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cassidysreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
tense
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
2.0
2/5 stars.
Truly disappointed by this one. I devoured the first two, but this one just didn't hit quite like the others. At least I won't have to hear about tongues being heavy anymore.
To save myself the trouble of talking to much about this book, I'll just mention my major problems with it and cover them briefly: first problem is Alana herself. For a book that's supposed to be about grown adults, it's embarrassing how childish she is. So much of the miscommunication between these two is because Alana assumes without asking. She fills in the blanks and takes it as hard facts. All I wanted was for her to be a grown woman and address her problems to the pertaining parties like an actual adult. I also found her personality to be lacking. The baking hobby felt like an afterthought to make her seem like a real person, but then that's all that she really had going for her.
Second problem: the sex scenes. Nope. Dom/sub behavior never will be my thing. And no, I do not want to read a description about the cum flooding out of her mouth because swallowing it twice wasn't enough to get rid of it. Disgusting.
Third problem: the "loving yourself first in order to love others" message in this book. It's a big trend that even I bought into several years ago and with time I've learned loving yourself only leads to pride, disappointment, or both. None of which are healthy. I'm not going to delve into it because this is not the place, but know this: if the self is the main cause behind our anxieties, depression, and insecurities, then the self is not the solution to eventual happiness.
Fourth problem: The town. If small towns were in any way like this one, I'd want nothing to do with them. The townspeople are about as childish as Alana. Continuously berating and judging Cal for the way he handled his relationship with Alana that happened SIX YEARS AGO. I'm sorry, did I miss the part where Alana and Cal were polyamorous with the entire town? In what world was it ever their business to bully a man on behalf of the broken-hearted Lana from -- again, I must reiterate -- six years ago?
Fifth, and final problem: it's all-encompassing, but the couple just wasn't it for me and the story was longer than it needed to be. Being a second chance romance, I think it would have been beneficial to see how Cal and Lana fell in love initially so that we could connect that to their present day romance. But alas, we only got small flashbacks that didn't quite show their falling in love in the past. We also didn't really get to understand why Cal left her six years ago in the first place, nor did we get much detail about her sister. It just felt like a lot of shots not taken. Which was a bit underwhelming.
With all the major problems (of which I've realized I've spoken much about despite my best efforts to be short and sweet) and the weird grammar and editing errors throughout, I really hope this isn't a representation of Asher's future works and that it's just a fluke. I truly loved The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions, and I would hate to see things follow the same path as this book. Because this book was perfectly mediocre in every way and we have FAR too much of that on the market already.
Here's to hoping the next series surpasses this book!
<u>My ranking of the series just for fun</u>
Terms and Conditions ~ 5/5 stars
The Fine Print ~ 4/5 stars
Final Offer ~ 2/5 stars
Truly disappointed by this one. I devoured the first two, but this one just didn't hit quite like the others. At least I won't have to hear about tongues being heavy anymore.
To save myself the trouble of talking to much about this book, I'll just mention my major problems with it and cover them briefly: first problem is Alana herself. For a book that's supposed to be about grown adults, it's embarrassing how childish she is. So much of the miscommunication between these two is because Alana assumes without asking. She fills in the blanks and takes it as hard facts. All I wanted was for her to be a grown woman and address her problems to the pertaining parties like an actual adult. I also found her personality to be lacking. The baking hobby felt like an afterthought to make her seem like a real person, but then that's all that she really had going for her.
Second problem: the sex scenes. Nope. Dom/sub behavior never will be my thing. And no, I do not want to read a description about the cum flooding out of her mouth because swallowing it twice wasn't enough to get rid of it. Disgusting.
Third problem: the "loving yourself first in order to love others" message in this book. It's a big trend that even I bought into several years ago and with time I've learned loving yourself only leads to pride, disappointment, or both. None of which are healthy. I'm not going to delve into it because this is not the place, but know this: if the self is the main cause behind our anxieties, depression, and insecurities, then the self is not the solution to eventual happiness.
Fourth problem: The town. If small towns were in any way like this one, I'd want nothing to do with them. The townspeople are about as childish as Alana. Continuously berating and judging Cal for the way he handled his relationship with Alana that happened SIX YEARS AGO. I'm sorry, did I miss the part where Alana and Cal were polyamorous with the entire town? In what world was it ever their business to bully a man on behalf of the broken-hearted Lana from -- again, I must reiterate -- six years ago?
