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bri__'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
sierrabowers's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
abby_can_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a cute read and I had a good time with it. The characters were good, the plot was decent, and it had a few tropes that I enjoy.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism and Physical abuse
theangelssing's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Not my fav book but it is a nice one. (:
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"Terms and Conditions" follows the next grumpy brother, Declan, and his assistant, Iris. Following their grandfather's death, three brothers each have to achieve an objective in order to secure their future roles and shares in the billion-dollar family business: Dreamland. Declan wants to become the future CEO, but in order to do so, he must marry someone and have a baby with them within a year. The only problem is that Declan is VERY unpleasant and no woman wants to be around him. In order to help her boss, Iris steps in and offers to marry Declan so that his father will not continue to have such a chokehold over the amusement park and subsequently, their lives. Can these two work through their issues and make this marriage a happy one, or is this all destined to blow up in their face?
Declan is an insufferable man. He knows full well what he is doing hurts those around him, but he is so ruthless and focused on the end goal, he does not comprehend that he is becoming the real villain. Throughout the ENTIRE story he continues to make decisions to do things that will hurt Iris. We see very early on that he clearly cares for her, and has for much longer than their arrangement, but it takes him WAY too long to learn from his actions and make better choices.
Iris has dyslexia, and she was ridiculed for her challenges in the past, so she works twice as hard to hide it. It is heartbreaking to see her working herself into the ground because she struggles to read and write but she does not want to ask for help or accommodation. I did enjoy seeing this representation and I think the conversations around her dyslexia were done so thoughtfully and I appreciated where that plot point ultimately ended up.
Declan and Iris together reminded me of fire and gasoline; they were either encouraging each other in the best way or they were moments away from a massive explosion. Their relationship felt like it was more out of convivence and not love, which I think was kind of the point? Declan is about to lose his job unless he gets married within a year AND has a baby? THAT seems like a ludicrous situation, laced with ill-intent. People will do absolutely crazy things to keep their money, so to strongarm someone into feeling forced to have a baby is so wrong. A baby should be wanted, brought into the world with love, not a bargaining chip.
I did have a fun time with this story because I love Dreamland (*Disney*). I am definitely still intrigued and intend on picking up the third book soon.
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Pregnancy
Minor: Death
hannahmcl394's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Declan appealed to me more a lot more than Rowan, despite being described as the more âroboticâ or heartless of all the brothers I found him a lot more loveable and thoroughly enjoyed reading the book from his pov (most notably the secret smiles he doesnât allow Iris to see)
The wedding in particularly coaxed a visceral reaction from me and absolutely reeked havoc with emotions.
Love love loved Iris and Cals friendship!! I only wish there was more of it (however there is always book 3) and thoroughly enjoyed the small moments of Declanâs jealously over it.
Initial rating: 5 stars
Reviewed rating: âïžâïžâïžâïž 4.5
While this is my favourite Lauren Asher book so far and in some ways it could deserve the five star rating when compared to books by other others (Ana Huang) the writing falls short and so it must be dropped a fraction of a star.
Spice rating: đ¶đ¶đ¶ 3.5 spice
Not huge amounts of smut but worth the buildup and definitely integrated well into the storyline without feeling forced. Very much a slow burn romance with great pay off. <spoiler?> THE OFFICE SCENE OH MY GOD!!
Would I read again? Yes
Would I recommend? Yes
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
lucyrudd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
kaitlynnnng's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This whole review contains spoilers.
Declan Kane is an even bigger jerk than Rowan Kane. Despite this fact, I still tried to root for him. It was extremely difficult for the first 200ish pages, then it was really easy for a while, but his fight with Iris was hard to come back from. Maybe itâs my PTSD đ
I am a sucker for happy endings like the one we got in this book, though, so my judgement is definitely cloudy.
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
things100's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
merlesstorys's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
I really liked Iris as a person, Declan not so much. Heâs still an a-hole in my point of view. However, their story was as filled with tropes and clichĂ©s as other fake-marriage stories.
I also liked their word game, even when it left me curious to why some were chosen. The translations for them were amazing to have however. (But, just to clarify, Backpfeifengesicht means âa face badly in need of a slapâ not fist. Word breakdown: Backpfeife = slap, Gesicht = Face.) That really made me laugh (both the word itself and the fact that it was not translated correctly.)
The plot weakened through that a bit. There were mostly motives that came through again and again (him wanting to work all day, Dreamland Tokyo,âŠ) but not one storyline that was used throughout the whole book that created tension and the wish to continue reading. (The characters were used for that quite nicely though.)
The side characters were a pleasure, especially Cal who really came into the spotlight. Rowan and Zara were nice additions, and Seth Kane was an a-hole similar to Declan, but what a surprise lol.
All of this was influenced by the nice and fluent writing style of Lauren Asher. Her way to write left me hanging on, even when I was tired of this story and itâs faults.
Graphic: Sexual content, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy