jennp28's review against another edition
2.0
I kind of hate-finished this one.
Trigger warning for anyone who has diet/weight/exercise issues because there’s a *lot* of talk of good and ‘bad’ foods, cheat days, rules, and spending extra time in the gym to make up for eating something ‘bad’. It’s in the context of someone training for the NFL, yes, but IMO it doesn’t make that explicit enough and make it clear that for a regular person it’s ok to eat the damn chips.
There is also a scene where she is very dismissive of consumer debt help since she “should be able to get herself out of the situation she made for herself” - yet in this very realistic scenario it takes a celebrity paying her exorbitant fees to do this.
Her parents have a problem with their adult daughter sharing a room with her partner.
Lots of toxic masculinity nonsense as well.
Underneath it is a decent “we can’t be lovers, must resist” tension but it was ruined by all the other crap.
Interestingly, I listened to this as an audiobook and ended up listening on 0.85 speed as I found the narrator really fast - and normally I like to speed through these kinds of books.
Trigger warning for anyone who has diet/weight/exercise issues because there’s a *lot* of talk of good and ‘bad’ foods, cheat days, rules, and spending extra time in the gym to make up for eating something ‘bad’. It’s in the context of someone training for the NFL, yes, but IMO it doesn’t make that explicit enough and make it clear that for a regular person it’s ok to eat the damn chips.
There is also a scene where she is very dismissive of consumer debt help since she “should be able to get herself out of the situation she made for herself” - yet in this very realistic scenario it takes a celebrity paying her exorbitant fees to do this.
Her parents have a problem with their adult daughter sharing a room with her partner.
Lots of toxic masculinity nonsense as well.
Underneath it is a decent “we can’t be lovers, must resist” tension but it was ruined by all the other crap.
Interestingly, I listened to this as an audiobook and ended up listening on 0.85 speed as I found the narrator really fast - and normally I like to speed through these kinds of books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Car accident
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
rae_bookmarkchronicles's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? N/A
3.0
Unfortunately this was average for me. I enjoyed seeing the girls together again and I love Taylor. But I did not like Jamar at all. He as a character just did not work for me I did not like anything about him and found him to be incredibly immature
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
antonique_reads's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and Panic attacks/disorders
colettesjourney's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Car accident
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
now_booking's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was an immensely cute and emotional and relatable read and a fantastic second installment to the Boyfriend Project series. This novel features Taylor, a second member of the friend group that formed in Book 1 when three women found out they were dating the same no-good Craig and went viral. No worries if you haven’t read Book 1 though, this stands alone perfectly well and even being a stickler for reading series in order, I am happy enough recommending that you can start with this book if you want.
The premise is that Taylor, despite her best efforts, is struggling to make a success of her personal training fitness business, when she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to train Jamar, an injured NFL player who’s trying to make a comeback. The only problem is that he doesn’t want the added pressure of the media knowing he’s attempting a comeback and so when discovery is imminent, they engage in a fake dating relationship to throw everyone of. The only problem is that they’ve caught feelings for one another but there’s no way Taylor is going to hook up with a client, especially having been burnt before in the past.
I’m usually a little 🙄 about the fake dating trope. It’s not one I typically gravitate towards because it’s so unrealistic. But I loved the way it developed here. What’s great about this one is that with Taylor and Jamar, there is strong character development, and these are the sorts of characters that everyone can relate to- we’ve all battled insecurity and the feeling of not being good enough, we all know what it feels like to have broken dreams, and most people are acquainted with grief in some form. Outside of that, Taylor had so many real elements to her that I thought aren’t necessarily always romance heroine characteristics- for example she’s tangibly in debt but trying to hide it from those around her, and she struggles with an undiagnosed learning disability which she only realizes as an adult despite having struggled all her life.
The way this is written with the emotion and support and gentleness wrapped in humour and one liners and a well-executed flirtation made this an absolute joy to read. There is angst because of the baggage both characters carry, but it is bearable and you wouldn’t call this high angst. The love languages are well captured here and the protagonists have many swoon-worthy moments in how they show love and support. They actually communicate (novel idea for a romance) and when they don’t, there is a conversation about not communicating in the moment. The conflict here is mostly internal and due to (character) growing pains and never lies or flimsy misunderstandings that could be cleared with a single conversation. This is a soothing and comforting, unproblematic sort of read. I enjoyed the normalized representation of disabilities from deafness to learning disabilities to ADHD without making this a book about any of those issues or having to intro and fetishize any of those issues- and make them main character traits. There is a good level of heat, but it’s also not an erotic romance.
This is Black romance featuring two Black main characters but there are no cultural markers of race or ethnicity except that the heroine got braids- not that I was expecting Ebonics or anything cliched but these characters were very ethnically neutral. Personally, I was fine with this, the characters still felt very well-developed, but these characters could have as well have been white or any other ethnicity. This sort of neutrality can be both a positive thing allowing the characters to not be race-related by cultural experiences so that they’re “relatable” to all readers because ultimately we’re all human and can all relate to the thematic issues the characters face. But it can also be a negative thing that makes characters a little bland. I can categorically say that these characters weren’t at all bland so this wasn’t a huge issue for me- it’s just something I noticed.
