stephanie_inman's Reviews (228)


I read this for the first time last year. I remembered not particularly loving it, but I couldn’t pin down the reasons why, not after so much time had passed. So I decided to give it a second read.

I must love myself more than I used to, because I made it to 46% and just couldn’t do another second of this book. (I dropped my rating to one star because I couldn’t make it through to the end of this book)

I hated Thea. Absolutely hated her. I feel like the author is trying to get you to relate to Thea and her tragic past, but nope. Thea is awful. She’s unnecessarily cruel to Gavin. She plays games. She tells him to move out, and then when he does as she’s told him to, she accuses him of leaving her. I have already counted at least two instances of Thea using the “you should know” line when it comes to Gavin learning something that was going on in their marriage. The dude isn’t a mind reader. Thea is very “not like other girls”. She used to be someone who wears band T-shirts and Chucks. Now she wears cardigans or something like that. And she didn’t finish her art degree. Because, of course she’s an artist. She was wild and carefree. She was passionate. You can’t be a housewife and be passionate, after all (seriously?). I feel like the author wanted us to see Thea as some strong, feminist badass.

She wasn’t. If anything Thea is quite the anti-feminist. She judges other women because they didn’t make the choices she thinks strong women should make. She judges the women in the WAGS (the ball players wives and girlfriends) because some of them are just happy to have that going on in their life.

Feminism is about choices. And about not judging others because they chose something you’ve decided you don’t want for yourself. Thea and her self righteousness isn’t in any way feminist.

Thea is supposed to be so strong, yet she makes a deal with Gavin in order to keep her house and get whatever she wants from their divorce? Kinda contradictory there, ole Thea. I honestly wouldn’t have hated this plot point so much, but Thea is constantly saying how she doesn’t need Gavin, but she isn’t above keeping the house and having him pay it off.

There’s also the fact that Thea and Gavin have been married for three years. And their twins are not even three. Now, my point isn’t that she was pregnant when they got married. This is actually a big plot point. My point is that the troubles Thea and Gavin are having, and the twins ages, literally all of it reads like they should be older. Thea is acting like Gavin should know everything about her. As though they’ve been together way longer than three years. While you should know someone you marry, they didn’t spend much time together prior to getting married. Had they been together longer, maybe. But even then part of being s mature adult in a relationship is knowing that people change. You have to learn who your spouse is again and again. And the twins? Has this author ever met TODDLERS? If Thea and Gavin have been married three years, and got married because she was pregnant, that would make the twins out to be around two and a half. Why do they talk like they are at least in kindergarten? And why is Thea all “they know their traditions” when it comes to the holidays? No. They were not even two last Thanksgiving. They do not remember what they did. They have zero idea what their last holidays were like.

Oh? And the catalyst that started this whole issue with Thea and Gavin’s marriage? Thea had an orgasm, and Gavin realizes she’s been “faking it” for three years. He freaks out. He moves into the guest room. And rather than Thea try talking to her husband, or Gavin act like an adult and not run to his own room, Thea just decides that love isn’t enough for them. She lets Gavin pout for a week and then she’s “had enough” and tells him to move out. Again, she gets mad at him for leaving her and not knowing what she wanted. I get that the orgasm thing was only the surface issue. They had other problems. But, again they are married adults with two children. Of course at one point Gavin is remembering how great it used to be between them and he fondly recalls how Thea would pick a fight with him just for the makeup sex. So, yeah, maturity wasn’t their strong suit.

We also have Thea’s sister who is also cruel and awful to Gavin. She hates him because he left Thea, again, even though Thea told him to leave. She also blames him because Thea became someone that she didn’t recognize. Again, it wasn’t Gavin’s fault that Thea gave up her band shirts and was no longer so wild and carefree. Because, again, we’re told how spirited Thea used to be.

