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I enjoyed this book so much more than the first one. I love the dynamic between Iris and Declan and although they may be toxic at times, I enjoyed the progression of their relationship. I love that Iris is the only one that can talk back to Declan and have him not retaliate. It shows that he cared about her long before their initial marriage contract.

One thing I loved about this book over the first one was that there was only one break up rather than the two that was in Rowan and Zahra's book. I think the two breaks ups in the fine print was a bit excessive, so it was nice to only get one "breakup" between Declan and Iris.

This book is also way faster paced than the previous one, which I was quite happy about. I found I didn't need to take at many breaks reading this book at I did with The Fine Print.

So overall, I highly enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend. I'm excited to get into Cal's book.

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theragereader's review against another edition

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2.5

While I largely enjoyed this book more than Throttled, it, by no means, is amazing. In between Declan treating Iris abhorrently and sneering at everyone around him and crying over his treatment by his father and Iris inexplicably being attracted to him despite his vile treatment, there were moments I loved—their back-n-forth banter, the little things he did to be nice for her, CAL. But any love I had for this book is overshadowed by just how abusive Declan is to Iris; over and over he snaps at her, throws a tantrum, and anytime she pushes back, he just mentions his dead, dead and did I mention dead mom and how he's sooooo unloveable and she forgave him. Also all of his little quirks are due to said dead mom. He likes mimosa and F1? Dead mom did. He likes elephants? Dead mom did. He drives a nice car? It was his mom's. He knows about Iris's learning disability? His mom had the same one. The little dumb word game he and iris play? He and his mom did—jesus, is there anything you enjoy/do that doesn't loop back to your Dead Mom?

You can't tell me that him buying her a greenhouse and adopting a dog for her after calling her a failure, which her abusive dad always did, is gonna make her accept his random-ass marriage proposal.

Why even make Iris Black if it adds nothing to the narrative? Iris could've been white and everything would've been the same, except she wouldn't have fallen into the “Black character has to do emotional labor for the traumatized, woe-is-me white character/love interest”. Nevermind how overworked she is. I hated Declan with a burning passion and Iris, for that matter. She never stayed angry with him, even when she had every reason to be, and each time she'd feel guilty and sorry for daring to be upset. Get mad, girlie! Don't let him pout and wobble his fucking lip and buy you plant after he hurt you so badly. I don't think I'll ever pick up anything by Lauren Asher again for the amount of bullshit in her books.

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abbyh1011's review against another edition

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slow-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

3.5

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0701mango's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

Enjoyable book with enjoyable characters. Plot was a little too much of a rollercoaster for me.

If someone did to me what Declan did to Iris in the third-act breakup I’d act the same way as Iris did but it also occurs to me that there’s no one on Declan’s side. Rowan is only sort of, and Cal does everything for Iris’s sake. Iris is the one backing away from his advances the whole time, and she doesn’t say she loves him until the very end. I think it would’ve been nice to see someone on Declan’s side for his sake. Also, based on the way Declan was acting and how he had reformed up until then, it seems a little out of character for him to have acted the way he did at Dreamland. It would’ve made more sense if there had to be a third-act breakup for Iris to be the reason.

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kiwij96's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective 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

A slow burn, marriage of convenience romance story. I knew from The Fine Print that these two characters would be endgame because of the chemistry of their interactions in Rowan's story. To see the way that they interacted in this one was a bit different and at times it felt strained.

I enjoyed the love story to a point. I could have done without the abuse Declan hurled at Iris towards the end, but I appreciate the way that Cal confronted him and told him that he was being a dick. Iris stood her ground too but 100% shouldn't have taken him back for that, regardless of whatever he tried to buy for her affection.

I still prefer The Fine Print because Rowan gave up a position for love, but in this one, Declan couldn't even give Iris a break unless it suited him and even then he couldn't leave her alone, because he more than needed her to achieve his inheritance.

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alxisrae's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

4.75

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