finnickdeservedbetter's reviews
199 reviews

Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

Tropes & Themes

  • Small town
  • Billionaire romance
  • Childhood rivals to lovers
  • Friends with benefits
  • Second chance
  • Carpenter x interior designer
  • One bed
  • Witty banter
  • Mexican-American FMC & MMC
  • Infertility/genetic illness struggles
  • Mental health rep (anxiety & depression)
  • Dead dad trauma

Spice:
Medium (4+ explict scenes)

My Thoughts:
To absolutely no one's shock, I loved yet another Lauren Asher book.
 
I took me a second to warm up the Dahlia but I ended up loving her. I really liked seeing not only anxiety and depression representation that was realistic and non-stigmatizing, but also infertility/genetic illness talked about. That's not super common in contemporary romance. I really admired her strength in healing from what Oliver did to her, as well as accepting that she'll always struggle with mental illness. Sometimes it iz what it iz. Anxiety and major depression gang ✌🏻😘

I also loved Julian of course. I too, am a petty and spiteful asshole. I loved seeing his growth and journey learning to be emotionally vulnerable. I also really appreciated seeing a MMC that was adamant about adopting and that adoptive kids are no less part of their family (although conversations about the adoption industry are also very important).

That being said, I'm very excited for Rafa and Ellie's book. Fingers crossed book three will be Lorenzo and Lily 🤞🏻

Favourite Character(s):
Rafa

Favourite Quote:
“Turns out I’d rather build a home with you than a thousand houses by myself.”
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Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake

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adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

Tropes & Themes:

- f/f pairing (lesbian x bi)
- romance author x theatre actor
- fake dating
- spicy lessons
- dating lessons
- failed one night stand
- small town
- mid-sized FMC
- anxiety rep

Spice level: low-medium
3 explicit sex scenes 

Representation
- Bi MC & multiple secondary characters
- Lesbian MC & multiple secondary characters
- 2 non-binary side characters
- Several POC side characters
- MC with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

My thoughts:

I loved it. It took me a second to warm up to Iris in Delilah Green Doesn't Care but once I did, I love her and I knew her book would be my favourite. Surprise, surprise, I was right. 

I loved seeing GAD rep. Anxiety as a whole isn't discussed a lot in fiction, especially in contemporary romance. I also liked the emphasis on it being part of Stevie, but not defining her. It's not a personal fault. It just is what it is.

Another thing I loved was the child-free by choice rep. So often (as in 9.9/10 times) a women's HEA in romance books is being married, having 2.4 kids, and living in the suburbs in a house with a white picket fence. That's fine and dandy...if that's what you want. That's not the case for so many women but those women are so rarely represented. 

Anyways, I'm stop yapping, otherwise we'll get into spoiler territory. 
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Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake

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challenging emotional funny 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? Yes

3.75

Tropes & Themes:

- lesbian x bi
- workplace romance
- forced proximity
- small town
- opposites attract
- overcoming perfectionism
- bi awakening/comphet deconstructing

Spice: Smedium
3-4 explicit scenes with explicit language

My thoughts:
Mixed feelings about this one tbh. I loved Astrid in Delilah Green Doesn’t Care so I thought I would love her own book even more...unfortunately not. It's turned out to be my least favourite of the series.

Don't get me wrong, I still love Astrid and I loved seeing her grow and finally stand up to her mom. It was mostly Jordan who I didn't vibe with. I thought I would grow to like her but it was kind of the opposite. I liked her less and less as time went on. Which is tragic because we're both Pisceans who consult our tarot cards for everything. We should totally vibe. I don't know, I just feel like Astrid grew a lot by the end of the book, whereas I felt like Jordan reall  didn't.

By the end, she barely even set up boundaries with her ex. The one who called her current partner "some blond bitch" by the way, then proceeded to sabotage her relationship with her AND the job she was very financially dependent on. But in the end it was just "I need some space". Um, hello? That is blocking everywhere, no contact, fuck you very much behaviour...but that's just my opinion I guess.

But despite all that, Jordan kept acting like she was somehow better than Astrid. There are multiple examples but the biggest one for me was when Astrid's mom came over and chewed her out and Jordan somehow flipped that around and started insulting Astrid. Literally wtf?

