catsandcliterature's reviews
488 reviews

Bro how many fuckin epilogues does a book need?!

First things first - if you're a fan of the Wrong Pucking series by CR Jane, this book is for YOU! I really enjoyed this book! It was a really interesting read and I didn't really get bored by it at any point. The mystery aspect was intriguing and the characters were all very different & fun. I feel like I remember almost all of the main-side characters' names which is rare for me lol.

Starting with Madison, who just feels very relatable (despite the fact that I am not a cheerleader, blonde, in love with my stepbrother or college-aged). She immediately comes across as a girl's girl and a genuinely kind person. We meet her fresh after the death of her father - whom she does not miss at all (felt) - when she's working her butt off to try to make rent only to find out her mother's been shacking up with a rich man and is engaged to him. Her world is sort of entirely displaced as she is enrolled in a fancy college (on her new dad's dime), joins the cheerleading squad and obtains two stepsiblings - Hayden (whom she's already kissed oops) and Kiersten (a real piece of work.)

Hayden has never felt a single emotion a day in his life until he lays eyes on Madison. From there, if you read the title of the book, you know how it goes - he's OBSESSED. I wouldn't necessarily say he 'doesn't take no for an answer' because I do feel as though consent is definitely important to him & discussed throughout, but he's definitely not giving Madison a chance to run away from what they both feel and patiently waits for her to catch up to what he knew the moment he laid eyes on her - they're endgame. I liked Hayden a lot. He's definitely over-the-top, but honestly, it's in such a charming and funny way that it was really enjoyable.

Callum was a really interesting character and I look forward to reading more about him (and Lilac) next (especially the ex-cowboy aspect lol) but for me, Tristian and Winter stole the show and I don't know how I'll possibly wait until book 3 for them. This book (#1) isn't even out yet and I'm already desperate to get my hands on the third. Their whole dynamic intrigued me but then he started speaking Russian to her and I had to stop reading the book for a bit to stare at my ceiling dopily.

The mystery aspect was intriguing and gripping and while I will pat myself on the back for guessing part of the twist (literally not until 70% but I'm usually a person who is never intrigued enough by a mystery subplot to try to guess so this was big for me) HOWEVER I didn't see the other part of it coming and I lowkey think that's even more fun. A red herring of sorts in a way.

Anywhom, again if you love the Wrong Pucking series or the Hockey Gods series by S Massery, this book is for you!

It was really clear pretty early into this book that it was going to be a good one. The characters - even the side characters - sort of grow on you instantly and there's this witty sense of humor that makes you laugh out loud. It had a real comedy-of-errors feel to it at times that was thisshy of being too corny but never really crossed that line into eyeroll worthy. 

We have Melody, who is fresh off a break up & returning to her small hometown to move in with her bachelor-esque twin brother after living in a busy city for ten years, being in a relationship for 6 of those years and having a real Big Girl job/apartment/wardrobe. She comes off as super relatable because I think we've all had a point in our lives where we felt like we were going backwards, or even at a standstill and everything felt sort of embarrassing and hopeless. Add to that she's desperately trying to avoid her ex-almost, Zac - her brother's best friend from high school who rejected her ten years prior. 

Zac is a perpetual grump who's nothing like the fun-loving guy he was ten years prior. He's coaching a losing football team, the town who used to worship him for being a star football player is now hating him for being a "bad coach" and the girl of his dreams hates his guts. This especially sucks (or... the opposite?) when they wind up stranded at a campground during a storm of epic proportions. 

Throughout the story, we get to see a lot of really amazing things happen - Melody's perspective of her six year relationship with her ex shifts now that she's allowed to talk to her friends and brother again (did I mention her ex was a controlling jerk?); Zac and Melody stumble (blindly, through a really dark and stormy forest with lots of things to trip over) back into one another's lives; dreams are discovered and "What's Really Important" becomes apparent - for side characters as well, not just our main two. However, all of that to say this is a SLOWWWWWWW BURNNNNNNNNN. 

The spice was also really.... spicy! I don't know why I went into this thinking it would have one or two decently written smut scenes, but no. Our girl Melody is a little brat and Zac has ZERO issues handling that. (Also.... he's a munch.)

My only frustration with the book is that sometimes it felt TOO drawn out. By 45% in, I was starting to get a bit bored and ready for the story to get a move on. It pulled me back in, of course, but that's not to say there weren't bumps in the road. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this one and it's my first five star read since November 2024. 

I wanted so badly to like this book and there were moments I genuinely liked, but I spent the majority of the book wanting to finish it, so if I rated it on a 5 star scale, it would sit at a 2.5

What I liked: I think there was a fair bit of intrigue, particularly having to do with the events of the prologue, the past with Dr. Tinley and the present-time situation with Matt/Archer. I think that Ro's relationship with Tyler was handled really well and realistically. I think that very Matt was a relatable character. Matt's learning disabilities were handled incredibly!!

However, this book felt unnecessarily long to me. It feels like SO MUCH was said but not as much happened. There were a lot of balls in the air and I felt that every single one of them could've been realistically caught sooner. I felt like I was TOLD more than SHOWN a lot of things (for example, Ro says several times that she's homesick, but maybe thinks about her parents three times before going to visit them. Sadie and Ro have this epic friendship, but I never see any proof of it.) While some things were tied up realistically (Archer/Matt, Tyler/Ro), others seemed to be left loose and unfinished (Tinley, Matt's dad).