Fifth, and final problem: it's all-encompassing, but the couple just wasn't it for me and the story was longer than it needed to be. Being a second chance romance, I think it would have been beneficial to see how Cal and Lana fell in love initially so that we could connect that to their present day romance. But alas, we only got small flashbacks that didn't quite show their falling in love in the past. We also didn't really get to understand why Cal left her six years ago in the first place, nor did we get much detail about her sister. It just felt like a lot of shots not taken. Which was a bit underwhelming.
With all the major problems (of which I've realized I've spoken much about despite my best efforts to be short and sweet) and the weird grammar and editing errors throughout, I really hope this isn't a representation of Asher's future works and that it's just a fluke. I truly loved The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions, and I would hate to see things follow the same path as this book. Because this book was perfectly mediocre in every way and we have FAR too much of that on the market already.
Here's to hoping the next series surpasses this book!
<u>My ranking of the series just for fun</u>
Terms and Conditions ~ 5/5 stars
The Fine Print ~ 4/5 stars
Final Offer ~ 2/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use
sbbailey's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
this book was so very predictable, but cute cami was such a vibe
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Drug abuse
aileenmeza's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Infertility, Addiction, and Miscarriage
bbygirl21's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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 absolutely loved this book. I loved Cal and Alana's journey back to each other.
I enjoyed the fact that Alana made Cal work for it when it came to getting her back. A lot of books would have the characters getting back together in the first few chapters, but they didn't in this book, and it worked out really well that they didn't.
But you can also tell Cal only ever had good intentions when it came to Alana. I really liked that Cal knew he wasn't any good for Alana until he got help, and knew he wasn't ready to get help so he did the best thing by Alana and left, even though it hurt both of them to do so.
I do think the way the town treated Cal was a bit over the top, but I know small towns are like that and they protect their people. And you can see that while Cal hated being treated that way by everyone he was once close to, he understood their reasons and set out to prove to everyone not just Alana that he wasn't out to hurt her again.
I also really loved the bond that Cal had with Alana's daughter Cami. It was really sweet to see them interact. And camo was just the sweetest little girl and so funny. The story wouldn't have been the same without Cami.
So overall I really enjoyed this final book in the trilogy and would absolutely recommend.
I enjoyed the fact that Alana made Cal work for it when it came to getting her back. A lot of books would have the characters getting back together in the first few chapters, but they didn't in this book, and it worked out really well that they didn't.
But you can also tell Cal only ever had good intentions when it came to Alana. I really liked that Cal knew he wasn't any good for Alana until he got help, and knew he wasn't ready to get help so he did the best thing by Alana and left, even though it hurt both of them to do so.
I do think the way the town treated Cal was a bit over the top, but I know small towns are like that and they protect their people. And you can see that while Cal hated being treated that way by everyone he was once close to, he understood their reasons and set out to prove to everyone not just Alana that he wasn't out to hurt her again.
I also really loved the bond that Cal had with Alana's daughter Cami. It was really sweet to see them interact. And camo was just the sweetest little girl and so funny. The story wouldn't have been the same without Cami.
So overall I really enjoyed this final book in the trilogy and would absolutely recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Bullying, and Terminal illness
lalinamarie's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
3.75
And so the series comes to an end. Though Callahan seemed very obviously the most likeable brother, he ended up being my least favorite. Not because of his addiction or the challenges he faced but because of how much he hated himself; I guess it rubbed off on me. I really like how the story was wrapped up though the romantic conflict towards the end of the story was too predictable and almost felt copy & pasted in with little changes from the other books. It’s not bad writing, it’s just what I found least interesting about the story. Also Alana, I have a lot to say about her as a character but it’s way too much to write in this review. The book is enjoyable. I didn’t think I’d actually like this series as much as I did. Beautiful ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts
luizalikesbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
SPOILERS AHEAD! Sorry, I have too many thoughts 🥲
As someone who very much liked the other two books in the series, this felt like a complete shift from them. This was unnecessarily long and repetitive, too focused on Cal and his addiction instead of their relationship or his feelings about getting his inheritance. There were so many moments of him relapsing that you can argue were the realist part of the book but that for me felt like could’ve been communicated in a couple of paragraphs instead of a couple hundred pages. I loved that Lana was Colombian and her Hispanic roots were present but I disliked how she had no depth to her as a character. There was too much time spent on her being adamant about not wanting to give the house up and too little on explaining why. Her relationship with baking was completed glossed over, as it was her relationship with her mom and sister, like show me scenes of her having hardships with her sister and her addiction don’t just tell me, 500+ pages were more than anything for much more.
Overall a let down 😭😭 I will probably give throttled by the author since I liked terms and conditions but I’m unsure if I’ll continue.
