Audiobook/Book Review: The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

Author: Sarah Adams
Series: N/A but The Cheat Sheet is another standalone with characters connected
Genre: Contemporary Sport Romance (NFL)
Cliffhanger: no
Narrators: Hathaway Lee & Will Damron
Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Length: 10h 50m
Spice level: 🔥
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
RELEASE DATE: April 2nd, 2024

What a treat! If you do not want to read a whole review and just want the trope... (not gonna blame you because I'm the same honestly), here you go!

You'll love this book, if you love:

✔️ Second chance romance 

✔️ Sports romance (athlete x agent)

✔️ Fake marriage (Vegas) 

✔️ Grumpy x sunshine 

✔️ Forced proximity 
✔️ Others: 'right one, wrong time', 'it's always been you', 'my wife'
✔️ Dual POV

And even if you don't like some of the tropes listed above, let me tell you it was good! I'm not a huge fan of romcom, second chance, nor the usual over-quirkiness of our heroine in general. However, Sarah Adams made it work for this one and I really enjoyed my time reading this and even laughed out loud a couple of time!

The Rule Book is all about our Nora Mackenzie landing her very first famous NFL tight end Derek Pender, whom also happens to be her ex-college boyfriend (gasp! I literally gasped at that reveal since I didn't read the synopsis.) We get to see this amazing and funny second chance unfold with a very swoon-worthy Derek. Sarah Adams really knows how to write boyfriend material book boyfriend (same goes to Nathan!).

One feedback I had was in regards of Derek's diagnosis of Dyslexia, it was mentioned at the very beginning of the book because he saw a tiktok video (something like that), and then, it was brought up once to Nora and... nothing. I was expecting maybe he would start a foundation or something but the end was very vague about it and wrapped up fairly quickly.

That said, this was such a fun football romance! I had a fun time especially loved these LA Sharks goofball bromance friend group (Nathan, Derek, Jamal, Lawrence, Price).

The audiobook was good and the narrators did a good job! Have you already read or listened to The Rule Book? If you did, let me know your thoughts!

Book Review: Thorn (Rosewood High #1) by Tracy Lorraine

Title: Thorn Series: Rosewood High #1 Genre: High school bully romance Trope(s): enemies-to-lovers, bully Cliffhanger: no for the couple but timeline continues Spice level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥  Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

This is exactly what I needed right now to avoid the reading slump that I was going into! Thorn is your typical trashy high school bully romance with a lot of angst. I flew through this one like nobody's business and couldn't put it down.

Thorn is an enemies-to-lovers high school romance between Amalie and Jake. After a tragic accident, Amalie Windsor-Marsh, a British rich girl, lost both her parents and moved from London to the States to stay with her grandmother. Jake (Jacob) Thorn, Captain of the football team and King of Rosewood High, decided that she doesn't belong after their first contact and made it his mission to make her life miserable so that she leaves at their school. 

The only reason this didn't get a 5 star was due to the ending. The last "conflict" got wrapped up pretty quickly to lead onto the next instalment. The timeline continues so I definitely need to read this in order even though it follows different couples.

Have you already read Thorn? If you did, let me know your thoughts and if it's worth continuing this series!

BOOK REVIEW: Return All by Eve Dangerfield

 

Title: Return All
Series: Rebirth #2 - (can be read as standalone)
Genre: Contemporary sport romance
Trope(s): childhood sweethearts, rich heroine, friends-to-lovers, professional football player
Cliffhanger: no
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥/5
Rating: ⭐⭐/5
Release Date: December 14th, 2021 

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a conflicting one. Return All is about a second-chance romance between our heroine, Mara, and our hero, Derek. They both grew up in this small town and were high school sweethearts. Then they got separated and ten years later, Derek is this famous football player while Mara is this rich girl and no one knows how she got rich. 

Here is what I liked and what put me off: Liked:

• The chemistry between Mara and Derek!

• The daddy kink 

Disliked:

• I didn't vibe with the author's writing (a lot of "!" at the end of the sentences, and I know the author is Aussie but some choice of words just made me cringe, i.e. "missus", "bloke", "footy", etc. I don't know, it just sounded weird and childish for me and I know some Aussie and they absolutely don't speak like that).

• The constant brand names thrown in (I get it... she is rich but you don't need to say every single brand that exists in the world for every single piece of clothing... it was just overdone)

• All characters were in the late twenties but acted very immature 

• The reveal about how she got rich wasn't that impactful... it was like "oh really? that's it?" very anticlimactic. Lastly, Derek didn't grovelling in my opinion. He broke the daddy/little girl's trust and just expected her to come back and never address it.

If you also read it, comment down below what are your thoughts? Do you like it or do you agree with my dislikes?