2.5 stars. Not wholly bad but not my favourite Emma Scott book, you know? On one hand it's very strong from a thematic angle and the overarching story2.5 stars. Not wholly bad but not my favourite Emma Scott book, you know? On one hand it's very strong from a thematic angle and the overarching story is great but there were bits and pieces that just felt like they were missing to me. Like the romance was good but also frustrating. The pacing was everywhere and nowhere. I just want to rearrange and flesh out parts of the book and then I'd be more satisfied.
While I do recommend Scott's books to most, this wouldn't be one that would be at the top of my rec list. Take that for what you will....more
I said I wasn't going to read this because it was going to be exactly the same as her other two books and it wasn't. But it also was. Somehow it's herI said I wasn't going to read this because it was going to be exactly the same as her other two books and it wasn't. But it also was. Somehow it's her best book by far, but we still have some work to do.
I think this is the first time Fortune actually used the back-and-forth, now-and-then narrative style device properly and it made sense for this story. But we're three books in and all she does as an author is write about past happenstance and how it turns out in the present timeline and I'm so tired of seeing the same writing over and over. Please find a different way to tell the story you want to tell.
That being said...this was much better than Every Summer After and far superior to the mess that was Meet Me At the Lake. While the writing got tiresome after a while, and the co-dependency of Lucy and Bridget made me feel icky, at the end of the day Lucy was the best character Fortune has written thus far and this relationship actually had legs and feeling and emotion, and ultimately made sense. Like I said, the back and forth of past and present made sense for Lucy and Felix and I'm glad that there was far more story within the present to make everything feel fleshed out and whole. But I'm begging Fortune to find a different way to write. Please. You can do it, I know you can. I'll pay you $10 not to include this narrative style in your next book.
Felix Clark you are a dreamboat and if you're free to hang out on Thursday please let me know. I am also free on Thursday if you want to hang out when I'm free....more
I feel like I inherently have to give this 3 stars because it's Zachary and Marigold and therefore I won.
This was better than the previous book but tI feel like I inherently have to give this 3 stars because it's Zachary and Marigold and therefore I won.
This was better than the previous book but there's still something about the way Kingsley is going about this series that somewhat bugs me. It may be the fact that it's trying to be equal parts romance and mystery/thriller but it's simply not meshing for me. The storyline is fine, and while I do appreciate a POV for Brielle and seeing depth in the antagonistic/mystery plot, I still feel like it really takes away from Zachary and Marigold's story and thus rushing so many aspects of their characters and overall dynamic. It's interesting that the Bailey series all seemed to have an overarching/connecting storyline between them to keep the B plot interesting, yet there was still plenty of time to develop characters and relationships. Why is there such a struggle to do that with the Havens? I don't get it. These books do remind me of Evan's book where I noted that the plot of that book felt very separate from the others, but it's like this series so far just feels not only very separate from the Baileys but from other books similar to this style. I don't think what Kingsley is trying to do is bad, but it's simply too surface level and detached for me.
But as I said, Zachary and Marigold are It and I won. Thank you for your time....more
Not gonna lie this was kind of a let down. Nothing against the mystery stalker plotline of the book but it kind of felt like that was developed far moNot gonna lie this was kind of a let down. Nothing against the mystery stalker plotline of the book but it kind of felt like that was developed far more than the romance between Audrey and Josiah (and their characters for that matter) and I just wasn't into it. I also don't get why we kicked off this series with Josiah out of all the brothers, I'm assuming he's the oldest so it's the same rules as Bailey Brothers, but I can't help but feel like Josiah is just incredibly boring as a character; out of all the Havens he's on my radar the least. So while it's nice to get him out of the way it's also not the best note to start the series on. Audrey was fine I guess but again nothing about her stood out and the stalker plot was fine but kind of silly at the end of the day. I just feel we spent too much time on that than the romance and developing it because it was just too simple and too fast.
I hope the next book is Mari and (fingers crossed) Zachary because we have a lot of work to do in order to make this spinoff interesting. Also, more Annika and Baileys please. The fact the only Bailey we really saw was Asher is a travesty....more
Ok wait....this series might actually be good...I'm as shocked as the rest of you are.
I will say that I was worried that the second book would fall flOk wait....this series might actually be good...I'm as shocked as the rest of you are.
