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THE AMERICAN ROOMMATE EXPERIMENT BOOK REVIEW

Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Kinda sorta a spoiler-free review, but not really since this is a romance book lol. It’s a requirement for romance novels to have an HEA or at least an HFN (happy for now) ending.

STAR RATING: 2.5/5

SPICE RATING: 2/5

SYNOPSIS:

Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well-paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer, only to enter a creative slump. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her. She heads to her best friend Lina’s apartment, not knowing that Lina has already lent the studio to her cousin Lucas, who Rosie has been stalking—for lack of a better word—on Instagram. To Rosie’s surprise, Lucas offers to let her stay with him, at least until she can find some affordable temporary housing.

Soon, Rosie discovers that Lucas is intent on coming to her rescue like a Spanish knight in shining armor. Only this one strolls around the place in a towel, has a distracting grin, an irresistible accent, and comes with a set of mad cooking skills. And when Lucas learns of Rosie’s writers block, he proposes an outrageous idea to bring back her literary muse and meet her deadline: he’ll take her on a series of experimental dates meant to jump-start her romantic inspiration. Rosie has nothing to lose. Her silly online crush is totally under control—but Lucas’s stay in New York has an expiration date, and six weeks may not be enough time for either her or her deadline.

READ THIS IF YOU:

Enjoy forced proximity romance books

Like the “broken boy” trope

Want to prolong The Spanish Love Deception universe

Don’t mind a little cringe (I’ll explain in a minute, lol)

CHARACTERS:

Rosie Graham:

A lot of reviews of this book call Rosie annoying and insufferable. She came from a life of childhood trauma where she was forced to grow up way too soon, and now, in her adult life she is very unsure of herself and tends to come off insecure. She has to be in control of every situation and she has a plan for everything, and she is always the friend that people come to, but rarely does she ever require help for herself. She is a chronic overthinker and gets anxiety even by thinking of situations that could cause her anxiety.

I can see why someone would dislike her, especially if they don’t share any of the same qualities as Rosie. I can see why she comes off as annoying and unsure of herself to some people. For me though, I felt a connection with Rosie because we share a lot of the same qualities. The constant overthinking, being anxious about anything and everything, and feeling like you have to have everything under control. I feel like I liked Rosie more than the average consensus based on reviews of this book, but I still didn’t really like her enough to say that I actually liked her character throughout the entire book. Allow me to share with the class, yeah?

Rosie does tend to come off as manipulative. For example, Rosie says to Lucas: “I just wish you wanted me as much as I wanted you.” during a scene that had nothing to do with how much either of them wanted each other, but rather what HAD to be done. I didn’t like how she cornered Lucas here and it felt really unfair to him.

Rosie had little to no self-respect, either. There were multiple occasions that she had to beg, yes beg, Lucas to even so much as look at her. This felt really icky to me, even if the author meant this as a way to show that Lucas has boundaries and is respectful of boundaries, but I personally didn’t take it that way. I took it as Rosie begging Lucas to do things that would be considered the absolute bare minimum to someone Lucas claims that he cares about. That is certainly not the message I want to hear from the heroine of a romance novel because it enforces that begging for the bare minimum is okay, when it really isn’t okay at all.

And the cherry on top of it all is that Rosie was lying to everyone in her life that she claimed to love and care about (her father, her brother, and her best friend). Rosie would constantly self-deprecate about how she was lying to those she loved and how it made her feel like a bad person, yet she would continue to lie EVEN WHEN she was presented with multiple opportunities to tell the truth. It’s hard to feel sorry for someone when they willingly choose to pass up several opportunities for literally no apparent reason at all. The worst part about Rosie’s lying is that yes, she lied to everyone that she claimed meant so much to her, yet she spilled the truth to a complete stranger (Lucas) within the first 24 hours of meeting him. It seemed a little off-putting to me and I didn’t like it at all. The irony of Rosie’s lying problem is that her brother, Olly, lied to her and Rosie let it destroy her mood when she suspected Olly was hiding something from her. The pot and the kettle, babes.

Lucas Martín:

Alright so, Lucas. If you thought Rosie’s character analysis was harsh, then buckle your seatbelts kids.

