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lolaaareadss1's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Honestly, I adored this book. I didn't want it to end the whole time and it was so perfect. The only reason it is not 5 stars is because I cant remember the girls name and Cal's drinking problem was a lot at times. Nonetheless I loved it and I was so sad when it ended. Definitely worth the almost 600 pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
bee_thebee's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Obviously as predicted this is my favourite book and my favorite brother out of the Dreamland billionaire series. Not that big of a surprise. Hower this book was not as good as I hoped it would be.
So let me begin, first off Cal is absolutely gourgeous, perfect,pretty, jaw dropping, pantie wetting, hot, amazing, flawless, did I mention absolutely perfect. Without a doubt one of my new favorite book bfs. HOWEVER Lanas character was lacking in many areas. She was sadly a not very well developed and thought out character. The plot was not something you´d never seen before but the addiction aspect was kinda interesting. I can´t really judge if it was written ideally, since I literally don´t know shit about dealing with substance abuse, but I can say that I liked how it was handled in the book.
The town they lived in was INSUFFERABLE, the people were so childish ugh. Cami was really sweet and cool, we like her. I was incredibly positively surprised by Declan, he might actually be not as bad as I thought but in his own book he was the biggest ick and red flag I´d ever seen. Rowan and Zahra as always did not interest anybody in the slightest because they kind of are boring, let´s be honest people. But I´m getting off topic.
Overall this was a pretty mid series, nothing bad per se just easy escapism and very mid vanilla smut.
So let me begin, first off Cal is absolutely gourgeous, perfect,pretty, jaw dropping, pantie wetting, hot, amazing, flawless, did I mention absolutely perfect. Without a doubt one of my new favorite book bfs. HOWEVER Lanas character was lacking in many areas. She was sadly a not very well developed and thought out character. The plot was not something you´d never seen before but the addiction aspect was kinda interesting. I can´t really judge if it was written ideally, since I literally don´t know shit about dealing with substance abuse, but I can say that I liked how it was handled in the book.
The town they lived in was INSUFFERABLE, the people were so childish ugh. Cami was really sweet and cool, we like her. I was incredibly positively surprised by Declan, he might actually be not as bad as I thought but in his own book he was the biggest ick and red flag I´d ever seen. Rowan and Zahra as always did not interest anybody in the slightest because they kind of are boring, let´s be honest people. But I´m getting off topic.
Overall this was a pretty mid series, nothing bad per se just easy escapism and very mid vanilla smut.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse
vavocado's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism
blissfullyhannah's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
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
4.5
i’m in love with this book omg. cal is the strongest guy ever and i’m so proud of him. i was rooting for him the whole time. the part where he was drinking at cami’s birthday because he was so nervous and alana wouldn’t even give him a chance to explain (kind of understandable but i hate the miscommunication trope so fucking much,) made me so sad for him/spoiler> alana did kind of piss me off sometimes but otherwise it was so cute seeing them together. however, declan is my favorite of the brothers, maybe i’m just a sucker for a grumpy man.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism
tharureads10_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Addiction
Minor: Cancer
rebelbooks101's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Well I think I’m officially a second chance romance girlie. After being convinced I hated this trope for years, this and a few other books have proven me wrong.
This follows Cal who goes back to Lake Wisteria to sell his grandfather’s mansion only to find his ex girlfriend Alana living there.
Honestly this book surprised me right from the start as like I said prior, I didn’t think I liked second chance romances and if I did then they had to be dual timeline. While there were a few flashbacks in this book, it’s definitely not dual timeline. I also surprisingly think it worked well without it. While I would’ve loved to see more of what their relationship was like back in the day, it’s definitely a story focused on their relationship in the now.
I really liked the two characters, especially Cal. I thought his story about overcoming addiction was very well written and I liked how he developed throughout the story. While I did like Alana as well, I can’t say she necessarily developed as much. Maybe just cause her storyline wasn’t as big I didn’t really catch onto her growth or it just wasn’t there.