On the whole, I found this to be really well/balanced and a really nice book. I enjoyed this and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a nice calming read. My caveat is that this is a book about a fitnessgram personal trainer- it is thus, by definition riddled with diet culture and somewhat orthorexic statements by the heroine on nutrition and fitness- bearing in mind that Taylor works with clients with stringent weight loss or fitness goals. If you might be triggered (e.g. have or have had an ED), as lovely as this is, it might be one to skip.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The premise is that Taylor, despite her best efforts, is struggling to make a success of her personal training fitness business, when she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to train Jamar, an injured NFL player who’s trying to make a comeback. The only problem is that he doesn’t want the added pressure of the media knowing he’s attempting a comeback and so when discovery is imminent, they engage in a fake dating relationship to throw everyone of. The only problem is that they’ve caught feelings for one another but there’s no way Taylor is going to hook up with a client, especially having been burnt before in the past.
I’m usually a little 🙄 about the fake dating trope. It’s not one I typically gravitate towards because it’s so unrealistic. But I loved the way it developed here. What’s great about this one is that with Taylor and Jamar, there is strong character development, and these are the sorts of characters that everyone can relate to- we’ve all battled insecurity and the feeling of not being good enough, we all know what it feels like to have broken dreams, and most people are acquainted with grief in some form. Outside of that, Taylor had so many real elements to her that I thought aren’t necessarily always romance heroine characteristics- for example she’s tangibly in debt but trying to hide it from those around her, and she struggles with an undiagnosed learning disability which she only realizes as an adult despite having struggled all her life.
The way this is written with the emotion and support and gentleness wrapped in humour and one liners and a well-executed flirtation made this an absolute joy to read. There is angst because of the baggage both characters carry, but it is bearable and you wouldn’t call this high angst. The love languages are well captured here and the protagonists have many swoon-worthy moments in how they show love and support. They actually communicate (novel idea for a romance) and when they don’t, there is a conversation about not communicating in the moment. The conflict here is mostly internal and due to (character) growing pains and never lies or flimsy misunderstandings that could be cleared with a single conversation. This is a soothing and comforting, unproblematic sort of read. I enjoyed the normalized representation of disabilities from deafness to learning disabilities to ADHD without making this a book about any of those issues or having to intro and fetishize any of those issues- and make them main character traits. There is a good level of heat, but it’s also not an erotic romance.
This is Black romance featuring two Black main characters but there are no cultural markers of race or ethnicity except that the heroine got braids- not that I was expecting Ebonics or anything cliched but these characters were very ethnically neutral. Personally, I was fine with this, the characters still felt very well-developed, but these characters could have as well have been white or any other ethnicity. This sort of neutrality can be both a positive thing allowing the characters to not be race-related by cultural experiences so that they’re “relatable” to all readers because ultimately we’re all human and can all relate to the thematic issues the characters face. But it can also be a negative thing that makes characters a little bland. I can categorically say that these characters weren’t at all bland so this wasn’t a huge issue for me- it’s just something I noticed.
On the whole, I found this to be really well/balanced and a really nice book. I enjoyed this and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a nice calming read. My caveat is that this is a book about a fitnessgram personal trainer- it is thus, by definition riddled with diet culture and somewhat orthorexic statements by the heroine on nutrition and fitness- bearing in mind that Taylor works with clients with stringent weight loss or fitness goals. If you might be triggered (e.g. have or have had an ED), as lovely as this is, it might be one to skip.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Ableism
allisonwonderlandreads's review
emotional
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
2.0
In this second entry of Rochon's The Other Women Strike Back (unofficial title by me) trilogy, Taylor's personal training business takes a turn when NFL star Jamar Dixon becomes her client. Did the story make me that much more eager for football season? Yes 100%. The romance hinges on fake dating and kisses in the rain, so I was a big supporter of the characters' progress.
The book has a lot of forceful messaging, and I think that can make romance as a genre more powerful and meaningful. Unfortunately, my reactions to the messages here were mixed at best.
Let's start with the positive. At the beginning of the book, we find Taylor with maxed out credit cards and a worry that she won't make rent. This level of financial insecurity is so rarely acknowledged in romance, and I found the setup truly worthwhile. The story also delves into mental health and Taylor's worries about measuring up to her siblings and peers while her business struggles to get off the ground. The book offers a thoughtful, multifaceted indictment of the education system, bringing to the foreground: anxiety caused by a system built and sustained on standardized testing, the pressure to get a higher education for the sake of many career options, and the lack of awareness about learning disorders that can haunt a student when teachers don't properly catch it and meet students' individual needs.
But now I need to delve into the negative because it hit me hard. "Capitalism is my jam" is a real sentence in this book, and I never fully recovered. The phrase "wealth-shaming" also exists in the same book as a girl who worried about a future living out of her car. An All-American message of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps was especially alarming given the detailed context provided. We know that Taylor was failed by her schools and her family, but business decisions that didn't result in instant success are still cast as her failures and an ADHD diagnosis doesn't alter her characterization as impulsive and risky.
