Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - It Happened One Autumn

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas

8 reviews

bingley's review against another edition

medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

(240327) Well-realized characters, and an unexpected falling action before resolution! And again, it's that thing where the 2 MCs don't see how perfect they fit each other, but everyone around them does XD.

TLDR: Spirited fighters that fight each other and then fight FOR each other.

When Author started pushing Lillian and St. Vincent together more and more, I was surprised bc I know who St. Vincent ends up with in the other books. I also thought... how is Author gonna redeem him from this callous

kidnapping of the fiance of your CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND

??? That's definitely extreme, and I'm curious to see whether Marcus will try to maintain his friendship, and how...

I'm assuming this is technically an "enemies to lovers", which isn't my favorite trope, but Marcus and Lillian's story is delightful, funny, surprising, and not annoying. The trope annoys me when done superficially, with unrealistic reasons why they can't be together/hate each other, but Lillian-Marcus actually have chemistry and banter that isn't always 24/7 antagonistic. There's diff facets to their relationship with each other, and that's why it works and doesn't tire.

POV: dual, third person
SPICE: Even outside, the library, ooh lala. Also...is this dubcon????? 1st instance, yes. 2nd instance... she's drunk but she says yes, but...! she's drunk. (I was surprised Author chose this.)
CAST OF CHARACTERS: Author has an extended world in her books where characters from one book show up/are related to characters from another, and it totally took me a minute to realize this was the Marcus from Aline-Mckenna's story lmao.
ENDING DECLARATIONS: I swear, Author knows how to write the best ending declarations of love. They feel so genuine, emotional, tender, and heartbreaking/warming. Marcus' is almost as good as Simon's.

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astound's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-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

4.75

This was such a compelling read. It was incredibly fast-paced and gripping. At times, I feared for the characters, but the story was so sweet and wonderful. So far, this is my favorite Wallflowers couple.

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aoifesbookshelf's review against another edition

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lighthearted tense 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

3.0

Certainly not as good as the first book and there are a number of dub con scenes throughout. I know in later editions, the chapter after the

library scene

is revised but in all honestly I felt that

some of their kisses (especially the first kiss)

were much more uncomfortable to read. I would have been so easy to include a line or two or change handful of words to make this much more digestible because it reads as assault and only later in the chapter or the next chapter to we learn Lillian reciprocated or enjoyed the kisses.

I liked Lillian but not as much as the other girls. She was a bit too stubborn to the point it got annoying and immature. Despite certain scenes, I still found myself rooting for Westcliff, hoping he'd actually *say* some of the things he thought. Everytime he did something bad, he recognised it as such and then realised he needed to apologise.

The standout positive moments for me were

the apology in the study, Westcliff confronting his mother (twice) and the rounders scene at the beginning. The fake-butterfly scene was sweet too.

Overall, it's not the best book, but I did get thought it very fast. I like Kleypas' engaging writing style. I found that I would be enjoying the story, the banter, the enemies-to-lovers angle and then a scene would happen between the H&h that would make me a little uncomfortable and I'd go back to disliking it. This cycle repeated several times.

St. Vincent was likable in the first 80% of the book.

In fact, he *almost* suited Lillian better. Then he kidnapped her. Then at the end of the book, Evie turns up at his house to make a deal?

I look forward to reading how Kleypas attempts to redeem him in Devil In Winter, especially since he is one of the most loved Heros in HR and right now, I cannot see why.

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annahamburger's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.75

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lct's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

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allingoodtime's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-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

I am not one for spoilers so I try not to even read the blurbs of future books in a series. I wait until it’s the next one in line for me to find out which characters from the series are being featured next. So, there were some things in this story that surprised and even upset me. My mind was going one way and the story went another with a particular character.

Lillian and Westcliff weren’t a surprise for me. I love how they challenge each other. The first few times they give into their chemistry, there are some iffy consent lines. Those are the times I had to remind myself this was published almost 20 years ago. And, to be frank, Westcliff can be brutal when he’s trying to deny his feelings for Lillian. To her credit, Lillian does not allow Westcliff to keep toying with her emotions and puts up her walls after too many of his slights.

It quickly becomes apparent Westcliff is a romantic at heart. The Westcliff that makes an appearance at the end of Again the Magic starts emerging and is added to. When he cares, he cares deeply. He can’t help but be intrigued by the woman who will stand up to him and dare to defy him.

Of course, Lillian only wants to be loved for who she is. She doesn’t admit that to even herself, but constantly being reprimanded for her true personality doesn’t help with her self-esteem. She refused to change for anyone, yet wants someone to be okay with that.

There is a character in this story that will be featured in another story and, I’m sorry, but I don’t see how they will ever be redeemed. Even when I wanted to believe the betrayal wasn’t happening, that there was some other explanation, the things they said negated that hope. I’ll have to go into that book with the trust that the author can change my mind.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the love story in this book. The connection and camaraderie the wallflowers have are kept up in this story and it was great to see them all still supporting each other.

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cepbreed's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Jesus, I was expecting a lot more from this book, I know it's ludicrous considering its a trashy romance novel but come on! This reads like a fanfiction, and a terrible one at that. Maybe I should've read the first book in the series, but I've never had a problem connecting with the characters when I skipped around with Julia Quinn's books. The male lead is a brute and a bully, he assaults the female lead and is so self righteous I simply could not like him. Lillian is cute, a little headstrong, but at least she was likeable. The plot was random and seemed almost like the author just tried to fit in as many trashy tropes as she could. I love Julia Quinn's books and this was recommended to me so I expected something of the same quality, but where Quinn's couples are obviously in love and have time to develop their love Marcus and Lillian are rushed and just antagonistic towards each other. I can't imagine this relationship would last long realistically.

Songs:

In My Feelings - Lana Del Rey
Midnight Rain - Taylor Swift
Video Games - Lana Del Rey (for the perfume line lol)

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lauramparis's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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

3.5

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