Tag Archives: all the feels

Cara wraps this duet up with a glorious second entry

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This-Will-Hurt-II-coverThis Will Hurt II by Cara Dee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, I’m not gonna lie, but I wish #StreamingAboutJayroe was a thing because I am head over heels for Monroe Samuel Finlay & Jacob Casper Denver 💗

Personally, though, I think #Roke would make a better shipname, and their fans should have thought a bit more simply #JustSaying 🤣

Book two of Cara’s stunningly brilliant This Will Hurt Duet puts us in Roe’s head three months after the birth of his son and following the marriage to Sandra we saw happen at the end of book one.

When he discovers Jake’s therapy journal and sees the first entry, he’s staggered. Roe’s still dealing with his feelings for his best friend, but he’s also determined that he’ll make a go of his marriage.

So, finding out Jake’s thoughts about how he feels for Roe is a shock to both head and heart, and he doesn’t know how to process it.

You won’t get any detailed plot spoilers in this review, I’ll just say that the journey both men and their expanded family go on is a tumultuous one.

There are highs and lows, and both men really go through the mill, but it never feels like the drama is piled on for effect.

The section dealing with Roe and Sandra’s relationship is superbly done and feels like a realistic and very plausible path for them to end up on.

I love that there’s no “good guys/bad guys” here. Sandra isn’t a villain, Roe isn’t a hero. The only people worthy of the scorn and disgust heaped upon them are Jake’s rotten parents.

The narrative unfolds in its own steady way as the successes of their podcasts and shows continue to grow, and new members are added to their extensive family in ways which are organic and relatable.

I love how I thought both of these books would be more angsty than they turned out to be.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’re moments when you’ll just want to wrap them both up and hide them from the hurt.

But, for me anyway, it never reached an oppressive or dragging feeling of hopelessness. I always knew they’d end up together because their love was too steady and soul deep not to find a way.

I was also very happy to read there will be more, an extended Epilogue available on Cara’s website after release!

This duet has gone right behind If We Could Go Back as my number two all-time favourite Cara story.

It’s a long, hard road to happiness for #Jayroe but the outcome is worth every painful step.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Cara’s opener to this duet is a triumph

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This-Will-Hurt-I-coverThis Will Hurt I by Cara Dee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, so good. This opener was everything I didn’t know I needed until I started reading, and I have ALL the feels.

The story opens with a Prologue which takes the reader back in time for a quick glimpse of how Roe and Jake met.

Then we get to go along with them over the next few years as their travel series picks up steam and success starts coming their way.

There’s a similar feel as with Cara’s If We Could Go Back, in that the friendship between them is definitely more than just the normal working partnership.

On the journeys they take, what you’re really getting is a beautiful insight into a relationship that is deeply involved, sometimes with hints that it could be more.

But Jake is straight, he has a son with his ex and he’s never had any sexual thoughts about any man.

After Roe comes out as bisexual though, the story changes as we get the feeling Jake has a lot of repressed memories relating to something his mother told him when he was a child.

I particularly loved how slowly this plot unfolds throughout the book. Cara has a deft hand at drawing you right into the heart of both these men’s heads and the genuine love that exists between them on a truly platonic way.

Neither is afraid to say that they love the other, but the sense of something lingering quietly is always there.

Of course, nothing is simple and there are decisions made that seem baffling at first glance, but you have to trust in the author and her ability to craft a narrative that you know will have a happy ever after eventually.

This is book one of a duet, don’t expect a resolution here, there isn’t one, there’s not even a relationship between them other than the incredibly close friendship.

Still, there’s expectation in the air, realisation things could be different, and hope that they’ll wake up to what’s really been a partnership in more than just business since the day they met.

I cannot wait for book two!

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Rex is so much more than his fabulous looks

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Finding Mr FabulousFinding Mr. Fabulous by Con Riley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh this book, this book!

Rex is going to ensnare you with his fabulousness but he’s so much more than what’s going on with his (admittedly gorgeous!) exterior.

The heart of this man is battered and bruised, hiding from suffering so much loss, but desperately, secretly, enviously (though he’d never admit that out loud) hoping to find someone who will give him the same strength he gets from his Pops.

The man who has always been there for him, through all their trials, steadfast as the rocks that shore up their island home.

What he doesn’t expect to find is a thief, a man who’s definitely up to no good in the study of Rex’s hideous boss at the bank which provides a lot of the charity funding for Rex and his grandfather’s Refugee Project.

But Devesh Singh-Smith is something more, something special, a mercurial man who has all the right ingredients to not only help Rex out of a bind when he agrees to stay on Kara-Enys and surreptitiously look after Pops for him, but a man who has his own way of ferreting out secrets.

Together the two of them stumble into a fake relationship which is the realest thing either has experienced as they uncover both hidden parts of Rex’s past, but also the steps they can take into their future.

As glorious as the wild Cornish coastal setting, the heir to the Dukedom of a tiny little island, battered by the Atlantic storms, finds that sometimes the best way to heal a heart is to admit it can be broken.

Don’t miss it, it really will make your heart happy.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review

As always I alpha read this book for Con.

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