aleksandra’s review of Caught Stealing (Leighton U, #2) > Likes and Comments

LMAO exactly my thoughts 😂 I’m excited to see how it will play out lol.

hope wrote: "LMAO exactly my thoughts 😂 I’m excited to see how it will play out lol."

I'm a little excited too, but my expectations aren't too high 🫣

alicia wrote: "my expectations are low lol"

Same girl 💀

Please tell me Phoenix isn’t a virgin 🙏

ACE wrote: "Please tell me Phoenix isn’t a virgin 🙏"

No idea 😭

Eve wrote: "who's the third in the triangle Kasons ??? 🫣"

Kason 🫶

Ahh, bummer this was quite a disappointment for you, babes!! I have been so excited and anticipating reading this for a while, but I will definitely be managing my expectations now when I get to this as I am not loving the whole best-friend lying dynamic between Kason and Phoenix.☹️ Great and honest review and glad you are still looking forward to the next books in the series!!💗

Sorry this was a miss for you, especially since you were hoping to like this, Aleksandra! Still, fingers crossed the series improves for you! Stellar review! 💓

Hahahha i love your review though! I'm sorry it was a miss for you! The others' drama is seriously is boring and pathetic! I'm still deciding whether to read this series or not! 🫣🥲

ACE wrote: "Please tell me Phoenix isn’t a virgin 🙏"

edit: they both are not

♡Gabi♡ wrote: "Ahh, bummer this was quite a disappointment for you, babes!! I have been so excited and anticipating reading this for a while, but I will definitely be managing my expectations now when I get to th..."

I was looking forward to this book, because I adore college series about a group of friends, but this story was not IT for me 😩 Maybe you will like it more than me ! 🫶🏻 and Thank you!!

Amina wrote: "Sorry this was a miss for you, especially since you were hoping to like this, Aleksandra! Still, fingers crossed the series improves for you! Stellar review! 💓"

Thank you and Thank you !! 🫶🏻🫶🏻 I hope the next books will be better for me 😭

Amina wrote: "Sorry this was a miss for you, especially since you were hoping to like this, Aleksandra! Still, fingers crossed the series improves for you! Stellar review! 💓"

Thank you and Thank you !! 🫶🏻🫶🏻 I hope the next books will be better for me 😭

Anxm wrote: "Hahahha i love your review though! I'm sorry it was a miss for you! The others' drama is seriously is boring and pathetic! I'm still deciding whether to read this series or not! 🫣🥲"

Thank you ! Give it a try, the first book was definitely better so you can always skip this one, though Kason who will be the main character in the third one is mentioned a lot here 🫶🏻

omg i'm glad i'm not alone in this!! i dnfed around 70% bc i couldn't take it anymore lol. i agree they had some cute moments once the push and pull finally stopped, but to me, i never really felt like they had chemistry aside from sexual chemistry? and i'm more into the emotional connection in a romance, so it didn't work for me here. i also didn't like Phoenix or couldn't feel a genuine friendship between him and Kason, unfortunately. 😭

i may still check out the other books in this series once they come out, bc one will bound to work for me (with the different dynamics of the couples in each book) and, like you, it wasn't CE Ricci's writing that bothered me so that's why i still keep trying her books, even if only the River of Rain duet, so far, was what fully worked for me lol. sorry it was a miss for you!

I fully understand why someone wouldn't like this tbh. I enjoyed the tension and they had really sweet moments, but Phoenix is really difficult to understand. All his problems were really easily solved. Holden was much easier to like, in my opinion.
I'm still gathering my thoughts on it, but I'm excited for Kason's book, i really liked Hayes in the first one.

I’m so glad you agree that it was Phoenix’s final decision on where to go for college. I DESPISED when he put the blame on Kason, saying that it was his fault for things that definitely weren’t 💀 like Phoenix, it’s not Kason’s fault that you were a doormat to your own best friend and couldn’t say no. And it was so annoying when he blamed Kason for forcing him and Holden to be in close proximity, leading to their hookup 😭 like nah, you CHOSE to do that. Like cmon now. The couple wasn’t bad, but the people that make up said couple aren’t great

moonlight ☾ [semi-hiatus] wrote: "omg i'm glad i'm not alone in this!! i dnfed around 70% bc i couldn't take it anymore lol. i agree they had some cute moments once the push and pull finally stopped, but to me, i never really felt ..."

You made the right choice dnfing it at this percent. I didn't mention it in my review, but you're absolutely right that the only chemistry they had was the sexual one. 😭

I hope the next books will be better! Thank you!!

Miki_reads wrote: "I fully understand why someone wouldn't like this tbh. I enjoyed the tension and they had really sweet moments, but Phoenix is really difficult to understand. All his problems were really easily so..."

I just couldn’t fathom that he was a grown ass men and still couldn’t say no to his bestie. 😭

veni vidi vici wrote: "I’m so glad you agree that it was Phoenix’s final decision on where to go for college. I DESPISED when he put the blame on Kason, saying that it was his fault for things that definitely weren’t 💀 l..."

YES EXACTLY 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Eve wrote: "I knew it... this book isn't in my tbr im just waiting for Hayes story. Love triangle is top no for me but i was a little tempted with all the author sneak peek 🫢 not anymore i guess"

I hope Hayes story won’t disappoint because the hints about him and his love interest are AMAZING 😩

Great review, Aleksandra! I've started reading this book after reading your review, so I picked it up knowing that I wasn't going to love Nix's actions and trying to be open minded. But the constant presence of Kason is driving me crazy 😭😭Not sure if it's going to work for me. That being said, I LOVE nerd-jock romances, now I'm so looking forward to Hayes book too 🥰🥰

Ngl, this is very sad to say but the fact that you mentioned most awful things happening at the *start*, to me, feels like an improvement for the author. I'm so used to her adding very strange plot twits or needless drama that I'm kinda considering trying this out and seeing if I can at least enjoy the later half (since you mentioned they were cute then).