I would first like to say that Lucas does have a fair amount of redeemable qualities. He’s sensitive, thoughtful, and he can cook. Lucas too has a troubled past that haunts his present-day life and he’s very open about how he is navigating his future in a way that is best for him. But sadly, not all glitter is gold. 

For starters, let me just mention that it is admitted by Lucas himself and then later confirmed by Lina (his cousin) that Lucas has never been in a relationship, but he’s had several women come in and out of his life. Lucas says, and I quote directly from his dialogue, that “a woman has never broken my heart”. Is there anything inherently wrong about this? Not necessarily, but if a man is 30 something years old and has never had a strong emotional connection with a woman, how am I supposed to interpret that? Because the author never really explained why Lucas has never had any sort of emotional connection with a woman. Am I supposed to assume that he’s been waiting for his soulmate for his entire life and that’s why he’s never had a commitment? Or am I supposed to assume that he’s just that typical douchebag player type that dumps women from his life after he gets what he wants from them? The reason why this was a problem for me with Lucas’ character is because we just don’t know what the reason is.

Based off of Lucas’ other character traits, I’m inclined to believe that he’s just a flirt and gets women to fall for him so he can get what he wants. Lucas and Rosie clicked almost instantly, to the point that this book pushed the envelope of the insta-love trope. The reason why they clicked so hard and so fast is because Lucas just used his magical flirtatious charm, and I’m led to assume that this is not coincidentally the first time Lucas has pulled that type of scheme. So, I’m going to go with an assumption that I have facts to back up that Lucas historically just uses his charm to his advantage to get women to flock at his feet, and then he can do what he needs to do, and then gets rid of them. Major red flag and certainly not the man I want as the hero of a romance book.

With that being said, that’s really the only major character flaw of Lucas aside from the fact that he is just kind of cringe. The things he says to Rosie are extremely cliché and so unoriginal (another reason to believe that he’s a player and just cycles through his rolodex of compliments that could apply to any girl). Like, “did I wake up in heaven?” when he sees Rosie after he wakes up (not even 12 hours after they met for the first time……).

Lastly, Lucas is the most insecure man I have ever seen in a romance book. He’s constantly saying things like “Rosie deserves so much better” and self-deprecating about himself. Remember ladies, if a man tells you that you deserve better, listen to him and don’t give him a chance to prove himself to be correct. Lucas saying that Rosie deserves better just goes to show that he has no sort of willpower to be the man that she needs, so clearly he doesn’t want her that bad.

PRAISES, CRITIQUES, AND MY THOUGHTS:

I know my character analyses were harsh, but hear me out: this book didn’t totally suck. There were some cute little moments between Lucas and Rosie. I don’t want to spoil anything if you do plan to read this, but beware that the cute moments are pretty few and far between. Personally, I didn’t really buy that Rosie and Lucas had genuine chemistry, so maybe that’s why I feel the way I do.

As for the rest of the issues that I had with this book, there is something so apparently wrong about Lina describing Lucas, her own cousin, as having a “panty dropping smile”. Like, I’m sorry...what??? Who talks about their cousin this way?? I shouldn’t have to expand on that any further.

Also, the plot follows Rosie’s journey as a romance writer. Let me lay the groundwork of that for you a little so you can understand what I’m about to say. Rosie wrote her first romance novel and it became a HUGE hit and gained a ton of traction. So much so that Rosie signed with a publisher and the publisher requested a second book from her and gave her a deadline for it. Rosie really struggled to write this book because she had writer’s block and lacked inspiration. Rosie’s second book was set to follow the best friend of the main character in the first book and her second book was giving the best friend the love story they deserved. Does that ring a bell for you? No? Okay, allow me to bridge the gap. The Spanish Love Deception is in the same book universe as The American Roommate Experiment. The Spanish Love Deception followed Lina. Rosie is Lina’s best friend. The American Roommate Experiment (the second book in the universe) follows Rosie and gives her the love story she deserves.

Reading this plot line about Rosie struggling with her second book felt like a testimony straight from the author about her own struggles writing The American Roommate Experiment. And I don’t mean this rudely, but I could certainly tell that this book was a struggle for her to write. I do understand that author’s writing about their own struggles can be an outlet for them to air their grievances. But this seemed very low effort for Elena Armas and I was really disappointed because she has such amazing writing talent and I really enjoyed The Spanish Love Deception. I know she’s capable of more and reading The American Roommate Experiment felt very cut and dry.

I really can’t recommend this book and it pains me to say that because The Spanish Love Deception was such a hit for me. But if you insist on reading it, I hope you had a better experience than I did.  

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ALL RHODES LEAD HERE BOOK REVIEW

Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

TW: loss of parent/grief

STAR RATING: 5/5

SPICE RATING: 3/5

SYNOPSIS:

Aurora De La Torre knows moving back to a place that was once home isn’t going to be easy.

Starting your whole life over probably isn’t supposed to be.

But a small town in the mountains might be the perfect remedy for a broken heart.

Checking out her landlord across the driveway just might cure it too.

READ THIS IF YOU:

Have a soft spot for big, grumpy, blue-collar men

Enjoy nature and spending time outdoors

Need a lil found family trope goodness

Enjoy plot-driven romances (but don’t worry, this is still very character driven also)

CHARACTERS:

Aurora De La Torre:

I always love when characters in books have depth and their past is discussed in a way that gives us (the readers) an understanding as to what led them to present day. Aurora had JUST that. She had struggles from her past that she was fleeing from (rightfully) and just wanted to start over at the only place she knew as home. She had goals while still not entirely sure what her future held, which I think is relatable for most people. I know the whole “finding themselves” trope gets a little cliché, but I think Mariana Zapata wrote this flawlessly in Aurora.

Aurora is perseverant and determined to claim what is rightfully hers throughout this entire novel, even if it’s not easy. Tough hike? Tough SHIT, she’s set on getting through it. Coincidentally, I think this is her biggest strength and biggest weakness. Throughout the novel, Aurora often desperately needs help but refuses it as a way to build her character, even if she’s miserable; which, to me, is the tell-tale sign of a strong female main character and I eat that shit up every. single. time. But don’t be fooled, when Aurora is offered help or assistance, she takes it with gratitude.

Aurora is troubled in several different ways from her past, but none of those things inhibit her ability to be a decent person. She’s not spiteful to the universe (although she has every right to be) and she treats everyone with respect as long as respect is given to her. I think she is the absolute model blueprint for my favorite type of FMC.

Tobias Rhodes:

I’d say “don’t even get me started on Rhodes”, but please, get me started on Rhodes. THIS MAN????? Perfection. Absolute unfettered perfection. Tobias Rhodes, too, has a past and it creates so much depth in his character. Seeing how he acts and why is so important for me in a grumpy x sunshine romance because otherwise the MMC comes off as just being irritated at everyone and everything purely because he’s allowed to.

Rhodes tends to keep people at a distance until he becomes comfortable due in part because he is protective over his son. Watching him unfold throughout this book was probably my favorite aspect because he was the gift that kept on giving. Every time him and Aurora interacted there was just a small glimmer of something new in his words and actions each time. You just can’t help but fall in love with him yourself once he starts showing his sense of humor, selflessness, and empathy.

If your love language is acts of service, then OH BOY are you in major luck with this book. Rhodes shares his love in multifaceted ways, but acts of service is his BREAD AND BUTTER YA’LL. You won’t be disappointed.

PRAISES, CRITIQUES, AND MY THOUGHTS:

I really, truly, HONESTLY have nothing bad to say about this book. I grappled for hours before sitting down to write this review for something even slightly bad about this book and I just couldn’t think of anything.

Mariana Zapata has been crowned the queen of slow-burn romances, and after reading this book (my first of hers) I can attest that she was crowned appropriately. This book is pretty lengthy at a whopping 559 pages, but I was never bored while reading this. If things weren’t actively happening, then things were being built up for something to happen soon. It really is a gift for an author to be able to write 559 pages of words that don’t bore the reader.

There was banter, yearning, and tension (SO MUCH TENSION!!!). The characters meshed together flawlessly and confirmed for Aurora that she made the right decision returning to Pagosa Springs. After being chewed up and spit out by her ex-husband’s family, she deserved to be surrounded by a group of people that cared about her and I am so over the moon that she got exactly what she deserved. Found family tropes in books will never cease to make me smile.

