Trope
Heat Factor: After a very sexy night in Vegas, it takes a couple episodes before they get busy again, but when they do, it gets kinky
Character Chemistry: I’m a sucker for “the grumpy jerk is secretly soft for the vulnerable sweetheart”
Plot: Will and Patrick wake up married, and they can’t just be unmarried because Will’s charitable trust is financed by his mob family who requires that the scions marry for love and forever
Overall: It’s a long ‘un, but I didn’t want to stop reading.
Heat Factor: “We’ll just bang it out, and then I’ll have it out of my system.” Always a solid plan.
Character Chemistry: They do things to make the other one happy.
Plot: Helen asks her long-time friend to be her fake boyfriend so everyone will stop feeling sorry for her after her last break-up goes viral
Overall: So cute. And now I want an anatomically correct heart cake. And a charcuterie chalet.
Heat Factor: Spicy hot. Memorably spicy hot. Hot, hot, hot.
Character Chemistry: There might be some couples that are more explosive than others, but they’re all deliciously meant-to-be.
Plot: This is a steamy series that revolves around tangentially related sports stars, agents, and related characters in NYC and LA.
Overall: I initially read Now or Never (Book 5) because I heard it was a really fantastic example of praise kink, and holy schmoly. All of them are slam dunks.
Continue reading “Series Review: Irresistible by Stella Rhys (2017-2020)”
Heat Factor: There are steamy scenes and it doesn’t necessarily shy away from flirtation, but I wouldn’t say it has a lot of sexual tension
Character Chemistry: The characters don’t really make sense together but that’s kind of the point of the plot
Plot: Rex will only get his inheritance if he acts as CEO at one of his family’s businesses AND if he gets married within a year. Evie needs to keep her new promotion as Rex’s assistant in order to prevent her house from going into foreclosure. Rex threatens to fire Evie unless she agrees to be his fake girlfriend in order to get his parents off his case, and sparks ensue.
Overall: I think this book has a lot of potential, especially with the messy characters, but some of the editorial choices did impact my enjoyment of the material.
So, Erin has been yelling at us about Boyfriend Material and how it’s her favoritest most funniest book ever for a while now, so I figured I should read it.
Erin and I do not have exactly the same sense of humor, because I was not laughing so hard that my husband had to check on me to make sure I was ok. (Maybe also she laughs harder at things than I do.) And there were some scenes where I could tell that we were going for humor, but it was too over-the-top for me to get a giggle out of it. (Erin and I had similarly divergent reactions to Something Fabulous.)
BUT. The bit where Luc is telling his coworkers the “interrupting cow” knock-knock joke is fucking hilarious. Alex Twaddle 4-EVA!
I will also say that I read this as part of a larger Alexis Hall binge, which really highlighted to me that his books are not for everyone. They are thoughtful and absolutely brilliantly written, but I find them incredibly stressful to read. The protagonists tend to be messy and unlikable; therefore, being in their heads is not always a pleasant experience.
Read on for all the deets (and lots of squeeing) from Erin.
Continue reading “Review Revisited: Holly’s Take on Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (2020)”
The Smut Report 