The way you addressed how the love triangle was handled tho.... I'm kinda scared. Like not sure I'll believe Holden is so into Phoenix when he was literally sexting his bestie a few chapters earlier. And, what's worse, having cutesy romantic moments with him too (which in my humble opinion is way worse 🤢🤢). I'll have to see for myself how bad it gets, but thanks for writing this review. It's very helpful and informative (and acts great as a proper warning!).

Lau ♡ wrote: "Great review, Aleksandra! I've started reading this book after reading your review, so I picked it up knowing that I wasn't going to love Nix's actions and trying to be open minded. But the constan..."

I think the author has done Kason dirty by putting him in this position here if he has his own book 😭, especially a book which I think has a huge chance to be good. I can’t wait for it though!

Candy wrote: "Ngl, this is very sad to say but the fact that you mentioned most awful things happening at the *start*, to me, feels like an improvement for the author. I'm so used to her adding very strange plot..."

The second half was better, even though I still didn’t enjoyed it that much.

It was not exactly a love triangle tho? But I hate when there’s "other" love interest in the book. Kason was not the love interest, but he kissed Phoenix a few times and they did all the things I said above 🥲 I know it might not be a problem for everyone, but I personally despise it.

I agree with everything you wrote here! I kept waiting for them to switch & nothing. Nix’a antics when Kason & Holden first started dealing w each other were absurd. Not mentioning his hookup w Holden to Kason is the VERY beginning was crazy to me. I just could not get w Nix at all ☹️

Everything you said on this was spot on for me. I thought I was going to like it, even with the warning. I should've listened to my gut. I didn't enjoy it but finished it. I thought Phoenix was such a shitty friend.

thank you for your detailed review. now im dropping this. too much red flags in a book. the relationship sounds like a mess and toxic.

Leander wrote: "I agree with everything you wrote here! I kept waiting for them to switch & nothing. Nix’a antics when Kason & Holden first started dealing w each other were absurd. Not mentioning his hookup w Hol..."

Totalny agree with you! I'm glad I'm not in the minority who didn't like this book 🥲

Donnavie wrote: "Everything you said on this was spot on for me. I thought I was going to like it, even with the warning. I should've listened to my gut. I didn't enjoy it but finished it. I thought Phoenix was suc..."

I thought the warning wouldn't be that bad, but I was wrong, and yeah, I couldn’t stand Phoenix. I could never have a friend like him.

therese ❀ wrote: "thank you for your detailed review. now im dropping this. too much red flags in a book. the relationship sounds like a mess and toxic."

It was a mess, which is not exactly something I personally like, but as I said in the comment above, I thought it won’t be that bad 🥲

At least 1/4 of this review is factually wrong or skewed to the point that of not being fair to other readers. Having said that, I found it entertaining and engaging enough to re-read...until the epilogue when Holden seemingly turns into a cruel, manipulative douche-bag.

And while I'm not condoning Phoenix's decisions, I think a lot of readers are "forgetting" 1) Holden's ability to mind-fuck people into giving in and his relentless pursuit of Phoenix, knowing he's attracted to him. Despite his attraction, he tried repeatedly to ignore, refuse, avoid Holden, only to relent till it was too late.

2) As Kason indepently admitted Phoenix was his "safety blanket" and the bigger issue was their toxic/codependent relationship, to the point that Kason talked him out of going to Phoenix's preferred college, instead going to Leighton with him.

Phoenix was the least fucked up one of the lot -- confused and guilt ridden -- due to recent circumstances, which he tried to prevent. Yes, they got caught, but he put every effort possible into "righting" things to the best extent they could be.

Ima wrote: "At least 1/4 of this review is factually wrong or skewed to the point that of not being fair to other readers. Having said that, I found it entertaining and engaging enough to re-read...until the e..."

👍🏻

OMG YES. Aleksandra—I AGREE. I DNF’d about 5 minutes ago at 43%. And I’m honestly sad about how much I’m disliking the book because I like the audible narration for it so much!!!! Christian Fox does a fantastic job at capturing Holden’s character. I typically hate the voices of narrators when their character is supposed to be drunk, but Christian’s was dare I say…sexy? Not sure how one can pull that off but I was impressed. Jacob Morgan did a lovely job too, I’m just not nearly as much of a fan of him as I am of Christian Fox. Anyways, it’s a shame that the plot is a disappointment

Phoenix is an ASSHOLE and i couldn’t deal with it. He judges everyone else but can’t take one good look in the mirror. Literally everyone deserves better except him

PiperViper wrote: "OMG YES. Aleksandra—I AGREE. I DNF’d about 5 minutes ago at 43%. And I’m honestly sad about how much I’m disliking the book because I like the audible narration for it so much!!!! Christian Fox doe..."

thank uuu!!! yeah I expected way way more from this story 😭 unfortunately as you said the plot was pretty disappointing

Laurence wrote: "Phoenix is an ASSHOLE and i couldn’t deal with it. He judges everyone else but can’t take one good look in the mirror. Literally everyone deserves better except him"

yes 😭 couldn’t stand him