I’m a proud feminist. And maybe that’s why I hated the character of Thea so much. Not only does she just flat out treat Gavin poorly, but she seems to be used as a message from the author. And, sadly that message seems to be that you can only be a feminist if you “aren’t like other girls” and if you choose a career over being a full time housewife. Oh, and you regret dropping out of college to have your kids. (Gavin is wealthy. A lot of people with way less than Thea have families and finish their degree. This part of the story really bothered me because it seemed like it was there just to say that there is more value in a degree and a career than there is in raising a family. Both are valid choices)

I know that, by the end, Gavin comes to understand Thea’s issues. And Thea finally realizes that it’s okay to trust. They both realize they contributed to their problems. The thing is, I found Thea so insufferable that I just couldn’t bring myself to finish the book.

Full disclosure: I read the second book in this series after reading this one. Again, I remember not loving it. And I had some issues with some of it. I may give it another go, just to see if my feelings remain the same. I haven’t decided. It’s gonna take something really good to get the bad taste this one has left me with out of here.

I couldn’t root for this couple. The set up here is the same as the previous books (injured guy/woman helps him). I now know this is a plot this author uses in most, if not all of her books. The niche thing isn’t really for me, though. I need more variety. All three of the books in this series are nearly interchangeable. The only difference is how much I liked or disliked the characters. The first book had much more likable characters than the following books.

And, while I had a bit of an issue with Sara, from book 2, I still basically liked her. Clay, in this book? Not so much.

I couldn’t really root for a couple when the main dude flirts with a nurse in the ER. And he asked the nurse out. I get that the couple wasn’t together, and he was on painkillers (which seemed to also be a needless plot point with more than one of these books) but why would I root for them now? And then, after fighting with the heroine he flirts with a bartender right in front of her?

Nah. I’m over characters acting like they can’t control their dicks.

Aside from that, I’ve just discovered this author really isn’t for me. Plots are too slow. All three books in this series are incredibly similar to one another. And I still don’t get the sex talk and then fade to black scenes.

All in all, just not for me

TW/CW: Racism

Aside from the bonus "epilogue" book, this is my least favorite of the Buchanan Brothers series. It's not all bad. There are things that I liked, but the major things I didn't superseded the little I did.

I liked Denise, to an extent. My problem with her is how she is absolutely fine with Aiden's constant gushing about how important Shane is to him. In all other respects, Denise was a confident, strong, successful woman. But the fact that she didn't mind playing second fiddle to Shane was a huge problem for me. It really didn't matter how much I liked her otherwise, I couldn't get over this.

There was a slight age gap, with Denise being the older one in the couple. I loved that.

Aiden was our first, and only "man whore" in this series. Even Mason, who had random hookups before getting with Shane, wasn't written as particularly promiscuous. While they didn't show Aiden with other women, and once he met Denise, he was completely, physically faithful to her (again, Shane being put on a pedestal here reeks of emotional infidelity). We are, however, constantly reminded that Aiden "loves women". While this isn't specific to him only loving women in the sexual sense, we do get the idea that he's been with a lot of women. I usually have more of a problem with the "man whore" trope, as it's incredibly over done. I didn't mind it as much here because three out of four of the brothers in this series don't fit within that trope, and that is a rarity. I'm more than willing to overlook this one. My only issue with this part of the story is the amount of times we are told of Aiden's love for women. This is a novella length book. Repeating anything is unnecessary.

We definitely get insta-lust/love. I felt this worked better in Mason's book than it did here. Once Aiden was "in", he was in. I didn't like the lack of respect he showed Denise. Both with the Shane situation, and with how he pursued her relentlessly, and then defined their relationship without asking her what she wanted.

I want to mention that this book does deal with racism. Denise is black, and Aiden is white. While most characters in this book are supportive of their relationship, one of the main plot points here is that the Buchanan patriarch (who we've seen previously, and we already know to be a terrible person) is not happy with Aiden being with Denise for no other reason than the color of her skin. This is quickly dealt with. None of the main characters are shown to be racist.

