Limecello's Reviews > Bound and Determined

Huh. It ... felt like reading this book took for-ev-er but ... I'm pretty sure I started it December 6th ... and I finished it ~yesterday so ... [Maybe I started it the night of December 5th/early early morning December 6th?]

I so wanted to love this book, even though I was a smidge iffy on the premise and ... unfortunately this book made me 😒 and kinda think "oh. this is why I haven't read the author in a decade"
Which is really disappointing because OBVIOUSLY I've been on a huge kick and I even re-read the first "Perfect Gentlemen" book again ~yesterday ...

And I enjoyed so many of the Dark Desires (?) books.

This one though... I ABSOLUTELY understand it was written prior to, and published in 2006. And I really really tried to keep that in mind while reading it. ... Unfortunately/however, even giving it that "handicap" [LIKE GOLF- SO A NICE THING] - and suspending disbelief on how ~outdated so many things were ... I felt there were still too many issues.

The name dropping etc. Oh that was rough. And also ... the snarky? Like, slut shaming Anna Nicole Smith which - bad look, these days ... and then the ~hero saying this other character "is gay" as an insult. [Especially considering Kevin Hart just lost his Oscars hosting gig...]

I GET people can change, and likely (hopefully maybe?) Shayla Black wouldn't be thinking or writing things like that these days ...
but just - there were all those issue.

BUT EVEN MORE- the heroine says her sister in law "makes the poodle next door look like Einstein" but ... really I felt she was the one who was dumber than rocks. There was a loooooooooooot of TSTL.
And I personally hate the "I'm a freak because I'm a 23 year old virgin" thing. It's a huge pet peeve of mine. [Like, bitch - if you're SO ANNOYED by your virginity - just GO OUT AND FUCK SOMEONE? - obviously JUST the virginity is not the issue.] Also I think it's a super shitty lazy trope.

So.

Then the hero is all "oh I'm too damaged and nobody can love me"

... oh my gooood these characters needed to get over themselves.
I read half, then read with some skimming because there's only so much angsting and contradictory shit I can handle. Plus Jason being so one note and obvious - it was just clunky.

I actually ... while it was too over the top, liked how there was a "twist" to who the villain was.

Sad to say this book was meh - and I guess I did finish it but it made me grumpy.

D