This book was recommended to be from a post that I made about wanting romance book recs with an MMC that resembled Luke Danes from Gilmore Girls. Luke Danes and Tobias Rhodes are two pieces cut from the same fabric so if you’re a Luke Danes stan then just know ‘All Rhodes Lead Here’ will not disappoint you.

I can always tell that a book was a five-star read for me when I find myself instantly thinking about how no book could ever compare to it. I think I’m going to be looking for Tobias Rhodes in every romance book I read in the future and that should speak for itself.

READ THIS BOOK IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!

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IN A JAM BOOK REVIEW

Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Contemporary

No spoilers, but does include description of events in the book that are not inherent to the plot

STAR RATING: 2/5

SPICE RATING: 3/5

SYNOPSIS:

Shay Zucconi, a Bostonite kindergarten teacher, has a tulip farm fall in her lap after her step-grandmother dies. Shay’s inheritance of Twin Tulip is conditional on two requirements. First, Shay has to move to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second, she has to be married within one year. 

This comes troubling to Shay, as she was about to say ‘I do’ in a few short hours when her ex-fiancé called off the wedding. Shay is not comfortable even thinking about marriage right now. However, she finds herself more uncomfortable with the thought of her only real childhood home belonging to someone else.

Noah and Shay formed a deep friendship during their time in high school. To Noah, it was more than just a friendship. He loved her deeply in high school, but he was terrified of confessing his feelings to the beautiful popular girl when he was too awkward to even string coherent sentences together.

Noah has his hands full running the family farm, several associated businesses, and raising his niece. Love is the furthest thing in his mind, except when Shay shows up in Friendship, Rhode Island and turns his life as he knows it upside down. 

READ THIS IF YOU:

Don’t mind miscommunication between hero and heroine

Enjoy cozy farm/cottage vibes

TROPES:

Grumpy x Sunshine

Marriage of convenience

Second chance

Small town romance

CHARACTERS:

Shay Zucconi:

Shay is a fun-loving, quirky kindergarten teacher that everyone seems drawn to. She genuinely seems like the life of the party, and it makes a lot of sense why she was the popular girl in high school. Shay quite literally puts the ‘sunshine’ in the ‘grumpy x sunshine’ trope. Shay had an extremely shaky childhood and it seems like those issues follow her into adulthood. After her ex-fiancé left her at the altar, those issues were really put under the spotlight. All things considered, Shay isn’t a bad person by definition, and she may even be likeable at times. However, her coping mechanisms were absolute trash. After Xavier called off the wedding, it was mentioned on several different occasions (several different days in book time) that Shay would drink away her sorrows during the day and would avoid any and all responsibility. To me, this seems like alcoholism even on a minor level. I’m sure the author didn’t intend this, but I could not shake the feeling that Shay was coping with stress and sadness by getting day-drunk and trying to romanticize it as if that isn’t a big deal?

Also, Shay is supposedly thirty-something years old. I honestly never would have guessed that if her age was never mentioned in the book. The way she handles problems, inconveniences, and communication with others screams immaturity. I realize that Shay has deep-seated childhood trauma and those actions in her adult life are trauma responses; which is obviously devastating and terrible, but now that Shay is well into adulthood, it is her (and only her) responsibility to resolve that trauma to make sure that she doesn’t hurt anyone in her life as a result. Shay frequently mentioned ill-feelings about her childhood, yet there is zero mention of her getting help, or considering getting help, for those problems.

Lastly, Shay repeatedly reiterated that her ex-fiancé meant nothing to her and anything bad that he said about her went in one ear and out the other. But that is abundantly untrue. Shay spent a large percentage of this book replaying the words that Xavier said, taking them to heart, and even genuinely believing them. To make matters worse, Xavier reached out to Shay asking to meet up with her in person after several months of no communication. Shay threw herself at this opportunity after she claimed to be invested in Noah and had feelings for Noah. Homegirl…if that really is the case, why are you crawling on your hands and knees for the trail of crumbs that your ex is giving you?

Like I said in the beginning of Shay’s character analysis, she is likeable at times. Her personality flourishes and she surely has a heart of gold. It really is hard to not like her, but for purposes of reviewing this book, I feel like I have to mention her extreme flaws.

Noah Barden:

It doesn’t take much for me to fall in love with the hero of romance books. The bar for fictional men is in hell in all honesty. But I strongly considered DNF’ing this book solely because of Noah Barden. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Noah is the kingpin of Little Star Farms and despite all of the headaches that come along with farm life, he seems to really enjoy his occupation. Before returning to Friendship, RI to take over the family farm, he was a big-shot lawyer in New York City. Noah brings both blue-collar and white-collar traits to the table, which is immensely attractive to me…usually.

To put it lightly, Noah is downright insufferable. He has the emotional intelligence and emotional maturity of a pond pebble, and he happily admits that in this book as if he is proud of that. Again, I never would have guessed that he is thirty-something years old. My absolute largest issue with Noah is that he takes the ‘grumpy’ trait a little too far. On top of that, he is physically incapable of communicating his feelings, so Shay believes for a very long time in this book (literally up until the last fifty pages) that Noah despises her. Honestly, I thought so too.

Did I say that was my absolute largest issue with Noah? Actually, I changed my mind. The real problem at play here is Noah gives off MAJOR narcissistic vibes. I’m sorry, but I feel qualified in saying that because I endured the wrath of two different narcissists in my life for several years. For example, Noah only ever did “nice” things for Shay when other people were watching. I have two examples of this (because there were only ever two scenarios of him doing nice things in the book): 1) Noah brought Shay homemade baked bread on ONE occasion, conveniently the ONLY occasion that Shay had company at her home in Friendship. Noah claimed to not be aware of her company, but they are literally neighbors. I’m sure he saw the vehicle in the driveway that was not hers. 2) He baked her a homemade cake and cooked dinner for her on her birthday, ONLY AFTER Shay’s best friend (Jaime) threatened Noah with the mafia if he didn’t do exactly that for her birthday. I’m not convinced he would have done anything for Shay’s birthday if Jaime didn’t ask him to, to be honest.

The cherry on top of all of that, is that Noah never ONCE talked about, let alone executed, a date with Shay. And the absolute monstrosity of it all, is that Gennie (Noah’s niece in his care) who is S I X  Y E A R S  O L D had to tell Noah to take her out on a date once in a while. Like, are we actually sure this man is thirty-something years old? And I’m supposed to believe Noah had feelings for Shay?

Again, Noah was insufferable. Regardless of if he’s attractive or not, this man has the personality of a wet mop on his best day. It felt like I was supposed to congratulate and romanticize Noah for doing the absolute human bare minimum. I refuse to do that. I truly don’t think I have one good thing to say about him, because every word out of his mouth seemed fake and never ONCE did his words match his actions (except for when he wanted to get freaky with Shay, only then was he the all-mighty communicator and sweet-talker). Narcissist.

Gennie (Imogen):

Gennie is the daughter of Eva, Noah’s sister. After Eva finds herself in trouble and is sent to jail for life, Noah becomes Gennie’s legal guardian. Gennie had a rough life before Noah, which is obvious from her mannerisms and defense mechanisms. I genuinely felt bad for Gennie and the trauma that she endured at such a young age, she didn’t deserve any of it. The issues I have with her are really reflections of Noah’s parenting style, because Gennie is just a kid at the end of the day, so I don’t think it’s appropriate or fair to give a negative character analysis on her. Gennie’s entire personality revolves around swearing in every sentence she speaks and possessing an alter-ego of a pirate. It was cute and funny in the first few chapters, but after there was essentially zero character development for Gennie (other than Noah briefly mentioning that “Gennie is doing much better in school” during the last couple of chapters) it began to get exhausting and (quite frankly) annoying. I felt like Gennie was failed in this book and I wanted so much better for her.

PRAISES, CRITIQUES, AND MY THOUGHTS:

With all my reviews, I praise the positives first and rail the critiques at the end. Don’t expect a lot of praises here, but there are some. For starters, I loved that Shay had a strong circle of friends that supported her endeavor to drop everything and run after her childhood farm. Shay’s friend group was everything she needed them to be, and they tried their best to kick Shay’s bad habits to the curb.

