thewordslinger's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I hate the term alphahole, I dunno who made it up but they should be punished, forthwith.
Don't get me wrong, having a broody, dominant man in a story isn't the issue. I don't mind the <i>concept</i>. Just the fucking word. I don't take anyone who uses it in conversation seriously--it's sorta like hearing someone say LOL in real life. It's just... shit that doesn't happen.
And shouldn't.
Honestly, this wasn't the WORST thing I've ever read. But it certainly wasn't the best, either. I think it probably never should have left Wattpad.
Alex isn't the <i>alphahole</i> I was promised. He's actually quite sensitive and observant and doting. He's just got a hangup about the L word and tries to be possessive by using the phrase 'good girl' every time they get naked. It's seriously used 9 separate times. And not one of them felt authentic. If you're gonna have a domineering man use this phrase, you need to actually make him domineering. Otherwise it just sounds stupid and falls flat.
<b>Biggest Pet Peeve of the Book:</b>
The amount of times hands have ended up in hair: 87
EIGHTY. SEVEN. Most of those, I'd say a solid 75%, were "he/she buried his/her hands in my hair", too. I got so fucking sick of that phrase. It seriously happens 4 or 5 times in the span of ONE sex scene, on a regular basis. And sometimes, it doesn't even make sense. Dude will grab her hair, then in the next sentence his hands are spreading her thighs. And then his grip on her hair tightens. So... does he have more than 2 arms? Is Alex secretly an octopus? That's the only way some of that shit could possibly make sense.
I can only assume these people are all bald now with all the hair grabbing that goes on in this book.
I don't really have much more to say about this--it's pretty mediocre tbh. I'm just gonna leave my chapter notes as a review. This doesn't really deserve any more of my energy.
Chapter 11: Why didn't she just marry Lucian? He seems like the obvious choice considering how close they are. Oh wait. I bet Lucian is gay.
Chapter 14: I swear to God if Alex drops the "Clever girl" line one more time, I'm going to put this book down and just watch Jurassic Park.
Chapter 15: I don't get why they have to share a room in the house either. If they're FAKING a marriage, why are they expecting to fuck each other and live together?
Yep. Lucien's gay.
Chapter 17: There's so not enough tension between these two for him to be all "she hates how much she wants me" every other sentence. As far as I can tell, she's had the hots for him since childhood and nothing's changed now. The insta-lust I can get behind. I get that sometimes people are just fuckably hot beyond all reason. But him just assuming she's loathing every second of it is arrogant and makes him sound like an absolute idiot.
Also I HATE the whole "you sold your body to me" thing. They are mutually benefiting from this arrangement, she didn't sell her body, she married him so his grandfather's terms are met. He married her so she had legitimate access to his money for her mother. The sex between them is mutual. She's not a prostitute. And yet, that's exactly how he's treated her from Chapter 1.
Also I should have probably said this a chapter or two ago, but it's fucking weird they went ahead and married, only to then have to establish their relationship in public. There was no real need for either of them to jump the gun--her mother's bills were paid by her MIL, and Alex said he'd take care of her mom regardless. They could have just fake dated and gotten married normally as the story progressed.
<b>"My <i>body</i> is yours Alexander Kennedy. All yours."
I drop my forehead to hers and smile. "That'll do for now," I whisper . . . </b>
Wait, I thought he didn't want love? What else is there for her to give him except emotional stuff if he's already getting her body? What else is he after suddenly? Make your mind up, dude.
<b>"I told you Elena. From now on my name is the <i>only</i> name you'll ever have on your lips.</b>
Dude, who else do you think she's been calling out for? This is the first time you've ever been in bed together and you're acting like you've found her cheating on you with like 12 other guys. I dunno if this is supposed to be hot--but in this moment, all this hyper possessive stuff just doesn't make <i>sense</i>. Give the man a reason to be jealous first, Jesus.
Chapter 19: What is it about Jen, exactly, that Alexander misses so much? All he's ever said about her, and from the little we've see about her, she's completely repugnant. So why's he obsessing over some idiotic text when Elena's right next to him being amazing?
Chapter 25: I really fucking hate the pet name "Buttercup".
Chapter 26-27: I gotta be honest, I am HERE for the petty revenge on Elena's behalf. I don't give a fuck bout Jen and Alex...but Elena getting even in every way with her awful family is <i>life</i>.
Chapter 28: There is SO MUCH hair-grabbing going on in this book that these two are both going to need wigs before this is all over. Like it's <i>absurd</i> how poorly this was edited that the repetition was overlooked.
