khines213's review against another edition
4.0
Emma Hart for the win. I could not get enough of the banter between the hero and heroine. If only we were all bold enough to speak all the random things we think like Kinsley. And had partners that just go with the flow like Josh. Quite a few good laugh out loud moments and even more chuckle quietly to myself moments.
buffywnabe's review against another edition
5.0
As usual I LOVED the latest book by this author! However as I read I kept feeling like someone had been pretty much following me and reading my every thought about dating and books, etc. I usually find connections with characters in my favorite romance books, but oh my gosh, Kinsley reminded me so much of myself that it was a bit crazy! Even though I’m 47 and she is only 26, her reasons for single pretty much sound just like mine. The reasons she would not be interested in a guy, even if he was cute, yeah, pretty similar to reasons I might swipe left on Tinder myself! And then there was the whole Harry Potter conversation, I could totally see having that same conversation, and have probably had very similar ones with people in my own life. Not on dates, mind you, because my dating life is pretty much like Kinsley’s was at the beginning of the book, nonexistent.
But then there was Josh. I adored him and how much he still crushed on Kinsley, and how her arguing and silliness was part of what he liked about her. And he was the perfect match. Even if we had that one thing that I always don’t quite get, the older brother or brother at all, not wanting their friends to date their sister. I mean if you know your friend is a good guy, why wouldn’t you? But being a female, it may just be that I don’t understand the reasoning.
Of course there were so many other funny aspects to this book. We got to meet up with the characters from The Girl Next Door, and we met who I’m assuming will be the other characters, some of them anyway, in the rest of this new series, The Bookworm’s Guide. Also, as per every book by this author that I’ve read for the most part, we have our geriatric crew of mischief makers who are the grandparents and their friends, the ones who help our main characters get into trouble, or figure things out, but always in a humorous fun way. This time, it’s a duck parade. Yep, you read that right!
I also had a couple lines that I loved so much I have to share.
“Sometimes romance was cold wine and sanitary pads.” – Now, not tampons? But still, hilarious and the way Kinsley dealt with her pain for that time of the month was very reminiscent of how I felt!
I’m also going to steal this one for the appropriate situations: “Settle your tea kettle”. I mean how perfect is that? And I love a good rhyme!
If you haven’t read an Emma Hart book yet, you really need to get on that, her books are always full of plenty of laughs and the perfect amount of steamy scenes for the romance as well.
Review first published on Lisa Loves Literature.
But then there was Josh. I adored him and how much he still crushed on Kinsley, and how her arguing and silliness was part of what he liked about her. And he was the perfect match. Even if we had that one thing that I always don’t quite get, the older brother or brother at all, not wanting their friends to date their sister. I mean if you know your friend is a good guy, why wouldn’t you? But being a female, it may just be that I don’t understand the reasoning.
Of course there were so many other funny aspects to this book. We got to meet up with the characters from The Girl Next Door, and we met who I’m assuming will be the other characters, some of them anyway, in the rest of this new series, The Bookworm’s Guide. Also, as per every book by this author that I’ve read for the most part, we have our geriatric crew of mischief makers who are the grandparents and their friends, the ones who help our main characters get into trouble, or figure things out, but always in a humorous fun way. This time, it’s a duck parade. Yep, you read that right!
I also had a couple lines that I loved so much I have to share.
“Sometimes romance was cold wine and sanitary pads.” – Now, not tampons? But still, hilarious and the way Kinsley dealt with her pain for that time of the month was very reminiscent of how I felt!
I’m also going to steal this one for the appropriate situations: “Settle your tea kettle”. I mean how perfect is that? And I love a good rhyme!
If you haven’t read an Emma Hart book yet, you really need to get on that, her books are always full of plenty of laughs and the perfect amount of steamy scenes for the romance as well.
Review first published on Lisa Loves Literature.
a_ab's review against another edition
1.0
I wanted to try a new author and this seemed like a safe option in this author's book list. Wrongly.