Second, and lastly, I loved the setting for this book. Friendship, Rhode Island is the small town us readers crave. The hometown football games, the seasonal festivals, and the cozy vibes of a weekend farmer’s market had me wishing I lived in the New England farmtown.

But not all glitter is gold, as they say. My problems with this book far outweighed the positives. I felt no chemistry whatsoever between Noah and Shay. Perhaps it was the fact that Noah constantly spoke in past tense about the ‘high school Noah and Shay’ as if he’s forgetting that they are now fifteen years past high school and both Noah and Shay have changed so much since the teenage versions of themselves. Noah made no attempt to get to know present-day Shay, and the only information he had about her was what he could see with his own two eyes and what Shay willingly told him without Noah asking. Shay made more attempts to get to know Noah, albeit they were weak and not frequent attempts.

And the spice scenes??!???!!! Are you kidding me? Reading those scenes felt like I was reading a story about two people who stumbled home drunk from a bar and were having a one-night-stand with no intentions of ever speaking to each other ever again. The way Noah treated Shay during their time under the covers felt borderline nonconsensual, ESPECIALLY during one of their last spicy moments when Shay was literally crying. It was abhorrent to read and at times, made me physically ill and made me cringe until my skin fell off. The chemistry was simply not there romantically. This truly felt like a story about two rekindled friends who made a friends-with-benefits pact (there’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m supposed to believe that these two people love each other??). 

One of the “terms” of Noah and Shay’s “relationship” was to keep Gennie out of it, because Gennie had endured enough confusion and disappointment in her lifetime. But, as I expected, they did the exact opposite of that. Noah and Shay placed Gennie almost perfectly in the middle of their problems. So much so that Gennie literally ran away from home out of fear and insecurity that Noah and Shay would have a baby and forget all about Gennie and stop caring about her. Noah claimed that he was focused on Gennie and that she came first, but that is clearly another bold-faced lie to make Noah seem like the perfect parent. Poor Gennie just moved in with Noah less than a year ago, so clearly she is not ready for any more changes. With Shay’s tendency to bolt when a slight inconvenience arises (and Noah is aware of this) I am SHOCKED that Noah let Gennie get strung into the crossfire. But also, I’m not shocked because Noah has a terminal case of tunnel vision and lacks all self-awareness.

I honestly could keep going, but I feel like I’ve defiled this book enough to get my point across. The sole reason that this was not a one-star read for me is because I give books that I DNF’d a one star. I rarely ever DNF books and in order for me to do so, the book has to be downright awful or offensive. In no way was this book either of those things, but I still had a tough time getting through it.

I can’t say that I recommend this book, but I know it’s extremely popular. I scrolled through Goodreads after finishing ‘In a Jam’ and I scrolled for a good couple of minutes before I found a negative review. So, maybe it’s just me? At any rate, do your research on this book and don’t say I didn’t tell you so if you end up hating it.

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THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS BY ALI HAZELWOOD BOOK REVIEW

Genre(s): Fiction, Romance, Contemporary

No Spoilers

STAR RATING: 4.5/5

SPICE RATING: 2/5

SYNOPSIS:

Olive Smith, Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, doesn’t date. Her relationship with science far outweighs any romance. Olive decides to give in and goes on a few dates with Jeremy…which were less than stellar to say the least. Olive and Jeremy did not last, but Olive’s best friend, Ahn, is interested in Jeremy, but refuses to pursue him because…girl code…duh. Olive convinces Ahn that she is dating other people, which is great…except she isn’t dating other people. Olive promises Ahn she is on a date, but she runs into Ahn late at night in the biology lab. So, Olive scrambles and starts kissing the first man she sees. That man is Dr. Adam Carlsen, a young professor known for his stern personality and tough-as-nails teaching style.

Olive and Adam agree to enter a fake relationship that will benefit Olive’s friendship and Adam’s career. Olive starts to learn that Dr. Carlsen isn’t quite what people paint him out to be. And after a disastrous science conference, Olive learns all about what Adam is really like. I mean…ALL about…

Olive discovers that her “relationship” with Adam is far more complicated that her scientific relationship. But, what will she do about it?

