Welp, I ate my words. Isn't that just amazing?! 🥲 Curiosity about the reviews suggesting that Oliver isn't exactly the character he seemed to be in prior books (a nasty walking STD) and that male cover really got the better of me. 🫠🫣
The first 60% was okay-ish, I think??? I mean, the amnesia thing made sense, as did how the MCs interacted with one another.
But when Briar (33) regained her memories and still decided to go back to Ollie's house since Seb had asked her, I just lost all interest. Probably because I hoped she'd show indifference, pettiness, or cling to her anger (I'm petty 🤷♀️), but nope, her hormones just took over. 🥴 She's angry, or so she claims, but she still lets him touch her and do things to her body. And Ollie was more than happy to oblige because he finally had the only woman he ever loved. Although she claimed that staying there was for Seb's sake and the rational thing to do given that it's only for three months, readers know deep down that isn't the case at all. Whether she admits it or not, she remains in love with him despite the years and the pain he has caused her.
Tbf, Oliver (34) was dealing with his own stuff as well. They were young and didn’t really know better, and when he got that ultimatum to pick between his brother or Briar, he chose the former without hesitation, though it came with a lot of regret and heartbreak. After that, he started to think that all he did was bring pain to the people around him, and that maybe he didn't deserve any good things in life or love, for that matter. Hence, the start of his "act/pretending" to be the notorious dumbass manwh*re.
Apparently, he's not a hoe (shocker). It turns out he only had sex twice in his life. He said he was only pretending to be an airhead playboy and not to believe anything the gossip magazines and websites say about him. He said that after he and Briar broke up, he had just one ONS, but it sucked, and he gave up after. So, after knowing that info, I think readers are supposed to believe that he had been celibate FOR YEARS.
Oh, and he's also not dumb and jobless. It turns out he has been secretly running his family's business for more than a decade, despite the fact that his father is still in charge. He's also not careless, like the way he carries himself, and one of his weaknesses is that he cares too deeply and too much.
It would seem that he just carefully constructed that image and has been maintaining it for so long so that people won't try to dig deep about him. 🤔
Does this 180-degree turn of events make sense? Nope, not one bit. Do I believe any of it? Nuh-uh.
Somehow it still seems like there are so many contradictions between what he thinks/says (inner monologues), how he was portrayed in the previous books, and what he claims is his reality. 🤧
I think the authors tried their best to redeem Ollie's character by making him as this secretly sensible and responsible man. Showing that there's more to him than his facade and the misunderstandings surrounding him. But, idk, it felt unconvincing and just really doesn't make any sense to ME.
For some reason, I really believe that their initial concept for him was to be this manwh*re from the start, but then they changed their minds and completely flipped his personality and reputation around. 🤷♀️🤔
As for Briar, she was just so...meh. Idk, she just didn't intrigue me at all. Aside from being an intimacy coordinator, there’s just not much that stands out about her. I mean, I felt sad for her when she was young; it's not her fault her parents were nasty people. But the way I see it, that was all she had to give, along with her love for Ollie and his brother, Seb. I just didn't like her character; in fact, I had more fun reading about Dallas and her shenanigans, and she's only a side character in this story.
A lot went down in the last quarter, and it feels like everything was crammed in there. Did it improve the story? Imo, marginally. Things started to look up and eventually made more sense. Still, I don't think this book needs to be over 400 pages. Some of the scenes/chapters appear to be fillers that add nothing to the overall experience.
This story was chaotic, and I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Some parts were fun, while others didn't quite hit the mark for me, and tbh, I'm still not sure how I feel overall about Ollie and Briar's story. Anyway, it all boils down to personal preference, and to each their own as always.
Book info:
- Second chance (15 yrs)
- Childhood friends/lovers to enemies
- Fake engagement
- Post traumatic amnesia
- Parental abandonment
- Facial disfigurement (side char, by an accident)
- Dual V (in the past)
- Slowburn
- No cheating, OM/OW
- Separation (1 month, LDR)
- HEA (married)
- Bonus epilogue (thru newsletter, 1 yr, planning to have a baby)
Notes:
- Separation (when they were 18/19). He claimed he had one hookup after ghosting (breaking up with) her. It was never said how long they had "broken up" before he did it. Apparently, that was his second (and final) sexual encounter. 🤷♀️ Meanwhile, Briar's had her share of boyfriends, and based on what happens in this book, readers can assume that she's probably had more action in the last 15 years than Ollie has.
- I'm really unsure about how to feel about Seb; I'm kind of torn when it comes to his character. Imo, I think he was a jealous and selfish person, and he brought a lot of his own misery on himself. But I'm still intrigued about his story, if he ever gets one.
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Initial thoughts 😐
Nope, thank you very much. It's a hard pass on Oliver's book. 🤧