All in all, this one was not a win for me. Gabe's story is up next and (spoiler) that one gets a much better review from me.

Of all the Buchanan Brothers books, this one is my favorite. I will say that I don’t love everything about it, but even with the characters having flaws that I HATED, this one still worked the best for me.

I liked Justice, in most aspects. My only complaint is that she let Gabe treat her like shit for years. She was with him in high school and they lost their virginity to one another. Then he leaves for college. They never make their relationship official. Justice assumes Gabe is having sex with other girls, yet every time he shows up they continue their relationship. Which, okay, if you want casual, that’s fine. But because their relationship isn’t defined, Justice hurts over the fact that she loves Gabe and he’s sleeping around (even though he isn’t).

Gabe assumes Justice isn’t sleeping with anyone else. And she isn’t. So he’s just cool to come and go as he pleases, never committing officially to Justice. Then when she’s had enough, he freaks the fuck out.

Justice goes out with a friend and even makes a date with someone else. At this point, I wanted her to go on the date. I wanted Gabe to fight harder for her.

All the sex in this book was consensual, but there were some scenes that definitely got a bit close to the non-con line. Just something to be aware of. The sex is graphic and rough in this one.

I will say Gabe wasn’t as into Shane being the entire world as Aiden in the previous book was, and I appreciate that. And I loved the way Mason, Aiden and Michael took Justice’s side instead of Gabe’s. They all told him how wrong he was. I especially like how sweet Michael was with Justice.

While this book had its problems, all in all I really liked it. I’m honestly not sure why, it’s just one of those that despite everything, I enjoyed

This book is just what I needed to get over my reading slump. I'm reviewing it after the second time reading it (with just a few weeks in between reads)

Conrad and Alden are not exactly friends, but not really enemies. They grate on each others nerves, but there isn't a real hatred between them. They are part of a group of gamers, playing a card game, Odyssey. (In the author’s notes, they state that the game is inspired by card games like Magic the Gathering and others) Their group meets up at a local comic book store to play and film for a YouTube channel, Gamer Grandpa (named as such because it's the channel belongs to an older, professor of theirs. Alden and Conrad both seem to think of this person as a mentor)

The game is featured quite prominently in the book. Personally, I could have done without so much detail to the game. However, even with it, the rest of the book is so good that it still managed to pull a five star rating from me.

Our gamer group includes, Alden, Conrad, their Professor (Gamer Grandpa), Jasper and Peyton. All are members of the LGTBQ community. Alden, Conrad, the Professor and Jasper are gay. Peyton's sexuality isn't specifically mentioned, however they do appear to be written as non-binary. The author uses they/them pronouns for Peyton. YES, we have a non-binary character! I AM HERE FOR IT!

Speaking of representation, this book has plenty of it. We have an MC, Alden, who is Jewish. He's also neuro diverse. One of Alden's struggles is that his moms are always trying to "fix" him. He spent years going from one doctor to another. While he was never given a full diagnosis, one thing each doctor agreed on is that he isn't neuro typical. To others Alden comes across as often rude, always stringent, and someone who is hard to be around. He doesn't do well in social situations. And he has anxiety. As someone who has been diagnosed with anxiety disorder, and who isn't neuro typical, I related to Alden.

Conrad is our other MC, and I adored him. He's seen as the "party guy", when in reality he's now far from it. Due to his sexuality, his parents have cut him off. He's dropped out of school. He works two or three jobs, just to keep his head above water. He was a college kid, and then at the drop of a hat, he's on his own, having to grow up fast.

Conrad and Alden end up having to drive together to an Odyssey convention. I liked the realness of Alden's anxiety for the trip, and Conrad's money issues.

We are also treated to forced proximity. Always a favorite of mine.