READ THIS IF YOU:

Want to giggle and swing your feet like a FOOL

Enjoy sarcastic banter between MMC and FMC

Love the pining and yearning between characters

Just read it. Trust me.

TROPES:

Grumpy x Sunshine

Fake-dating

Professor x Student

CHARACTERS:

Olive Smith:

I have a major soft spot for Olive. She’s had a tough life, yet still ended up in a Ph.D. program at a highly-regarded university with a solid future ahead of her. She’s diligent, selfless, strong-willed, and extremely intelligent. Her sense of humor is so nerdy and adorable, yet sarcastic and hard-hitting. I don’t say this about book characters often, but I found Olive to be relatable, especially to someone who has spent time in the academic system. I was rooting for her every step of the way during this book, and I think it’s hard to not like her. She’s such a sweet and kind soul that would do anything for the people she cares about, despite having the Earth weighing down on her shoulders in her academic career.

Adam Carlsen:

First of all, I am in deep love with this man. He is the perfect MMC, in my opinion. Let’s rattle through his qualifications, shall we? Tall; a professor; grumpy; sarcastic; knows exactly what to say and when to say it; mysterious; HOT; protective; and passionate about things he cares about. The amount of quotes from him that I annotated in my physical copy is probably embarrassing. He is single-handedly the reason that I smiled like a middle-school girl going through my first crush while reading this book. He is a man of very little words, but the small amount of words pack a giant punch. 

PRAISES, CRITIQUES, AND MY THOUGHTS:

As always, I’ll start with the criticism first. Don’t worry, there isn’t much. The biggest issue that I had with this book is that Olive lied a couple more times than necessary. I can’t decide if it was an intentional lie, or if she just feared healthy communication. In either scenario, I can’t get on board with it. One of my biggest frustrations with romance novels is when the characters miscommunicate. There wasn’t a ton of miscommunication here, though, which is why I only knocked off half of a star. I was also hoping for a little more spice in this book, and I was kind of disappointed with how little there was. Additionally, the plot was pretty predictable. I know that romance novels typically have a predictable ending, but I personally prefer a plot that surprises me. Otherwise, what keeps a reader engaged? Again, this is personal preference. Clearly, the praises far outweigh the critiques considering I only deducted half of a star.

So now, onto the praises. I loved the way that Ali Hazelwood wrote this book. I always want an author to show me what’s going on versus tell me what’s going on. There was enough description that you could picture the scene, but not too much description so you can still let your imagination personalize the experience a little. I think the characters worked seamlessly together and I firmly believe that if the characters were written ANY differently at all, this review would be drastically different. Ali Hazelwood knows chemistry (you didn’t think that you’d get through this entire review without a science pun, did you?).

I haven’t been head over heels for an MMC in a LONG time, so it says a lot that Adam Carlsen has me in my feelings. I rated this book so high purely because of his demeanor. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I don’t want to go further in detail about that, but the description of his character above should give you a good idea on what I mean.

Lastly, I didn’t learn until after I finished this book that The Love Hypothesis is a well-known Adam Driver fanfic???? I don’t know how to feel about that, haha. It makes perfect sense now that I know, but I had no idea while reading this that Adam Driver was the blueprint for Dr. Carlsen’s character. I honestly didn’t picture Adam Driver at all when I was reading this, so I guess if you aren’t a fan of him, then it’s not a huge deal. But, if you are a fan of him, then it should be easy to connect the dots while you read this.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you’re a fake-dating fanatic. I think the trope was written excellently by the author and it’s far better than most fake-dating novels that I’ve read.  

[taterturnspages]

THE CLIENT BY JOHN GRISHAM - BOOK REVIEW

Genre(s): Fiction, Legal Thriller, Mystery, & Suspense

No Spoilers

TW: mention of suicide, PTSD/child trauma

SYNOPSIS:

‘The Client’ by John Grisham follows eleven-year-old Mark Sway after he and his little brother, Ricky, witness a suicide of a well-known lawyer, Jerome Clifford, who was defending a high-profile case involving the murder of Senator Boyd Boyette. Mark and Ricky attempt to put a stop to the suicide attempt, but Mr. Clifford had other plans. Mr. Clifford captures Mark and locks him inside of the vehicle. Mr. Clifford spills a major secret to Mark involving the Boyette case. Mark escapes the locked vehicle with the explosive secret and a hefty choice to make. After the media acknowledges Mark as a witness to the suicide and the police investigate the crime scene, the FBI is on Mark’s tail to reveal what he knows about the case.

