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buffyreads's Reviews (575)
Highlights:
I love this series so much! The worldbuilding from the previous novel os expanded here in a fun way and we see more of the dangers in and out of the Citadel. Emala was really sweet. I liked how easily she embraced and welcomed her role in the triad and how much she yearned for genuine love and affection.
Lowlights:
This book had a lot less plot than Red and I felt as though the ending was very rushed.
Horn Level: 2/5
I love this series so much! The worldbuilding from the previous novel os expanded here in a fun way and we see more of the dangers in and out of the Citadel. Emala was really sweet. I liked how easily she embraced and welcomed her role in the triad and how much she yearned for genuine love and affection.
Lowlights:
This book had a lot less plot than Red and I felt as though the ending was very rushed.
Horn Level: 2/5
Highlights:
I think this is one of my favorites of the risdaverse type stories. Nicola and Emvor are the epitome of the grumpy x sunshine trope, though a softer shyer version of it that I prefer. It was sweet and fluffy. They understood each other and were so caring.
Lowlights:
I wish this was longer! I feel like the best characters in this verse get the shortest stories.
Horn Level: 3/5
I think this is one of my favorites of the risdaverse type stories. Nicola and Emvor are the epitome of the grumpy x sunshine trope, though a softer shyer version of it that I prefer. It was sweet and fluffy. They understood each other and were so caring.
Lowlights:
I wish this was longer! I feel like the best characters in this verse get the shortest stories.
Horn Level: 3/5
Characters:
Kim is genuinely stupid. From the first chapter it is established that she has no sense so I decided I would not take this book seriously. She got better though and is genuinely just a nice person who is traumatized. Nassakth is a cat man ex-gladiator with no clue how to charm a human. Dead animals and jizz? Definitely not. He is pushy but patient and intent on having Kim. He is also a terrible communicator and very tight lipped which was very annoying.
Plot:
This plot was silly and baffling from the very beginning. Wanting a bounty hunter to kidnap a man to be her husband and hope it all works out... Girl what? This however has my favorite parts of Ruby Dixon's writing by having fun interactions and is improved by the lack of insta-love for both characters. And after that all their problems plot-wise are caused by Kim's original dumb decisions or Nassakth inability to communicate reasonably. And then the plot kicked in foreal and I found myself actually caring about the characters and their past and their future and I was surprised how
much they grew on me.
Secret Sauce:
As nuts as this story was, I really enjoyed Kim and Nassakth together. Their relationship had ups and downs but they were able to really talk and connect to each other. It was sweet.
Rating: I give this book a 4/5
Kim is genuinely stupid. From the first chapter it is established that she has no sense so I decided I would not take this book seriously. She got better though and is genuinely just a nice person who is traumatized. Nassakth is a cat man ex-gladiator with no clue how to charm a human. Dead animals and jizz? Definitely not. He is pushy but patient and intent on having Kim. He is also a terrible communicator and very tight lipped which was very annoying.
Plot:
This plot was silly and baffling from the very beginning. Wanting a bounty hunter to kidnap a man to be her husband and hope it all works out... Girl what? This however has my favorite parts of Ruby Dixon's writing by having fun interactions and is improved by the lack of insta-love for both characters. And after that all their problems plot-wise are caused by Kim's original dumb decisions or Nassakth inability to communicate reasonably. And then the plot kicked in foreal and I found myself actually caring about the characters and their past and their future and I was surprised how
much they grew on me.
Secret Sauce:
As nuts as this story was, I really enjoyed Kim and Nassakth together. Their relationship had ups and downs but they were able to really talk and connect to each other. It was sweet.
Rating: I give this book a 4/5
The Good
The chemistry between Olivia and Bennet great at their very first meeting. This books takes care to make you understand where both of them are coming from and why they hold their own beliefs. I love rivals to lovers and also the leads having to match someone with someone else. It's a very interesting concept. I am interested in the Chinese zodiac so this aspect was very interesting to me.
