Melissa

Yeah, unfortunately I enjoyed this about as much as I expected to. In fairness, this is not a favorite trope of mine, so it was always going to be an uphill battle. But I’m a completionist, so here we are.

I come away from this book feeling mostly bummed out. They struggled so hard, and for so long, and then the whole thing wrapped up in five pages. Sabrina’s stubbornness really started to get on my nerves, and Tucker’s business came out of nowhere. I fully expected him to open a peewee hockey rink because he mentioned more than once that there wasn’t one where he grew up. Foreshadowing, right? Nope, he opens a bar. And he only found the place by accident, it wasn’t even a conscious choice. It just felt messy and disconnected, which is not something I usually get from this author.

I liked the characters, and I liked seeing the rest of the guys from the series, but that’s really about it. Disappointing finish.

I'm kind of shocked to find out people didn't like this book - or the FMC in particular! I loved it. The FMC is definitely prickly, snarky, and sarcastic, but it's not just mean for meanness sake and it's only one facet of a full personality. Plus, the MMC loves it, which makes me love it more! And let's not forget she had good reason to feel the way she did.

I'll absolutely read this again. It was funny, the romance moves at a good pace, and the MMC is absolutely adorable.

A really cute, fun read! There are a lot of meta jokes and ironic fourth-wall-nudging jokes, so if that's not for you be warned. I got some real chuckles out of it though and although Juniper made me want to kick him sometimes, I also adored him and all the other characters in this whimsical little world.

The entire time I was reading this book I had the vague impression that I didn’t fully grasp what was going on.

Then I finished it, and it turns out there really just wasn’t much going on. An interesting premise but the execution was lackluster.

Better than I expected! I really felt and believed the chemistry between the MC’s; seeing their connection grow and strengthen was really fun. Very insta-lovey but it felt appropriate for the story.

Marked down slightly because the MMC made choices against her will, “for her own good,” way too many times. I know the guy’s got issues but that was getting really annoying.

Looking forward to book 2!

This book felt so much younger than I expected. Obviously it takes place at a college, but they’re all early to mid twenties for crying out loud. He MMC mostly grunts and broods his way through the book, and FMC’s family is WAY too perfect, and the stakes never felt all that high.

And the book cover definitely gave me spooky gothic vibes - which this was…not. At all.

I don’t know how much of my disappointment with this book is due to my own expectations, so I’ll give the next book a try. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it more now that I know what I’m getting.

I knocked this down a half star because the third-act conflict felt like a complete betrayal of the character. In no universe would the character we got to know through the rest of the book have made those choices.

A really beautiful story about love, and grief, and leaning that both of those journeys are better undertaken with a friend at your side.

For a moment in time, this book made me care about golf.

I rest my case.

The premise is undeniably silly but damn, was this a fun read! I liked this so much more than I expected to - its the kind of book that has you smiling against your will while you read it.

I read this book out of order because I’m a sucker for a friends-to-lovers story, and it really did deliver on that front. I loved the MC’s and their relationship completely, and the spice scenes were spicing.

This was my first MFM story and I have to say I am surprised by how much I liked it! I think the author did a really great job portraying how all three characters were feeling about the situation at all times. All three felt flushed out and individualized, and there was kind of a thrilling twist in the third act that went harder than I expected it to!

This book really rides a fine line by being both really sexy, and surprisingly wholesome. I will definitely be continuing the series!

I would give this six stars if I could. Absolutely perfect book… wow.

Not up to par with Curto’s more recent books, but it looks like this is an older release so that’s understandable.”

The MC’s were lovable and the spice scenes were honestly great. And I did enjoy how down bad the MMC was.

On the flip side, the pacing was weird, there were no real stakes, and there was a lot more informing me that something was funny rather than actually making me laugh. And the characters in general were all a little too perfect.

I never got a feel for what these two like about each other, which is a pretty sad state of affairs in a book that purports to be a romance. Sam, the FMC, didn’t seem to care much at all about Nick, the MMC, until some other guy lets her down. I don’t even recall her thinking he was attractive or anything - he was just… around. I did actually quite like Nick, but I don’t know why he likes Sam other than her proximity.

I also never felt like she bonded with Nick’s daughter although it felt like the author tried to shoehorn a bond in there at the end. Also? That kid was really annoying most of the time. So was the FMC, for that matter - she’s helpless and listless but super mad at anyone calling her out on being helpless and listless!

Ultimately, I don’t believe their “love” and I don’t think their relationship makes it a year past the end of this book.

This is not a rom-com by any means, but it IS a love story, and a truly beautiful one at that. Although there are absolutely parts that made me laugh out loud, it’s ultimately about how, at the end of the day, loving someone is about showing up.

I have heard the criticism that Xavier dos more for Samantha (and the relationship) than she does. And that’s true. But while it IS a mark in his favor, I don’t think it’s a mark against her. Sometimes love isn’t fair, or balanced. Xavier was able to give more at the time, so he did. If Samantha had been able to do more, I have no doubt she would have.

Everyone in this book showed up for each other in myriad ways, again and again. It was a challenging read in places, yes, but in that beautiful way that tells you you’re alive and only human. This book touched me deeply.

DNF at 24%.

The main male character is awful. He's an entitled, selfish, egomaniac who thinks that admitting he's a asshole makes him charming. He intentionally takes advantage of his neighbor, the "chubby, plain" FMC, insults her to her face, and then when a smidgen of guilt drives him to recommend her for a job he preens about what a good person he is. The FMC at this point is literally starving herself and he grudgingly admits (to himself, of course, he'd never let anyone know) that she looks better - but still not hot enough for him. Spends his time thinking about how he can take advantage of her agreeing to run errands for him, while patting himself on the back about having acquired himself a servant.

This man is disgusting. I read a couple of reviews that indicate he doesn't really change, so I'm out. DNF for the book and maybe the whole series. It's that bad.

My opinion may have suffered a bit because expectations were too high going in, but this didn't blow me away how I wanted it to. The world in fascinating, the characters and their dynamics are interesting, and obviously Bartholomew is the greatest side character ever created.

But the main love story seemed to turn from "enemies" to lovers with very little indications of their feelings changing, traveling through the world seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, and the ultimate Boss Battle seemed way too easy after all the work it took to get there. Oh, and the twist ending was not really all that twisty.

That said, the storytelling itself was lovely and I'm definitely going to try the next one. 3.75

This was just a fluffy little ball of adorable banter and flirtation that I will probably read a dozen more times. Thoroughly enjoyable.

A cute little smutty read, with some light meta commentary by the author. Well worth supporting!

This book absolutely nails the “man obsessed” trope. He adores her immediately and the chapters in his POV are particularly delicious.

I’m struggling with how I feel about this one. I think, ultimately, it’s more of a love story than a romance. There is a romance but it feels like the subplot - the book is much more about grief and how you decide what experiences define you, and recognizing how different kinds of love are expressed.

I liked the writing very much, and the pop-culture references were fun, but the FMC leaves every conversation that she finds challenging and while the romance element was sweet it felt a little flimsy. The reveals were pretty predictable as well.

I did enjoy the read, but it wasn’t really the story that I wanted or thought I was getting.

Peaked at about 60%, at which point I thought this was going to be a 4 star read. The ending just kind of flopped there - anticlimactic and unsatisfying. Really dragged the whole experience down.

This was SO MUCH BETTER than it had any right to be! On the face of it, it should have been sweet and silly and a fun little time, but oh wow - this is one of my top contemporary romances ever. I absolutely adored seeing, and loving, Piper through Brendan’s eyes.

Pretty fun actually, I just don’t know if LitRPG is the genre for me.