the_cover_contessa's Reviews (1.75k)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an egalley of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Katherine Center is quickly becoming one of my favorite chick lit/contemporary romance authors. Her books are fun and funny, with just enough quirk in her main characters to make them extremely endearing and relatable. And this book, THIS BOOK!, is my most favorite by her to date!
Emma Wheeler has spent her life wanting to write screenplays. But her obligation to caring for her disabled father has taken the front seat to her dream. When she's given a chance to help rewrite a rom-com screenplay for one of the most famous screenplay writers, Charlie Yates, she jumps at it, even with the fear in her mind that something can go horribly wrong while her sister cares for their father. She and Charlie click and the screenplay begins to take shape, as she teaches him the meaning of romance, and they slowly form a closer bond. But when there is an emergency in her family, Emma knows she must put them first and leave Charlie behind, even if her heart tells her it will break if she does.
I first have to say how many times I laughed in this book. SO. MANY. TIMES. Literally laughing out loud and getting strange looks from those around me. But I didn't care because to say Center thoroughly entertained me would be an understatement. Her ability to write hilarious scenes with intriguing dialogue and characters who tear at your hear strings is amazing. I was thoroughly enchanted by the story line and the characters from the very start. And my heart was cheering for a happily ever after, though it seemed an impossible task.
The writing style is so much fun. Mostly because Center has the FMC, Emma, talking to her audience. I have rarely seen this done in books and have always worried this would not work well. But it works so well for this book. It really helps the reader to form a connection with the FMC. It made me totally invested in the story. It was as if she were my friend and she was telling me the greatest story of her life.
Emma Wheeler's character is fiercely loyal to family. Her tragic past shapes her future.  I want to take her in my arms and just give her the biggest hug, tell her everything will be alright, tell her she's not at fault for things, and tell her to just live her life and not feel so guilty. She never puts herself first. And it's always in the back of her mind that her tragic past is her fault and she has to somehow make up for what she thinks she's done. At the same time, she has a let's make lemonade out of these lemons attitude. She can see the good in situations outside of her own. And her determination to teach this to Charlie is unsurpassed.
Charlie Yates would seem to have it all: great career at a young age with many awards to show for it, a nice house, and plenty of money. But he's lonely, and a recluse, and doesn't believe in the good things in life. He's been hurt too many times to think that you can make lemonade out of lemons. When he meets Emma, he's determined to not change his mind. He's closed off to any possibility of happiness. But she slowly unravels his grump tendencies and he begins to realize there is more to life than the tragedies that happen to us.
It was easy for me to fall quickly in love with both Charlie and Emma. Their characters are unique and unconventional.
And the supporting characters are a lot of fun. Emma's dad, who is disabled but has the most amazing outlook on life. Emma's carefree sister, Sylvie, with whom she has a best friend relationship. Logan, Emma's ex boyfriend and friend, who has the best quote in the book: "You're lonely. He's lonely. It's like an incubator for fornication." T.J., Emma's nemesis and fellow screen writer. And a slew of other fun side characters to show what the Hollywood screen writing and acting scene is like. And, best of all, Jack Stapleton, from The Bodyguard, makes an appearance and it's lovely how it ties the books together (though you can read this as a stand alone as it does not make a true difference to the story line). I loved them all.
I truly had a hard time putting this one down. And when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and thinking about how I could get back to it. The pacing was perfect. I truly enjoyed the build between the male and female main characters. And I appreciate Center building a romance but not using spice. Don't get me wrong, I love some spice, but she makes the romantic connection through dialogue and situation and it's really just quite perfect.
Center does address a few topics that are sensitive; cancer diagnosis, tragic loss of a family member, and psychological child abuse. But she does so with great care and mastery adding lighthearted banter and situations where possible to even it all out. She also helps the reader see the bright side of things that can hurt us. Her story both ripped my heart out and healed it all at once. And I love how she doesn't sugarcoat things and shows romance from the imperfect side of things.
This book is about life and loss, love and tragedy, and understanding things happen but those things ultimately can shape you into a better person. It's full of life lessons that we all need to learn. 
5 stars

