malpal132's reviews
297 reviews

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

5.0

i mean???? come on. this was so charming and witty and unexpected (which is a feat considering it's a retelling of a much beloved fairytale). it had me by the throat until the very end. i loved loved loved how unique each character was, how completely flawed. eloisa james is adept at creating these quirky, perfect little found families and this was no exception. highly recommend.

Storming the Castle by Eloisa James

4.5

WICK, MY LOVE. of course the woman he falls in love with is uncompromisingly competent. i loved the two of them, i loved their love for kate and gabe, and OF COURSE he would be a menace to his new butler. lovely story.

Winning the Wallflower by Eloisa James

4.5

this was so! good! such a delightful story. i loved lucy's honesty, cyrus's immediate acceptance at being called an ass, and every moment in between. really refreshing dialogue.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

2.5

dear god this one was painful. i just don't think julia quinn knew how to keep colin's characterization consistent in conflict. he's supposedly this soft, sweet, charming guy, and yet he spends most of his time being furious with penelope. to the point where he's grabbing her arm so hard he knows he's bruising her but thinks that's the price they'll both have to pay for him to keep a leash on his violence. and then the amount of time he spends being horrible to penelope because he's jealous of her success? no, thank you. it feels like a departure from who he was on the fringes of the other books and a direct contradiction to his reputation. and i know, "this was written a few decades ago," "he's only angry with penelope because he cares so much when it comes to her." to which i say: bullshit. there was hardly any tenderness between them until the very end, and even that was paltry. he ruptured her trust by reading her unpublished column and he was never sorry. meanwhile, penelope spends the whole book on her knees hoping for his forgiveness, for a crumb of kindness. girl. get up!

Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston

4.0

this was really sweet. i read it a few books ago but i remember it being a fun ride.

Happy Medium by Sarah Adler

3.5

the beginning was exceptional, i was hooked right away. i found so many things about this book to be charming. charlie's blushes and how kind he can't help being, the complexity of gretchen's psyche. i wished for better dialogue and the ending felt a bit long but overall had a good time.

The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran

3.0

really interesting premise. i liked anna's personality, the way they fell in love before their wedding, and...that's mostly it. i think i was confounded by the choices the characters made and their reaction to those choices sometimes. anna and liam let quite a few things slide that, to my mind, would be so upsetting that it would make it impossible to stick around/impossible not to act immediately, especially in terms of his cousin. it almost made me think they were stupid. it was definitely heart-wrenching at times, so i went through the spectrum of emotions with this: giddy, furious, hurt, elated. 

Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase

3.0

rupert's support and love for daphne was so pure. i enjoyed the mummy vibes, though could have done with less plot, lmao. this was humorous and sweet and really fucking racist. if you're going to read it, just keep in mind that it was written in the early aughts and as such, it's disappointing.

Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James

4.5

betsy and jeremy. i had such a good time with this. there's a certain ridiculousness that eloisa james creates in her books that i adore. it's funny but also a little bit heart-wrenching. 

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long

4.5

this sucked me in and spit me back out a changed person. i adore the characters. it's also the first age gap that has really reckoned with what an almost 20 year difference would be like without making it unappealing. i'm not personally into age gap but i'm sold on this one. he's just so in LOVE with her.