I will say that I was worried that the second book would fall flatter than the first book, merely because that's how these things worked and it felt like the authors used up all of the plot already, but I like the direction we're going with the second book. I think there's certainly a lot of story left, especially after what was introduced in the back half of the book, and I'm really enjoying where the characters are going and how they're developing and how we're expanding on the world as well. It was nice to see the ice kingdom and the sand kingdom and how they both work alongside the twins' kingdom.
However, I am torn on the romantic sub plots right now mainly because I've seen Catherine Doyle do this before. If you remember in Blood for Blood, we spent the first book setting up Sophie and Nic and then in the second book we pivoted to setting up Sophie and Luca (which was the right decision) and it looks like we're going down that path again with Wren and Tor vs Wren and Alarik. I don't think I hate Wren and Alarik because it's a classic dynamic, but Tor is really a sweetheart and it just makes all of that build up worth nothing. At least with the Nic vs Luca debate, Nic wasn't necessarily that great of a character at the end of the day and there's nothing wrong with Tor. So I just don't get why we're exploring this and though I appreciate giving Alarik depth, we're now in a triangle and I hate it. On the other hand, I'm glad we didn't go through this with Rose and Shen and I'm very much looking forward to their (future) royal wedding as it's what they deserve. We love an Eana power couple.
I also want to point out that there were times where some of the little conflicts were quickly resolved and at times I felt a lot of things were rushed but it's a YA fantasy and sometimes you gotta take what you can get in this world of sewage so I can get over it. And I guess this is no longer a duology but a full out series so I played myself on this one. It's still fun and great and a nice surprise to find a YA series I'm genuinely enjoying.
3.5 stars. It was cute and fun but a lot of the couple's problems could've been solved with good ol' communication. I am obsessed with the overall Lov3.5 stars. It was cute and fun but a lot of the couple's problems could've been solved with good ol' communication. I am obsessed with the overall Loveless family dynamic so I must keep reading for the forthcoming shenanigans....more
"My professional sport team won't resign me if I don't have a bad boy reputation." Literally shut the fuck up. That's not how this works. I'm maybe at"My professional sport team won't resign me if I don't have a bad boy reputation." Literally shut the fuck up. That's not how this works. I'm maybe at 80% through this book and I don't want to do it anymore. I'm so tired. This one star isn't the same as my other one stars I've shelled out before. It's not the shittiest thing ever created, it's not overly problematic, or any of that. But it does feel borderline unreadable and certainly unfinishable. Will I get there? Sure but I may also end up putting my head through a wall in the meantime.
The plot of the book is so simple. There is nothing complex about it, there are no deep or hidden meanings or trying to thematically change the world. So why is it, in paperback, over 600 pages? Why can't this author shut up? Every scene is repeated throughout the book, just in slightly different fonts, the conversations go around and around in circles, and this book should've ended numerous times already. It's like the author pulled a word count number out of her ass and is doing whatever it takes to hit that word count and it severely shows. When I read a romance book, there are always times where I want to see the couple simply being together doing mundane things so you can experience the relationship and what makes it work. But the fact that about 60% of this book is boring, mundane bullshit where nothing is happening and I'm STILL not at then end of the book? What's the point? Will my life end before this book does? Who knows.
Also, I know that romance authors tend to take a lot of liberties when writing their sports romances because more often than they know very little about the sport and that's fine. They don't have to know the sport in and out and can make a few things up for dramatics, but there's a fine line between making it more entertaining and just being absolutely ridiculous. And this book is the latter. Over 600 pages and not a SINGLE scene of the main character actually playing hockey? Which is his whole job? Hello???? And like I said, an athlete's contract is not determined by their media persona, or in this case being a sleazy bad boy womanizer rather than like...being good at the sport they play. Yeah, no one gets multi-year contracts based on athletic skills. But the way this author made the media care about this guy and his relationships was ridiculous and so out of touch that I was consistently rolling my eyes so far I could see brain. Like yes, I'm a sports fan and I have favourite players and I promise you the media doesn't give a shit about them the way they care about B-list celebrities, nor do we keep tabs on their dating lives. Why do authors think we do? Certainly not as much as this author thinks. It's just a weird route to take and to write a character and plot this way is insanely out of touch with reality.
