A review by railway1721
Axes & O's by Kayla Grosse

adventurous funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

 Man tries to drive into the mountains during the worst snowstorm, has accident, gets found by lumberjacks, has best Christmas ever?

Overall reco: I liked the premise and the book felt like it was a good length and well written BUT.. I struggled? I found myself getting distracted and having to sort of fight to my normal 30 minute reading blocks that I do. I had this issue with the Trick Play novella, and that was a novella? Maybe Kyla Grosse and me just don't vibe? which is weird because the spice is great. Really 3.5 stars, but rounding up
“For showing me that it’s not wrong.”

Plot: 4/5
Spice: 4/5
Characters: 3/5

(The Good)
The spice was great, once it got going it was plentiful and enjoyable. Well described, positioning felt fine except for some things but it's a book and whatever.
The characters had some development, not a lot, but helped them no feel so terribly flat.

(The Bad) 

Got to love a 3rd part breakup scene in a book where the group isn't officially together.
ALSO. Jefus fucking christ how many times are Morgan and Fox going to inner monologue about how much they love each other and how important the other one is to them. Like fuck you are the weird super lovey mountain couple. right. i get it.

 I noticed the characters said each others names a lot, even in places it wasn't necessary. "Grab her hips, fox" says nathan. It just became something that stuck out towards the end.

The other issue was just.. for a book that happened over 2 days, It felt like it was a month. They fucked a lot and had a lot of drama in those 2 days, and it still felt like it was taking a long time to get anywhere. At page 100 I was ready to be done with the book and we'd barely gotten into the spice. The spice helped keep me in for the rest but honestly... I'm questioning my 4 stars. BUT I would read this over other books in my 3 star list so it stays.