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bbygirl21's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
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 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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
gabi_w21's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism
0701mango's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness
Declan’s mother died of cancer and his father is an abusive alcohol who hit and abused him and abused his brothers growing up. Iris’s father is a deadbeat who physically abused her mother and emotionally abused her. He’s mentioned in the book but he’s not a character.sbbailey's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
declan is my husband and my only complaint is the irrelevant condom fight
i’ve noticed this author has a thing for putting the title in when they make up and i find it so cute
i’ve noticed this author has a thing for putting the title in when they make up and i find it so cute
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
kiwij96's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy
madisone's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death of parent
vreyna20_2004's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
The sex scenes were blush worthy. The things Declan said and did made me double check my door in case anyone walked in. Declan seemed more into it compared to Rowan. To me it felt like Rowan did it with Zahra only because they had sexual tension while Declan also had tension with Iris it wasn’t out of horny-ness but out of need to be with her if that makes sense and I love that.
I would recommend this one over the first one if it weren’t for the fact that you need to read Rowan’s story to be able to understand the will of Brandy and the backstories were explained in more detail in that book. But I loved this one more. Now onto Callahan’s story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent
schwurbs's review against another edition
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent
theangelssing's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
I didn’t hate the book. It was just too long for me. I didn’t appreciate how Declan was at first and didn’t appreciate what he did to Iris. But I admit I enjoyed reading about their relationship and the important subjects the book brought up.
Not my fav book but it is a nice one. (:
Not my fav book but it is a nice one. (:
Content Warnings
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
thebookaddict's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
🇳🇱: deel twee was net zo goed als deel 1! Het is leuk om te zien dat ze Broers ook echt wel op elkaar Lijken met hun doen en laten. De relatie tussen Declan en iris is in het begin slow paced maar later komt er meer tempo in. Je zit zo in het verhaal dat je geirriteerd wordt met de acties van Declan en de reactie van iris raakte mij dan ook echt. De spice in het boek zijn echt een leuke toevoeging. Het geeft je toch een ander inzicht in de relatie. Je ziet dan ook wat er zich achter gesloten slaapkamer deuren afspeelt. Het gebruik van woorden uit andere talen is ook een heel leuk detail! Vooral de nederlands woorden waren geweldig! Al met al een fanastisch tweede deel!
🇬🇧: part two was as good as part one! It is great to see that the brother look a like in character. The relationship between Declan and Iris is slow paced in the beginning but it is faster paced later on. You get sunken into the story. I even got irritated by Declan and his action, iris her reactions on the other hand made me tear up. The spicy scenes where a plot, this way you get a look in their relationship behind closed bedroom doors. The use of words in a other language is a great plus! Espcially the dutch words. A fantastic part two and I can't wait to read the last part!
🇬🇧: part two was as good as part one! It is great to see that the brother look a like in character. The relationship between Declan and Iris is slow paced in the beginning but it is faster paced later on. You get sunken into the story. I even got irritated by Declan and his action, iris her reactions on the other hand made me tear up. The spicy scenes where a plot, this way you get a look in their relationship behind closed bedroom doors. The use of words in a other language is a great plus! Espcially the dutch words. A fantastic part two and I can't wait to read the last part!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Alcohol