The writing isn't awful, but very juvenile. The characters have gimmicks instead of traits and I had trouble telling them apart. But all that is not the real problem.
The real problem was the story and its "morals", if one can call them that.
The intrinsic frat culture attitudes in this book were beyond revolting. Apparently, women are to be treated as either disposable sex toys (the book is full of much more colorful expressions, but that's the least of its flaws) or sisters who are to be protected from all men by means of physical violence, because those men will inevitably use them as abovementioned disposable sex toys. That was the whole stupid conflict of the story.
And I am not even touching the shitpile of slut-shaming derogatory language dumped on the heroine by her brother, who's feeling all self-righteous and noble during and after a bout of physical violence against his supposedly best friend.
Now, the cherry on top: apparently it's up to the almost 30-year-old sister and the beaten friend to go groveling to the brother for forgiveness, because his tender sensibilities were so ruthlessly offended... Seriously, WTF?
Let's think about this for a second. Long term close friends know each other well. The only reason why a brother would not want his friends involved with women he cares about is because he knows his friends to be abusers and/or disrespectful users of women, likely because said brother is like that himself and that's just how they all "roll", instead of calling each other out on the unacceptable behavior and attitudes towards women/romantic partners. That tells us rather a lot about the "hero", doesn't it? And it's supported on page by the "hero's" actions, too. It also makes it rather hard to sympathize with anyone in the whole story. Or to buy the "happy" ending as a really happy one.
Now, the book did try to be "progressive", it really did: The "hero" was so wonderful that he managed to, *gasp*, not run away screaming and hide when menstrual periods were mentioned. And, 30-year-old man that he is, was brave enough to ask for sanitary pads at the pharmacy. Surely, that sets the bar too high for any other mortals to ever reach. (That was sarcasm, in case it's not clear.)
I just don't understand why this BS is still paraded around as a "cute love story", because there is nothing cute in this sort of toxic environment and attitudes. There is nothing resembling love there either.
The fact that we have a self-identified bookworm as the heroine, who uses books as means of enriching her limited life experience, makes this particular book especially offensive, because it normalizes toxic culture for the target audience of women who would identify with the heroine, and therefore would also likely look to books for help in understanding the world.
The ageist depictions of the elderly were another deeply offensive element of this crapfest.
The writing isn't awful, but very juvenile. The characters have gimmicks instead of traits and I had trouble telling them apart. But all that is not the real problem.
The real problem was the story and its "morals", if one can call them that.
The intrinsic frat culture attitudes in this book were beyond revolting. Apparently, women are to be treated as either disposable sex toys (the book is full of much more colorful expressions, but that's the least of its flaws) or sisters who are to be protected from all men by means of physical violence, because those men will inevitably use them as abovementioned disposable sex toys. That was the whole stupid conflict of the story.
And I am not even touching the shitpile of slut-shaming derogatory language dumped on the heroine by her brother, who's feeling all self-righteous and noble during and after a bout of physical violence against his supposedly best friend.
Now, the cherry on top: apparently it's up to the almost 30-year-old sister and the beaten friend to go groveling to the brother for forgiveness, because his tender sensibilities were so ruthlessly offended... Seriously, WTF?
Let's think about this for a second. Long term close friends know each other well. The only reason why a brother would not want his friends involved with women he cares about is because he knows his friends to be abusers and/or disrespectful users of women, likely because said brother is like that himself and that's just how they all "roll", instead of calling each other out on the unacceptable behavior and attitudes towards women/romantic partners. That tells us rather a lot about the "hero", doesn't it? And it's supported on page by the "hero's" actions, too. It also makes it rather hard to sympathize with anyone in the whole story. Or to buy the "happy" ending as a really happy one.