<b>He brushes my hair behind my ear.
He runs a hand through his hair...
Alexander sighs in resignation and buries his hand in my hair.</b> (his hands then immediately run over her body, suggesting the hair grab was weirdly short or that he's got more than 2 arms)
<b>Alexander buries his hand in my hair </b>(again), <b>pulling me closer . . .
I grab his hair and kiss him harder . . .
Alexander's lips smother my moans and his grip</b> (which was just seconds ago on her thighs) <b>on my hair tightens . . . </b>
That's literally just ONE sex scene in ONE chapter. The hair-grabbing has been happening for 40% of this book now. I'm telling you... Wigs. Or a toupee, at least!
Chapter 29: Lucian is hella gay. I wanna see the love story! Stop keeping it a secret! He's honestly one of the only reasons I'm still reading this shit lol. He's got gay bestie written <i>all over him</i>!
Chapter 31: Good heavens but the smut is so fucking terrible. I own you, you're <i>mine</i> repeat ad nauseam. It's <i>exhausting</i>.
Chapter 34: WHAT DID I SAAAAAAY
Go Elliot!
God Lucian's love life is WAY more interesting than Alexander and Elena's ever could be.
Chapter 35: Is Alexander in the mafia now? Is he gonna make Marcus sleep with the fishes? He owns the popo? Did this just become a mafia romance?
Chapter 40: Okay, now we're just making up problems to create drama... Booooo there's enough unresolved shit with the family stuff without the possessive jealous over dramatics.
Chapter 46: Yesssss. All the revenge!
Chapter 47: Oh shit. Jade is Matthew's real mom.
Chapter 48: This is such a weird romance story. Neither the FMC nor the MMC believe in love. In fact, thanks to their fucked up families, they feel like love is this toxic, poisonous thing that's not worth having. And they both seem to believe that their relationship is based on something stronger... but what the fuck IS their relationship based on? Literally just a piece of paper. And sex. Lots of sex.
Oh no not the milking! Vomit.
Chapter 49: I should have asked this earlier, but if a person's been induced into a coma, and they're taken off life support... would they die? Their organs haven't failed. Their brain's not dead... They're just medically asleep. Right? I'm not certain this whole scenario checks out...
Chapter 53: Starting to feel brow-beaten with all this "love is terrible" stuff. It's been like 7 straight chapters of "proof" that love is awful and unnecessary. We get it.
Chapter 59: Wow we really got the come to Jesus moment from the ex-girlfriend? And after all this we discover that Alex never even really loved her in the first place? Why does that cheapen the whole book? The only upside to this is that it didn't go the cliche way where the ex throws herself embarrassingly at Alex. Although she had that moment--and I have to wonder, did the paparazzi see it and will Elena?
Actually what am I saying, there's still 15% of this book left. OF COURSE she's gonna see and jump to conclusions and DRAMAAAAAA~
Chapter 60: There it is.
Also sex is NOT the solution to anything. But okay sure.
Chapter 62: Mom just mindfucked Alex into accepting his love for Elena. Hilarious.
Dear writers, you do know that you can over use the "Good girl" trope, yes? It doesn't need to be in EVERY smut scene. Less is more.
It's also difficult to find good girl sexy when the dude's grovelling. Hard to be dominant when you're on your knees because you fucked up, buddy. Just this one time, be sweet.
Chapter 63: I'm so fucking tired of this book. I hate it when the grovelling dramatics is this drawn out. This book didn't need to be this long.
Chapter 65: Honestly, as hard to get as she's playing, she kind of deserves to be left alone. She pushed too far.
And at this point, I don't want these two to be together. It's just gone on too long now.
Chapter 66: But...dinner.
Ah yes, let's not forget the good girl.
Epilogue: I WANT A LUCIAN/ELLIOT STORY NOW.
Eugh. OF COURSE we have to have the baby news.
Don't get me wrong, having a broody, dominant man in a story isn't the issue. I don't mind the <i>concept</i>. Just the fucking word. I don't take anyone who uses it in conversation seriously--it's sorta like hearing someone say LOL in real life. It's just... shit that doesn't happen.
And shouldn't.
Honestly, this wasn't the WORST thing I've ever read. But it certainly wasn't the best, either. I think it probably never should have left Wattpad.
