Recensioni
The best book I have ever read!! It was soooo good!! Most books don't even end well but this Romance book ended so well, and the comedy in it had me laughing so hard!!
3.5This was the one book in this series I was most looking forward to despite all this negative things I have heard about it.Beau's character intrigued me the most throughout all the books as you could see the subtle changes in him throughout the timeline of the series. Bailey's character was really interesting to me as she hated her family more than anyone and yet practically the whole town treated her worse than her dad and brothers because they thought they could get away with it, and they did for a long time.The crap this girl went through blew my mind. I will get the biggest issue out the way. The ownership of the bar by Beau. Do I think he should have told her? Yes. Was it as big of a deal as she made it to be? No. He bought the bar way before they could even be considered friends and was so hands off that he couldn't really be considered her boss. I do understand her POV though. She finally felt like she was doing something for herself and that was sort of taken from her but that doesn't discount her hard work either. Their relationship and the build up was actually quite perfect. It wasn't too fast. It felt natural and didn't feel rushed and I appreciated that. Their physical relationship was not something that was forced.Now as for the biggest criticism I have heard about this book, Beau's grumpy/moody personality. In my opinion if his personality changed within the first few chapters and he started being all happy go lucky that would have made me so mad. His trauma is evident in everything he does and the way he acts and I think making him change so drastically would have done his character such a disservice.He went through something so unimaginable and I don't think he would just be "ok" after starting any kind of relationship, I actually liked that and it made his good moments that much more rewarding both for him and as a reader too.My only other negative is the conclusion of the situation with Bailey and her family. They deserved so much more punishment for what they did and planned to do. The end of the book kind of felt unfinished but not so bad that it made me hate it I think it just means I wanted more. So that to me had me mark against it. I still enjoyed the book though.
The razor scene needs to be erased from my brain, thank you very much
-Already entering the book it is so sad to see the man who was joking around to someone who has to hide he is struggling and now snaps a lot more than he used to...to watch that change throughout the books even of he was originally hiding his pain is just so sad
-He has now turned to alcohol and this is just getting worse and worse because this man doesn't deserve any of this...sums it up when he says civilians will never understand what decisions he had to make when he was in enemy territory
-I am glad that Bailey will allow him to finally feel even if he is not ready right now...but he is insecure about his feet
-I think he had given himself new purpose with being her bodyguard when she is working at night alone...for now anyway
-Little no such thing as fake dating because they are always hanging out anyway and when they are in private, they are "practising"
-Today's Harvey Eaton dinner joke is Cade jacking off a male goat...my god that man is the funniest but sweet person alive...Harvey not Cade
-He definitely needs to continue therapy but I am glad that she calms something inside of him especially when he is having nightmares every night at 2.11 am...now she knows about it she can't just leave him but he doesn't want her to see it
-I’m glad they gave rewritten 2.11 with swimming with each other in the lake and just talking
-I also love the relationship with the family especially with how they make Bailey feel comfortable and accepted
-Them dancing around each other is really frustrating because we know they like each other but they are worried about the age gap, and the distance and the fact that they are only "faking"...and yada yada yada...please for the love of God learn that they are allowed to want each other
-Ahhh...they actually think that Jasper is sweet and innocent...he is sweet but defo not innocent
-Beau finally fuxking told her he is in love with her but broke up with her first where she broke down crying..stupid man
-Beau owns the bar...her bar