The Bad
I don't like lying as a plot device in romance books. It made it hard for me to like them together at the beginning. I also understand that them being incompatible was the point of the message of the book, I really wish that Olivia's traditional beliefs weren't presented as stiff and unyielding while Bennet's were presented as going with the times and must be conformed to. I also don't think one zodiac app would be able to cause the downfall of her family business when there are dozens of them for years. People who can afford personal matchmaking are not the same people using dating apps. I also wish they showed more of the matchmaking actually working rather than it being constantly retcon'ed like "actually none of us were matched this way so your lifelong devotion means nothing!".
The Rating
I give this book a 2/5
The chemistry between Olivia and Bennet great at their very first meeting. This books takes care to make you understand where both of them are coming from and why they hold their own beliefs. I love rivals to lovers and also the leads having to match someone with someone else. It's a very interesting concept. I am interested in the Chinese zodiac so this aspect was very interesting to me.
The Bad
I don't like lying as a plot device in romance books. It made it hard for me to like them together at the beginning. I also understand that them being incompatible was the point of the message of the book, I really wish that Olivia's traditional beliefs weren't presented as stiff and unyielding while Bennet's were presented as going with the times and must be conformed to. I also don't think one zodiac app would be able to cause the downfall of her family business when there are dozens of them for years. People who can afford personal matchmaking are not the same people using dating apps. I also wish they showed more of the matchmaking actually working rather than it being constantly retcon'ed like "actually none of us were matched this way so your lifelong devotion means nothing!".
The Rating
I give this book a 2/5
Ra's Mini Review!~
Characters:
Billie: I love her so much. I like that she didn't feel ashamed of herself because she was a sex worker and didn't let other people shame her either. She was honest and doesn't play games. I loved how much she enjoyed being a mother.
Drew: He frustrated me a bit. Especially after the big reveal. It takes two to tango and his anger was annoying. But he did get much better and grow which made me happy.
Family: I really liked all the family aspects of the story (except Logan) I loved Drew's mother a lot.
Plot:
I love marriage of convenience stories and stories with kids so this is plot summary was perfect for me. I found Drew's (and his brothers) anger at the consequences of his own actions so annoying. Like why are you pissed she had the baby? You think she's not pissed she got pregnant too? It's so terrible she's a whore but you paid for her services? I love how Jenkins incorporates real history into her stories. Being a brown lawyer at the time would've been very difficult. I never knew about land disputes between the spanish and the state government.
Secret Sauce:
The family relationships were so sweet and the real heart of this book. I loved how Drew was down so terrible for Billie. Like obsessed. But his pride and anger at the situation prevented him from giving in for so long. His slow change felt earned and you could understand why he finally gave in and treated Billie better. I also thought that Prince was an insane and truly scary antagonist.
Rating: I give this book a 4/5
Crulden is easy to love, too. Not that I'll allow myself to love him. If I could, though, I'd love his protectiveness, his interest in the world around him. I'd love that he listens to everything I say as if it's vitally important, and how we talk for hours in bed when we're supposed to be sleeping.
The Good
This story was a wild and fun ride. I liked the Dracula references and the general world building. It made me finally really want to read all these books in order rather than randomly like I've been doing so far.
The Bad
There was a lack of spice in this book which I never thought I would complain about in a Dixon book but hey, here I am. It made sense for plot reasons but I wish we got more of them especially towards the end.
The Rating
I gave this book 3/5
Perhaps she was starting to understand that most of the time, his sharpness had more to do with himself than anyone else.
Characters:
Eve Brown is very relatable to me. Her struggles match mine as someone with anxiety and autism. I loved her personality. She reminded me a lot of myself. Jacob Wayne is real asshole with a secret soft side hidden deep beneath the surface. It took me a long while to like him because he was written very mean at the beginning and I didn't find it appealing at all. But once he started to be nice I warmed up to him a lot.
Plot:
After Eve's parents cut her off, Eve finds refuge at a bed and breakfast run by a grumpy man named Jacob. I didn't like that it felt insta-lusty. I didn't find Eve and Jacob's banter to be fun as I found Jacob to be quite mean. (“Is this negging? Are you negging me right now? was the funniest line of the book because it literally was what I was thinking.) However, once they began to get to know each other and connect (and he stopped being a dickhead) I began to like the story a lot more. Eve's journey was much different than her sisters and I related to her a lot. I found their relationship really sweet and their ability to understand each other was great.
Rating: I give this book a 4/5