unusablebooklore's reviews
322 reviews

The Former Fake Boyfriend by Maya Jean

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emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

#MiddleLifeRomance for Beau
Positive seggs work rep

I LOVE LOVE LOVE fake dating. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when hurt boys catch feelings. 

This book gave me all the tingles.

Essentially 2 books in one.

The first - where the boys fall in love - perfect 5 stars. 

The second - where the boys spend time going back and dating as they should have before falling in love - 4 stars. Super swoony but got a little samey samey toward the end.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, jumped at the chance to read the second and will be eagerly waiting for the third. 
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Cubs & Campfires by Dylan Drakes

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Apparently I preordered this book before I got the ARC. I must have had a feeling I was going to love it. I wasn’t wrong.

Such good back and forth with the characters. Great twist I feel like I should have seen coming. 

The spicy scenes do feel like they go on for ages. While I loved how seggs positive Luca was my personal taste would have had it a tiny bit less spice heavy at times.

Some confusing inter mixing of Australian and American (where the book is set) english. Singlet comes to mind US Tank Top UK Vest Top AUS Singlet (I had to google this)…in North America a singlet is the body suit wrestlers wear. 

Overall, I adored the characters, the setting, pretty much everything.
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My Only Reason by Leigh Lennon

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

3.0

Sports Romance 
First time MM (curious for a long while) 
Single dad 
Best Gunkle 
American football 
 
I’ve listened to this narration duo a few times, I really liked them. Even if I'm not a fan of most southern US accents. 

The story was good. Two guys who were besties in college go years without speaking, because feeling were caught but life happened. When they end up on the same team years later everything comes bubbling back to the surface. Toss in a manipulative ex and you have some medium level drama that makes for a great easy read. 

Be warned for those keen or less keen there is 🍦🥧 👅  (or...🍦🍑😋?)

It feels so cliché to hate kids in books. But I feel like authors who seem to have never met a child, write child side characters. They come across as OTT and seldomly the age the character is meant to be.  
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The Half-Orc's Maiden Bride by Ruby Dixon

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Completely stand alone (I've read none of this series)

A fun woman gets sold by her dad to a guys - She's to marry him - she's over 30 and tall, he's a half orc. Naturally she is both horrified and very interested to see what's in his pants. She's been sheltered and only knows about that animals do...this is all new to her. 

Long story short, they fall madly in love and have to manage a rather awkward situation with her dad trying to start a war over her "kidnapping". 

Bonus: He 💦's in his pants licking 😸 
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The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish

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emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

I wish the narrator had created stronger voices for the MCs. Both voices felt like variations of the same person. Also I was listening to this at 1.25x speed and Corbin still spoke slowly. I have no idea what I would have done listening to it any slower. 
 
This might have been a #MiddleLifeRomance…I think so. I don't recall the MC's ages. 
 
Really this book is so darn sweet. I adored it. I kind of wish I had brain read it instead of listing to it. Corbin's fantastical world would have jumped off the page. 
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Played by Naima Simone

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 44%.
Pro: Strong premises - FMC firefighter / MMC hockey pro 

Found journal! Almost as good as texts/emails - Really only lasted about 6 pages. 
 
Within, in book, minutes he goes from so wracked by grief he’s only living for his son, to thinking about a woman’s mouth being perfect for a 🍆, all before speaking to her. Oh and then he instantly “detests” her for his own emotions. It’s all giving 🚩

Seriously, during a HEAVY conversation about grief and suicide Solomon is sexually objectifying Adina and imagining his sexual pleasure 🤮 
 
Solomon blowing up over his journal feels a little untethered…he’s just continuing to scream about how his privacy was violated. I’m not sure what he expects beyond the apology that he got early in the conversation. 
 
The LOTR references got to be a bit much for me. And the real life American football references. I know nothing about American football and to be perfectly frank I don’t want to mess up my targeted ads/algorithm by googling about it. 
 
Adina’s mom is 48…Adina (26) her parents have been together 31 years and she has two older brothers. 3 kids by the time you’re 22. Nope. I cannot relate and it gives me chills. I’m 38 and still trying to avoid becoming a teen mom. 
 
