My opinion: Until the ending this was a 4☆ book easy, not because it is the best but because it made me feel. And I don't remenber the last time I read something and I felt it.
Tropes: - External conflicts/No 3rd act breakup - MMC calls FMC baby girl - Fake dating - MMC injured My opinion:This is the type of contemporaries that I don't usually enjoy. I can't exactly pinpoint why but probably it's because it's focused too much on the present, especially with all the mentions of the Covid pandemic but this book was the exception and I actually enjoyed it.
It had quite some issues like the writers event felt a little overlooked as well as the club dynamics. Like I never knew a motorcycle club of 5 members could have all that connections or even be considered a club but meh they were things I could ignore.
Also the moral compass of the characters is quite questionable but I've read even worse characters so
Mainly I think I enjoyed the book because both MCs were quite mature and they were all in since the beginning, miscommunication problems were minimal soo just for that I would give this 4 stars haha
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
- Death & grief: brother of MMC is grieving his fiance murder, there is constant mention of her
- Torture & murder: MMC and his club torture quite graphically and then kill a guy who was speaking bad of FMC, the scene is short but explicit
My opinion: This was not bad though the writing could have used some editing but the main reason why I could not enjoy this was the plot and timeline, they made no sense!
""
Since Samuel couldn't explain things to Catirine then there's never an actual explanation of how the timeline works.
They just keep mentioning that this has already happened but how could that
The book is not good but it's the kind that if not taken seriously can be enjoyed. Since I've been reading bad book after bad book I did not have the energy to overlook all the issues here.
Now saying that, the brothers are judgmental assholes, as well as one of their fiancées, Olivia, that instead of being protective of her friend she just became as awful as the brothers.
Only the other fiancé, Harper, was actually understanding of Hunter (MMC) and Addison (FMC).
Now Hunter and Alisson have a very bad communication, although at least Hunter tried but Alisson just kept denying him, trying to run from him at the first chance and thinking the worst of him.
Would have like for her to actually fight for Hunter but he was the one who had to decide that they be together because she was ready to break up with him again.
Can't believe I'm going to say this but probably the serial cheater father of the MMC was better than most of the main characters of the series lol
Also I was going to add that the author did one of the worst BDSM representations I've read but actually I've seen worse. It's just the way that she never made the characters realize BDSM is not bad. The brothers kept thinking Hunter was a perv and was wrong for liking that, and they never apologized for judging Hunter and telling him to stay away from relationships because of his sexual preferences.
- Cheating: at the beginning fmc caughts her boyfriend (not MMC) with other woman on the phone.
- Later in the book she has sex with other guy on page after being in love, and in a "situationship" for months with the main guy. They had already hooked up a lot of times and were almost living together.
Also I'm not sure if she falls in love with the other guy too.
Standalone, HEA Tropes: - Insta-lust - Mmc pining. - He's confident she's going to marry him/she kepts rejecting him. - Fmc scared of accepting her feelings. - Lots of mention of Mmc facial hair. - Story continues some chapters after getting together. - Medieval romance.
Alice: Virgin, insecure about feelings, prideful as a painter, always talks back, beautiful, long curly blonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes, small tits, tall, slim, a little odd. Leofric: Beard, tall, muscular, brown eyes, shoulder-lenght dark brown hair, pale skin, warrior, serious at the beginning then turns into a marshmellow.
"I am a man stuck in the past who spends all his days dreaming of a future with you."
"You are odd," he said softly. His words penetrated her skin and went straight to her erratic heart. "But that's the best thing about you."
Leofric ignored the vulgar laughter, trying not to let his growing despair drag him down. "I can't let our marriage stop her from painting. It was her dream."
My opinion: I was about to dnf, but I'm really glad I finished the book.
ALICE: At the beginning she was prideful and I found her exasperating. I had been expecting a quiet FMC and Alice was not that. Especifically this quote was what almost made me dnf.
"How dare he treat her with such casual ambivalence. She was Lady Alice of Walefield! True, he didn't know that, but she didn't care."
Like then do you expect him to read your mind and guess you're a lady or what?!
The only reason why I kept reading after that was because I had already begun to fall for Leofric and wanted to know more about him.
But as the story went along Alice began to lose that actitud of superiority and when she developed feelings for Leofric we saw a more insecure side of her.
She was so scared that if she married Leofric she would have to stop painting. And that was a total valid fear because at the beginning Leofric didn't understand that not only men could want to leave a mark in the world, that woman could be passionate about a trade too.
But she showed him about what painting meant to her and slowly she began to complement Leofric's flaws and help him where he struggled.
She became the person who Leofric could be vulnerable with.
LEOFRIC: By the 2nd part of the book he became a bearded Teddy bear who only wanted to marry Alice. He was such a sweetheart who kept pinning for her and who was constantly worried about what she really felt for him.
But his thoughts and his way of expressing them not always were d'accord. Like here where he was worried about her:
Leofric wanted to be gentle with Alice. He wanted to cradle her in his arms and kiss her eyelids, indulge in the way her lashes skated across his skin. He wanted to tell her that she never had to worry about anything. She could rely on him. More than anything, Leofric wanted her to trust him. "What's wrong with you?" He barked.
Great way to show you're worried huh. But he was so bad at making friends and interacting with people. Alice had to constantly help him with that.
I liked this quote too.
"I married a painter, and I haven't seen her since the day I said my vows."
Alice was worried a husband wouldn't let her paint, but Leofric not only fell in love with Alice as a person but as a painter too:(
Tropes: - Fallen angels (or demons not sure) - Virgin FMC - Centuries old MMC/18 yrs old FMC - MMC watching her grow
My opinion: Writing is not very good, especially because the author repeats a lot the same information, example:
[...]watching the males in the human world lusted after her, and it was all I could do to keep the fuckers off her. I saw the way the male humans looked at her,[...]
Also I know it's a novella but there's 0 world building, and the author does not let you get your own conclusions she feeds you a lot of obvious remarks that the reader could guess by itself.
I actually was interested in how the story would end so, full of cliches and all but as a distraction it works.