Reviews

Being Cordial by Meka James

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While I enjoyed the first book in this series, I didn't like BEING CORDIAL at all. Both the MCs are jerks to each other and I honestly have no idea what they liked about each other outside of the sex. Emilio is arrogant and cocky, which isn't always a bad thing, but he's also rude to Lana from the beginning, calling her an Ice Queen to his friend while standing in front of her, making fun of her structured personality and life, and frequently calling her "bitchy". He says he's a nice guy but I don't see it in the way he treats Lana.

Of course it's not all Emilio that's the problem, Lana is also rude and constantly insulting Emilio, often by accident. She never once has a positive thought about him other than sexually related things; she complains about his clothes, his loud music, him playing basketball with the neighbor, his muscle car, it goes on and on. Also, personal note, I'm on Emilio's side about Lana letting her little dog run around the neighborhood; that's super annoying, put a leash on your dog please.

There was never a moment where I liked the MCs and or even saw a softer side to their interactions. They had so much animosity between them that the first time they had sex it felt very out of place and abrupt. Spontaneous hate sex I would have understood but that's not what it was. Maybe if BEING CORDIAL were longer there would be more time to see their feelings change from dislike to love but it doesn't happen. At the last chapter Emilio has only just gotten Lana to agree to give them a try even though she finds him annoying and the epilogue jumps to 6 months later with them in love, practically living together, and getting engaged. Nothing in the epilogue gives any clues as to how they got there other than great sex.

indiekay's review against another edition

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1.0

I listened to the audiobook for the 3rd book in this series earlier this month, so I thought I'd read this one too. I really did not like this. The characters don't even like each other, and then it just becomes a sex-fest and the way they start having sex (she says "fuck me" after her computer crashes and he goes "ok" and starts taking off his top, and she calls his bluff) was just SO out of left-field. I wanted to skip every sex scene. Then I found myself avoiding listening the the audio and instead doing stuff without anything playing (that's when you KNOW I hate something), and I was this close to DNFing when I realised there was only 10 minutes left in the audio so I stuck to it. But I was SHOCKED to realise the book was basically finished when like, the characters were still in the enemies part of the enemies-to-lovers part of a book.

Also I just can't imagine finding a man who calls women "females" attractive.

goddessreads's review

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fast-paced

2.0

akoala's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

2.75

sovonreads's review against another edition

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3.0

It was a pretty decent read. The multiple times he said MA though drove me insane. The first sex scene was chef kiss. After that if kinda got unreality a tad in my opinion. Her fight was unnecessary but it was worth the quick read it was and I enjoyed the narrators for the book as well!

greatness87's review against another edition

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3.0

Both of these mains got on my last nerve lol they were the most unlikely pair and all I really found was sexual chemistry. Ehhh good read but not a huge fan of this book.