The book feels like The Wright Brothers series by Christina C. Jones but with WAY more toxic masculinity and an abundance of Christianity.
 
Seriously everyone in this book is on a hair-trigger. I cannot imagine the stress (and future heart attacks) these people are dealing with. So much aggression, instant assumption that people are shady, or people are just overtly hostile because they can be? 
 
At 44% I realised I was still reading the book because I didn’t want to just give up. Reading diversely is important to me (BIPOC author and MCs), I really liked the premise and I was 100% in the mood for an emotion driven book. But hate reading a book is not a pleasure for me. While this book may be really enjoyed by other people it's really not something I’m enjoying or vibing with. I have literally nothing but critiques in my notes. 
 
Just Between Us by Anysah Grace

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Some intense power dynamics

So this review is going to be a bit disjointed because my thoughts are...This book was something. Not bad, but it definitely was missing a few things for me. Overall it wasn't worth a DNF but it was not my cup of tea. 

To start - Uggh Harry potter fan MCs - when will people (especially authors) accept, just because you like something doesn’t mean it should be spot-lit. JKR is trash and even Book MCs living in world where she isn’t trash is infuriating to me. It’s like MCs living in world where racism is cool and okay. 
 
The communication from two of the MCs was great. It evolved and was worked on by them in a very positive way. Kai was the exception. For no good reason he withheld information choosing ignorance for his partners; he’s so misguided. I would love to say that it added good tension, really it frustrated me knowing that whatever drama happens could have been prepared for by the characters and it left the drama feeling a little flat. 
 
This book is long, the amount of spice feels like it drags the story along. I understand some people like more spice/story equality. I prefer story to spice so I found it a bit of a slog. Around 45% I started looking to see how much more there was to get through. Also lots of suggested 🍑➡️👄 if this is an ick of yours take note

TW: on page animal abuse, child physical abuse, suggestion of attempted child seggs abuse, implied SA, drugging, on page murder. 
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Game Changer by Rachel Reid

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
I could not listen to this past chapter 3. I’ll switch to the kindle edition because the voices are WAY too much.

Kip’s super thick/clunky accent…it feels so odd compared to the unaccented internal dialogue and narration. I usually like Tor Thom’s narration, but this was a big miss for me.

I also felt like the over use of ablest language - stupid, idiot, the interactions of characters in combination with the accent used for Kip makes it feel like a weird parody.
I'll Have What He's Having by Adib Khorram

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Multicultural Couple 
BIPOC author 
 
I feel like every book I’ve read recently is wine obsessed. Has there been an American reality show about sommeliers? 
 
This is a lovely story of two dudes nearing 40 who find something they weren’t really expecting. It really highlights that goals and dreams change, families are more than blood and it’s never too late to start believing in yourself. 
 
My partner is half Iranian and this book has really inspired me to open all the Persian cookbooks my in-laws have bought me. While much of the food in the book I’m familiar with there are some new to me dishes I’m desperate to try. 
 
Books like this are so great at introducing people to cultures they never would have had exposure to otherwise. 
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You Had Me at Happy Hour by Timothy Janovsky

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emotional funny inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

ND rep 
Genuinely great mental health Rep 
 
Really had no idea what I was getting into with this. I saw Timothy Janovsky and requested the ALC. The author has a great ability to make the characters feel real. I was listening to this in the garden and found myself just sitting and listening. 
 
I just wish that it had been dual narrated. I really like Mark Sanderlin but I would like him even more as only half of the duo. 
 
I love the premise that both dudes love being touched and that is the foundation of their situationship. Which is true romance style turns into something a whole lot more than just a FWB situation.
 
A huge plus for me is that this book has a wonderful use of seggs toys. Not just as something to add a bit of fun to seggsy time, but an extension of Greg, to sweep in for the assist when needed. It normalises that things aren't ideal 100% of the time and that it shouldn't stop you and your partner from getting the most out of any opportunity to be intimate, playful, and adventurous.
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