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torilovesheas's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
SEP can write a phenomenal rom com. I know because I’ve read them. She’s been a staple in the genre (with good reason) for decades and her signature humor is always front and center no matter how many releases she puts out.
Unfortunately, I didn’t care for this one. I LOVED the premise of a surly sports agent falling for client’s sister. And the humor was spot on like usual. (The bit where they stumble on to a backwoods nowhere camp of gun toting idiots as Rory calls them was hysterical).
But these characters didn’t have the lovable qualities I’ve come to expect in The Chicago Stars series. Rory is too immature and wishy washy about her life. Brett is too full of stoic machismo. There were moments where I wondered if they were even romantically interested in each other because the chemistry wasn’t there.
And plot wise, for a story that centers around Rory’s brother’s ex girlfriend being found murdered at his house, there’s too many other plot lines going on at the same time to make this a satisfying read. Clint (Rory’s brother) mopes because his agent and his sister saved him from an admittedly disaster in the making relationship. Kristin, Rory’s sort of awful step mother, gets her own romance subplot that took up way too much of our time. And honestly, after reading about her being a verbally and emotionally abusive mother figure to Rory because Rory wasn’t her biological child (even though she raised her from age 5!!), I didn’t need to see her redeemed, forgiven, or end up with a happy ending. Her POV is pretty awful in how she talks and thinks about Clint like he’s the special one because he’s HER child. And poor Rory, whose only sin was not being her biological child, had to deal with her emotional abuse for years. No thank you.
There’s agent meetings and recruitment parties and a sorta kinda “we’ll just investigate this ourselves” subplot that was jumbled and grew clunky and choppy after so much skipping around.
And the romance really gets lost in all of that plus the internal pity party every character seems intent on having.
An initially promising but unfortunately flat entry into a beloved series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Cursing, and Sexual content
sarahsthoughtsonbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, and Car accident
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