I also take specific issue with Taylor's so-called "brilliant" business idea of outsourcing P.E. to part-time fitness instructors, and I do not have the energy to list all my increasingly incensed comments about privatizing public education rather than fixing our achingly broken system. And I'm allowed to be saucy about that, seeing as I work in a public school and spend most of my waking, non-reading moments thinking about said school and education at large.
While there are certainly bright moments to this book, the disappointments far outweighed them for this reader.
The book has a lot of forceful messaging, and I think that can make romance as a genre more powerful and meaningful. Unfortunately, my reactions to the messages here were mixed at best.
Let's start with the positive. At the beginning of the book, we find Taylor with maxed out credit cards and a worry that she won't make rent. This level of financial insecurity is so rarely acknowledged in romance, and I found the setup truly worthwhile. The story also delves into mental health and Taylor's worries about measuring up to her siblings and peers while her business struggles to get off the ground. The book offers a thoughtful, multifaceted indictment of the education system, bringing to the foreground: anxiety caused by a system built and sustained on standardized testing, the pressure to get a higher education for the sake of many career options, and the lack of awareness about learning disorders that can haunt a student when teachers don't properly catch it and meet students' individual needs.
But now I need to delve into the negative because it hit me hard. "Capitalism is my jam" is a real sentence in this book, and I never fully recovered. The phrase "wealth-shaming" also exists in the same book as a girl who worried about a future living out of her car. An All-American message of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps was especially alarming given the detailed context provided. We know that Taylor was failed by her schools and her family, but business decisions that didn't result in instant success are still cast as her failures and an ADHD diagnosis doesn't alter her characterization as impulsive and risky.
I also take specific issue with Taylor's so-called "brilliant" business idea of outsourcing P.E. to part-time fitness instructors, and I do not have the energy to list all my increasingly incensed comments about privatizing public education rather than fixing our achingly broken system. And I'm allowed to be saucy about that, seeing as I work in a public school and spend most of my waking, non-reading moments thinking about said school and education at large.
While there are certainly bright moments to this book, the disappointments far outweighed them for this reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Sexual content
Moderate: Car accident and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Ableism and Drug abuse
decklededgess's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
trigger warnings: death of a friend mention, vehicle accident mention, physical/athletic injuries, grief and guilt, anxiety, testing anxiety, panic attacks, sexual content, alcohol, harassment and slut shaming
This was both a good and disappointing book. I loved the romance and the connection the two main characters had, I loved the friendships, and I loved the family dynamics and representation of learning disabilities. What upset me was how performative the GirlGang friendship seemed due to a rather superficial connection the three had with each other. I also disliked how much this book seemed to throw around neo liberal ideologies like they’re casual fun. I love capitalism/toxic fitness culture of unnecessary food curation/guilt towards institutions that profit off celebrity labour…it all threw off the entire vibe of the book. My mind wandered towards the wrongness of those things being so casually mentioned instead of enjoying the beautiful and budding romance.
But considering this is fiction, I did like the book a lot overall and was happy with how the leads didn’t fall in love after an eight week stint and instead reinforced their commitment to each other. I look forward to seeing cameos of them in the next book of the series!
This was both a good and disappointing book. I loved the romance and the connection the two main characters had, I loved the friendships, and I loved the family dynamics and representation of learning disabilities. What upset me was how performative the GirlGang friendship seemed due to a rather superficial connection the three had with each other. I also disliked how much this book seemed to throw around neo liberal ideologies like they’re casual fun. I love capitalism/toxic fitness culture of unnecessary food curation/guilt towards institutions that profit off celebrity labour…it all threw off the entire vibe of the book. My mind wandered towards the wrongness of those things being so casually mentioned instead of enjoying the beautiful and budding romance.
But considering this is fiction, I did like the book a lot overall and was happy with how the leads didn’t fall in love after an eight week stint and instead reinforced their commitment to each other. I look forward to seeing cameos of them in the next book of the series!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Car accident and Death
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This was a fantastic sports romance. I love football so reading about Jamar as he works to rebuild strength and endurance after a grueling injury was right up my alley. I also loved Taylor because she was strong and pushy and didn't ever let Jamar off easy.
I loved how this book highlighted so many important things in both life and relationships. I love how eating healthy and exercise were positioned in such a positive light, but I also loved that counseling was mentioned too. I'm glad mental health is gaining ground. I also appreciated learning disabilities being included because there is nothing more important than students of any age getting the accommodations they need.
I also loved how this relationship built up. They had some amazing chemistry but they also had some really deep and difficult conversations and were really there for each other.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
I loved how this book highlighted so many important things in both life and relationships. I love how eating healthy and exercise were positioned in such a positive light, but I also loved that counseling was mentioned too. I'm glad mental health is gaining ground. I also appreciated learning disabilities being included because there is nothing more important than students of any age getting the accommodations they need.
I also loved how this relationship built up. They had some amazing chemistry but they also had some really deep and difficult conversations and were really there for each other.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Car accident, and Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
Learning disability, ADHD, motorcycle accident
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