Reviews

Scarlett Fever by Claire Highton-Stevenson

Only show reviews with written explanations

lezreadalot's review

4.0

“And I’m an open book that can’t hide my pages, because she has scoured every word and memorised it and now, every touch of her fingertips ignites me.”

3.5 stars. I had to soft DNF this a couple times earlier this year because I really couldn't get into it. Something about the formatting just does not appeal to my eyes. (You either indent paragraphs or do a space between paragraphs but both just looks ugly!! ...And trust me, I know this is an incredibly stupid nitpick to have.) And I saw so much weird punctuation that I couldn't not get distracted by it. Something convinced me to give the audiobook a try at least, because this is an author that a lot of people seem to like. And I'm really glad I went for it because there was something so simple and sweet and sexy about this romance.

And I mean, right off the bat, it hit a lot of my easiest buttons: taboo, age gap, toaster oven, friend's mother. But all of those things aren't handled with a bunch of drama or over the top focus on the taboo nature of it. Claudia is a divorced woman trying to have fun/rediscover her spark, and ends up having a one night stand with a woman for the very first time in her life. The fact that Scarlett is so much younger than her definitely gives her pause at first, but they have a lot of chemistry and they fit together. Of course, they later figure out that Scarlett is a friend of one of her daughters, and things go on from there. There's some sneaking around, clandestine meetings, conflict about the nature of their relationship, but most of it just felt like a really natural progression of any romance. There was something so sweet about them, even though this was a pretty sexy book. With age gaps like this, I need to be convinced that the two people can be on each other's level, and Claudia and Scarlett are def. that for each other. We see it in their emotional scenes and we see it in their intimate scenes. And I really like how both of their personal stories play into the romance, and how Claudia's children are such a wonderful and natural part of her life. She's such a great parent and it's a small thing, but it was just really sweet to see in this book. I know that it's a taboo romance, but I just really appreciate that there wasn't any huge drama, and the conflict, when it arose, just felt very appropriate for the situation that they were in. They communicated well when they had to, and they were soooo hot together. I don't often say this, but I feel like there were a few fade to black scenes that I wish were extended.

silverjarp's review

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

milysanz's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

paris22690's review

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

annaavian's review

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4.0

Just when I thought this would be yet another book of "mother falls in love with her daughter's friend and sneaks around endlessly" the story picked up and had some pretty funny and intriguing twists and turns that kept my interest. I can't say it was entirely unpredictable but the humor and the complex characters with distinct personalities saved it for me.