A few more things that I cannot stand: the couple has been together for about 6+ months and still don't say they love each other, why doesn't this girl refer to her boyfriend by his first name literally ever because of his mommy issues, the dialogue is either trying to be too profound or cringy and gives me so much second hand embarrassment, there's no voice distinction between either character, and if I have to read the phrases "her signature curls and baggy clothes" or "his black inked skin and gold chain" one more time I will kill myself. Like did you guys know she has curly hair and wears baggy clothing? That he has tattoos and a gold chain? Did you know??????
I really don't like this book or these characters. The author is doing too much and accomplishing truly nothing and I have no idea if she has an editor to chuck some of these rambling scenes but I highly recommend she either gets one in the first place or a new one altogether. I might give the second book a shot but it appears to also be 600+ pages so perhaps I'll need to set that one on fire as well....more
2024: Rethinking things and I don't think I actually liked this book. It kind of sucked. 2 stars it is.
2023 Review: To clarify, this is probably 3.5 s2024: Rethinking things and I don't think I actually liked this book. It kind of sucked. 2 stars it is.
2023 Review: To clarify, this is probably 3.5 stars and I'm convinced that I enjoyed the overall story and romance more than Every Summer After. However, my worst fear came true as this book is starting to prove that like Emily Henry, it appears that Carley Fortune can only write the same books in slightly different fonts. And I blame her shitty editor, who coincidently works with both of them. That being said...Fortune is still a better writer than Henry so she has that going for her.
My main problem with this book isn't really the story or the characters, but rather the narrative structure. Just like Every Summer After, this book goes back and forth between the present day and something that happened in the past. And while that worked very well for Every Summer After, since the main characters of that story only saw each other during the summer and that's how they built their relationship, there was no need to do it here. I don't need Fern and Will's one day to be interspersed throughout the story and go back and forth with whatever's happening to them in the present. It doesn't make sense nor does it actually have any causal effect for either the story or the reader. But it feels like Fortune structured the book this way either because a) her editor told her to because it was so successful with her first book or b) this is the only way she knows how to write. And both options are bad because, as I said, it makes her write the same stories in different fonts. If you read one book, you've read them all. In my opinion, the book would've been more effective if she'd split it into two parts: part one focuses on the first day Fern and Will spend together and explore all of that and part two focuses on the present day and them learning each other all over again. It's not that hard.
The other thing that bugged me wasn't Will's character per se but rather how Fortune kind of chose to...not develop him really, but I guess explore him near the end. As a lover of dual POVs, this book needed Will's POV desperately. Fern is fine but it's as much Will's story as it is hers and I think the story as a whole suffers without it. By trying to explain his character away with pages to go at the end of the book, dropping an anxiety diagnosis seemingly out of nowhere with very little time to digest it, isn't fair to either the characters or readers. If we had his POV we could explore that further but alas. And yes, his relationship with his sister and her kid is weird and I really don't think he should be more of a parent to his niece than her actual parent, you know?
I want to reiterate that I did like this book, I liked the story and the concept and the romance at its core, but it should not have been structured in this way. Imagine how much better this would've been if properly structured and maybe with a dual POV added to it. I don't think that's too much to ask for. But on the bright side, at least no one actively cheated on their relationship this time around....more
I mean it's a cute story and all, but it's very surface level. The writing is incredibly fluffy, and there's nothing wrong with reading a fluffy romanI mean it's a cute story and all, but it's very surface level. The writing is incredibly fluffy, and there's nothing wrong with reading a fluffy romance novel, but there's a very fine line between writing that is fluffy and writing that is borderline childish. I'm to understand that these two characters are in their mid-to-late 20s and they both speak as if they're still stuck in elementary school? I'm sure the author just wanted to write a clean, well intended, wholesome romance story but you can't write adult characters and make them sound and act like they've never actually grown up, you know? I'm not saying that the book needed to be filled to the brim with sex scene after sex scene, because that would be the other end of the spectrum, but you have to make these characters believable. And I believed that these characters were better suited as preteens and not at all adults around my age.
Also, the plot is really simple and not a whole lot happens because we don't really dive into things and explore in the kind of depth I'd personally prefer. It's a fine plot, but it can be borderline boring as well. I do want to point out that the story and characters aren't bad, per se, but they're just written in a way that makes them more boring than they really need to be. This book has every ingredient it needs to be successful but it just needs a more experienced cook in the kitchen, you know? But if you're bored and want to keep your mind busy, this is a fine book to read to kill some time....more
This was surprisingly good? I probably shouldn't sound shocked when I end up reading books that turn out good but y'all don't know the struggles I go This was surprisingly good? I probably shouldn't sound shocked when I end up reading books that turn out good but y'all don't know the struggles I go through....the shit I have to sludge through....you'll never understand.
