Reviews with content warning for Death - It Takes Two to Tumble

This was a quick and cute read. Some things (like Alice and her disability) were handled surprisingly well, others (like Hartley's past) seemed glibly glanced over. It could probably be called instalove, but that didn't bother me. Just a sweet little story.

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pvbobrien's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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purplepenning's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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wilybooklover's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

I liked this, but it was not one of my favourite Cat Sebastian books (not a negative, just a really high bar).

I just love to see a starchy hero undone by a sunshine love interest. Phillip losing all of his stern demeanour in the face of Ben’s bright personality was just a delight to read. Phillip and Ben were so cute together and I loved the sense of community. This is one of those rare romances that actually works really well with the inclusion of kids. There’s also a dog and ducklings and lambs... absolutely adorable.

I did feel like the pacing was a bit off, and Ben being technically engaged to Alice for most of the book made me a bit uncomfortable (even if it wasn’t a ‘real’ engagement). It didn’t really cause any conflict so I’m not sure why it was included. There were also more Americanisms than I’m used to from this author, which grated a bit.

Still, this was charming and tender and delightfully low on angst, as expected from Cat Sebastian. If the idea of a gay Regency Sound of Music (minus the Nazis) appeals to you, then this will definitely be your cup of tea.

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taelights's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was looking for something gay, mindless, and fun to read so I picked this and I ended up loving it way more than I thought I would.

Honestly this was a very nice short read that had a lot of hot sex scenes and cute fluffy scenes in it mixed in with some emotional angst. It was a very good read tbh.

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alreads13's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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natcat's review

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.75

A light fluffy romance, with some very sweet characters and, of course, the requisite happy ending.

I could have done with a bit more substance, honestly, the book made vague waves at some serious issues and concerns but was in no way interested with dealing with them, because it was very committed to being a light fluffy romance. Which is fine, but I think I would have preferred it if it hadn’t even dropped hints about those darker concerns and emotions, because I was just left thinking that it would have been much more interesting if the author actually had committed to them.

The main characters fell in love incredibly quickly, as is often the way in romance. I did mostly buy that they liked each other a lot, I wasn’t entirely convinced by the whole thing given that one characters perception of the other seems completely out of step with that character’s perception of themselves, and not in a way I thought was deliberate.

Philip seems to see Ben as being sweetness and light all the time, whereas Ben’s POV reveals he he has a lot of doubts and works hard at being kind to people. It seemed an uneven sort of relationship to me.

I think that goes back to my main dislike of this book, though, in that it just wants to be a sweet romance with no major obstacles or concerns, and I wasn’t quite in the mood for that. But I did finish it, and I did like the characters (particularly the side characters).

So, recommended if you want a frothy sweet romance, not recommended if you want a romance with more emotional depth.

As a minor note I was also irritated by the fact that the setting is introduced very vaguely as being somewhere in ‘the North of England’ and then absolutely nothing about it as described bears any relation to the North of England in any way, shape, or form.

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