Mark retains an amateur lawyer, Reggie Love, to guide him through the high-stakes pressure of the FBI hounding him for information, and the possibility of the Mafia tracking him for potentially holding information that could harm their case. Should Mark spill what he knows to the FBI and chance the Mafia finding him? Or, should Mark keep quiet and play the risky legal system game that could result in serious federal charges? Neither Mark or his lawyer knows the answer to this question. Reggie is willing to go to great lengths to protect Mark from the pressures surrounding him, even if that means both of their lives are in danger.

Mark needs to make a decision, but which will he choose?

READ THIS IF YOU:

Are a fan of ‘Law & Order’

Enjoy thriller books with a little more than just ‘true crime’

Need a page-turning suspense novel that you can’t put down, and when you HAVE to put it down to eat or go to work, you think about it 24/7

CHARACTERS:

This novel has an endless stream of characters with a ton of different FBI agents, Mafia men, Mark’s immediate family, court staff, and hospital staff. For that reason, I will only cover the two main characters, Mark and Reggie.

Mark Sway:

Despite Mark being only eleven years old, his wit and intelligence are far beyond his years. He has lucid moments of not being afraid of anyone or anything, but deep down he is just a kid and it’s comforting to see that he lets his childlike coping mechanisms take over at times. The book takes place over six days…SIX DAYS. The amount of things this child has went through in such a short period of time was tough to read, but he handled it like a champ and ALWAYS focused more on the feelings of those he cared about. His character made this book go the extra mile for me, because I was always thinking ‘What is Mark scheming next?’. He singlehandedly kept me on the edge of my seat.

Reggie Love:

Reggie has lived a troubled life, and that surely did not stop when Mark Sway entered her office. Reggie is a new lawyer and has only practiced for four years, but don’t let that fool you. She is a strong female character and an amazing lawyer. She makes sure to let everyone know that she will not tolerate anyone messing with her or Mark. Much like Mark, Reggie is stuck between a rock and a hard place. She is having trouble advising Mark on his decision, but she supports Mark nonetheless with every decision he makes. Again, Reggie also took this book to the extra mile for me. For Mark, he was now walking in a world with no trust and no allies. Reggie did her absolute best to assure Mark that she was by his side no matter what and I know that is exactly what Mark needed during all of this. I strongly believe that Reggie’s character was flawlessly written.

PRAISES, CRITIQUES, AND MY THOUGHTS:

I like to start my reviews with bad news first, and good news second to end on a happy note. So, first and foremost, my only issue with this book is that the ending was not nearly as exhilarating as I would have hoped. I keep all of my reviews free of spoilers, so I really can’t go into more detail there. I was hoping for an ending with more drama and more suspense. Don’t get me wrong, the ending was not predictable (in my opinion); it was just not as extreme as what I was hoping for out of a suspense novel.

Now with that out of the way, I’m going to explain why I loved this book so much. For starters, this book didn’t NEED a child as the main character. The story could have been written with an adult MC, but the fact that Mark paved the way in ‘The Client’ makes it that much more interesting, albeit upsetting because reading about these events happening to such a young child is devastating. But from a strict “fiction novel reviewer” perspective, I think the difference between child and adult MC was everything.

Second, Reggie Love is an ICON. She is unfettered, which after learning her backstory, was inspiring given all that she has been through. If I ever have legal troubles, I will do my best to find a real-life Reggie Love.  

I highly recommend this book, as well as any of John Grisham’s novels, because they always knock it out of the park for me. I’m typically a strict romance reader, but every now and then I need to take romance breaks. During those times, I know that John Grisham will not disappoint. He has yet to prove me wrong there. All of his novels are legal thrillers and follow some sort of legal problem, so if you find interest in the legal system, then John Grisham may be the author you’re missing.