Books That Didn't Make the Cut Pt.11

Hello hello! I'm back with some more books that didn't really work for me, but might be winners for you.

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He Wants It All by Marilena Barbagallo ~ DNF

Genre - Contemporary Romance / enemies to lovers
POV - Dual
Length - 399 pages

Krum Botev has never had anything in life apart from himself. He knows only what he has been taught. Hard, selfish, insensitive, but faithful to the Father, the one who raised and educated him according to the values of the secret society he is part of. No one has ever succeeded in knocking down his armor. No one can touch him outside or inside; no-one except her, who is part of that past Krum cannot forget. Ambra Livori, a beautiful and wealthy heiress, has always had everything. But nightmares don’t give her a break. They go on showing her the man who ruined her life when she was only sixteen. The memory of him, over time, has become a perverse feeling she cannot tolerate. Just when Ambra decides to learn how to control her emotions, she receives a strange call. Her origins will be questioned and the past will become a terrible present from which she won’t be able to escape. Fighting for herself will be the only solution. What links Ambra and Krum? But most of all, can two different souls be able to touch each other outside and inside? A secret organization, an uncontrollable passion, a man and a woman destined to clash.

Honestly, the writing was a bit all over the place and I think that's because this was translated from Italian. I really wish I could read it in the original language. I believe a lot of what the author was trying to convey was lost in translation. The concept of this story is so intriguing that I wish I could have continued.

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Hammered by Jasinda Wilder ~ DNF

Genre - Contemporary Romance / a bit of forced proximity
POV - Heroine 1st person
Length - 342 pages

Dad Bod Contracting—for ALL your domestic contracting needs. Have a leaky faucet or clogged disposal? Need a new patio with intricate brickpaving designs? Want your garage transformed into a yoga studio? Dad Bod Contracting has you COVERED. Our clean, well-mannered, and friendly professionals pride themselves on attention to detail. Every job comes with a 100% customer SATISFACTION guarantee. No job is too small. Hand us your “honey-do” list and we’ll get it done, and we’ll look good doing it! A good job well done is one phone call away, so call Dad Bod Contracting today! It started with a window that was jammed shut. Pretty simple, right? All I wanted was to open the windows while I tidied the house. I’d been after my no-good husband to do it for months, but he never did. And then he shacked up with his secretary, leaving me with a pile of bills, husband-free for the first time in ten years, and with a house that was falling apart. The ad popped up on the side of my social media feed—a local contracting agency willing to do pretty much anything. Since I don’t really know a screwdriver from a ratchet, I gave them a call. And let me tell you, the ad was NOT lying. Jesse O’Neill can do it ALL…and looks amazing doing it. He fixed my window, so I called him back to fix the sagging, splintery front steps. Which led to him fixing my kitchen sink. And then he recarpeted my stairs. And then fixed the squeak in my bed. He was supposed to fix my house, not my rusty, sputtering libido. And certainly not my broken heart.

You know those books you REALLY wanna like? Hammered was one of those books. It should have checked many of my boxes, but it somehow failed to do that. It could have been the fact that it was told from only Imogen's perspective (and you know how I hate that). I was more interested in the side characters than the ones this story was about. I even liked the little I got to know of Jesse (the MMC). It just fell flat, I'm afraid. It's too bad because I know that a lot of people enjoyed the heck out of this story. I've really liked other books by this author so I'll be giving her another try.

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Balls in Play Box Set by Kate Stewart ~ DNF

Genre - Contemporary Romance / sports
POV - Dual 1st person
Length - 273 pages (for Anything but Minor)

“She’s a nerd.”
“Heyyyy!”
“Okay, she’s a flight instructor.”
“Better.”
“He’s a ballplayer.”
“The best that ever was.”
“Technically, you aren’t according to MLB stats.”
“See? Total nerd. She also has no filter.”
“He’s no southern gentlemen.”
“I had one last season to prove my worth.”
“I’d never seen a game.”
“He told me he was a player.”
“She told me she was a lesbian.”
“But you fell in love with me anyway.”
“Yeah, baby, I totally did.”

I know it's a "me" problem. I've seen so many 4-and-5-star reviews for this series and I couldn't even get through book one with ease. I was infinitely bored and the heroine, Alice, annoyed me. I can't even pinpoint why she irked me, but aggravate me she did. So I'm one of the few that didn't love this supposedly laugh-out-loud novel.