Shannon McKelden

The heroine really had to deal with a lot of bad shit; losing her job, losing her boyfriend, getting kicked out of her house, falling down the stairs and getting a concussion, being attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes, getting smacked in the head, busting the hand off a wax Elvis statue and almost getting arrested for it...the list goes on and on.

While some of these things were amusing, it kind of got to the point where I was rolling my eyes and thinking "jaysus, what's next?". I think the author may have sensed that she was pushing too far, because finally the craziness stopped. Just in time to save it from being a wallbanger.

This is a friends-to-lovers themed novel. Sometimes that works for me and sometimes it doesn't. In this case it worked, though I think it suffered for having been written in the first person. Having the added benefit of the hero's point of view would have offered a lot of insight - and broken up some of the whiny inner dialogue of the heroine.

Having said that, I did enjoy the story. Margo frustrated me at times, but I was emotionally invested in finding out what would happen to her. I was also rooting for her and Chris to get together.

Something I wasn't able to get past? The revolving door on Chris' bedroom. Based on his revelation at the end, I don't understand why he picked up a woman every night. That made no sense. But then, neither did Margo's stubborn refusal to see what was right in front of her nose.

Overall a fun, light story despite my frustrations. Fans of Kristan Higgins should enjoy it.… (mehr)

I'm not really sure what about this I liked. Everything about it (excluding the obvious suspension of disbelief that Venus was demoted to fairy godmother-hood) was pretty unbelievable. Rachael was pretty ridiculous, and Luke was shockingly understanding. I get that Venus very clearly had an agenda and was pushing the two together, and Rachael fought that (which was a plus for me) until the very end, and then it's like a switch flipped and she was massively in love and her whole personality changed. I don't buy that. Luke was way too hot to be so desperate for Rachael, too - I don't care if she's the love of his life (after one week) or not. Just ...no. Stop. Have a little conviction, man.

The whole plot was just very unbelievable. And yet I don't hate it as much as I should for a reason I can't pinpoint.… (mehr)

Really wasn't at all enamored about this book. I picked it up because the woman next to me at a book sale raved about how good it was. Since it was set in a bookstore, I had hopes it might be interesting (and it was a book from Tor, one of my favorite publishers.) Plus, I thought that maybe some of my chick-lit loving friends would like it but after struggling to read it myself, cannot offer it to them. I found the main characters annoying, each in their own way. When you find yourself thinking that the back-story to a book sounds waaaay more interesting than the book you're reading, it's time to put put the book down and back away slowly (preferably to your bookshelf, where you'll find something better to read.)… (mehr)