Now, the book did try to be "progressive", it really did: The "hero" was so wonderful that he managed to, *gasp*, not run away screaming and hide when menstrual periods were mentioned. And, 30-year-old man that he is, was brave enough to ask for sanitary pads at the pharmacy. Surely, that sets the bar too high for any other mortals to ever reach. (That was sarcasm, in case it's not clear.)
I just don't understand why this BS is still paraded around as a "cute love story", because there is nothing cute in this sort of toxic environment and attitudes. There is nothing resembling love there either.
The fact that we have a self-identified bookworm as the heroine, who uses books as means of enriching her limited life experience, makes this particular book especially offensive, because it normalizes toxic culture for the target audience of women who would identify with the heroine, and therefore would also likely look to books for help in understanding the world.
The ageist depictions of the elderly were another deeply offensive element of this crapfest.
justmevictoria's review against another edition
4.5
An introverted bookworm who's overly opinionated about book-to-movie adaptations? Sign me the hell up!
Booknerd Kinsley is kinda sick of being single. At the very least, she wants to attempt to date more in her 26th year. The thing is, she sucks at dating - she's awkward, always goes off on tangents, and talks about books way too much. Enter Josh, her older brother Colton's best friend. The pair have known each other for forever, so Josh offers to help set her up on dates. He even takes her on a practice date to offer some advice that could help her have a successful real date. For Josh, this was a good idea in theory, but when he's been crushing on Kinsley for years, it's a massive mistake. The plan was to set her up on dates and hopefully make his heart realise nothing is ever going to happen between the pair. But spending so much more one-on-one time with her does the complete opposite. A pact he made with Colton when they were teens has prevented him from acting on his feelings, but maybe it's time to come clean and see what happens...
It's been a hot minute since I've read one of Emma's book so I LOVED being surrounded by her characters again! For those who don't know, this companion novel trilogy is a spin-off of The Girl Next Door, so it was great to get to know more about the characters we were first introduced to in this original book (as well as seeing more of Ivy and Kai!). Another thing I found so fun as well, was the little Easter Egg to a previous duology - The Hook-Up Experiment and The Dating Experiment - which is always a joy to see in Emma's books.
Kinsley was such a fun character! As a introverted bookworm, she was super relatable and I totally wanted to be her bestie - hanging out with Kinsley, Holley and Saylor would be SO fun! Getting a glimpse into Holley and Saylor's lives has me so keen for the rest of the trilogy (AND the spin-off trilogy - just give me a book for ALL these characters!).
As always, Emma is great at balancing the cute romance, the steamy hook-ups and the hilarious side storylines to create a really fun romcom read, and Kinsley and Josh's story is no different. If you've ever wanted to read a fun romance that features a retirement home duck parade, this book has you covered. I lowkey want Emma to write a book solely set in the retirement village we see in the book, which is made up of all the grandparents of the leading characters - it'd be absolutely nuts!
This book has everything romance fans and bookworms will adore, all wrapped up in a cute and fun brother's-best-friend romance that'll have you going out to open a bookstore with your booknerd besties. With book three come out at very soon, now is the time to dive in a devour the first two books.
Booknerd Kinsley is kinda sick of being single. At the very least, she wants to attempt to date more in her 26th year. The thing is, she sucks at dating - she's awkward, always goes off on tangents, and talks about books way too much. Enter Josh, her older brother Colton's best friend. The pair have known each other for forever, so Josh offers to help set her up on dates. He even takes her on a practice date to offer some advice that could help her have a successful real date. For Josh, this was a good idea in theory, but when he's been crushing on Kinsley for years, it's a massive mistake. The plan was to set her up on dates and hopefully make his heart realise nothing is ever going to happen between the pair. But spending so much more one-on-one time with her does the complete opposite. A pact he made with Colton when they were teens has prevented him from acting on his feelings, but maybe it's time to come clean and see what happens...