Besides that, I also just kind of felt a lack of chemistry. Like they were sort of just chucked together and that's that. I wanted to see them actually getting to know each other but most of that potential time was taken up by drama. I love drama as much as the next person but in the words of Tati Westbrook: "Time and place". No cardinal sins were committed or anything but her attitude was really ticking me off y'know.

All that being said, I did really like Astrid, like I said at the beginning. I'm glad she finally stood up to her mom but I'm also glad Isabel was willing to change. That was a pleasant surpise. With all the "abandoned parents" FB groups out there, it's nice to see a parent take accountability for their emotional abuse and actively work to repair their relationship with their child. Love that for Astrid.

Anyways, onto Iris Kelly. I've been really liking her so far so I'm 90% sure I'm going to love her book...hopefully. (Spoiler alert: I loved it and it ended up being my favourite in the series)
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Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective tense medium-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

4.5

Tropes:

• Small town
• Forced proximity
• One bed
• Single parent
• Sister's best friend

Themes:

• Estranged family
• Second chances 
• Healing from grudges

Spice - Medium
3-4 explicit sex scenes

Representation
Lesbian MC, bi MC, bi supporting characters


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The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective tense medium-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

3.75

For readers who like:

• enemies/hate to lovers
• like attracts like
• witty banter
• "I hate you but I want you" 
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Fortune's Ashes by Helen Harper

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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The Stand-In by Lily Chu

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

For readers who like:


• celebrity romance
• fake identity
• dislike to lovers
• biracial (asian/white) MC
• first gen Canadian MC

The book was like a breathe of fresh air. I was kinda putting it off in favour of other books but I wish I hadn't. The characters are ao well-rounded and dimensional. They had flaws of course but I could relate to each one and honestly, see myself being friends with any of them.

This touched on a few big topics (like identity- being biracial and the child of an immigrant, mental health, and sexual harrassment to name a few) but all in a very accessible and approachable way. 

The only reason I didn't give it 5☆ is the unnecessary (isn't it always?)
third act breakup paired with miscommunication 🤢
. 

Other than that tho, I really enjoyed this book and got through it all in one sitting. This is my first book by Lily Chu but it definitely won't be my last.
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Madame by Sara Cate

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

For readers who like:


• FFM (FF, FM, & FFM scenes)
• Domme x former client & his gf
• small age gap/reverse age gap
• second chance
• forbidden romance/boss' daughter
• single parent

Kinks:
BDSM, bondage/restraints, degradation, praise, discipline/punishment, exhibitionism, voyuerism, impact play, squirting, pegging


I was so excited for the finale to the SPC series because Eden has been my favourite character since the moment she was introduced. Unfortunately I ended up being disappointed with this book, just like I was with the previous  two installments.

I still love Eden, don't get me wrong. It was her love interests I had a problem with. Clay was immature and selfish. I expected him to mature and have character growth by the end of the book but he kinda just...didn't? He wasn't the worst I honestly struggle to see what Eden saw in him. I probably would have liked book as a whole if it was just about Eden and Jade if I'm being honest. Every scene that he was in...I was wising he wasn’t.

Speaking of Jade...I tried to love her. But I dunno. She just felt flat to me. She really just existed bc Eden and Clay are there. She didn't really feel like her own person. I also hate that her entire relationship with Eden starts because she's insecure and trying to please a man. Overall, I didn't hate her but I wanted more from her. I wamted more for her.

In general, I really didn't feel a lot of chemistry between them. Clay and Eden, Eden and Jade, or Jade and Clay. They just didn't quite fit which made it feel awkward and forced. The
third act break-up
is also just tired and annoying at this point. Especially over something so insignificant. And again, the emotional immaturity and lack of understanding from Clay really irriated me. 

In the end, it's definitely not my least favourite of the series (you can pry that from Mercy's cold, dead hands) but it's certainly midfield at best. I can say for certain, it's the biggest disappointment of the series tho considering Eden was (and still is) my favourite character and I feel meh about her book, at best. 
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Caught Up by Liz Tomforde

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

3.5

For readers who like:

• nanny x single dad
• sports romance 
• only one bed
• boss' daughter
• commitmentphobes faling in love
• extrovert FMC x introvert MMC
• and a little bit of an age gap
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The Anti-Hero by Sara Cate

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

For readers who like:

• Fake dating
• Revenge sex
• Preacher's son "gone bad"
• Opposites attract
• Sex club (
degradation, impact play, bondage, choking, sense depravation
)
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