fangirljeanne's reviews
1180 reviews

Rivals to lovers. Human/Fae authors on a book tour Romance. I would say this is a sexy cousin of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries. I do mean sexy. There are several well written sex scenes as well as a slow burn romance. Highly recommend.

I could handle the “accents” the white narrator did for characters of colors. And the characters of color are the “evil” criminals verse the love interest who is a “moral” criminal. 

This is my The Notebook. Dissolved penis and all. 

I'm uncomfortable with how the story deals with Travellers. 

DNF 61%

CW: Intimate partner abuse (on the page), graphic description of assault, anti-sex worker slurs and rhetoric (despite the FMC being essentially a sex worker), internalized ableism, ableist slurs. 

So, this is very obviously Sleep Token fan fiction. Which isn’t a bad thing, at all. It’s part of had me interested in reading it. Sadly, its handling of disability and sex work is so sloppy and hypocritical that it ruins any potential promised by the premise.

The FMC has volunteered to be available for sex with the band members while they’re on tour. That is sex work. While she talks a good game about it being her choice and there’s nothing wrong with her doing this very specific kind of sex work, she and all the other characters constantly disparage other sex workers. Even making comparisons between her situation and other sex workers (using slurs to refer to them). 

She’s not like other sex workers. *eye roll*

It’s clear that she’s the exception, especially because the men she’s haired to sleep with are all hot and fall in love with her almost upon first sight. I don’t have an issue with people living out their sex worker fantasy via fiction, but they better show some damn respect for the profession and people who do that work. 

One of the members of the band is an amputee. There’s a lot of dialogue around how he struggles with other people’s negative reactions to his prosthetic and of course the FMC has no problem with it (unlike other girls *epic eye roll*). While this would indicate some thought was put into this representation several of the characters repeatedly use ableist language when talking about the disabled character. It’s so sloppy I was cringing.

The plot is paper thin, which isn’t necessarily something I’d complain about when it comes to this kind of fantasy fulfillment story, I’ll forgive a lot if the sex scenes are good. These were serviceable at best.

I also have a personal issue with how polyamory/open relationship dynamics were depicted. Two of the men are in a long term sexual and emotional relationship with each other that “never seemed to quite work until (the FMC) came along.” The characters say out loud that she makes them complete. That was the last straw for me.

I don’t doubt that there polyamorous folks that have felt this way, but when we’re talking about fiction where there are no other explicitly queer characters making a relationship between two men only work once a woman is involved feels homophobic as hell.

Just ew.

DNF 50%

CW: anti-sex worker slurs, classism, former bullying, cancer (referenced), death of a parent (mentioned).

The writing was strong and the relationship dynamic was intriguing, but I couldn’t get past the FMC’s internalized classism. While I can relate to the struggle with having been “trailer trash,” it’s more suited to a younger (teen, college student) character. It’s also never really challenged. If anything it’s supported by the heavy emphasis on the lead characters’ higher education and the “redneck” neighbors being used for comic relief. It feels like the FMC’s “poverty” (honestly, owning the trailer outright is a privilege) exists to show the MMC’s a “good guy” because he doesn’t care.

This could be completely removed from the story and have no real impact on the characters or their relationship, much less the plot which is paper thin.

Meh.

I am fast approaching full on Stan for Kate Canterbury.

CW: anti-fat comments (that are addressed), emotional abuse (from an ex), religious trauma, emotionally neglectful parent (not the leads), incarcerated parent (not the leads).

Can you call it a second chance Romance if it was a one-sided high school crush? I would argue that this book does a good job making the one friend is in love with the other who is oblivious version Friends to lovers not seem creepy. Namely because that dynamic is in the past and age appropriate, and is a source of a lot of the MMC’s conflict over his feelings for the heroine. That gives it a tasty enemies to lovers undertone to the Romance.

Both characters come to their relationship with baggage, and both get time and space to process it both on their own and as a couple. The supporting cast is great, as is the small town farming community setting. The farm isn’t just a background but practically a character of its own. A lot of ink is spilled explaining how it runs as well as details on the making and marketing of jams. Something that usually would bore me to tears in other novels but here I was intrigued and charmed by how into it Noah (the MMC) was.

Likewise I found Shay’s deep investment in being an educator and advocate for kids endearing. They felt like individuals rather than components in a trope. That lent a great deal of credibility to their developing relationships and made the conflicts standing in the way seem less contrived. I really worried how they were going to make it work.

The ATV scene nearly gave me a heartache. Rude!

This was a cozy and heartfelt Romance about two imperfect but genuinely good people finding love and family together.

Also the sex scenes are smoking hot and a little bit kinky. Highly recommend.

Meh