Trope
Heartstopper, #3
Reviews of Heartstopper #1 and #2
Heat Factor: Sleepovers are now forbidden at Charlie’s house, but they do go on a field trip to Paris… (and talk about how they’re not ready yet)
Character Chemistry: Silly teenager flirting
Plot: Acknowledging oneself is one kind of scary, but coming out is a whole other kind
Overall: The sweetness remains! But there’s also a lot of giggling.
Heat Factor: They have a lot of sex. (A lot.) And it’s explicit but not every time.
Character Chemistry: He was meant to love the white swan!
Plot: Gay football player thinks he can spend his college career with his head down and without romantic entanglements…until he meets the love of his life during a summer study abroad in Paris
Overall: Holy angst, Batman!
Heat Factor: It’s actually not that slow a burn, but getting to that first kiss is oof
Character Chemistry: They just like each other so gosh darn much
Plot: (Best friend) and (father) of The Jock’s protagonists are third wheels so much that they find themselves pairing off, particularly after the quarterback is left behind while everyone else has summer break
Overall: It’s a sweet one. Floating hearts just coming right off it.
Heat Factor: Gentle, encouraging, exploratory, emotional
Character Chemistry: They have big hug energy to offer each other, even though they both think they shouldn’t ask for it themselves
Plot: Boarding school besties Robert and David both come out of WWI with scars both physical and mental, and find their way back to themselves with each other
Overall: My heart is so full and so wrecked
Heat Factor: An uptight hero who gets dirty in the sheets.
Character Chemistry: “There are two kinds of people in the world. Ones who buy beach towels with brightly colored unicorns or starfish, and ones who buy plain, dull colors.”
Plot: Instead of trying to hook Leora up with her friend’s hot architect son, Leora’s mom is actively discouraging the relationship.
Overall: I read this at the beach and it was exactly what I wanted.
The Family, Book #1 & 5
Review of The Family, Book #2 & Book #3
Heat Factor: There is plenty of time for sex no matter what else is happening
Character Chemistry: A lot of this couple’s chemistry occurs in Beautiful & Dirty, but they’re so happy to be reunited in The Don
Plot: Shae meets Salvatore on a day that she’s about done with her selfish boyfriend, and when her day in Naples ends with a pregnancy, she’s a little lost…until her cousin’s disappearing act takes her right back to Italy and Salvatore’s restaurant
Overall: You kind of have to read the whole series, but if half sex, half mayhem sounds fun to you, I definitely recommend it.
Continue reading “Review: Beautiful & Dirty and The Don by Katrina Jackson (2020-2022)”
The Smut Report 