Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Water Under The Bridge by Denise Stone, Kels Stone

7 reviews

stars75280's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Avery is passionate about environmental conservation and has always dreamed of working at the organization founded and led by her idol. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get the job and Luca is the one who has to let her down, becoming Avery’s enemy #1.

A project competing for funding thrusts them back into each others orbit again and the chemistry between Luca and Avery is undeniable.

This was a beautiful story of two people overcoming their own personal challenges and falling in love. It gave me everything I could ask for in a workplace, enemies to lovers (but not really) romance.

What I Loved:
  • Again, the chemistry! This was beautifully written and the tension between Avery and Luca was undeniable.
  • I love a He Falls First and Harder trope. Especially when the MMC has no issue with recognizing those feelings and communicating them. Luca never stopped showing up for Avery and showing her how good they could be together.
  • I love a man that shows up for his woman’s career goals and makes them a priority.
  • I really enjoyed the relationships between Avery and Lily and Luca and Nico. Looking forward to book 2!
  • No third act breakup! 🎉

What I Didn’t Love:
  • The $50,000 coffee machine was so over the top. I love the idea of him spending money just to make her happy, but $50k is actually insane.
  • I may have missed it, but I didn’t really get a sense for where Luca’s money came from. He seemed to spend thousands and thousands on things like coffee, clothes and a beach house. I don’t doubt that he’s well compensated in his current role and I know he clearly made a lot of money in his prior career, it didn’t add up to me. Especially because he gave away the millions he got for working on the oil spill case. His wealth felt more aligned with someone who came from money, but I didn’t get the sense that was the case either.

Overall I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to read the rest in the series!
👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻🌶️🫶🌊🌎🐳🪢👟👔

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jaynovara'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? No

4.0


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nickypizarro's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective 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? No

4.5

Absolutely loved this book! Read it within a few hours. After reading the description, I was curious to see how their romance would play out since it mentions she was rejected from the position where he works. They truly did a phenomenal job of bringing them back together. A slow burn but their banter makes up for it. It has that workplace romance without the cliche of him being her boss which I truly enjoyed to see! Super excited to see where the rest of the series goes. 

Spice level: 2/5

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lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

 I've been following one of the authors in Tiktok for quite some time and I saw the journey she went through in publishing this book. I wanted to like this book so much, but no. Unfortunately, this was not it.

The banter? Bad.
Chemistry? None.
Dialogue? Unrealistic.
Characters? Unlikeable.
Writing? Subpar.

Luca is your typical MMC: tall, (described as) handsome, loves to workout, eats protein bars... you know - surface level. He was written perfectly that it was too unbelievable. It's like he was written to satiate the appetite of women reading this book. Avery is the annoying, immature, I'm-not-like-other-girls FMC (Luca was right: she should handle rejection better).

The constant reminder of how they lust after each other didn't help. It felt like the authors needed to remind the readers how much Luca and Avery lust after each other to try and ignite sparks and to build up the spice. The dialogue was off, even the conversations Avery had with her friend, Lily. No one talks like the way the characters talk in this book. I know this is fiction, but the banter/conversations were too... perfect. Not perfect in a sense that it was good, but perfect in a sense that everything was too convenient so it will be swoon worthy.

I mostly skimmed. It was boring because it was cliché.

1 star because there are 2 cute scenes that made me smile.

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yotsuba's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

It was an easy read, I really liked how they interacted and the build-up. The end felt rushed, I would have loved to see them more as a couple, maybe at work or with their family
I will totally read it again when I’ll be in the mood for that kind of book

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0701mango's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-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? It's complicated

3.5


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lotte5322's review against another edition

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4.0


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