Each of them start off thinking that the other one has the better life. Alden is envious of the easygoing Conrad, and the way Conrad seems to fit in with everyone. Conrad is the one in the group who seems to have an easy commradity with the other members. Alden has also heard the stories of Conrad's hookups and how Conrad is a well known fixture at parties. He may be envious of Conrad, but he also doesn't think that Conrad takes anything seriously. For someone as serious as Alden, this bothers him. As for Conrad, he knows that Alden has a supportive family. He's met Alden's mom, who is a professor at their school. He knows that Alden has two mom's, therefore Alden's sexuality isn't a problem for them. Conrad also has money issues, whereas he sees Alden, with his more privileged life, and thinks that Alden has it all.

Our conflict comes in the form of the tournament. Alden and Conrad both have reasons for needing to win. And how will that fit in to this relationship that they are forming?

I love these two together. They take the time to get to know one another. As they do, they come to realize that while they may not have the same problems, they both are dealing with stuff.

The sex scenes aren't exactly fade-to-black, but they also aren't explicit. While they are a bit on the tame side, I think it's really that they just are more along the lines of what you get in traditionally published romance. Just with more communication, consent and realism. Alden was a virgin, and Conrad way more experienced, and this is not only discussed, but handled in a very good way.

Although I'm not the target demographic for this book (other than checking some of the same boxes as these characters do) I absolutely fell in love with this book. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a cute, quirky romance that also gets you right in the feels.

And, unlike so many other characters I read about, I will not soon forget Alden and Conrad.

I read all three books in this series. While I’ve now discovered that this author isn’t for me, out of the three books this one is the only one that I really didn’t have much of an issue with.

Because it’s the first in the series I was cool with the injured dude/woman taking care of him trope. When all three books share that, however it makes the next two seem redundant.

I also don’t like that there is so much build up and talking about sex (even using words that are on the extreme side to some people) yet the actual scenes are fade to black. While there is nothing wrong with clean romance, I found the mixture here to be odd.

I did really enjoy the character of Nick in this one. As far as the main couples in this series go, I did like the one here and the couple from book two.

This isn’t a bad read. If you like your romance sweet and semi-clean (explicit content, but fade to black on the actual sex) and are looking for an easy read, this might be what you’re looking for. While this author isn’t for me, it’s easy to see that she does have quite a following.

Short, sweet and sexy. This was a cute read. While it's probably not going to be one I remember forever, I had fun reading it.

I liked both of the characters. Belle was dealing with some trauma, and Corwin was super supportive and just wanted to help her get through it. I thought Belle was a great representation of a plus size heroine. Corwin was definitely a "alpha male", but the author managed to avoid making him a complete jerk. He was strong, confident and determined, sure. But he didn't fall into the category of being an asshole to everyone except for the heroine. It was easy to see that Corwin was an actual nice human being, while still maintaining his alpha personality.

For a short read, I think this delivered on plot. I didn't feel like I was missing anything, or that anything was rushed.

This is the second book (and I think final, even though it looks like the author had more planned? Maybe the third one will be released someday?) in this series. Book one featured Belle and Corwin. This book is about Theresa and Lucas. Theresa is Belle's best friend and Corwin's sister. Lucas is best friends with Corwin.

Theresa and Lucas have known each other for years. Lucas is in the military, so he's been gone for a few years. He comes home to help with Corwin and Belle's wedding. He's also figuring out his future and where the military fits in with it.

This book is actually very similar to the first book in the series. We have a best-friend's sibling romance. Both have been interested in the other one for years, but neither made a move. The women in both books never imagined that the heroes could have those same feelings for them. It's all pretty standard stuff.

I think I did enjoy this one a bit more, however because I felt that I got to know Lucas and Theresa a bit better than I did Corwin and Belle. I also liked the friendship that Lucas and Theresa built. I will say Theresa was frustrating. She didn't want Lucas to make a decision about his future based on his relationship with her, so she just kept running hot and cold. The dude is an adult, and is written to be more than competent. I get that her insecurities were also about her, but the back and forth between them was getting old, and this is a short read.

Not a bad story, but, as with the first, it won't go down as particularly memorable.