Objectively? 3.5 stars. The story is very creative and I love the mix of fantasy and war themes and how they both mix together to create what honestly feels like a refreshing plot in YA books lately. Plus I loved the way the author wrote them into the war without actually explicitly having them fight and be soldiers, again it was super inventive. The main characters of Iris and Roman were interesting both together and apart and I loved reading about both of them. The development of their relationship did feel a tad rushed at times but enjoyable nonetheless and I'm rooting for them. Loved the writing as well and felt the author did a good job balancing the characters' emotions and thoughts and the actual plot.
I think my only complaint would be the world building. I don't really understand what world this book is set in because it feels both modern-day but also set in the Industrial Revolution but also World War 1 but also a made up fantasy land yet somehow England? I don't get it. While I think the author did a great job establishing a lot of other aspects of the book I think the world building may have suffered in the end. It's not bad, per se, but it's just not clear. Though we have another book to hopefully sort that out.
Did I just read two Actually Good YA books in a row? What's happening? Is it the end of the world?...more
3.5 stars as I had a very lovely time reading this! While I am not really a Regency Era bitch, it was hard for me to follow and adjust to the story re3.5 stars as I had a very lovely time reading this! While I am not really a Regency Era bitch, it was hard for me to follow and adjust to the story revolving and heavily relying on this period to really get into the flow of it but it's still a fun time nonetheless. I am, however, a faerie bitch therefore I believe it all evens out. Dora was a lovely character and Elias was so much fun and I enjoyed them together. This book did remind me a bit of Emily Wilde and I liked the comparisons there but they're still different enough. I'm not sure if I'll read other books in this series but maybe I'll save it for a rainy day in the future....more
I almost skipped this one because I couldn’t see myself liking Cara. But the book proved me wrong and showed me how much I misunderstood her. I love hI almost skipped this one because I couldn’t see myself liking Cara. But the book proved me wrong and showed me how much I misunderstood her. I love her, she’s amazing. A fantastic friend to Grace and a truly impeccable match for Logan. Their dynamic was amazing and hit all the fun tropes and notes and I really can’t imagine not reading this one. Levi and Annika are still probably my favourite but these two might be the runner ups. My only problem is skipping like 4 months of their relationship because I would’ve like to have seen more of that but honestly, it’s fine. It’s still so good and Cara had the best development over the entire series....more
This book was fun. Gavin is a fun character and Skyler was a very relatable character for me and I loved her development over the course of the book, This book was fun. Gavin is a fun character and Skyler was a very relatable character for me and I loved her development over the course of the book, seeing her get braver with each page. This is another couple that I felt complimented each other very well and brought out the best in each other. I think my only issue was there was just a lot of fast-ness to the relationship and I get the point of the story is to be like “there’s no one way to do things, if it’s right who cares, when you know you know” blah blah and that’s all true but also I love timelines and correct progressions of relationships. So that’s my personal problem. Evan kind of did the same thing but I just think these Bailey boys can only go 0-100 with no in between so I’m learning to be ok with that....more
I really thought I was going to like this more because Evan’s character is pretty much my type. But I think his story felt a bit detached from the othI really thought I was going to like this more because Evan’s character is pretty much my type. But I think his story felt a bit detached from the others and it’s a fun story, but something felt off in the grand scheme of things. Again, I like Fiona as a match for him and I think they really compliment each other well but their story felt a bit like an outsider when you hold it against the rest of the series. But it makes sense for Evan’s character so it’s fine. ...more
Book two is much better, specifically where Asher and Grace’s relationship is concerned. Loved seeing Asher go through what he was dealing with and ulBook two is much better, specifically where Asher and Grace’s relationship is concerned. Loved seeing Asher go through what he was dealing with and ultimately growing as a person. Grace continued to be amazing and she’s really a saint for all that she did for Asher and being that constant. I adore her and think she’s the perfect match for Asher and even the rest of the family. And if you see me reading the series about her half-family, mainly for Grace crumbs, don’t @ me ok....more
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