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My Review:Title: What Happens at Con
Author: Cathy Yardley
Series: Fandom Hearts #4
Published by: Audible Studios, Indie
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Format: Audiobook, Kindle Book
Narrator: Jay Skelton, Serena St. Clair
Pages: 158
Length: 5 hours and 42 minutes
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: Audible
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1, Lenoreo's 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:
Blurb:Ani wants just one night of abandon....
She's burned out from dealing with sexist crap, and with the hell of her grad program looming ahead of her, she just wants one night of nameless cosplay masquerade sex to blow off some steam. But even that goes wrong when the masks come off....
Abraham wants more than he ever expected....
He's usually been a short-term guy, but one night with Ani opens his eyes. He's shocked when she's the one to pull away, saying that with everything she's got going on, she has neither the time nor energy for a relationship.
Can this tough guy prove he has what it takes to care?
She doesn't need a defender: She needs a supporter, someone to help her pick up the slack in her life. He's been a fighter, not a nurturer, but he'll do whatever it takes to show her that what happened at Con shouldn't just stay at Con....
2.5 stars — I probably went into this wary from the little I remembered of Abraham from previous books, and unfortunately he never won me over.
I totally understand that there is a WHOLE schwakload of humans out there still fully intrenched in toxic masculinity. But if my hero is going to be swimming in it, then I’m going to need a lot of growth. And the problem with this book is that it was just entirely too short to do it justice. I feel like he barely skimmed the surface of starting to see things in a better light (and I truly mean BARELY), and then he was just changing for Ani. It was completely shallow and utterly unbelievable. I have zero faith that he would stay on the right trajectory, especially given his family and his co-workers. Frankly, even Jose’s turnaround was unbelievable. I WANTED it for both of them, but what I got was uninspiring.
And besides all of that, I’m not sure I really got a good feel of who Abraham was. I didn’t connect with him on any other level.
Ani was a little bit better, but even her struggles felt a bit lacking in depth. She’s dealing with a very serious situation, and while she does eventually get her big moment, I would have enjoyed it more if it was more nuanced.
As for the two of them together? Besides lust, I didn’t feel much of a connection. Even their relationship felt flat and shallow. What connected them outside the bedroom and arguing about gender roles and feminist ideals? Abraham constantly thought about how beautiful and sexy she was, and she thought about how muscular and hot he was. But what did they talk about? What did they do together? I don’t know. I was disappointed.
So yeah. I’m probably only rounding up because I really enjoy this author and I enjoy the nerdy setting…but to say it wasn’t my fave is an understatement.
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