The writing just was not great and I couldn’t be bothered investing any more time in it 

This whole series makes me feel slightly uncomfortable the whole time. There’s just something yucky and stressful about it. The characters never feel like they are actually a good fit for each other which makes their interactions uncomfortable. The power dynamics are never handled particularly well. There’s a serial rapist walking around who never faces any real consequences. The way the “clingy ex” is handled is really gross. And also I just don’t like constant descriptions of abused animals.

Both the writing and the story really aren’t doing it for me. I prefer romance books where both MCs are clear from the get-go, but I can’t fault it for that since it was clear from the blurb. But the writing feels a bit underdeveloped. Like, after a conversation the MC will be like “well that was an awkward conversation” and I’ll be like “was it?” Because that didn’t come across from how it was written. I don’t feel I know any of the three main characters beyond the superficial. I really wanted to enjoy this but I think I will move on to a new book.

For some reason this just didn’t click with me and I couldn’t get into it

The fake relationship plot wasn’t written as well as I would have liked. And then the, like, fifth time one of the characters was described as “spastic” I just had to stop

I really liked Love at First Set, so I preordered this book as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, this book replicates the one issue I had with the previous book (a whiny inner monologue), and adds a bunch more.

First off, I don’t care how much of a city girl someone is, it’s ridiculous and totally unbelievable to see someone shoeing a you’re and think they are stabbing it or trying to rip its leg off, and reaching for the pepper spray. 

Second, I’m super not interested in characters who hate each other and argue the whole time.

Third why is she flirting with the farrier while actively planning to make her homeless! And why is the farrier flirting back after she finds out!

The relationship between the two is so uncomfortable. First off, I hate landlord romances, which this is. Second, since the farrier was literally raised by the MC’s aunt (the MC even stayed in the farrier’s bedroom when she came to stay, and wore her clothes, it’s repeatedly stated the aunt is “the closest thing she had to family” and the farrier was “like a daughter to her” and she was expected to inherit the farm), they are essentially cousins.

The MC’s best friend is awful and insufferable, constantly giving horrible advice like “sleep with the farrier and then throw her out her home” and “live with your mum for the rest of your life even though you hate it”. From other reviews I’ve read, the mum and best friend remain awful for the whole book and nothing is resolved.

It’s a shame because it feels like there is a good book somewhere in here. I want to like it, but I just can’t go on.

Some of the stuff around fear and phobias was a bit too close to home and wasn’t written in a way that I personally was able to enjoy, which is sad because I liked the characters and would have loved to follow their relationship.

The Chalfens were too annoying, and also the book did not live up to my memories of the television adaptation 

The dialogue was poorly written, I did not understand the characters’ attraction to one another at all, the flirting was painful, and also the book was full of typos and grammatical mistakes.

Both main characters complain about how much they hate women, there’s a long passage that continually uses the term “females”, and there’s a discussion about how gross body hair on women is, and how at minimum women should shave their armpits and legs. This all gives the book a distinctly and uncomfortably sexist vibe, and makes it unpleasant to read.