a thousand times no. And then the dominant sex in the final chapter it just doesn't work for these characters at all. When you're reading about a character who spent her childhood beaten to almost the point of death and who's been abused her whole life punishments and spankings suddenly appearing at the very end of the book and not having been a consistent part of their relationship is just really uncomfortable like to the point from 92 percent on I admittedly skimmed because no its not sexy. Yes Declan is better than her father but ultimately from what I read he's pretty toxic and not at all what I'd call a good guy, a romantic hero or someone who even deserves the time of day.

faralatifaa's review

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funny fast-paced

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

3.5

ginnypie's review

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1.0

if you told me this was ai generated i’d fully believe you.

this just sucked. underdeveloped characters, grammatically and spelling errors, offensively bad spanish, a biracial FMC with internalized racism a piece of shit hero. horrible smut? everything was so bad