Alex isn't the <i>alphahole</i> I was promised. He's actually quite sensitive and observant and doting. He's just got a hangup about the L word and tries to be possessive by using the phrase 'good girl' every time they get naked. It's seriously used 9 separate times. And not one of them felt authentic. If you're gonna have a domineering man use this phrase, you need to actually make him domineering. Otherwise it just sounds stupid and falls flat.
<b>Biggest Pet Peeve of the Book:</b>
The amount of times hands have ended up in hair: 87
EIGHTY. SEVEN. Most of those, I'd say a solid 75%, were "he/she buried his/her hands in my hair", too. I got so fucking sick of that phrase. It seriously happens 4 or 5 times in the span of ONE sex scene, on a regular basis. And sometimes, it doesn't even make sense. Dude will grab her hair, then in the next sentence his hands are spreading her thighs. And then his grip on her hair tightens. So... does he have more than 2 arms? Is Alex secretly an octopus? That's the only way some of that shit could possibly make sense.
I can only assume these people are all bald now with all the hair grabbing that goes on in this book.
I don't really have much more to say about this--it's pretty mediocre tbh. I'm just gonna leave my chapter notes as a review. This doesn't really deserve any more of my energy.
Spoiler
Chapter 3: I dunno what I expected this to be. But Elena getting fingered this soon was NOT it. But alright, fine. super spicy book, here we go.Chapter 11: Why didn't she just marry Lucian? He seems like the obvious choice considering how close they are. Oh wait. I bet Lucian is gay.
Chapter 14: I swear to God if Alex drops the "Clever girl" line one more time, I'm going to put this book down and just watch Jurassic Park.
Chapter 15: I don't get why they have to share a room in the house either. If they're FAKING a marriage, why are they expecting to fuck each other and live together?
Yep. Lucien's gay.
Chapter 17: There's so not enough tension between these two for him to be all "she hates how much she wants me" every other sentence. As far as I can tell, she's had the hots for him since childhood and nothing's changed now. The insta-lust I can get behind. I get that sometimes people are just fuckably hot beyond all reason. But him just assuming she's loathing every second of it is arrogant and makes him sound like an absolute idiot.
Also I HATE the whole "you sold your body to me" thing. They are mutually benefiting from this arrangement, she didn't sell her body, she married him so his grandfather's terms are met. He married her so she had legitimate access to his money for her mother. The sex between them is mutual. She's not a prostitute. And yet, that's exactly how he's treated her from Chapter 1.
Also I should have probably said this a chapter or two ago, but it's fucking weird they went ahead and married, only to then have to establish their relationship in public. There was no real need for either of them to jump the gun--her mother's bills were paid by her MIL, and Alex said he'd take care of her mom regardless. They could have just fake dated and gotten married normally as the story progressed.
<b>"My <i>body</i> is yours Alexander Kennedy. All yours."
I drop my forehead to hers and smile. "That'll do for now," I whisper . . . </b>
Wait, I thought he didn't want love? What else is there for her to give him except emotional stuff if he's already getting her body? What else is he after suddenly? Make your mind up, dude.
<b>"I told you Elena. From now on my name is the <i>only</i> name you'll ever have on your lips.</b>
Dude, who else do you think she's been calling out for? This is the first time you've ever been in bed together and you're acting like you've found her cheating on you with like 12 other guys. I dunno if this is supposed to be hot--but in this moment, all this hyper possessive stuff just doesn't make <i>sense</i>. Give the man a reason to be jealous first, Jesus.
Chapter 19: What is it about Jen, exactly, that Alexander misses so much? All he's ever said about her, and from the little we've see about her, she's completely repugnant. So why's he obsessing over some idiotic text when Elena's right next to him being amazing?
Chapter 25: I really fucking hate the pet name "Buttercup".
Chapter 26-27: I gotta be honest, I am HERE for the petty revenge on Elena's behalf. I don't give a fuck bout Jen and Alex...but Elena getting even in every way with her awful family is <i>life</i>.
Chapter 28: There is SO MUCH hair-grabbing going on in this book that these two are both going to need wigs before this is all over. Like it's <i>absurd</i> how poorly this was edited that the repetition was overlooked.
<b>He brushes my hair behind my ear.
He runs a hand through his hair...
Alexander sighs in resignation and buries his hand in my hair.</b> (his hands then immediately run over her body, suggesting the hair grab was weirdly short or that he's got more than 2 arms)
<b>Alexander buries his hand in my hair </b>(again), <b>pulling me closer . . .
I grab his hair and kiss him harder . . .
