This was really sweet. River starts out very cold and aloof but I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't just a tech millionaire stereotype. he's just a shy workaholic. He's totally open to love and kind to Jess and her daughter.
Jess carries a little baggage from her mom but all in all this was a low key and relatively angst free.
The ending was a smidge rushed and I had some ethical questions about the company paying Jess to participate but it's super cute so 👍👍
READING
This is a mystery/rom-com with a large Indonesian-Chinese-American cast including Meddy and her meddling aunties.
This isn't quite going where I thought it was. This is definitely a wacky, hilarity ensues romp but also more serious than I thought. (spoiler -> I thought she discovers a random body, not that she is covering up her own potential crime <- end spoiler) and although I understand Meddy's loyalty and acquiescence to her family, it's frustrating for me to read at times.
Despite those few quibbles, this is a really cute read so far and I'm pretty confident that Meddy will stand up and find her own path in the end.
DNF
First off, I thought this was a YA recommended by two of my most trusted friends. It's adult romance and neither have read it - so not sure where that all came from lol
I'm loving Toni (narrated by Tamika Simone) and her struggles to make it in the music industry, despite her lack of confidence and her trying not to repeat the mistakes of her fame hungry mother. She's a girl that you can really root for.
But I'm HATING the narration of her love interest (Alexander Cendese) His Seb voice sounds like a movie trailer voice - IN A WORLD - and his female voices are the worst. Especially for Candy, a band member he has a toxic relationship with. She comes off as a valley girl.
I don't like him as a character, as a romantic interest and his voice makes me cringe. The flashbacks to their supposed connection aren't clicking with me either.
I was trying to hang in there for Toni but if I ever come back to this one, it will be in print.
I've seen these three all over Instagram. I had to laugh at the "IN A WORLD" voice description, lol. The Aunties book sounds cute!
ReplyDeleteI know voices can be subjective so he might work for someone else but OMG I hate his voice lol
DeleteYeah! Glad you liked Soulmate. It was fun and made me happy. Aunties was so over the top, but I liked it. It was equal parts hilarious and heartwarming for me.
ReplyDeleteIt's adorable but I guess I was expecting more of a Murder She Wrote vibe lol
DeleteI've held off on reading The Soulmate Equation, but I guess I can give it a go now. I trust your opinion! ;) I have the other two on my TBR, so I'm a little worried about those now... haha.
ReplyDeleteI think you're OK to go ahead with Soulmate. It's cute!
DeleteI'm picky with audio but his voice is ruining everything for me.
Glad to see you enjoyed The Soulmate Equation. I still have it on my TBR but I haven't been rushing to pick it up like I have with some others by CLo.
ReplyDeleteNarration can totally be a DNF factor for me. I once quit a series because I hated the narration So. Much. It soured me on the whole series (the same narrator - who is apparently beloved by the fandom - is used for the whole series) and I won't even read the books on Kindle. I have such a negative connotation with the whole series now. Harsh, I know. LOL
lol That sounds like me. And I wonder if it's the same series I'm thinking of :-)
DeleteI have no problem sharing. LOL It was Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews. I know so many people who LOVE the series. Maybe I would have too if I'd picked up the Kindle version. But I went with audio it was... awful. Apparently Renee Raudman does the whole series and fans adore her. But it was one of those instant dislike things for me. Most characters had twangy accents. I get that they were in TX but it was a metropolitan area - not Hicksville. But the worst was the grandmother's voice. OMG, I cringed every time. She was only like 60 years old, a very active woman, and yet she was voiced in the very cliche "old lady voice." It reminded me of the little old lady in the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons. LOL I finished the book but decided I was done after that. Definitely wouldn't continue on audio. And when I thought about continuing via Kindle, I just couldn't. The narration made me pretty much hate every character and that was going to carry over to the books. So, goodbye to that whole series!
DeleteI knew it!!! lol I actually read the Kate Daniels series and loved it until I did the spin off on audio and just couldn't. And I haven't read a book in either series since.
DeleteI had that no first hand knowledge recommendation thing happen in the physical sense, recently. I bought a "handmade" sign from a shop three people I interact with on Instagram have been raving about, and it was a piece of crap. After asking them, I found out none of them had purchased from this Etsy shop. They were only basing their recommendations on the shop's photos. 😐
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time with the audiobook I bought of The Martian; the narrator sounded like an announcer from the 50s selling laundry detergent. 😆
Read on! 📚
Narrators are probably like star ratings - it's very personal and subjective lol
Delete😁😁😁
DeleteI can see that spoiler without clicking ;)
ReplyDeleteHmm, can't say if I am rushing out for any of these to be honest
Oops! Thanks lol
DeleteCLo is also hit or miss with me - they've written some of my all-time favs, but I've also DNF'd a couple. You are the second reviewer who really enjoyed this one. I may have to reconsider. I've heard great things about Aunty. I read the final book and enjoyed it. A "bad" narrator can certainly ruin a book. If you are liking the story, I suggest grab the ebook instead. You don't want to have the horrible voice stuck in your head!!
ReplyDeleteI also have a few issues with the story but I do love the main character and I know I could have glossed over my issues in print.
DeleteSometimes you have a DNF, I had my first one the other day. I want to read the whole book but when it's not clicking for me I'm going to put it down from now on.
ReplyDeleteI just had another one this morning lol It's hard to give up but I'm getting better.
DeleteEveryone keeps saying the Soulmate Equation is good so I may try it, but I'm annoyed that their books are becoming less steamy.
ReplyDeleteI'm also surprised to see you reading Dial A for Auntie! I dunno, it doesn't seem like a book you'd like lol.
Dial A was a mixed bag for me. Overall, it was cute and I liked it but it was too over-the-top for me. I think it was because I liked the audio.
DeleteAnd yes! CLo is getting less steamy.i hadn't really noticed because I don't read all of their books.
I will probably try The Soulmate Equation because like Amber said above me, everyone seems to love it! And Aunties sounds fun, I actually think the spoiler bit may help me like it more? Also sad about the last one but I do not blame you a bit! I wasn't really interested in it because I don't love books about music stuff, but glad it wasn't, that guy sounds a MESS hah.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like them both of you get to them! Romance has been a tough genre for me the past year or so.
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