Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher

123 reviews

luxxltyd's review against another edition

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

1.0


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siijayreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"Because there is nothing more I want than to turn a house into a home with you." 

《review contains spoilers》 
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 rating: |☆☆☆☆☆|
I was only halfway through the book when I already knew I was going to freaking devour this and I was so right!! I only read this for 2 days and I think that speaks so much of how much I enjoyed this book. And enjoyed it I did 🤭 From start to finish I was absolutely HOOKED by the story and I knew I didn't want this to end. 

This is the second book of the Dreamland Billionaires series and we officially get to know Declan, the oldest of the Kane brothers. His task to become the next CEO requires him to get married and have a child. Iris, his assistant for years, ends up being the woman who will eventually become his wife, and the journey of them faking their whole marriage up to them realizing the depth of how much they care for each other was an absolute swoony, angsty, funny, and romantic read and I absolutely ate it up!! I love them so much 🫶🤚😔 

Iris is a QUEEN and a MOTHER!! I love how brave and determined she is to get through everything life throws her way and she doesn't take shit from anyone including Declan (which I live for!! I love me some badass fmc!!) and with all the things she has been through including growing up with an abusive father and being subjected to bullying because of her dyslexia, it is so damn satisfying seeing her grow and achieve everything she puts her mind to. I was absolutely rooting for her!! She is funny, inspiring, creative, and witty and it didn't take long for me to love her!! 

Seeing the brothers heal from their past misunderstandings and healing from having to deal with their asshole father was a very refreshing moment. They didn't have the best father and it shows with the way they are now as adults but I am always in awe of their character development and how they slowly untangle themselves from unresolved traumas in order to become the better version of themselves. 

For Declan, it wasn't easy for him being the oldest and protecting his siblings from their father and I admire the things he had done to protect them. I love how Lauren Asher wrote his character development because it didn't felt rushed or forced, and it took him losing the love of his life to figure out that he has made a big mistake and is willing to do everything to make things right. That groveling he did was GOD-TIER and I DEVOURED everything about it. There's something about a groveling mmc doing absolutely everything to get back the love of his life that has me weak 🫠 And their secret language texts had me giggling and kicking my feet like!! this book has everything I want in a romance book periodt.

Iris and Cal's friendship is everything!! And I cannot wait to start Final Offer and from the glimpses of his character from the first book and this one, he's already my fav brother 🤭 
 

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annadelreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? No

5.0

“I am falling in love with you, Iris Elizabeth Kane.” 

This quote. If you know, you know. Although it wasn't an instant 5 stars for me, it definitely was after the half mark. This might have been the first book I've read that has a contractual marriage so I was in for a ride. I wasn't expecting much from this book although basing from the rating, I knew that people like the second and third book of the series compared to the first one. Little did I knew that I will be agreeing so badly to those rating because this book made me smile, laugh, sad and all the emotions in between. I'm actually sad that I read this as an audiobook because I would have loved to annotate this if I had a physical copy. Especially that quote because damn I swooned so hard. It also made me appreciate Cal - given that he was the third male lead. So I'm actually excited to get the third book and know Cal more. 

Iris and Declan was such a cute couple. Especially when Iris makes fun of Declan because she's the only one who can without getting a scratch. I wasn't expecting a he fell first trope because who would have thought Declan was capable of being in love. But he did and I swear, I really swooned. You can see the theme for me, right? Insta-5 stars if I swoon that many times. When he gave her what she wanted at the end, I merely died from swooning. So yes, I'm a sucker for guys who chases after their girls, you can't blame me, right?

Can this be read as a stand-alone book? I would say yes. So definitely recommend this to friends. The first book's main characters are well introduced and explained. Although it really is better to read the first book just to get more of that family relationship between the three brothers.

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abby_can_read's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📱
This was a cute read and I had a good time with it. The characters were good, the plot was decent, and it had a few tropes that I enjoy. 

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lizgom's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-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

4.0

I love Lauren Asher's writing style so much because it's so easy to read. I loved the grumpy/sunshine troupe, even though Declan was a bit insufferable. I did enjoy it more than reading Fine Print.
I loved seeing Lauren doing a crossover scene with her Dirty Air Series. (The scene where Declan is watching F1)

I absolutely loved seeing Cal being a supportive friend.

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she_readddsss86's review against another edition

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lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was a pretty good fake marriage plot. The MMC was both grumpy, mean , and redeemable. Overall I liked the book and thought it was sexy even outside of the spicy scenes. 

That said, I listened the to audio and the female voice actor was not the right choice for this book. I also was annoyed at the amount of times the author spoke of someone biting on their tongue. What a weird thing to fixate on. Otherwise, it’s pretty well written and a nice quick listen. 

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readbykatherine's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced
  • 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

4.75


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cielosiluminado's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

2nd read:
i still have brainrot

1st read:
declan and iris kane are everything.

and the extended epilogue??? it was so soft and sweet!! 

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bbygirl21's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this book so much more than the first one. I love the dynamic between Iris and Declan and although they may be toxic at times, I enjoyed the progression of their relationship. I love that Iris is the only one that can talk back to Declan and have him not retaliate. It shows that he cared about her long before their initial marriage contract. 

One thing I loved about this book over the first one was that there was only one break up rather than the two that was in Rowan and Zahra's book. I think the two breaks ups in the fine print was a bit excessive, so it was nice to only get one "breakup" between Declan and Iris. 

This book is also way faster paced than the previous one, which I was quite happy about. I found I didn't need to take at many breaks reading this book at I did with The Fine Print.

So overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend. I'm excited to get into Cal's book.

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gabi_w21's review against another edition

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2.5

While I largely enjoyed this book more than Throttled, it, by no means, is amazing. In between Declan treating Iris abhorrently and sneering at everyone around him and crying over his treatment by his father and Iris inexplicably being attracted to him despite his vile treatment, there were moments I loved—their back-n-forth banter, the little things he did to be nice for her, CAL. But any love I had for this book is overshadowed by just how abusive Declan is to Iris; over and over he snaps at her, throws a tantrum, and anytime she pushes back, he just mentions his dead, dead and did I mention dead mom and how he's sooooo unloveable and she forgave him. Also all of his little quirks are due to said dead mom. He likes mimosa and F1? Dead mom did. He likes elephants? Dead mom did. He drives a nice car? It was his mom's. He knows about Iris's learning disability? His mom had the same one. The little dumb word game he  and iris play? He and his mom did—jesus, is there anything you enjoy/do that doesn't loop back to your Dead Mom?
You can't tell me that him buying her a greenhouse and adopting a dog for her after calling her a failure, which her abusive dad always did, is gonna make her accept his random-ass marriage proposal.
Why even make Iris Black if it adds nothing to the narrative? Iris could've been white and everything would've been the same, except she wouldn't have fallen into the “Black character has to do emotional labor for the traumatized, woe-is-me white character/love interest”. Nevermind how overworked she is. I hated Declan with a burning passion and Iris, for that matter. She never stayed angry with him, even when she had every reason to be, and each time she'd feel guilty and sorry for daring to be upset. Get mad, girlie! Don't let him pout and wobble his fucking lip and buy you plant after he hurt you so badly. I don't think I'll ever pick up anything by Lauren Asher again for the amount of bullshit in her books.

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