It's been a hot minute since I've read one of Emma's book so I LOVED being surrounded by her characters again! For those who don't know, this companion novel trilogy is a spin-off of The Girl Next Door, so it was great to get to know more about the characters we were first introduced to in this original book (as well as seeing more of Ivy and Kai!). Another thing I found so fun as well, was the little Easter Egg to a previous duology - The Hook-Up Experiment and The Dating Experiment - which is always a joy to see in Emma's books.
Kinsley was such a fun character! As a introverted bookworm, she was super relatable and I totally wanted to be her bestie - hanging out with Kinsley, Holley and Saylor would be SO fun! Getting a glimpse into Holley and Saylor's lives has me so keen for the rest of the trilogy (AND the spin-off trilogy - just give me a book for ALL these characters!).
As always, Emma is great at balancing the cute romance, the steamy hook-ups and the hilarious side storylines to create a really fun romcom read, and Kinsley and Josh's story is no different. If you've ever wanted to read a fun romance that features a retirement home duck parade, this book has you covered. I lowkey want Emma to write a book solely set in the retirement village we see in the book, which is made up of all the grandparents of the leading characters - it'd be absolutely nuts!
This book has everything romance fans and bookworms will adore, all wrapped up in a cute and fun brother's-best-friend romance that'll have you going out to open a bookstore with your booknerd besties. With book three come out at very soon, now is the time to dive in a devour the first two books.
owl_always_love_books's review against another edition
4.0
Audiobook
You can never really go wrong with an Emma Hart Book.
Her characters like always are fun and quirky!
Love the cover and as bookworm of course I had to read it.
Love the storyline, friendships and banter.
Ready for book 2 in the series.
You can never really go wrong with an Emma Hart Book.
Her characters like always are fun and quirky!
Love the cover and as bookworm of course I had to read it.
Love the storyline, friendships and banter.
Ready for book 2 in the series.
karen_reads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
bibooklover's review against another edition
3.0
The tension in this book was a lot of fun and all the snarkiness from everyone had me silently shaking with laughter. The only problem I had with this book was Colton overreacting to Josh and Kinsley being together. Other than that, this book is a quick easy read to binge in a day that you're not busy.
lauribooks's review against another edition
3.0
No ha estado mal.
El cliché de salir con el mejor amigo del hermano me encanta, es de mis favoritos. Y la protagonista es una adicta a la lectura e introvertida, por lo que creía que este libro lo tenía todo para que me gustara, pero no me ha encantado, ya que no me he visto tan reflejada en la protagonista como esperaba. Diría que hay algunas escenas que me han resultado bastante ridículas y que incluso a mí, que soy amante acérrima de los libros, me han parecido demasiado.
Eso sí, creo que se han generado conversaciones muy interesantes sobre la literatura y sobre cómo las autoras muchas veces quedan relegadas a ciertos géneros que se consideran "menores" o deben cambiar su nombre o firmar con iniciales para ser tomadas en serio en otros géneros como la fantasía o la ciencia ficción. Me ha parecido muy revelador en este aspecto.
No sé si leeré la siguiente parte porque he leído la sinopsis y no me termina de convencer, pero es posible que decida darle la oportunidad.
El cliché de salir con el mejor amigo del hermano me encanta, es de mis favoritos. Y la protagonista es una adicta a la lectura e introvertida, por lo que creía que este libro lo tenía todo para que me gustara, pero no me ha encantado, ya que no me he visto tan reflejada en la protagonista como esperaba. Diría que hay algunas escenas que me han resultado bastante ridículas y que incluso a mí, que soy amante acérrima de los libros, me han parecido demasiado.
Eso sí, creo que se han generado conversaciones muy interesantes sobre la literatura y sobre cómo las autoras muchas veces quedan relegadas a ciertos géneros que se consideran "menores" o deben cambiar su nombre o firmar con iniciales para ser tomadas en serio en otros géneros como la fantasía o la ciencia ficción. Me ha parecido muy revelador en este aspecto.
No sé si leeré la siguiente parte porque he leído la sinopsis y no me termina de convencer, pero es posible que decida darle la oportunidad.