Too much detail, hard to connect with heroine

2.5 stars.

Plot in brief: Bea Wilmot and Jamie Westenberg are forced together by well-meaning relatives and friends who think they are perfect for each other. On the surface, they seem quite different: Bea is an erotic artist covered in tattoos who is pan sexual and autistic while Jamie is an OCD strait-laced anxiety prone pediatrician. The two of them pretend to be dating each other to get back at their friends and relatives, but they find that they are attracted to each other. They start to date for real until drama with Bea’s twin sister and Jamie’s best friend threatens their relationship.

Hot takes: I struggled to connect with these two characters. I loved Jamie, a sweet and kind doctor who cares for two ancient cats and adores Beatrice. I normally like the enemies to lovers trope, but this book was a slog.

- The plot was over the top. Bea and Jamie are constantly going on fake dates (painting night, game night) for “revenge” on her sister and his best friend. WHAT?!? That was odd, but I rolled with it at first, until the constant talk of planning more fake date outings for revenge purposes became stupid.

- The constant references to Bea’s autism, her continual tripping and clumsiness, and repeated discussion of her tattoos became very distracting throughout the book. There are way too many sensory details during breaks in conversations that it takes away from what is going on in that scene. A prime example of this: After a slow burn to sexy time, even that scene towards the end of the book was a disappointment as the author ruined a lot of it with too many sensory details and autism/anxiety questions between Bea and Jamie. These two have been eager to jump each other for weeks, yet their first steamy encounter takes FOREVER as they are questioning and talking way too much – and not in a good way. I found it incredibly distracting and frustrating.

- At the end of the book, Bea wants to break up with Jamie because her twin sister is having relationship trouble with Jamie’s best friend, Jean Claude. Bea thinks that if her sister sees her with Jamie, it will bring up bad memories because Jamie used to be Jean Claude’s best friend. WTH?!? I was groaning out loud with this silly turn of events and was tempted to not finish the book.

This book was a miss for me, especially since I read it after reading “Kulti”, a book that is sheer enemies to lovers slow burn perfection. Pass on this one, my friends.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

One of the best of 2022

Charlotte and Stephen did THE BEST job with this one! They were able to put so much heart into narrating these two amazing leads. My favorite part was whenever Bea would have food in her mouth and talk it would sound exactly like that, it's those small details that make this audiobook just perfect.

Chloe's writing continues to make me swoon! This Shakespeare retelling is done so well, with perfectly flawed characters who are just trying to do their best. Bea is a free-spirit that isn't quiet ready to open back up, and Jamie is the sweetest man you will ever know just trying to find somewhere he doesn't feel like second best. Throughout the novel, these two begrudgingly work together to get revenge on their friends, and it's everything. The writing is so well done and the book is the perfect mix of thoughtful, funny, sexy, and real. You will not be disappointed by this one!

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

The characters are everything

The storyline is great, the performance excellent but the characters are what make this book truly shine! Gah, my heart squeezes just thinking about how lovely they are. A true pleasure to read, can’t wait to hear about the other Wilmot sisters.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Delightfully Charming

I absolutely loved this book! It was super fun and cute with just enough angst and self sabotaging. I fell in love with both main characters as well as their less than perfect but perfectly perfect representation and am excited with set up for the next.

I liked it a lot

So cute 😂😂😂 I really wish Bea would do her part in his POV and Jamie would his part in hers. Him trying to make a girl voice was so strange 😂😂😂

Whiny characters made worse by the narration

I've listened to a few books by this author and enjoyed them. I appreciate the neurodivergent perspective and I am aware that the spectrum of behavior in social and personal situations is broad, but the main character, Bea, is just rude and whiny and borderline abusive. The male character, Jaime, was just awestruck by her moments of average kindness. The chemistry was not there. A not so great story can be made better by the narration, but that was not the case for this one. The male voice was nice, but his version of the female voice was almost unbearable.

SO GOOD

I devoured this book. I’m so glad that I got it in audio form because I listened every chance I could. This story has EVERYTHING you could want. Representation, good friends, communication, humor, heat, smart dialogue, female agency…and more more more!!
An excellent riff on Much Ado About Nothing with subtle nods to The Bard throughout.
Well read by the narrators.
Recommended!!

Better not ….

The voice actors were very lack lustre and the story line is so predictable it’s cringy.

I'm Autistic... Loved the book but not narrators

I think it was more the accent they used on the women, specially Be... I soooooo wanted to relate to her but the voice and accent sounded like "shallow"
Autistic person here, not good with words but that is the only reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars ✨

Fantastic!!

Chloe Liese is an auto buy author for me! Her stories are always so beautifully written and so wonderfully inclusive. She is always so thoughtful on how she includes her representation of different perspectives. Her stories are sweet, but also so steamy! I love Bea and West so much! I can’t wait to continue with this series!