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own,
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a great job as a biotech engineer, a roof over her head, and a few good friends. When a hostile takeover occurs and she meets Eli Kilgore, the chemistry is undeniable, but they are off limits to each other given the circumstances of their employment. They try to scrub each other from their systems but they keep getting pulled back into each other's orbits. And, given the reasoning Eli has for overtaking Rue's company, a rift may form between them that is impossible to fix.
I eat up anything Hazelwood writes. Every time she has a new book, it becomes my favorite. And I knew going into this one that it would be a bit different from her previous book. But, as always, she is Queen of STEM and knows just how to write characters that are quirky, relatable, interesting, and endearing with emotional baggage that always comes to the surface to create tension and angst. I could not put this one down. I enjoyed every bit of the character development, plot, and spice! Yes, this one is quite spicy, on a different level than her other STEM books in my opinion. If you're into closed door romance, this one is not for her. Enemies to lovers trop is one of my favorite, along with dual POV which gets me into the heads of both the main characters.
Rue, as with many of Hazelwood's female characters, has some latent childhood trauma that causes her to shirk most relationships. She jumps off the page as grumpy, rather than full of sunshine. But it's her social anxiety that makes her this way. She's also not built like everyone else and tends to be a loner. She doesn't believe she is capable of love, so quick one night stands are her thing. She doesn't expect for Eli to make her feel things she never knew she could. I love how smart she is. She's also very no nonsense. There's nothing shy about her and she doesn't come across as a woman who won't go after what she wants.
Eli: tall, ex-hockey player (YES PLEASE!), science type who is not afraid to go after what he wants, both in the boardroom and in the bedroom. He's a very layered character. I loved that he was explicitly involved in science while still having that knowledge. At first, I was not sure where Hazelwood would take that aspect as I'm used to seeing both her main characters being part of the science world, but his involvement just worked. Wew, when I say this man creates hot tension, I am not joking. His emotional damage comes in the form of loss and being thrown into becoming a parent when he wasn't even sure he could care for himself. He's fascinating in his interactions with his friends and his sister. He's a boy obsessed in this book. There is nothing he wants more than to have Rue as his own, in whatever way she'll give herself to him. Even if he may get hurt in the process. And he's so patient with Rue, letting her open and blossom and giving her just the push she needs to be more than she thinks she can be. He's attentive and very aware of her needs. He really sees her for who she is and never pushes her to be someone she is not giving her the time and space she needs. Was I angry that he withheld things from her, just a bit. But I did understand his reasoning. At the same time, he's almost feral when it comes to what he wants in the bedroom, and this makes him a bit more unexpected for me.
The spice and humor in this book are great. I don't think Hazelwood's spicy scenes have made me squirm before but this one totally did. I was literally sweating while reading some of it. There's a bit of kink in the sexy scenes I totally was not expecting and I have to say I loved that Hazelwood went there. It was unexpected given the nature of and level of spice in her previous works. And there is actual plot here. It's not just sex page after page, it's characters experiencing trauma and loss and how they grow and change to fit new roles that were unexpected. I will say I saw from the beginning the rift that would happen but I was invested on how the book would unfold it and get to where it needed to be. There are a lot of subjects touched on and explored: food insecurity, child neglect, social anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy. Hazelwood explores these with a deft and delicate hand. As with all of Hazelwood's books, my chest felt heavy many times during reading with the anticipation of how things would blow up and be resolved. The tension she creates is up there with what I feel when I read Christina Lauren's books. And it's what keeps me wanting to turn the pages.
I enjoyed how Hazelwood incorporated the politics of business. While she writes very much from a science perspective, we have rarely seen how these politics truly change the world in which the characters live. Initially, I wasn't sure I would like this aspect and how it was integrated into the lives of the characters. It took me longer to become emotionally attached to the people in this book than it has in previous Hazelwood books. Definitely much more of a slow burn when it came to my investment in wanting to see where the story led. But once I saw how that slow burn needed to happen in order for the book to progress, I understood the need to have some emotional distance from the characters at the beginning.
Once again, Hazelwood has given me a book I love. I truly enjoyed how different this was from her previous works while still incorporating the STEM aspect. There's definitely more of a focus on the business world in this book while the science part is more in the background. Hazelwood knocked it out of the park with this book. I just have one request for Hazelwood: please, please, please continue to write in dual POV because it truly brings the stories you write to new heights!

Just wasn't moving.

Thank you to NetGalley and McMillan Children's Publishing Group for supplying me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Stars and Smoke. And I love Marie Lu's writing. So I can say I was happy to get a copy of this book as the follow to the first, since the first leaves off on a small cliffhanger leaving you wanting more.
It's been a year since Syd and Winter parted, neither thinking they would ever be back in each other's lives. But Panacea needs Winter for another mission, and they need Syd to convince him to get on board. Of course their mission doesn't go as planned,. They find themselves being hunted by the very people who are supposed to protect them. And they find themselves fighting their attraction, once again!
Is it a silly notion that people so young would be working for a covert agency like Panacea? Yes. Do I care? No. Because I love these characters and their mission and the way they easily get out of things over and over again. It makes my Mission Impossible loving heart very happy,
Marie Lu truly knows how to write some great action. Every chapter had me wanting to turn the page to the next to see just where this mission lead these characters and how they would keep themselves safe. The pacing was great but I would have appreciated a bit of a slower pace to have some time with the characters. I do understand it would have been hard to do so with how much action happens throughout the story. But Lu's writing is addictive.
With this book, we get a bit deeper into the relationship between Winter and Syd. Their push and pull is undeniable. Their romance impossible. Syd continuously denies her attraction to Winter but Winter knows it's there and he is unabashedly honest about it. The inclusion of a few side characters who have history with these two definitely leant to the intensity of the build between Syd and Winter. I really enjoyed the background we got on Winter's character. His family dynamic is important to the man he's become. We know much about Syd from the first book, which explains how she has developed as a character with not letting anyone get close to her. So it's not surprising when she puts her walls up in regards to her and Winter's relationship. The romance was tense and angsty, perfect for YA readers.
As with book one, we see a lot of political intrigue in this one. Their mission is straight forward, to rescue another Panacea operative. But, of course, nothing goes to plan when an assassination attempt pulls them into a high stakes game where they are running for their lives. And the mission gets impossibly harder when they find out betrayal has become part of it all.
I do see how Lu incorporated another of her series into this one, Warcross. I had no idea that would happen. I have not read that series and had no idea there would be a connection so I'm not sure anything was spoiled by me reading this first.
The ending, while satisfying, still leaves me wanting a third book. I need to see a final ending for these two. Don't get me wrong, there is a conclusion, but I was a little unsatisfied with it. I need redemption! And maybe this might be the plan? I have no idea but if it is I'm sure I will devour that one as I did with this and the first book.
4 stars