The romance between these two was messy and tension filled but that’s what I loved about it. You really had to see these two characters not only fight their growing attraction but also fight for one another on multiple occasions.
One of my few critiques about this book is the ending with Alana and Cal. One of the main things keeping these two apart is the fact that Alana doesn’t trust Cal after he broke her heart the first time and by the time we got to the end of the book I don’t think enough was done to show she trusted him again. More of it was Cal showing Alana that she could trust him more than evidence that she did.
I didn’t think I’d be a fan of a romance that is 500+ pages but I think had this book been like 300 or something, I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much. I feel like the length of the story really helped with the pacing. While it definitely dragged a little in the second half, I was really enjoying the book that the page length didn’t really bother me.
I liked seeing that Cal has ADHD because that’s not something I see often in books coming from someone who also has ADHD. While I do appreciate the representation, I do also think it was very baseline. Most of it was just the fact that he was fidgety, forgetful and on adderall. I don’t think this is bad representation by any means, but I do think more could’ve been done to write it into the story. For example, he has to clean out the attic in the book which would’ve been a good time to show him struggling to stay on task or getting bored and distracted while doing it. Instead he ends up completing the task fairly quickly with little to no issues.
I loved the ending of this book. The last page had my eyes watering a little which coming from someone who is not a book crier, that’s probably the most you’re going to get from me.
Overall I had a great time reading this book and I definitely recommend it! I need to get around to checking out the other books in this series!
This follows Cal who goes back to Lake Wisteria to sell his grandfather’s mansion only to find his ex girlfriend Alana living there.
Honestly this book surprised me right from the start as like I said prior, I didn’t think I liked second chance romances and if I did then they had to be dual timeline. While there were a few flashbacks in this book, it’s definitely not dual timeline. I also surprisingly think it worked well without it. While I would’ve loved to see more of what their relationship was like back in the day, it’s definitely a story focused on their relationship in the now.
I really liked the two characters, especially Cal. I thought his story about overcoming addiction was very well written and I liked how he developed throughout the story. While I did like Alana as well, I can’t say she necessarily developed as much. Maybe just cause her storyline wasn’t as big I didn’t really catch onto her growth or it just wasn’t there.
The romance between these two was messy and tension filled but that’s what I loved about it. You really had to see these two characters not only fight their growing attraction but also fight for one another on multiple occasions.
One of my few critiques about this book is the ending with Alana and Cal. One of the main things keeping these two apart is the fact that Alana doesn’t trust Cal after he broke her heart the first time and by the time we got to the end of the book I don’t think enough was done to show she trusted him again. More of it was Cal showing Alana that she could trust him more than evidence that she did.
I didn’t think I’d be a fan of a romance that is 500+ pages but I think had this book been like 300 or something, I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much. I feel like the length of the story really helped with the pacing. While it definitely dragged a little in the second half, I was really enjoying the book that the page length didn’t really bother me.
I liked seeing that Cal has ADHD because that’s not something I see often in books coming from someone who also has ADHD. While I do appreciate the representation, I do also think it was very baseline. Most of it was just the fact that he was fidgety, forgetful and on adderall. I don’t think this is bad representation by any means, but I do think more could’ve been done to write it into the story. For example, he has to clean out the attic in the book which would’ve been a good time to show him struggling to stay on task or getting bored and distracted while doing it. Instead he ends up completing the task fairly quickly with little to no issues.
I loved the ending of this book. The last page had my eyes watering a little which coming from someone who is not a book crier, that’s probably the most you’re going to get from me.
Overall I had a great time reading this book and I definitely recommend it! I need to get around to checking out the other books in this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
demy_summer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Cursing, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
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
kashiish's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.0
“shit. i never stood a chance against him once he got sober. hell, i barely stood a chance when he was still drinking, which only proves how screwed i was from the very beginning.”
a song for this book would be labyrinth by taylor swift.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
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