Reviews

Secrets and Bow Ties by Lou Harper

papercranestitches's review

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3.0

Dylan was a flakey, manipulative, gold digger (although he wasn't malicious, just matter-of-fact about it) and there wasn't a whole lot to like about him. Simon was delightfully nerdy, and there wasn't nearly enough of him in this book.

I feel like the plot - which seemed to get more ridiculous and far-fetched with each passing page - took centre stage at the expense of the main characters and their relationship. I would have like to have seen a little more ROMANCE in this one. Oh, and an outright declaration of love would have been nice.

cmira2027's review

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5.0

Wonderful

Each book in this series is better than the last! I think Dylan and Simon are wonderful together, but then I have a soft spot for adorkable nerds. Highly recommended

frothy's review

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4.0

Not bad. I liked the guys and the story. I didn't like the look of the rest of the series, so am not reading more of this author at the moment.

ktomp17's review

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4.0

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

For me, I loved parts of this book (5 stars) and then other parts annoyed me (to a 3 star level), so I am averaging that and giving this 4 stars.

I love that we get to see Dylan. It was explained in the blurb and briefly in the beginning of the book that he was a gold digger, but I didn't see much evidence of that until we were a bit farther into the book. It was almost like he took on that persona after the book started. I know that isn't how it was intended, but that was how it felt as I read it and it felt like "oops...better make it clear he is a gold digger".

I absolutely loved Simon's character. Sweet, quiet, bookish, nerdy, and adorable. What I loved best about this (which was what I loved about book 1) was that they became friends. There was attraction and one night together, but circumstances allowed them to become friends without those sexual expectations.

The one thing that really annoyed me about this was the mystery/action plot. It seemed WAY too over the top, especially for 3 friends to all have some big drama like this. It made sense that Olly would have a big drama plot in his story because it was related to the first book. This plot was not related in any way and just seemed completely out there. I didn't love the drama story line.

What I did love though? Simon and Dylan. They were great together. It was nice to see Dylan acknowledge that his expectations were unrealistic and not necessarily the best for him, and that he could find and be happy with a really nice guy where the focus was not money. Simon's friends were great side characters for the few moments we saw them.

Overall, I enjoyed this continuation to the series. I hope we get Teag's story next!! That boy needs some LOVE (preferably without more of the same predictable murder, blackmail, and mayhem!!) :-)

lillian_francis's review

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4.0

Really enjoy this series.
Another entertaining read. And I was really quite scared for Dylan for a while there.

calila's review

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5.0

*A free copy of this books was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.*

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I knew I'd like it, but I didn't expect to love Dylan and Simon together so much. Nerdy adorable Simon was exactly what kind of shallow Dylan needed. I don't mind Dylan's gold-digging goal of landing an old rich guy, whatever floats your boat. I understand where his motivation comes from. Growing up worrying about where you're going to sleep and if you'll eat again soon makes you desperate for financial security any way you can get it. I wish we had seen more of that though, we really only get two scenes where it's mentioned. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of it too. It really was like a comedy of errors for Dylan. None of it was really his fault, he just got caught in circumstances beyond his control. I am really glad that it deviates from the previous two books' mysteries in that it's not a blackmail case. It was refreshing. This was really just a great read.
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