it physically pains me to give this a 2.5 bc i love this series and i desperately wanted to love this book but i just ... didn’t.i knew in flawless when beau and bailey interacted at the bar that they would be love interests, and up until this book i’ve loved both of their characters so i was beyond excited to see how their story went.then elsie hit us with the age gap trope.and i despise age gaps. actually no, i despise age gaps that constantly remind you of the age gap. i cannot even put into words how uncomfortable that makes me. apologies, i don’t have daddy issues!so beau is 35, struggling to cope with his life post-military and suffering from ptsd. he feels empty and purposeless. enter bailey, the 22 year old bartender who is supposedly the only person in this entire town that doesn’t bow down to beau. he hangs out at her bar, they form this weird little friendship, etc etc. then somehow beau gets this oh so great idea that the two of them should pretend to be engaged!!!if you’re wondering, how does he come up with this? i couldn’t give you a valid answer. he says it’s to get his family off his back and help bailey escape the way her last name haunts her in the town, but idk. still kinda weird. especially considering he barely knows her and understands that this age gap is weird.oh but just wait!!! bailey’s a virgin!!! and beau’s all experienced. there are eight times when bailey’s “inexperience” or beau’s “experience” is brought up with those exact words. that’s not to mention all the times when it’s implied or other words are used to explain it.of course, being the perfect guy that he is, beau simply cannot be attracted to her because she’s a virgin. spoiler alert: he falls in lust so fucking fast. then he proceeds to talk about how important her virginity is, even after she says that she does not care. like sir who are you to tell this woman what she should and shouldn’t do with her body? especially considering you want to sleep with her?on that note, i can’t write a review for this and not talk about how disgustingly uncomfortable all of the spicy scenes were. not even because of the age gap thing, just because they were so weird.this man flat out asks “are you wet?” right after they wake up. at the beginning of their fake fiancee arrangement. if a man said this to me everything wet about my body would dry out. this scene was so painfully awkward to read.speaking of painfully awkward, yes, i have to talk about the – sigh – bathtub/pubic hair scene. i know, i’m just as surprised that i’m typing these words as you are. first, she asks him how she should shave her pubic hair. then, he walks into that bathroom and DOES IT FOR HER. no. absofuckinglutely not. one day i’ll be 10 years deep into a marriage and i still would never let my husband do this. (for those of you who want to avoid this scary and unnecessary scene, it’s chapters 25 + 26. i promise you’re not missing anything.)notice how i said bailey asked him how to shave her pubic hair? yeah, she blurts out these sexual-ish questions so randomly. two of them include asking beau if he’s ever had anal or a threesome. i’m sure this was to make her a #quirky virgin, but not a single girl i know would ever act like this. and i am extremely glad for that because it’s just so fucking weird. on the topic of bailey, i ended up hating her character by the end. i actually really liked her at the beginning – she was sweet, easy to root for, etc etc. and i get that she’s had a hard life and a shitty family, but her victim act got to be too much for me. she talks about taking things into her own hands but boy does she complain about it a lot!!! like, a lot a lot!! she calls herself “adorably naive” at one point and yk what? at least she’s got some self awareness.and don’t even get me started on the third act conflict. it was so fucking dramatic for no good reason. beau kept this “big secret” and it comes out while he’s yelling about something or other but truly ... it wasn’t that big of a deal. but bailey decides that despite all she’s been through, this is simply the worst thing ever. sure she had a right to be annoyed but miss girl RAGED. quit her job, ignored her boyfriend, god knows what else. it’s arguably the most stupid third act conflict i’ve ever read, and i’ve read a lot of stupid third act conflicts.i promise i did like some things here!! you just had to be patient and let me rant first.the romance itself – aside from the spice, the age gap, and bailey’s annoying ass – was good. actually you know what, i don’t even know if i can confidently say that. the fair scenes did make me giggle though idcwhat i can confidently say is that i loved beau’s character. which was so relieving because i think i would’ve actually rioted if i didn’t, considering how much i liked the glimpses we got of him in the other books. i love me a words of affirmation x acts of service man!!!both characters had great growth and development so that was something. they deserve their happy endings and i’m glad they got it.the other star is literally just for the side characters. every other book in this series has been 4+ stars for me so naturally i’ll eat up any crumbs of the other characters. the found family in these books is absolutely everything. and while we’re here, petition for a harvey novella!this ended up being so mf long so congrats on making it down here honestly. it feels nice to write a rant review every now and then, but i’m just so sad that it was this book that deserved the rant. i thought i went in with low expectations after the reviews i’ve seen but ... maybe not low enough.so i’m just going to ignore the fact that this book exists and say that i adored this series with every ounce of my being! i’m in denial that it’s over but i am running to read elsie silver’s other series and i cannot wait for all of us to go feral when her new book comes out next year!—gah i have so many mixed opinions and so many things to say that i can’t even begin to think about a rating rn – rtc hopefully tomorrow?