Alexander's lips smother my moans and his grip</b> (which was just seconds ago on her thighs) <b>on my hair tightens . . . </b>
That's literally just ONE sex scene in ONE chapter. The hair-grabbing has been happening for 40% of this book now. I'm telling you... Wigs. Or a toupee, at least!
Chapter 29: Lucian is hella gay. I wanna see the love story! Stop keeping it a secret! He's honestly one of the only reasons I'm still reading this shit lol. He's got gay bestie written <i>all over him</i>!
Chapter 31: Good heavens but the smut is so fucking terrible. I own you, you're <i>mine</i> repeat ad nauseam. It's <i>exhausting</i>.
Chapter 34: WHAT DID I SAAAAAAY
Go Elliot!
God Lucian's love life is WAY more interesting than Alexander and Elena's ever could be.
Chapter 35: Is Alexander in the mafia now? Is he gonna make Marcus sleep with the fishes? He owns the popo? Did this just become a mafia romance?
Chapter 40: Okay, now we're just making up problems to create drama... Booooo there's enough unresolved shit with the family stuff without the possessive jealous over dramatics.
Chapter 46: Yesssss. All the revenge!
Chapter 47: Oh shit. Jade is Matthew's real mom.
Chapter 48: This is such a weird romance story. Neither the FMC nor the MMC believe in love. In fact, thanks to their fucked up families, they feel like love is this toxic, poisonous thing that's not worth having. And they both seem to believe that their relationship is based on something stronger... but what the fuck IS their relationship based on? Literally just a piece of paper. And sex. Lots of sex.
Oh no not the milking! Vomit.
Chapter 49: I should have asked this earlier, but if a person's been induced into a coma, and they're taken off life support... would they die? Their organs haven't failed. Their brain's not dead... They're just medically asleep. Right? I'm not certain this whole scenario checks out...
Chapter 53: Starting to feel brow-beaten with all this "love is terrible" stuff. It's been like 7 straight chapters of "proof" that love is awful and unnecessary. We get it.
Chapter 59: Wow we really got the come to Jesus moment from the ex-girlfriend? And after all this we discover that Alex never even really loved her in the first place? Why does that cheapen the whole book? The only upside to this is that it didn't go the cliche way where the ex throws herself embarrassingly at Alex. Although she had that moment--and I have to wonder, did the paparazzi see it and will Elena?
Actually what am I saying, there's still 15% of this book left. OF COURSE she's gonna see and jump to conclusions and DRAMAAAAAA~
Chapter 60: There it is.
Also sex is NOT the solution to anything. But okay sure.
Chapter 62: Mom just mindfucked Alex into accepting his love for Elena. Hilarious.
Dear writers, you do know that you can over use the "Good girl" trope, yes? It doesn't need to be in EVERY smut scene. Less is more.
It's also difficult to find good girl sexy when the dude's grovelling. Hard to be dominant when you're on your knees because you fucked up, buddy. Just this one time, be sweet.
Chapter 63: I'm so fucking tired of this book. I hate it when the grovelling dramatics is this drawn out. This book didn't need to be this long.
Chapter 65: Honestly, as hard to get as she's playing, she kind of deserves to be left alone. She pushed too far.
And at this point, I don't want these two to be together. It's just gone on too long now.
Chapter 66: But...dinner.
Ah yes, let's not forget the good girl.
Epilogue: I WANT A LUCIAN/ELLIOT STORY NOW.
Eugh. OF COURSE we have to have the baby news.
the_savannahhumphrey's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
janeloneita's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
bkaur's review against another edition
emotional
tense
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
cheneric's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
yeriwithaj_'s review against another edition
3.0
A good read
I really enjoyed this story, and would rate it a 3.5 stars if half stars were allowed. It was cute, sexy, and angsty (maybe a touch to into shock value).
I really enjoyed this story, and would rate it a 3.5 stars if half stars were allowed. It was cute, sexy, and angsty (maybe a touch to into shock value).
tsmetak's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
elisaaxdb's review against another edition
4.0
I loved it, was a bit to long for my liking but it was good
dumplingsz's review against another edition
1.0
"She's a classic beauty, unlike the plastic girls I'm usually surrounded with."
"Every other woman I speak to is after something, but not Diana."lmao this book gave off so much not like other girls energy, and that, combined with the characters and most of the dialogue, felt weird to me.
decided to read this because of booktok and I no longer trust booktok, lol. basically skimmed through the book because it got so repetitive and cheesy. :<