As someone who very much liked the other two books in the series, this felt like a complete shift from them. This was unnecessarily long and repetitive, too focused on Cal and his addiction instead of their relationship or his feelings about getting his inheritance. There were so many moments of him relapsing that you can argue were the realist part of the book but that for me felt like could’ve been communicated in a couple of paragraphs instead of a couple hundred pages. I loved that Lana was Colombian and her Hispanic roots were present but I disliked how she had no depth to her as a character. There was too much time spent on her being adamant about not wanting to give the house up and too little on explaining why. Her relationship with baking was completed glossed over, as it was her relationship with her mom and sister, like show me scenes of her having hardships with her sister and her addiction don’t just tell me, 500+ pages were more than anything for much more.
Overall a let down 😭😭 I will probably give throttled by the author since I liked terms and conditions but I’m unsure if I’ll continue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Drug abuse, and Grief
ewarde's review against another edition
emotional
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
5.0
Imma just say it... Callahan Kane is the best Kane brother.
This book was so good and I loved every minute of it.
This book was so good and I loved every minute of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Death of parent and Child abuse
filipallo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Drug use
lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A man's legacy shouldn't be determined by how much money he made or how successful he was, but rather by the memory he left behind and the way he made people feel.
This was Cal's book, not Cal and Lana's. Only Cal's. The character development that Cal underwent was lacking in Lana.
Cal needs a partner who can support him with his addiction. Lana failed to recognize this and did not fully support him. This highlights the issue of people not equating mental illness with physical illness. If someone has cancer, they receive support and assistance, but in the case of mental illness, specifically addiction in this book, why can't Lana do the same?
I don't support addiction. I empathize with Lana's past and Cal's past behavior, but Cal needs a supportive partner now. Lana isn't doing enough to support him, and addicts need a strong support system. If Lana truly loves Cal, she should be there for him inspite and despite of.
I appreciate the accurate portrayal of addiction and sympathize with Cal's struggles. However, Lana's character lacks depth and seems limited to taking care of Cami. The constant back-and-forth in Lana's thoughts about trusting Cal became tedious to read, making the book too long. Although she wants to be a baker, her character development is lacking, and there is little chemistry between her and Cal.
Additionally, I would appreciate translations for any Spanish words, phrases, or sentences. Not everyone understands Spanish, and while some Spanish words can be deduced from the context of the conversation, it would be helpful to provide accurate translations. The book is quite lengthy, likely due to the inclusion of Lana's thoughts, so adding translations should not be an issue.
To put it simply, I found this book disappointing. As the final installment in the Dreamland Billionaire series, I had hoped for an epic conclusion to an otherwise great romance series. While Cal was fine and I did like him (although Declan remains my favorite Kane brother), Lana's constant back-and-forth thoughts about her trust issues with Cal were unbearable. Without Cal, I would have DNFed this because of Lana. Lana's handling of Cal's addiction was irritating and intolerable. The book was too long and could have been told more effectively with 150 fewer pages.
This was Cal's book, not Cal and Lana's. Only Cal's. The character development that Cal underwent was lacking in Lana.
Cal needs a partner who can support him with his addiction. Lana failed to recognize this and did not fully support him. This highlights the issue of people not equating mental illness with physical illness. If someone has cancer, they receive support and assistance, but in the case of mental illness, specifically addiction in this book, why can't Lana do the same?
I don't support addiction. I empathize with Lana's past and Cal's past behavior, but Cal needs a supportive partner now. Lana isn't doing enough to support him, and addicts need a strong support system. If Lana truly loves Cal, she should be there for him inspite and despite of.
I appreciate the accurate portrayal of addiction and sympathize with Cal's struggles. However, Lana's character lacks depth and seems limited to taking care of Cami. The constant back-and-forth in Lana's thoughts about trusting Cal became tedious to read, making the book too long. Although she wants to be a baker, her character development is lacking, and there is little chemistry between her and Cal.
Additionally, I would appreciate translations for any Spanish words, phrases, or sentences. Not everyone understands Spanish, and while some Spanish words can be deduced from the context of the conversation, it would be helpful to provide accurate translations. The book is quite lengthy, likely due to the inclusion of Lana's thoughts, so adding translations should not be an issue.
To put it simply, I found this book disappointing. As the final installment in the Dreamland Billionaire series, I had hoped for an epic conclusion to an otherwise great romance series. While Cal was fine and I did like him (although Declan remains my favorite Kane brother), Lana's constant back-and-forth thoughts about her trust issues with Cal were unbearable. Without Cal, I would have DNFed this because of Lana. Lana's handling of Cal's addiction was irritating and intolerable. The book was too long and could have been told more effectively with 150 fewer pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual content, and Addiction
Minor: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Drug use
otakubishh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cancer, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty