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Dreamland Billionaires #3
Final Offer
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Romance (2023)Callahan
I’m the Kane brother everyone gossips about behind closed doors.
Trust fund brat. Washed-up athlete. High-functioning alcoholic.
No one knows the real me but her.
Lana Castillo—my childhood best friend and the only woman I ever loved.
When I broke her heart six years ago, I promised to never return to Lake Wisteria.
I kept my word until my grandfather’s will changed everything.
To receive my inheritance, I was tasked with spending a summer at the family lake house before selling it.
The request was simple in theory until my entire plan blew up on the very first day.
Turns out Lana doesn’t just live at the house, but she claims to own it, too.
Alana
Falling in love with Callahan Kane was a mistake.
He told me so before destroying my heart and our friendship six summers ago.
When he promised never to come back, I foolishly believed him.
But then Cal showed up again, intending to sell his grandfather’s lake house.
The biggest flaw in his plan?
My name is on the deed.
I’m the Kane brother everyone gossips about behind closed doors.
Trust fund brat. Washed-up athlete. High-functioning alcoholic.
No one knows the real me but her.
Lana Castillo—my childhood best friend and the only woman I ever loved.
When I broke her heart six years ago, I promised to never return to Lake Wisteria.
I kept my word until my grandfather’s will changed everything.
To receive my inheritance, I was tasked with spending a summer at the family lake house before selling it.
The request was simple in theory until my entire plan blew up on the very first day.
Turns out Lana doesn’t just live at the house, but she claims to own it, too.
Alana
Falling in love with Callahan Kane was a mistake.
He told me so before destroying my heart and our friendship six summers ago.
When he promised never to come back, I foolishly believed him.
But then Cal showed up again, intending to sell his grandfather’s lake house.
The biggest flaw in his plan?
My name is on the deed.
583 pages, Paperback
First published January 23, 2023
About the author
Lauren Asher
13 books47.5k followersJoin my Facebook group for exclusive content and sneak peeks: https://bit.ly/BandiniBabes
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenasher...
About Me:
Lauren Asher is a New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of contemporary romance. She enjoys writing about flawed yet relatable characters you can’t help falling in love with and fictional worlds you wish were real.
Her favorite activities outside of writing include DIY projects, binging old episodes of Parks and Rec, and searching Yelp for new restaurants before choosing her trusted favorite. She works best after her morning coffee and will never deny a nap.
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenasher...
About Me:
Lauren Asher is a New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, Globe and Mail, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of contemporary romance. She enjoys writing about flawed yet relatable characters you can’t help falling in love with and fictional worlds you wish were real.
Her favorite activities outside of writing include DIY projects, binging old episodes of Parks and Rec, and searching Yelp for new restaurants before choosing her trusted favorite. She works best after her morning coffee and will never deny a nap.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 25,623 reviews
February 4, 2023
Trigger Warnings:
THE THIRD BOOK IS FINALLY HERE, I have been waiting for Cal’s book for so long AND IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, I LOVE HIM. I recommend you read the books in order. The first two are: The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions. This is the final book in the Dreamland series, and my favourite in the series because of CAL and ALANA, they’re both perfect. I cried when I finished, I don’t know what to do with my life.
Cal’s grandfather passed away and in his will, he had conditions. Cal needs to sell his grandfather’s house, in a small town in Lake Wisteria, to get access to his shares and money. But he doesn’t expect to see Alana, his ex, to be living there. He has to convince her to let him sell the house by the end of the summer to get his inheritance.
Now for spoilers
Stay safe folks!
THE THIRD BOOK IS FINALLY HERE, I have been waiting for Cal’s book for so long AND IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, I LOVE HIM. I recommend you read the books in order. The first two are: The Fine Print and Terms and Conditions. This is the final book in the Dreamland series, and my favourite in the series because of CAL and ALANA, they’re both perfect. I cried when I finished, I don’t know what to do with my life.
Cal’s grandfather passed away and in his will, he had conditions. Cal needs to sell his grandfather’s house, in a small town in Lake Wisteria, to get access to his shares and money. But he doesn’t expect to see Alana, his ex, to be living there. He has to convince her to let him sell the house by the end of the summer to get his inheritance.
Now for spoilers
Stay safe folks!
February 6, 2023
To sum up in one line- Final Offer had nothing to offer.
So much worse than what I expected. Y'all lied to me with this one. But anyway, welcome to a realistic ranty review.
Let's go over the tropes -
✔️Dual pov
✔️Billionaire romance
✔️Second chance romance
✔️Childhood friends to lovers to strangers... to lovers again
✔️Small town romance
✔️Single mom
I picked this book up with low expectations tho I was hopeful it'll pick up, it never did. After reading Terms and Conditions, I was hopeful that Cal will get a better story, Declan was good but Cal was the charming one. But we'll go over the characters later. The plot as a whole did nothing, in comparison to the previous books in the series, Final Offer has nothing to offer. It felt like reading the first draft. Am sure Lauren Asher tried her best to pour heart and soul in this book but it came across as trying too hard.
Firstly, there was no need to write a contemporary romance over 500+ pages. It made it boring and exhausting to read. While I enjoy my romance books, I want them to be fun, lighthearted and so easy to follow. Reading this made me want to DNF it so many times, it basically sucked the life out of me. The pacing was extremely slow. Consistent yes, but extremely slowwwww.
Secondly, the way it started- there was no power, no energy and no immediate click (you know what I mean?). The first three chapters were the hardest to read as it kept going on and the flashbacks made no sense. It felt like starting a book at the 60% mark. It did not get any better as the series progressed.
Coming to the characters, this is the part where it frustrated me the most. I wanna cry just thinking about it. Wtf went wrong Ms Lauren?! Why do you write your characters especially FMCs in such an annoying manner?!
Alana, our single mom is nothing special. She is as bland as a piece of paper. In fact, even paper has variety and character to it. Alana's personality is only being a mom to Cami and being emotionally abusive throughout the series to Cal. Let me elaborate, firstly she knows she has knowledge about Cami that Cal wants to know and cause knowledge is power, she makes sure to keep it to herself for absolutely no reason but just to manipulate Cal with it for about 50% of the book. Cal asks her about Cami multiple times and is ignored. The next instance is she constantly claims that she wants to support Cal with his addiction BUT she never does. At every minor inconvenience, she blames it on his addiction and uses and abuses Cal emotionally to get her way, throughout the book. She also has major trust issues, at times logical but the rest of the time purely illogical and that is never rectified. Alana to me is a major red flag and is so much WORSE than Iris and Zahra.
Cal, was supposed to be the charming one out of the brothers. But all his charm has been reduced to 1 on the scale of 10 in this book. But he is more likable than Alana, he does try hard. We see him struggle with his own self and trying to live up to Alana's unrealistic expectations. He is at an all time low and it only slightly improves in about the last three chapters. One thing that irked me about him was he gossiped about everything and that too to Iris, who FYI was never there for him and continued to ignore him. The only happiness he got was from Cami.
The romance was barf worthy. Two bland characters getting together then breaking up then getting back together and then breaking up and getting back together. Tell me it doesn't frustrate you, I dare you all to lie to me. They have minimal chemistry. The only thing that's keeping them together is Cami, by the threads. The smut was okay.
My one star is for Cami and like the two smut scenes I enjoyed. I hated every other minute of it and am not sorry to say it...sorry.
Am so glad it's over😭
So much worse than what I expected. Y'all lied to me with this one. But anyway, welcome to a realistic ranty review.
Let's go over the tropes -
✔️Dual pov
✔️Billionaire romance
✔️Second chance romance
✔️Childhood friends to lovers to strangers... to lovers again
✔️Small town romance
✔️Single mom
I picked this book up with low expectations tho I was hopeful it'll pick up, it never did. After reading Terms and Conditions, I was hopeful that Cal will get a better story, Declan was good but Cal was the charming one. But we'll go over the characters later. The plot as a whole did nothing, in comparison to the previous books in the series, Final Offer has nothing to offer. It felt like reading the first draft. Am sure Lauren Asher tried her best to pour heart and soul in this book but it came across as trying too hard.
Firstly, there was no need to write a contemporary romance over 500+ pages. It made it boring and exhausting to read. While I enjoy my romance books, I want them to be fun, lighthearted and so easy to follow. Reading this made me want to DNF it so many times, it basically sucked the life out of me. The pacing was extremely slow. Consistent yes, but extremely slowwwww.
Secondly, the way it started- there was no power, no energy and no immediate click (you know what I mean?). The first three chapters were the hardest to read as it kept going on and the flashbacks made no sense. It felt like starting a book at the 60% mark. It did not get any better as the series progressed.
Coming to the characters, this is the part where it frustrated me the most. I wanna cry just thinking about it. Wtf went wrong Ms Lauren?! Why do you write your characters especially FMCs in such an annoying manner?!
Alana, our single mom is nothing special. She is as bland as a piece of paper. In fact, even paper has variety and character to it. Alana's personality is only being a mom to Cami and being emotionally abusive throughout the series to Cal. Let me elaborate, firstly she knows she has knowledge about Cami that Cal wants to know and cause knowledge is power, she makes sure to keep it to herself for absolutely no reason but just to manipulate Cal with it for about 50% of the book. Cal asks her about Cami multiple times and is ignored. The next instance is she constantly claims that she wants to support Cal with his addiction BUT she never does. At every minor inconvenience, she blames it on his addiction and uses and abuses Cal emotionally to get her way, throughout the book. She also has major trust issues, at times logical but the rest of the time purely illogical and that is never rectified. Alana to me is a major red flag and is so much WORSE than Iris and Zahra.
Cal, was supposed to be the charming one out of the brothers. But all his charm has been reduced to 1 on the scale of 10 in this book. But he is more likable than Alana, he does try hard. We see him struggle with his own self and trying to live up to Alana's unrealistic expectations. He is at an all time low and it only slightly improves in about the last three chapters. One thing that irked me about him was he gossiped about everything and that too to Iris, who FYI was never there for him and continued to ignore him. The only happiness he got was from Cami.
The romance was barf worthy. Two bland characters getting together then breaking up then getting back together and then breaking up and getting back together. Tell me it doesn't frustrate you, I dare you all to lie to me. They have minimal chemistry. The only thing that's keeping them together is Cami, by the threads. The smut was okay.
My one star is for Cami and like the two smut scenes I enjoyed. I hated every other minute of it and am not sorry to say it...sorry.
Am so glad it's over😭
April 22, 2023
➸ 1.75 stars
give cal a new book w a different fmc lead, and make her me!!
this book is about 200 pages too long. if you’re going to write a 600 page contemporary romance, at least make it good. for a second chance romance, this book is lacking angst and build up. i expected flashbacks to when they were younger, since that was when all the important stuff happened. show us how cal and lana fell in love with each other, show us why he broke her heart, there was no exact given reason. there were also so many unnecessary plot lines that led to no where. i love cal but this book is not giving what i thought it would give, which is disappointing bc it was my most anticipated read, but everything in this book was just predictable.
— firstly, that town was INSUFFERABLE, they are an actual cult. they are all 30+ but have personalities of a 4 year old. all they done was treat cal badly and excluded him simply bc he left and broke alana’s heart, holding a 6 year grudge while he was struggling w addiction drove me crazy. that town would put him down and throw his addiction in his face CONSTANTLY. i hate how they all treat his addiction as an inconvenience to them, that rubbed me off the wrong way.
— you think being a second chance romance there would be a slight grovelling storyline, but it was giving ✨nothing✨ you would expect lana to make cal suffer before taking him back, but nope, he comes back into her life by swooning his way back in, plays w her kid and she folded like a cheap lawn chair just bc she was horny. she had no backbone, she has the personality of a blank piece of paper and an emotional maturity of a 14 year old. she was childish, preaches abt not falling into the same patterns, but would give cal so many chances, she would always jump to conclusions, find so many excuses to hate him and not trust him and would say the most insensitive shit when she was angry. i had to constantly put down this book and roll my eyes bc she was that unbearable!!
— the rehab aspect was completely brushed over. he goes to rehab for 30 days and he is suddenly cured. i wish we were given a chapter or two of his ups and downs with his time in rehab, not just skip to after the 30 days and his life is suddenly a bliss?
his recovery felt too easy, it happens extremely fast even tho majority of the book is him struggling w alcohol use. he should’ve gotten sober earlier on in the book, preferably he should’ve gone to rehab after he broke her mum’s vase.
addiction is not a simple topic to write about, so if you’re not going to give it any justice, or don’t do any research before writing heavy themes, SIMPLY DO NOT WRITE ABOUT IT AT ALL
anyways rant over, bc i did enjoy the little moments between cal and cami, they are everything to me. just the way he steps up and is that father figure to her when she has been let down previously warms my heart!! cal and cami ily <33
give cal a new book w a different fmc lead, and make her me!!
this book is about 200 pages too long. if you’re going to write a 600 page contemporary romance, at least make it good. for a second chance romance, this book is lacking angst and build up. i expected flashbacks to when they were younger, since that was when all the important stuff happened. show us how cal and lana fell in love with each other, show us why he broke her heart, there was no exact given reason. there were also so many unnecessary plot lines that led to no where. i love cal but this book is not giving what i thought it would give, which is disappointing bc it was my most anticipated read, but everything in this book was just predictable.
— firstly, that town was INSUFFERABLE, they are an actual cult. they are all 30+ but have personalities of a 4 year old. all they done was treat cal badly and excluded him simply bc he left and broke alana’s heart, holding a 6 year grudge while he was struggling w addiction drove me crazy. that town would put him down and throw his addiction in his face CONSTANTLY. i hate how they all treat his addiction as an inconvenience to them, that rubbed me off the wrong way.
— you think being a second chance romance there would be a slight grovelling storyline, but it was giving ✨nothing✨ you would expect lana to make cal suffer before taking him back, but nope, he comes back into her life by swooning his way back in, plays w her kid and she folded like a cheap lawn chair just bc she was horny. she had no backbone, she has the personality of a blank piece of paper and an emotional maturity of a 14 year old. she was childish, preaches abt not falling into the same patterns, but would give cal so many chances, she would always jump to conclusions, find so many excuses to hate him and not trust him and would say the most insensitive shit when she was angry. i had to constantly put down this book and roll my eyes bc she was that unbearable!!
— the rehab aspect was completely brushed over. he goes to rehab for 30 days and he is suddenly cured. i wish we were given a chapter or two of his ups and downs with his time in rehab, not just skip to after the 30 days and his life is suddenly a bliss?
his recovery felt too easy, it happens extremely fast even tho majority of the book is him struggling w alcohol use. he should’ve gotten sober earlier on in the book, preferably he should’ve gone to rehab after he broke her mum’s vase.
addiction is not a simple topic to write about, so if you’re not going to give it any justice, or don’t do any research before writing heavy themes, SIMPLY DO NOT WRITE ABOUT IT AT ALL
anyways rant over, bc i did enjoy the little moments between cal and cami, they are everything to me. just the way he steps up and is that father figure to her when she has been let down previously warms my heart!! cal and cami ily <33
” i wished you can be my new daddy.”
“there is nothing i’d like more than that.”
February 2, 2023
5 stars and are we fucking surprised? i think the fuck not. my expectations for this book were high and they were exceeded astronomically so, if i may add.🫣
WARNING: buckle the fuck up because i’m deep diving into this review, no spoilers of course 😤
Callahan Kane immediately became my favorite Kane brother when he slammed that door in Declan’s face in his own book, Terms and Conditions. so going into this, i knew i’d fall head over heels for him. and fall i did. because if there’s one thing Kane brothers do best, it’s groveling. and i’ve never read the trope better than what was written in this final installment. everything Cal did for Lana, Cami, and especially himself surprised me in the best way. this motherfucker would move mountains and he basically did. i’d let him hit it any day of the week ngl. 🤭
Alana Castillo is a mother through and through. i appreciated how this book wasn’t only about their romance but also family. Lana is such a layered and deep character that was relatable and determined by the end of the story. One thing i heavily appreciated was how Lana and Cal’s relationship was about pushing one another towards inevitable happiness. With Cal controlling his addiction and Lana finally chasing her dreams. their dynamic is pure bliss. ✨
the rent was due, the lights were flickering, and the eviction notice was at the front door. lauren asher had ONE chance and a fucking dream. and achieved it, she did. lauren asher saved the best for last not only in Kane brother, but also in plot, character development, and writing. 🤓
i’m telling my future kids that this was the finest form of literature back in the day. and if that statement repulsed you in anyway, im gonna need you to get the fuck off my page and manage that illness yourself. i’ll personally be trolling anyone that rates this masterpiece anything less than 5 stars. you’ve been fucking warned…🤨
✒️final ranking of Dreamland Billionaire
books: final offers, terms and conditions, the fine print
Kane brothers: Cal, Rowan, Declan
Girls: Iris, Alana, Zahra (my eye still twitches when i remember she’s basically a disney adult but i digress)
✒️on a serious note: i extremely appreciated the way addiction was written in this book. it wasn’t fabricated, romanticized, or glorified. addiction affects more than just the host. it’s the people around them too, especially family members, and friends. as someone that’s part of the family member/ friends circle, i can say what was written was very accurate.
and this parts kinda spoilery but not really: towards the end when Cal tried to explain himself to Lana and she just pretty much dismissed his addiction, just because he was secretive about the will?! ughh it rubbed me the wrong way but that’s the reality when it comes to addiction. no one is 100% gonna understand what you’re going through but you. and overall i’m so glad it was all written the way it was💙💚
WARNING: buckle the fuck up because i’m deep diving into this review, no spoilers of course 😤
Callahan Kane immediately became my favorite Kane brother when he slammed that door in Declan’s face in his own book, Terms and Conditions. so going into this, i knew i’d fall head over heels for him. and fall i did. because if there’s one thing Kane brothers do best, it’s groveling. and i’ve never read the trope better than what was written in this final installment. everything Cal did for Lana, Cami, and especially himself surprised me in the best way. this motherfucker would move mountains and he basically did. i’d let him hit it any day of the week ngl. 🤭
Alana Castillo is a mother through and through. i appreciated how this book wasn’t only about their romance but also family. Lana is such a layered and deep character that was relatable and determined by the end of the story. One thing i heavily appreciated was how Lana and Cal’s relationship was about pushing one another towards inevitable happiness. With Cal controlling his addiction and Lana finally chasing her dreams. their dynamic is pure bliss. ✨
the rent was due, the lights were flickering, and the eviction notice was at the front door. lauren asher had ONE chance and a fucking dream. and achieved it, she did. lauren asher saved the best for last not only in Kane brother, but also in plot, character development, and writing. 🤓
i’m telling my future kids that this was the finest form of literature back in the day. and if that statement repulsed you in anyway, im gonna need you to get the fuck off my page and manage that illness yourself. i’ll personally be trolling anyone that rates this masterpiece anything less than 5 stars. you’ve been fucking warned…🤨
✒️final ranking of Dreamland Billionaire
books: final offers, terms and conditions, the fine print
Kane brothers: Cal, Rowan, Declan
Girls: Iris, Alana, Zahra (my eye still twitches when i remember she’s basically a disney adult but i digress)
✒️on a serious note: i extremely appreciated the way addiction was written in this book. it wasn’t fabricated, romanticized, or glorified. addiction affects more than just the host. it’s the people around them too, especially family members, and friends. as someone that’s part of the family member/ friends circle, i can say what was written was very accurate.
and this parts kinda spoilery but not really: towards the end when Cal tried to explain himself to Lana and she just pretty much dismissed his addiction, just because he was secretive about the will?! ughh it rubbed me the wrong way but that’s the reality when it comes to addiction. no one is 100% gonna understand what you’re going through but you. and overall i’m so glad it was all written the way it was💙💚
Want to read
October 15, 2022i lied. 5 stars doesn't do it justice.
its already five stars. don't question me. speak to my lawyer if you have any issues.
its already five stars. don't question me. speak to my lawyer if you have any issues.
March 11, 2024
4.25⭐️s. So bitter-sweet to be done with this series! I love Cal & Lana's story. I especially loved that they face very real and very difficult challenges with Cal's addiction. I don't often read about addiction in romance books and I think Lauren Asher did a great job writing about his struggles without making the book too heavy.
February 14, 2022
I haven't even read book 2 yet and I already want this
Currently reading
January 18, 2023Two weeks left until Final Offer is released into the world. 🥳
Pre-order today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3T9o7vf
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/FinalOffer
Amazon Paperback: https://mybook.to/FOPaperback
Barnes & Noble Paperback: https://bit.ly/3DdCdX5
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3Eswxd6
Pre-order today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3T9o7vf
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/FinalOffer
Amazon Paperback: https://mybook.to/FOPaperback
Barnes & Noble Paperback: https://bit.ly/3DdCdX5
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3Eswxd6
September 30, 2023
i always fall for the small town and single mom trope! their little family have all my heart <3
January 8, 2023
five stars doesn’t do it justice. it really doesn’t.
the fine print, terms and conditions + final offer.. masterpieces. every single damn one. i’ve given this entire series infinity stars and it still doesn’t seem like enough? 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
callahan kane. you’ve outdone yourself. my broken golden boy <3 i related so hard to so many parts of your character. i wanted to go inside this book and give u the biggest hug
alana castillo. i didn’t know what to expect and yet u still exceeded whatever expectation i had? that doesn’t even make any sense but here we are.
this book was everything to me. i cried. i laughed. i had an amazing time. no words to describe it.
bye dreamland billionaires.. catch me rereading u. so soon. because i cant seem to let go.
“i dare you..” 🖤
the fine print, terms and conditions + final offer.. masterpieces. every single damn one. i’ve given this entire series infinity stars and it still doesn’t seem like enough? 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
callahan kane. you’ve outdone yourself. my broken golden boy <3 i related so hard to so many parts of your character. i wanted to go inside this book and give u the biggest hug
alana castillo. i didn’t know what to expect and yet u still exceeded whatever expectation i had? that doesn’t even make any sense but here we are.
this book was everything to me. i cried. i laughed. i had an amazing time. no words to describe it.
bye dreamland billionaires.. catch me rereading u. so soon. because i cant seem to let go.
“i dare you..” 🖤
June 7, 2024
—— 1 ✰ stars.
・❥・ Mood of the book: family line by Conan Gray and this is me trying by Taylor Swift.
Ok, this is my first time doing a dnf review so I don't know how this will go but let's do this.
I am not going to comment on what the book is about, nor on the writing or the characters themselves, but simply explain the reasons why I have abandoned it.
I'm really sad that it was a dnf, firstly because Cal is my favorite brother and I wanted to read his journey to recovery, but with a fmc like Alana it's just impossible. I really think that Lauren Asher tried to make a strong main character, who didn't forgive the mmc for everything, or who thought that the power of love could change him, but it turned out very badly.
❥αℓαηα
Alana, the fmc, is a character with many prejudices towards addiction, and I comment on this as a person who unfortunately has an alcoholic family member, Alana's empathy was non-existent with phrases like 'accidents happen, but getting drunk is a choice'. No, it is not, if it was something as easy as a choice, there would be no addicts, that is the point of addiction, it is not something you can control and, in the vast majority of cases, it is stronger than you.
I didn't find her charismatic at all,on the contrary, she's boring, unbearable, she wasn't funny at all no matter how much the author described how Cal laughed all the time, I didn't even lift the corner of my lips even once.
Added to this is that I didn't feel any kind of connection between Cal and Alana, their discussions were dull, the spice was cringey and not at all hot, I don't know, everything is wrong with this book, really.
She excused her character a lot with her Colombian roots, and this falls into the cliché of the Latin temper once again. I sincerely believe that she was abusive towards Cal, she tried to make him feel guilty all the time, and yes, Cal screws her over a thousand and one times, but the girl complains as if she had been putting up with Cal's addiction for 6 years when she was in her town doing God knows what, and this brings us to the next point.
❥ℓαкє ωιѕтєяια
UGH, I swear this unnerved me to stratospheric levels, as the entire town made Cal's life miserable for the simple reason that he "broke Alana's heart." What a fucking cult. It wasn't funny, it made me feel very bad for Cal. Someone tell me why the townies of that shithole cared so much about what had happened, I really can't handle people who meddle in other people's lives.
❥тнє ℓєηgтн
Can someone explain to me why this book has almost 600 pages, was that necessary? No. Parts where nothing interesting happened, repetitive dynamics, I reached page 300 and I couldn't take it anymore. Still, I'm going to count the book for my Reading challenge because I think reading 300 pages of a book is enough for it to count.
I know that this review is bland and a little chaotic, so I leave you a couple of reviews that I agree with and that are better:
╰┈➤ Brooke’s review
╰┈➤ SK’s review
Dreamland Billionaires Series
╰┈➤ The Fine Print, 2.75✰ stars.
╰┈➤ Terms and Conditions, 3.75✰ stars.
➙ Old updates:
nov 29: put this on hold for a bit since I cant stand Alana and her judgmental ass towards addiction, maybe the hold will be 1 day or 2 months. WHO KNOWS 🤭
nov 22: AAAND the winner of the poll was final offer! So here we go hehe ❤️ let’s hope Cal doesn’t disappoint and that there is not so much throwing their head back and laugh💀
𝒹𝓃𝒻
‘I want to be happy. I try so damn hard, yet no matter how big I smile or how loud I laugh, I always feel empty. It’s a cold, creeping feeling, that consumes me late into the night, until I’m forced to welcome my old frenemy. Addiction.’
・❥・ Mood of the book: family line by Conan Gray and this is me trying by Taylor Swift.
Ok, this is my first time doing a dnf review so I don't know how this will go but let's do this.
I am not going to comment on what the book is about, nor on the writing or the characters themselves, but simply explain the reasons why I have abandoned it.
I'm really sad that it was a dnf, firstly because Cal is my favorite brother and I wanted to read his journey to recovery, but with a fmc like Alana it's just impossible. I really think that Lauren Asher tried to make a strong main character, who didn't forgive the mmc for everything, or who thought that the power of love could change him, but it turned out very badly.
˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝐼 𝒹𝓃𝒻ℯ𝒹˚｡⋆୨୧˚
❥αℓαηα
Alana, the fmc, is a character with many prejudices towards addiction, and I comment on this as a person who unfortunately has an alcoholic family member, Alana's empathy was non-existent with phrases like 'accidents happen, but getting drunk is a choice'. No, it is not, if it was something as easy as a choice, there would be no addicts, that is the point of addiction, it is not something you can control and, in the vast majority of cases, it is stronger than you.
I didn't find her charismatic at all,on the contrary, she's boring, unbearable, she wasn't funny at all no matter how much the author described how Cal laughed all the time, I didn't even lift the corner of my lips even once.
Added to this is that I didn't feel any kind of connection between Cal and Alana, their discussions were dull, the spice was cringey and not at all hot, I don't know, everything is wrong with this book, really.
She excused her character a lot with her Colombian roots, and this falls into the cliché of the Latin temper once again. I sincerely believe that she was abusive towards Cal, she tried to make him feel guilty all the time, and yes, Cal screws her over a thousand and one times, but the girl complains as if she had been putting up with Cal's addiction for 6 years when she was in her town doing God knows what, and this brings us to the next point.
❥ℓαкє ωιѕтєяια
UGH, I swear this unnerved me to stratospheric levels, as the entire town made Cal's life miserable for the simple reason that he "broke Alana's heart." What a fucking cult. It wasn't funny, it made me feel very bad for Cal. Someone tell me why the townies of that shithole cared so much about what had happened, I really can't handle people who meddle in other people's lives.
❥тнє ℓєηgтн
Can someone explain to me why this book has almost 600 pages, was that necessary? No. Parts where nothing interesting happened, repetitive dynamics, I reached page 300 and I couldn't take it anymore. Still, I'm going to count the book for my Reading challenge because I think reading 300 pages of a book is enough for it to count.
I know that this review is bland and a little chaotic, so I leave you a couple of reviews that I agree with and that are better:
╰┈➤ Brooke’s review
╰┈➤ SK’s review
Dreamland Billionaires Series
╰┈➤ The Fine Print, 2.75✰ stars.
╰┈➤ Terms and Conditions, 3.75✰ stars.
➙ Old updates:
nov 29: put this on hold for a bit since I cant stand Alana and her judgmental ass towards addiction, maybe the hold will be 1 day or 2 months. WHO KNOWS 🤭
nov 22: AAAND the winner of the poll was final offer! So here we go hehe ❤️ let’s hope Cal doesn’t disappoint and that there is not so much throwing their head back and laugh💀
February 3, 2023
2.5
lord i see what you have done for others 🧎🏽♀️ give me a billion dollars and i will spend it so much better than these losers
lord i see what you have done for others 🧎🏽♀️ give me a billion dollars and i will spend it so much better than these losers
May 14, 2024
3.20!
“Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else, especially when I don’t like myself very much."
Bumping it up to 3.5 because I did enjoy it to an extent and giving it a two felt harsh.
Lauren's writing style was not the problem here, in fact it was one of the few things in this book that I really liked because it made this book fast paced and tbh for the first 60ish % I was enjoying this book quite a bit and some scene were very fun to read but the last 40% was so disappointing that I lost interest. Also, this book had no right to be 580 pages because why?? And how??
There were two more things that I liked in this book. One of them being Cal. It was obvious that I was going to love his book, since he was the best brother and this one could have been a five star if not for the atrocious FMC. I liked everything about Cal and I think he was trying his best, I also like his monologue. I just felt like Lauren has written such good representations over her books like abusive relationships, miscarriages, amputation and huntingtins disease, so I was hoping to see how she would handle Cal's addiction and it felt too rushed as we didn't get more details on it or his journey through and as it was mentioned literally in every conversation I though we would get some insight on it.
The second likeable thing about this book was Cal and Cami's relationship <3 they were literally the cutest. I loved them.
Now, the problem:
Alana, she was so toxic!! Like so unbelievably toxic. She would break up with Cal and then get back with him at least thrice in the book excluding the flashbacks like?? If you dont trust him then why are you all over him?? I am sorry but her character made no sense to me. She would hate on Cal every chance she got and if that wasn't enough she would use his addiction to alcohol as an insult and throw it at him every chance she got and would act like she was the one getting hurt, like she was the victim. And, the miscommunication that we got because of her?? It had me fuming because instead of actually listening to him and setting things straight she would assume and hate him. Like be fucking fr bitch.
Lake wisteria and the abomination that their residents were especially those two dawgs Violet and Delilah and like go touch some grass because they were all just bark and no bite. Yapping but not knowing shit as to why they were because of them I grew even more close to Cal and hated Alana even more.
The romance....I mean if you already despise the female main lead so much there is no chance for you to enjoy the romance.
The length, 580 pages which could have easily been 350 pages.
Zahra having page time in this book was so frustrating since I hated her in her book and I hated her here. Dirty Airs FMCs>>>> Dreamlands FMCs
Overall, a very disappointing read!
How I would rate the brothers:
1, Cal
2, Declan
3, Rowan
How I would rate the FMC's
1, Iris
2, Zahra (I hate her)
3, Alana (I hate her even more)
My rating for dreamland:
1, The Fine Print: 2.45
2, Terms and Conditions: 3.90
3. The Final Offer: 3.25
_____
Cal is my favourite brother and idk who Alana is but I heard this is a second chance romance?? and I am a sucker for those!
“Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else, especially when I don’t like myself very much."
Bumping it up to 3.5 because I did enjoy it to an extent and giving it a two felt harsh.
Lauren's writing style was not the problem here, in fact it was one of the few things in this book that I really liked because it made this book fast paced and tbh for the first 60ish % I was enjoying this book quite a bit and some scene were very fun to read but the last 40% was so disappointing that I lost interest. Also, this book had no right to be 580 pages because why?? And how??
There were two more things that I liked in this book. One of them being Cal. It was obvious that I was going to love his book, since he was the best brother and this one could have been a five star if not for the atrocious FMC. I liked everything about Cal and I think he was trying his best, I also like his monologue. I just felt like Lauren has written such good representations over her books like abusive relationships, miscarriages, amputation and huntingtins disease, so I was hoping to see how she would handle Cal's addiction and it felt too rushed as we didn't get more details on it or his journey through and as it was mentioned literally in every conversation I though we would get some insight on it.
The second likeable thing about this book was Cal and Cami's relationship <3 they were literally the cutest. I loved them.
Now, the problem:
Alana, she was so toxic!! Like so unbelievably toxic. She would break up with Cal and then get back with him at least thrice in the book excluding the flashbacks like?? If you dont trust him then why are you all over him?? I am sorry but her character made no sense to me. She would hate on Cal every chance she got and if that wasn't enough she would use his addiction to alcohol as an insult and throw it at him every chance she got and would act like she was the one getting hurt, like she was the victim. And, the miscommunication that we got because of her?? It had me fuming because instead of actually listening to him and setting things straight she would assume and hate him. Like be fucking fr bitch.
Lake wisteria and the abomination that their residents were especially those two dawgs Violet and Delilah and like go touch some grass because they were all just bark and no bite. Yapping but not knowing shit as to why they were because of them I grew even more close to Cal and hated Alana even more.
The romance....I mean if you already despise the female main lead so much there is no chance for you to enjoy the romance.
The length, 580 pages which could have easily been 350 pages.
Zahra having page time in this book was so frustrating since I hated her in her book and I hated her here. Dirty Airs FMCs>>>> Dreamlands FMCs
Overall, a very disappointing read!
How I would rate the brothers:
1, Cal
2, Declan
3, Rowan
How I would rate the FMC's
1, Iris
2, Zahra (I hate her)
3, Alana (I hate her even more)
My rating for dreamland:
1, The Fine Print: 2.45
2, Terms and Conditions: 3.90
3. The Final Offer: 3.25
_____
Cal is my favourite brother and idk who Alana is but I heard this is a second chance romance?? and I am a sucker for those!
February 5, 2023
4.5 stars⭐️
ding ding ding we finally have a winner🥂🎉🍾🎊
i wonder how Callahan Percival Kane is doing after carrying this whole series on his back. seriously the previous two books should be embarrassed that they’re not Calana fr.
i really haven’t had the best luck with this series so far. The Fine Print was a slog to get through. it physically pained me to read and it took me about three weeks to finish it... when i can churn a book out in one sitting most of the time. but ultimately, i was indifferent to Rowan and Zahra and their lost potential. while Terms and Conditions is my arch-nemesis. or more specifically, Declan Kane is my arch-nemesis.
fr i hate that man so much. but we’re not gonna taint this beautiful safe space right here with his presence, okay? this is the first and last time i will mention him by name because he doesn’t deserve to be here.
but Callahan Kane was the one to get be through those books. he was my ray of sunshine. my guiding light. he provided the snark and humour. he had more personality in his pinky than both of his brothers combined. so i desperately wanted his book. i craved it but i was simultaneously terrified to read this in case it really was gonna flop like it’s predecessors and let me down... clearly that didn’t happen. sorry to my baby Cal for ever doubting him, ily and know you’d never betray me like that.
and the occasional mention of the enigmatic “Alana” had me 👀 every damn time. with my love for Cal and the crumbs about his past with Alana, i was undoubtedly so excited for this book so i went into this with VERY high hopes and it didn’t disappoint.
Final Offer follows Callahan Kane (H)as he returns to the sleepy town of Lake Wisteria where he spent his summers as a teen and grew up with Alana “Lana” Castillo, the daughter of his family’s cook. with Alana and her daughter Cami living in the house that Cal’s grandfather left to both Alana and Cal, the pair need to learn to cohabit the place while battling their tumultuous past full of heartache, betrayal and lost love, tainted by the shadow of Cal’s addiction. some of the tropes include:
one of my big issues with the previous books were how they didn’t feel like stories beyond the basic tropes they utilised. they felt crammed to the brim with tropes, not really knowing what they wanted to be— insta-lust or slowburn, enemies to lovers or not. but here? the tropes were the very basics of the story to the point where when a friend asked me what tropes were in the book, it took me a few minutes to reflect on them because the book didn’t rely heavily on the tropes at all.
instead the story was so fleshed out here. LA sets up a conflict. we follow a thorough plot line from A to B, we know the goals of the characters and what motivates them. i found that the previous books were a bit incoherent and didn’t know what they wanted to be— Final Offer has more depth than i ever expected with undertones of loss and grief that i found to be poignantly done.
similarly, the character depth wasn’t reduced to tropes— the previous two books were carbon copies of the grumpy-sunshine trope but the characters didn’t feel like they were pushed beyond those archetypes all that much. Cal in the previous books was the comic relief, the golden retriever, the jokester clown... but in Final Offer he was so much more than that. god, he was so much more.
Cal’s complexity was arguably one of my favourite things about this book! we really go on a personal journey with Cal. his growth and development towards self-acceptance and love was written pretty effortlessly. the nuances of his addictions and trauma were surprising. i didn’t expect LA to go into the depth she did and it made me more emotional than i ever expected. especially in regards to his self-loathing. the way he viewed himself hurt my heart so much and the way everyone treated him was just 😫😫😫
i was so attached to him. i was rooting for him to succeed. i wanted him to suffer a lil for his past treatment of Lana, but i found the depth of his character gave me a lot of clarity regarding his actions. and ultimately, his addictions aren’t used as an excuse to justify acting out. Cal is held accountable for his actions (low-key thought people were a bit too harsh on him at times) but his willingness to change, to be held accountable, to put the work into change his behaviour??? it made the second chance aspect of this so much more fulfilling to read.
i have a personal pet peeve with second chance romances where the hero doesn’t really offer much when trying to change his attitude and behaviour while atoning for his mistakes. Cal was a very active hero and ultimately is why this was such a successful book to read.
now the other glaring success of this book for me was the pacing.
the pacing of the previous two books, for lack of a better word, really sucked. the insta-lust/love masquerading a slowburn was a torturous experience lemme tell you. it meant the books were too long with very little happening because everything was given away too early in the first few chapters of both books.
but with Cal and Alana, the pacing was close to perfect, honestly. we get the hostility from two exes returning to each other’s lives. we get the grief and mourning of what that relationship could have been. we get the pining and tension of unresolved feelings. we get the chemistry with the conflicted push and pull. the relationship progression wasn’t rushed at all. you don’t understand how many hallelujahs i was sending up above the more i read because it was my biggest fear going into the book.
the second chance aspect wasn’t rushed. it was a gradual buildup and avoided being too... im trying to think of the right word... neat, maybe? there wasn’t just “before” they get back together then “after”. but an overlapping grapple with their past and present and how to build a future. it really was a process that was a lil messy at times and it was perfect. again, i have a pet peeve with easy second chance romances— the ones that are too smooth sailing.
Cal and Lana are anything but smooth sailing and it was what made this book so entertaining to read!
now... can i just say... then tension???? the romance???? THE SMUT ????
Callahan Kane the godly man that you are.
whatever crack, LA is on??? keep it coming bitch. because the smut in this book was top-tier. my knees were quaking a lil a couple of times. im sorry i ever doubted you big soft slutty whore. the first smut scene actually had me on my knees it was so good and i was kinda shocked that it was that good 😭😭😭
Lana and Cal just had this immediate undeniable chemistry. the unresolved tension and feelings of their past contributed, but they just had this natural charismatic energy between them that was so delightful to read. the romance was just so wonderful. you could feel just how in love Cal and Alana were, how devastated they were when things didn’t work out or when they took several steps forward and even more backwards.
again, the best chemistry of the series. they’d just be staring at each other and i was giggling twirling my hair with hearts in my eyes, fr. especially with Lana, she held her own against Cal and really challenged him. she was his perfect match in every aspect, honestly.
now... ALANA CASTILLO YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS<333
best heroine of the series easy. go argue with a wall. she’s so headstrong and fierce. she’s drowning in loneliness and grief. she’s the most wonderful mother. she’s selfless and strong-willed, doesn’t back down and knows her own worth. i was immediately attached to her and was rooting for her always. i wanted the best for her, for all of her dreams to succeed and to achieve the life she deserved. she was truly just so wonderful. she definitely lived up to every mystique name drop from the previous books😭
who is arguably the best character in the whole book? the ultimate scene stealer? the sweetest cutie pie to have ever lived.
Cami Castillo♥️🥺🥰🫂
THE CUTEST KID EVER. she’s definitely one of my top fave fictional kids in a romance book (rivalling Jeremy Volkov and Lucy). every time she giggled and squealed my heart melted so much.
she was such a lovely breath of fresh air in the book. i loved seeing Lana as a mother and watching Cal fit seamlessly into their lives. their lil family scenes really had me
she was just a little cutie-pie. and their trio dynamic had me in a chokehold.
the only reason that the book isn’t a full five stars despite my gushing review, is that this was waaaaay too long 😭 i read it on my NetGalley Shelf app and it was 592 pages. when i first opened the document i thought “what? surely there’s been a formatting mistake?” but no it really was that long and by the second half of the book, i felt that slogging length on a bone-deep level lmao. my brain was rotting by the 400 page mark and i still had another 200 to go.
i think some scenes didn’t add anything new or enlightening to the book and i really think it could have been chopped a bit. just refined a bit more. one of my friends who’s already read the book too said it needed to be roughly 75 pages shorter and it would have been perfect, and i wholeheartedly agreed with her. we both said this couldn’t be a full five stars because it was just far too long, jarringly so.
there’s been so many books lately ive been dying to read, but i had to take a break after this one for a while because i had a headache and a mini book slump from just how hefty this book was😭 it’s taken me days to write a review too because i had zero brain cells left to writer the review straight after.
so... yeah, if this had been shorter this would have been an immaculate five stars no questions asked.
ultimately all you need to know is:
@ R*wan and D*clan Kane
@ Callahan Percival Kane
The Fine Print — 2 stars
Terms and Conditions — 1 star
Final Offer — 4 stars
thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
”Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else, especially when I don’t like myself very much.”
ding ding ding we finally have a winner🥂🎉🍾🎊
i wonder how Callahan Percival Kane is doing after carrying this whole series on his back. seriously the previous two books should be embarrassed that they’re not Calana fr.
i really haven’t had the best luck with this series so far. The Fine Print was a slog to get through. it physically pained me to read and it took me about three weeks to finish it... when i can churn a book out in one sitting most of the time. but ultimately, i was indifferent to Rowan and Zahra and their lost potential. while Terms and Conditions is my arch-nemesis. or more specifically, Declan Kane is my arch-nemesis.
fr i hate that man so much. but we’re not gonna taint this beautiful safe space right here with his presence, okay? this is the first and last time i will mention him by name because he doesn’t deserve to be here.
but Callahan Kane was the one to get be through those books. he was my ray of sunshine. my guiding light. he provided the snark and humour. he had more personality in his pinky than both of his brothers combined. so i desperately wanted his book. i craved it but i was simultaneously terrified to read this in case it really was gonna flop like it’s predecessors and let me down... clearly that didn’t happen. sorry to my baby Cal for ever doubting him, ily and know you’d never betray me like that.
and the occasional mention of the enigmatic “Alana” had me 👀 every damn time. with my love for Cal and the crumbs about his past with Alana, i was undoubtedly so excited for this book so i went into this with VERY high hopes and it didn’t disappoint.
”Lana.”
One word. Four letters. A thousand sparks blasting off my skin as he clasps on to the back of my neck and drags me against his chest. Our lips hover inches apart, the heat of his minty breath hitting my face.
Final Offer follows Callahan Kane (H)as he returns to the sleepy town of Lake Wisteria where he spent his summers as a teen and grew up with Alana “Lana” Castillo, the daughter of his family’s cook. with Alana and her daughter Cami living in the house that Cal’s grandfather left to both Alana and Cal, the pair need to learn to cohabit the place while battling their tumultuous past full of heartache, betrayal and lost love, tainted by the shadow of Cal’s addiction. some of the tropes include:
⟡ second chance romance
⟡ childhood friends to lovers
⟡ small town romance
⟡ single parent
⟡ forced proximity
⟡ mutual pining
⟡ the cutest kid ever
one of my big issues with the previous books were how they didn’t feel like stories beyond the basic tropes they utilised. they felt crammed to the brim with tropes, not really knowing what they wanted to be— insta-lust or slowburn, enemies to lovers or not. but here? the tropes were the very basics of the story to the point where when a friend asked me what tropes were in the book, it took me a few minutes to reflect on them because the book didn’t rely heavily on the tropes at all.
instead the story was so fleshed out here. LA sets up a conflict. we follow a thorough plot line from A to B, we know the goals of the characters and what motivates them. i found that the previous books were a bit incoherent and didn’t know what they wanted to be— Final Offer has more depth than i ever expected with undertones of loss and grief that i found to be poignantly done.
”It’s not just me anymore. Cami and I are a package deal.” I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her flush against me.
“You and Cami aren’t a deal. You two are a lottery jackpot, and it’s time someone treated you both that way.”
similarly, the character depth wasn’t reduced to tropes— the previous two books were carbon copies of the grumpy-sunshine trope but the characters didn’t feel like they were pushed beyond those archetypes all that much. Cal in the previous books was the comic relief, the golden retriever, the jokester clown... but in Final Offer he was so much more than that. god, he was so much more.
Cal’s complexity was arguably one of my favourite things about this book! we really go on a personal journey with Cal. his growth and development towards self-acceptance and love was written pretty effortlessly. the nuances of his addictions and trauma were surprising. i didn’t expect LA to go into the depth she did and it made me more emotional than i ever expected. especially in regards to his self-loathing. the way he viewed himself hurt my heart so much and the way everyone treated him was just 😫😫😫
i was so attached to him. i was rooting for him to succeed. i wanted him to suffer a lil for his past treatment of Lana, but i found the depth of his character gave me a lot of clarity regarding his actions. and ultimately, his addictions aren’t used as an excuse to justify acting out. Cal is held accountable for his actions (low-key thought people were a bit too harsh on him at times) but his willingness to change, to be held accountable, to put the work into change his behaviour??? it made the second chance aspect of this so much more fulfilling to read.
i have a personal pet peeve with second chance romances where the hero doesn’t really offer much when trying to change his attitude and behaviour while atoning for his mistakes. Cal was a very active hero and ultimately is why this was such a successful book to read.
Because if Cal is the sun, then the rest of us are aimless planets revolving around him, tragically trapped in his orbit.
now the other glaring success of this book for me was the pacing.
the pacing of the previous two books, for lack of a better word, really sucked. the insta-lust/love masquerading a slowburn was a torturous experience lemme tell you. it meant the books were too long with very little happening because everything was given away too early in the first few chapters of both books.
but with Cal and Alana, the pacing was close to perfect, honestly. we get the hostility from two exes returning to each other’s lives. we get the grief and mourning of what that relationship could have been. we get the pining and tension of unresolved feelings. we get the chemistry with the conflicted push and pull. the relationship progression wasn’t rushed at all. you don’t understand how many hallelujahs i was sending up above the more i read because it was my biggest fear going into the book.
the second chance aspect wasn’t rushed. it was a gradual buildup and avoided being too... im trying to think of the right word... neat, maybe? there wasn’t just “before” they get back together then “after”. but an overlapping grapple with their past and present and how to build a future. it really was a process that was a lil messy at times and it was perfect. again, i have a pet peeve with easy second chance romances— the ones that are too smooth sailing.
Cal and Lana are anything but smooth sailing and it was what made this book so entertaining to read!
”You feel like home.” He retreats, only to slam into me again. “Like I spent the last six years lost with no way of being able to return. As if I was stuck in an endless night with no light to help guide me back to you.”
now... can i just say... then tension???? the romance???? THE SMUT ????
Callahan Kane the godly man that you are.
Cal denies me another orgasm, which makes me groan with frustration. “God.”
“You should know better than to call me another man in bed.” He slaps my pussy hard. Once. Twice. Three times until I’m panting and squirming underneath him.
whatever crack, LA is on??? keep it coming bitch. because the smut in this book was top-tier. my knees were quaking a lil a couple of times. im sorry i ever doubted you big soft slutty whore. the first smut scene actually had me on my knees it was so good and i was kinda shocked that it was that good 😭😭😭
Lana and Cal just had this immediate undeniable chemistry. the unresolved tension and feelings of their past contributed, but they just had this natural charismatic energy between them that was so delightful to read. the romance was just so wonderful. you could feel just how in love Cal and Alana were, how devastated they were when things didn’t work out or when they took several steps forward and even more backwards.
again, the best chemistry of the series. they’d just be staring at each other and i was giggling twirling my hair with hearts in my eyes, fr. especially with Lana, she held her own against Cal and really challenged him. she was his perfect match in every aspect, honestly.
His eyes zero in on my shoes. “Fuck.”
“What?” I look down but find nothing wrong.
“The things I would do to have your legs wrapped around my waist while wearing those.”
now... ALANA CASTILLO YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS<333
best heroine of the series easy. go argue with a wall. she’s so headstrong and fierce. she’s drowning in loneliness and grief. she’s the most wonderful mother. she’s selfless and strong-willed, doesn’t back down and knows her own worth. i was immediately attached to her and was rooting for her always. i wanted the best for her, for all of her dreams to succeed and to achieve the life she deserved. she was truly just so wonderful. she definitely lived up to every mystique name drop from the previous books😭
Cal blinks twice at my smile before returning my grin with one of his own. Before I know it, he is swooping me into his arms too, smushing me against Cami. The added weight throws him off-balance and the three of us crash against the carpet, with him taking the brunt of the weight. Cami giggling between us makes both Cal and me both laugh too.
[...]
“I want to make the two of you laugh like that for the rest of our lives.”
who is arguably the best character in the whole book? the ultimate scene stealer? the sweetest cutie pie to have ever lived.
Cami Castillo♥️🥺🥰🫂
THE CUTEST KID EVER. she’s definitely one of my top fave fictional kids in a romance book (rivalling Jeremy Volkov and Lucy). every time she giggled and squealed my heart melted so much.
she was such a lovely breath of fresh air in the book. i loved seeing Lana as a mother and watching Cal fit seamlessly into their lives. their lil family scenes really had me
she was just a little cutie-pie. and their trio dynamic had me in a chokehold.
“I’ve always loved you, although at first it was platonic and innocent. But the love grew as we did, morphing into something more mature. Something strong enough to stand the test of time and distance every single year. A love built on memories of the past and a hope for the future.” He tucks a wave of hair behind my head. “A future I can’t see with anyone but you.”
the only reason that the book isn’t a full five stars despite my gushing review, is that this was waaaaay too long 😭 i read it on my NetGalley Shelf app and it was 592 pages. when i first opened the document i thought “what? surely there’s been a formatting mistake?” but no it really was that long and by the second half of the book, i felt that slogging length on a bone-deep level lmao. my brain was rotting by the 400 page mark and i still had another 200 to go.
i think some scenes didn’t add anything new or enlightening to the book and i really think it could have been chopped a bit. just refined a bit more. one of my friends who’s already read the book too said it needed to be roughly 75 pages shorter and it would have been perfect, and i wholeheartedly agreed with her. we both said this couldn’t be a full five stars because it was just far too long, jarringly so.
there’s been so many books lately ive been dying to read, but i had to take a break after this one for a while because i had a headache and a mini book slump from just how hefty this book was😭 it’s taken me days to write a review too because i had zero brain cells left to writer the review straight after.
so... yeah, if this had been shorter this would have been an immaculate five stars no questions asked.
”I walked away from you before because I thought I was doing the right thing. That you were better off without me. That you would be happier. I don’t plan on making that same mistake again, even if you expect me to. While I might mess up—hell, I can practically guarantee it—I’m not going to run away again. I’ll fight for us no matter what.”
ultimately all you need to know is:
@ R*wan and D*clan Kane
@ Callahan Percival Kane
The Fine Print — 2 stars
Terms and Conditions — 1 star
Final Offer — 4 stars
thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
October 25, 2022
EDIT: what is this monstrocity of a cover, i will not read it if my kindle version has this man on it.
Cal my babyy i cant wait to see you
five stars already dont question it
Cal my babyy i cant wait to see you
five stars already dont question it
February 8, 2023
callahan kane is a
"mirrorball/this is me trying/champagne problems"
character and if that's not enough to convince you to read this book, i don't know what is.
"to everyone who has been underestimated. i hope you prove everyone wrong, including yourself"
i've always had a hard time relating to male characters in romance books because most of them are not written for us to relate to them.
ache for them? sure. fall in love with them? absolutely. but relate to them, not so much.
but callahan kane shattered my whole world. i cried with him, i cried for him (and i secretly cried for me). his fears echoed mine, his self-sabotage habits mimicked mine and his coping mechanisms tore me apart.
"sometimes it is those with the loudest voices who struggle the hardest."
yeah, i think it's fair to say i'll never get over callahan kane.
"i can't get a single thing right. my whole entire life has been one failure after another, and i'm so fucking tired of pretending it doesn't bother me."
and i'll come back to this book, regularly, because despite all the tears i shed, cal and alana were a source of pure joy.
‘final offer' was heartbreaking, it was funny, it was angsty, it was hot and it was insanely cute. in short, it was everything i expected it to be (and more).
"to everyone who has been underestimated. i hope you prove everyone wrong, including yourself"
i've always had a hard time relating to male characters in romance books because most of them are not written for us to relate to them.
ache for them? sure. fall in love with them? absolutely. but relate to them, not so much.
but callahan kane shattered my whole world. i cried with him, i cried for him (and i secretly cried for me). his fears echoed mine, his self-sabotage habits mimicked mine and his coping mechanisms tore me apart.
"sometimes it is those with the loudest voices who struggle the hardest."
yeah, i think it's fair to say i'll never get over callahan kane.
"i can't get a single thing right. my whole entire life has been one failure after another, and i'm so fucking tired of pretending it doesn't bother me."
and i'll come back to this book, regularly, because despite all the tears i shed, cal and alana were a source of pure joy.
‘final offer' was heartbreaking, it was funny, it was angsty, it was hot and it was insanely cute. in short, it was everything i expected it to be (and more).
January 30, 2023
currently a mess but this was the perfect ending to the dreamland billionaire series! cal and alana have my heart! the sense of family was very strong throughout the story, and i loved every bit of it. i loved seeing everybody together, and just being in the world one last time, it was everything and more!
February 26, 2023
2 ⭐️ Good premise but I was underwhelmed
"Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else, especially when I don't like myself very much."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ second chance romance
✨ billionaire romance
✨ small-town setting
✨ billionaire x teacher
✨ childhood best friends to lovers to strangers to lovers
✨ single mother
✨ flashbacks
✨ TW: addiction (alcohol), parental emotional abuse
Look, I know I’m in the minority here, but I didn't enjoy this book as I had hoped. I guess the story isn’t bad by any means. In fact, I enjoyed it whenever Cami showed up. She was just so adorable, and I loved her relationship with her mom and Cal. Also, I really commend Lauren Asher writing about heavy topics such as addiction and emotional abuse. And I do think these aspects were explored relatively well. However, I had quite a few issues with the story:
This book was just too long. Besides Cal's addiction and a few smutty scenes, not much happens. After around 40% of the story, I got bored and started skimming a bit. It really should have been cut 100 pages at a minimum.
Lana is a boring character. All I can remember about her is that she's a single mother, loves to bake, and is somehow still madly in love with an addict who walked away from her YEARS ago. Like babe, how did you not move on? Also, Alana says she wants to help Cal but also doesn't really offer much support for fear she and Cami are going to get hurt. I get she has trust issues. I really do. But how she eventually 'overcomes' it isn't really discussed, and as someone who grew up with immediate family members who were addicts, it would take more than a few months to trust again fully.
What happened to Cal? Cal was the brother I looked forward to reading about most. He was so fun and witty in the other books but such a dud in this one. I love reading about damaged heroes, especially when they put on a confident front, but the charm wasn't there at all. As I mentioned earlier, the best part was his recovery journey. However, even that bothered me towards the end. He says he decides to go to rehab for himself, but how it was written makes it seem that it's entirely for Alana and Cami. Also, he's supposed to be a genius, but we don't see any part of that in the story.
As someone who grew up in a home with substance addiction, Cal wasn't someone I found attractive in any way. I've already mentioned that he lacked the charm from the other books. But after reading about how he treated Lana during their previous relationship, I was not rooting for them to get back together. And it bothered me that his reason for getting sober was that he wanted a life with Lana and Cami (even though he says it's for himself, but you just know it wasn't). In reality, love isn't enough to get clean. Wanting a picture-perfect life isn't enough to get clean. Nothing will convince addicts that they need to get clean and stay clean besides themselves. While Cal says he wants to get clean for himself, his actions and thoughts do not really reflect that. Plus, would he really even be ready for a healthy relationship and to become a father right after getting clean? My opinion is no. I'm sure there’s someone in real life who’s recovered as quickly and perfectly as Cal does at the end of this book, but this felt extremely unrealistic - a butterfly and rainbows happy ending.
There weren't enough flashbacks or background info detailing Lana and Cal’s past relationship. Instead, we jump right into the second chance romance part without much exploration of the couple's relationship before the first fallout. So I never really understood the depth of their connection and couldn't invest in them as a couple.
Cal and Lana drove me crazy with their back-and-forth relationship. I didn't really like Lana and Cal, so the constant "I hate you" to "I love you" vibes got annoying after a while.
Overall, I'm disappointed with the story, but I'm also not surprised. I really loved The Fine Print but wasn't impressed with Terms and Conditions, so I guess I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
"Falling in love with yourself is ten times harder than falling in love with someone else, especially when I don't like myself very much."
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ second chance romance
✨ billionaire romance
✨ small-town setting
✨ billionaire x teacher
✨ childhood best friends to lovers to strangers to lovers
✨ single mother
✨ flashbacks
✨ TW: addiction (alcohol), parental emotional abuse
Look, I know I’m in the minority here, but I didn't enjoy this book as I had hoped. I guess the story isn’t bad by any means. In fact, I enjoyed it whenever Cami showed up. She was just so adorable, and I loved her relationship with her mom and Cal. Also, I really commend Lauren Asher writing about heavy topics such as addiction and emotional abuse. And I do think these aspects were explored relatively well. However, I had quite a few issues with the story:
This book was just too long. Besides Cal's addiction and a few smutty scenes, not much happens. After around 40% of the story, I got bored and started skimming a bit. It really should have been cut 100 pages at a minimum.
Lana is a boring character. All I can remember about her is that she's a single mother, loves to bake, and is somehow still madly in love with an addict who walked away from her YEARS ago. Like babe, how did you not move on? Also, Alana says she wants to help Cal but also doesn't really offer much support for fear she and Cami are going to get hurt. I get she has trust issues. I really do. But how she eventually 'overcomes' it isn't really discussed, and as someone who grew up with immediate family members who were addicts, it would take more than a few months to trust again fully.
What happened to Cal? Cal was the brother I looked forward to reading about most. He was so fun and witty in the other books but such a dud in this one. I love reading about damaged heroes, especially when they put on a confident front, but the charm wasn't there at all. As I mentioned earlier, the best part was his recovery journey. However, even that bothered me towards the end. He says he decides to go to rehab for himself, but how it was written makes it seem that it's entirely for Alana and Cami. Also, he's supposed to be a genius, but we don't see any part of that in the story.
As someone who grew up in a home with substance addiction, Cal wasn't someone I found attractive in any way. I've already mentioned that he lacked the charm from the other books. But after reading about how he treated Lana during their previous relationship, I was not rooting for them to get back together. And it bothered me that his reason for getting sober was that he wanted a life with Lana and Cami (even though he says it's for himself, but you just know it wasn't). In reality, love isn't enough to get clean. Wanting a picture-perfect life isn't enough to get clean. Nothing will convince addicts that they need to get clean and stay clean besides themselves. While Cal says he wants to get clean for himself, his actions and thoughts do not really reflect that. Plus, would he really even be ready for a healthy relationship and to become a father right after getting clean? My opinion is no. I'm sure there’s someone in real life who’s recovered as quickly and perfectly as Cal does at the end of this book, but this felt extremely unrealistic - a butterfly and rainbows happy ending.
There weren't enough flashbacks or background info detailing Lana and Cal’s past relationship. Instead, we jump right into the second chance romance part without much exploration of the couple's relationship before the first fallout. So I never really understood the depth of their connection and couldn't invest in them as a couple.
Cal and Lana drove me crazy with their back-and-forth relationship. I didn't really like Lana and Cal, so the constant "I hate you" to "I love you" vibes got annoying after a while.
Overall, I'm disappointed with the story, but I'm also not surprised. I really loved The Fine Print but wasn't impressed with Terms and Conditions, so I guess I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
September 2, 2023
I DID IT I FINISHED IT I’M FINALLY FREE BITCH
February 7, 2023
– 2.5 stars
halleluja, this book took me almost a week to read. if it wasn’t for Cami i would probably round down, but she is too adorable and the Cami + Cal scenes together were cute and saved the book for me.
the book started out strong. i really thought it would end up my favorite book of the series cuz it was a solid 4 star book, but the more i read the more boring it got. yes, all the rumors are true that Callahan Kane is the best Kane brother with the most personality and i felt so bad for him for how everyone treated him and emotionally abused him, but it also frustrated the hell out of me that it took until 80% of the book for Cal to go to rehab and get better from his alcohol addiction. i couldn’t root for Alana and Cal’s romance knowing Cal was still trying to hide his anxiety in a bottle.
after Cal got the help he needed and got sober, i started to like the book much better and was actually more invested in the romance, because i knew Cal could finally be the man for Cami and Lana he always wanted to be.
Cami swindling Cal out of thousand and thousand dollars for swearing was truly the highligh of the book for me. Lana was not the worst heroine and her selflessness regarding Cami rivals Mother Therese and for that she gets brownie points, but other than that i don’t really care about her that much.
besides all the points i already mentioned, Final Offer was just way too long and repetitive. this book didn’t have to be almost 600 pages. i’d say it was at least 150 pages too long. i hate that since the start of the pandemic contemporary romance books have gotten longer and longer … where are the masterpieces where 350-400 pages were more than enough to write an epic love story? i miss those times.
reading this Iris x Cal conversation again makes me want to do a final ranking for this series:
Best heroine:
1. Iris
2. Lana
3. Zahra
Best Hero:
1. Cal
2. Declan
3. Rowan
Best book:
1. Terms & Condition
2. Final Offer
3. The Fine Print
┍━━━━━━━━»•» «•«━┑
DREAMLAND BILLIONAIRES SERIES
#1 The Fine Print – 2 stars
#2 Terms and Conditions – 3 stars
#3 Final Offer – 2.5-2.75 stars
┕━»•» «•«━━━━━━━━┙
halleluja, this book took me almost a week to read. if it wasn’t for Cami i would probably round down, but she is too adorable and the Cami + Cal scenes together were cute and saved the book for me.
“I’m Cami.” She holds out her hand for me to shake. “Cal.” I’m on autopilot as I clutch her small palm. The size difference between us is comical, but her grip is strong as she shakes my arm like a pool noodle. “Hi, Cow-l.”
the book started out strong. i really thought it would end up my favorite book of the series cuz it was a solid 4 star book, but the more i read the more boring it got. yes, all the rumors are true that Callahan Kane is the best Kane brother with the most personality and i felt so bad for him for how everyone treated him and emotionally abused him, but it also frustrated the hell out of me that it took until 80% of the book for Cal to go to rehab and get better from his alcohol addiction. i couldn’t root for Alana and Cal’s romance knowing Cal was still trying to hide his anxiety in a bottle.
“I want to be the man you and Cami deserve. Whether you believe me or not, that’s the reason why I’m going to rehab. I’ve been through the process enough times to know it’s thirty days of absolute hell, no matter which way someone cuts it. But every day I spend suffering in the prison of my mind is worth a thousand happy ones with you.”
after Cal got the help he needed and got sober, i started to like the book much better and was actually more invested in the romance, because i knew Cal could finally be the man for Cami and Lana he always wanted to be.
“I dare you to wait for me.
The real me.
The sober me.
The best me who wants to spend the rest of his days getting drunk on life with you.”
Cami swindling Cal out of thousand and thousand dollars for swearing was truly the highligh of the book for me. Lana was not the worst heroine and her selflessness regarding Cami rivals Mother Therese and for that she gets brownie points, but other than that i don’t really care about her that much.
Cal curses under his breath. “Well, there goes that surprise.”
“Swears jar!” Cal sifts through his wallet and hands her a fifty-dollar bill. Cami’s brow rises. “What? I ran out of hundreds yesterday.”
“That’s okay. Fifty times two.” She holds up her two fingers like a peace sign.
I stifle my laugh with the palm of my hand, earning a glare from Cal.
besides all the points i already mentioned, Final Offer was just way too long and repetitive. this book didn’t have to be almost 600 pages. i’d say it was at least 150 pages too long. i hate that since the start of the pandemic contemporary romance books have gotten longer and longer … where are the masterpieces where 350-400 pages were more than enough to write an epic love story? i miss those times.
Cal: Shouldn’t you be helping him?
Iris: We’re a modern couple, Cal. He cooks. I watch. He cleans. I also watch.
Cal: Is that the key to a successful marriage?
Iris That and a big dick.
reading this Iris x Cal conversation again makes me want to do a final ranking for this series:
Best heroine:
1. Iris
2. Lana
3. Zahra
Best Hero:
1. Cal
2. Declan
3. Rowan
Best book:
1. Terms & Condition
2. Final Offer
3. The Fine Print
┍━━━━━━━━»•» «•«━┑
DREAMLAND BILLIONAIRES SERIES
#1 The Fine Print – 2 stars
#2 Terms and Conditions – 3 stars
#3 Final Offer – 2.5-2.75 stars
┕━»•» «•«━━━━━━━━┙
September 18, 2023
4.5 🌟
Things I've learned from this book:
1. Maybe I DO LIKE second chance romance?? Yes, this book SINGLEHANDEDLY made me fall in love with second chance romance.
2. EVERY SINGLE character in this book (and series tbh) has BOTH mommy and daddy issues (and i love them for it)
OVERALL THOUGHTS This book was a huge surprise for me. As you all know, this is the third book in a series of interconnected standalones. As those of you who follow me on here know, the first two books weren't my cup of tea. Sure, those books had redeeming qualities, but they were in NO WAY THIS GOOD. As I've mentioned in my previous two reviews regarding this series, the idea for each one of these books was quite interesting and unique. I like how besides romance, genuine plot was present and without romance, said plot would still (kind of) be present. However, in the first and the second book, I found that the execution was lacking. In this one, it wasn't. This was a beautiful romantic, heartfelt, spicy story with both characters and events I hold dear to my heart. You don't often see a connection so beautiful as the one Lana and Cal share. I am at a loss for words when it comes to describing what these two mean to me. I often find myself getting connected more to characters from book series rather than standalones, simply because I get to spend more time (pages) with them. This book is quite long (actually really long, but we'll talk about that later), but that fact didn't really play a role in the "I feel so connected to these characters" feeling. And how do I know that? It's quite simple, I FELT INSTANT CONNECTION AND LOVE BETWEEN THEM THE MOMENT CAL STEPPED IN THAT DAMN HOUSE! Their body language, their conversatons, beautiful things they did for each other. Lana's daughter Camilla played a huge role in this book (at least for me). I mentioned to Lupi (my beautiful friend who I was reading this book with, but about that later as well), how much Cami warmed my heart. Each and every scene, every glance, every conversation she had with both Lana and Cal almost made me cry... she worked like A HOT GLUE GUN, on a mission to bring them back together (without even knowing) (my girl was Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible). This book had MANY spicy scenes, much more than in the first two books (if I remember correctly), BUT BOY WERE THEY WELL DONE. Chapter 33 is forever engraved in my memory (lord forgive me but i will reread it sometime - what is even digital footprint?). Lupi and I talked about this also, but the way Lauren Asher dealt with conditions such as alcoholism (etilism to be professional), anxiety, panic attacks was beautiful, props to her for this! This series is well remembered and loved by me for disability represetation. Medical conditions play a huge role in our everyday life and if a little lighthearted romance can teach you something, let it be how to (and not to) treat people with them. I'm a medical student and this really warms my heart. Back to Cal, I loved every single aspect of his fight. Even though I don't like to see him suffer (I love that man), recovery doesn't happen overnight. In this book, his journey to finding a motive for getting better and his recovery were (in my opinion) done very well. They weren't very traumatising (like those can often be), but were educational, just how I like them.
CHARACTERS
ALANA (my beautiful girl Lana) This comes as no surprise, Lauren Asher knows how to write fighters! And Alana was a fighter from the very first page. She is a beautiful, strong and talented woman, kind and loving to her daughter and people in her small town. She's shown her humanity in many different ways throughout this book, especially in insecurities she had. The closest people in her life had hurt her (and badly), so of course, her whole existance shifted fundamentally after those traumatic events. But they didn't break her wonderful soul. I honestly hope this is an unbiased opinion (feel free to discuss in the comments), but from very early in the book, it was obvious to me that she should give Cal a second chance. He did hurt her, in no way do I want to minimise that, however, there had been miscommunication an he (in the moment of their breakup) needed professional help much more than his relationship with Lana. The years that passed only brought them closer together, many flashback scenes really proved that (those were little gems in this book).
CAL My favorite Kane brother and one of my favorite fictional men in general. He was sarcastic and funny, but so loving and gentle (AND HOT, IYKYK). I fell for a blond man who loves The Catcher in the Rye and is a CANCER (calling the police). However, I must forgive everything when it comes to Callahan Kane, right? So many scenes and things about him I love so much, but I don't want to bore you with this never-ending review. I love how he dealt with his problems, he learned maturity and growth, he shared so many beautiful moments with Lana. He is a beautiful father to Cami. Such a heartthrob!
NOTE: WHY DIDN'T I RATE THIS BOOK 5 STARS? It's simple and not very surprising, it was too long. It dragged on forever, so many filler chapters. What's it with those small town romances and 500 pages?? I need a scientific research on this NOW!!! So many filler chapters, long chapters. The story was beautiful and I understand that it needed building, but c'mon, a full biography on every single person that had ever lived in this town combined in a book would be shorter than this.
NOTE NOTE: SHOULD YOU READ THIS SERIES? NO, read just this book. (I have given this thought before writing, believe it or not)
IN THE END, once again, thank you to beautiful and kind Lupi (From The Vault) for reading this book with me! It warmed my heart that this book was our very first buddy read (yes, a first buddy read for each one of us and a first buddy read together, a first of many, I hope) and it will, for that reason as well, always hold a special place in my heart. I can't wait to read your review! 💕💕
Things I've learned from this book:
1. Maybe I DO LIKE second chance romance?? Yes, this book SINGLEHANDEDLY made me fall in love with second chance romance.
2. EVERY SINGLE character in this book (and series tbh) has BOTH mommy and daddy issues (and i love them for it)
OVERALL THOUGHTS This book was a huge surprise for me. As you all know, this is the third book in a series of interconnected standalones. As those of you who follow me on here know, the first two books weren't my cup of tea. Sure, those books had redeeming qualities, but they were in NO WAY THIS GOOD. As I've mentioned in my previous two reviews regarding this series, the idea for each one of these books was quite interesting and unique. I like how besides romance, genuine plot was present and without romance, said plot would still (kind of) be present. However, in the first and the second book, I found that the execution was lacking. In this one, it wasn't. This was a beautiful romantic, heartfelt, spicy story with both characters and events I hold dear to my heart. You don't often see a connection so beautiful as the one Lana and Cal share. I am at a loss for words when it comes to describing what these two mean to me. I often find myself getting connected more to characters from book series rather than standalones, simply because I get to spend more time (pages) with them. This book is quite long (actually really long, but we'll talk about that later), but that fact didn't really play a role in the "I feel so connected to these characters" feeling. And how do I know that? It's quite simple, I FELT INSTANT CONNECTION AND LOVE BETWEEN THEM THE MOMENT CAL STEPPED IN THAT DAMN HOUSE! Their body language, their conversatons, beautiful things they did for each other. Lana's daughter Camilla played a huge role in this book (at least for me). I mentioned to Lupi (my beautiful friend who I was reading this book with, but about that later as well), how much Cami warmed my heart. Each and every scene, every glance, every conversation she had with both Lana and Cal almost made me cry... she worked like A HOT GLUE GUN, on a mission to bring them back together (without even knowing) (my girl was Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible). This book had MANY spicy scenes, much more than in the first two books (if I remember correctly), BUT BOY WERE THEY WELL DONE. Chapter 33 is forever engraved in my memory (lord forgive me but i will reread it sometime - what is even digital footprint?). Lupi and I talked about this also, but the way Lauren Asher dealt with conditions such as alcoholism (etilism to be professional), anxiety, panic attacks was beautiful, props to her for this! This series is well remembered and loved by me for disability represetation. Medical conditions play a huge role in our everyday life and if a little lighthearted romance can teach you something, let it be how to (and not to) treat people with them. I'm a medical student and this really warms my heart. Back to Cal, I loved every single aspect of his fight. Even though I don't like to see him suffer (I love that man), recovery doesn't happen overnight. In this book, his journey to finding a motive for getting better and his recovery were (in my opinion) done very well. They weren't very traumatising (like those can often be), but were educational, just how I like them.
CHARACTERS
ALANA (my beautiful girl Lana) This comes as no surprise, Lauren Asher knows how to write fighters! And Alana was a fighter from the very first page. She is a beautiful, strong and talented woman, kind and loving to her daughter and people in her small town. She's shown her humanity in many different ways throughout this book, especially in insecurities she had. The closest people in her life had hurt her (and badly), so of course, her whole existance shifted fundamentally after those traumatic events. But they didn't break her wonderful soul. I honestly hope this is an unbiased opinion (feel free to discuss in the comments), but from very early in the book, it was obvious to me that she should give Cal a second chance. He did hurt her, in no way do I want to minimise that, however, there had been miscommunication an he (in the moment of their breakup) needed professional help much more than his relationship with Lana. The years that passed only brought them closer together, many flashback scenes really proved that (those were little gems in this book).
CAL My favorite Kane brother and one of my favorite fictional men in general. He was sarcastic and funny, but so loving and gentle (AND HOT, IYKYK). I fell for a blond man who loves The Catcher in the Rye and is a CANCER (calling the police). However, I must forgive everything when it comes to Callahan Kane, right? So many scenes and things about him I love so much, but I don't want to bore you with this never-ending review. I love how he dealt with his problems, he learned maturity and growth, he shared so many beautiful moments with Lana. He is a beautiful father to Cami. Such a heartthrob!
NOTE: WHY DIDN'T I RATE THIS BOOK 5 STARS? It's simple and not very surprising, it was too long. It dragged on forever, so many filler chapters. What's it with those small town romances and 500 pages?? I need a scientific research on this NOW!!! So many filler chapters, long chapters. The story was beautiful and I understand that it needed building, but c'mon, a full biography on every single person that had ever lived in this town combined in a book would be shorter than this.
NOTE NOTE: SHOULD YOU READ THIS SERIES? NO, read just this book. (I have given this thought before writing, believe it or not)
IN THE END, once again, thank you to beautiful and kind Lupi (From The Vault) for reading this book with me! It warmed my heart that this book was our very first buddy read (yes, a first buddy read for each one of us and a first buddy read together, a first of many, I hope) and it will, for that reason as well, always hold a special place in my heart. I can't wait to read your review! 💕💕
July 1, 2023
I did not expect to completely love this book so much! I did set the bar a little higher bc Cal has always been my favorite brother, but this book surpassed all of my expectations!
I feel like saying this a second chance romance is underselling the story, it is a second chance romance, but I feel like it's also very much a story of self-forgiveness and self-love. Cal struggling with his addiction and his personal demons was incredibly touching and heartfelt. The descriptions of his pain and anxiety and his need to escape them were very intense.
Besides that, this man could explode my ovaries with just a wink. He is simultaneously one of the sexiest and sweetest man I have ever read!!!!
Lana was an FMC after my own heart! She was strong, she was smart, she was sassy! I loved her! I appreciated the perspective of loving someone with an addiction and how incredibly hard that can be especially after being burned so many times before by people she loved.
I just wanted to note something personal here; As a Latina, I thought the Latin representation in this book is done exceptionally well! From the phrases they used in Spanish to the foods and even breaking some stereotypes (yes, some Latin ppl listen to country music, I'm not one of them but my cousin eats that sh*t up!) So many times, I see ppl speak out when it's not done well that I wanted to make a point of applauding the author here bc I was so happy to see it done with such care. 💙
I loved revisiting characters from the previous books, especially my Queen Iris! Seeing Declan completely go soft was amazing! A wonderful end to this series! Loved it! 💖💖💖
I feel like saying this a second chance romance is underselling the story, it is a second chance romance, but I feel like it's also very much a story of self-forgiveness and self-love. Cal struggling with his addiction and his personal demons was incredibly touching and heartfelt. The descriptions of his pain and anxiety and his need to escape them were very intense.
Besides that, this man could explode my ovaries with just a wink. He is simultaneously one of the sexiest and sweetest man I have ever read!!!!
Lana was an FMC after my own heart! She was strong, she was smart, she was sassy! I loved her! I appreciated the perspective of loving someone with an addiction and how incredibly hard that can be especially after being burned so many times before by people she loved.
I just wanted to note something personal here; As a Latina, I thought the Latin representation in this book is done exceptionally well! From the phrases they used in Spanish to the foods and even breaking some stereotypes (yes, some Latin ppl listen to country music, I'm not one of them but my cousin eats that sh*t up!) So many times, I see ppl speak out when it's not done well that I wanted to make a point of applauding the author here bc I was so happy to see it done with such care. 💙
I loved revisiting characters from the previous books, especially my Queen Iris! Seeing Declan completely go soft was amazing! A wonderful end to this series! Loved it! 💖💖💖
February 2, 2023
I have died and descended to heaven. goodfucking bye
----------------------
I HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR CAL MY FAVOURITE KANE
----------------------
I HAVE HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR CAL MY FAVOURITE KANE
January 31, 2023
stunning.
oh man, the end of an incredible era. I’ve loved every book in this series, but Cal & Alana’s story was just next level. second chance romances will always be one of my most favorite tropes, and love stories like this are why. becoming friends and falling in love young and losing their way, but there’s something so beautiful about how they find their way back to each other.
Alana is an inspiration, she is fierce, protective, independent and yet has the biggest heart. I had a soft spot for Cal since book 1, and my love for him only grew after this book. he has these internal struggles but is so happy and appears to be easy going on the outside. his emotions were so real and raw and it just made my heart ache for him. you truly cannot help but root for him.
I loved their dynamic and the whole story. Cal so badly wants to be the man Alana deserves, and every second they spend together you can feel the love and tension and history between them. Alana managed to be tough with Cal when he needed it, but not in the same way his brothers sometimes did, I think she truly saw him and understood his battles. they were also hot hot hot, had to clutch my pearls!! this book couldn’t have been more perfect 🥹❤️🩹
oh man, the end of an incredible era. I’ve loved every book in this series, but Cal & Alana’s story was just next level. second chance romances will always be one of my most favorite tropes, and love stories like this are why. becoming friends and falling in love young and losing their way, but there’s something so beautiful about how they find their way back to each other.
Alana is an inspiration, she is fierce, protective, independent and yet has the biggest heart. I had a soft spot for Cal since book 1, and my love for him only grew after this book. he has these internal struggles but is so happy and appears to be easy going on the outside. his emotions were so real and raw and it just made my heart ache for him. you truly cannot help but root for him.
I loved their dynamic and the whole story. Cal so badly wants to be the man Alana deserves, and every second they spend together you can feel the love and tension and history between them. Alana managed to be tough with Cal when he needed it, but not in the same way his brothers sometimes did, I think she truly saw him and understood his battles. they were also hot hot hot, had to clutch my pearls!! this book couldn’t have been more perfect 🥹❤️🩹
February 1, 2023
“I’ve always loved you, although at first it was platonic and innocent. But the love grew as we did, morphing into something more mature. Something strong enough to stand the test of time and distance every single year. A love built on memories of the past and a hope for the future"
Buckle up your seatbelts, and let's go on one last ride in the Kane brother's rollercoaster! *cries*
CAL AND LANA HAVE MY WHOLE HEART!! Beautiful seems like too short of a word for this story. If you have read the rest of the series, please read this because it's a beautiful and heartfelt ending. Honestly, this feels like an end of an era, and my heart is sad to see this come to an end. BUT WHAT A WAY TO END THE SERIES, truly perfect. I love all the Kane brothers and it's hard for me to pick, but I think that Cal might just be my favorite-sorry Declan and Rowan.
Both, Alana and Cal were perfect in their own way with flaws and struggles. It was so good to finally get into Cal's POV, and see all that he has to offer the world. He's not perfect and as we have seen he's struggled with alcohol/addictions. Seeing his journey made me cry and root for him. I'm truly happy that he found himself and the journey he was willing to go through. ALANA! we finally meet Lana and she was everything and more. I honestly loved her so much. Her love and dedication for the people she loves is truly beautiful. Let's thank Brady Kane, because he gave Cal and Lana that little push they needed to chase their dreams and their HEA.
The epilogue was beautiful, I cried. I hope Lauren decides to mention the Kane family in the future.
Check TW/CW
Buckle up your seatbelts, and let's go on one last ride in the Kane brother's rollercoaster! *cries*
CAL AND LANA HAVE MY WHOLE HEART!! Beautiful seems like too short of a word for this story. If you have read the rest of the series, please read this because it's a beautiful and heartfelt ending. Honestly, this feels like an end of an era, and my heart is sad to see this come to an end. BUT WHAT A WAY TO END THE SERIES, truly perfect. I love all the Kane brothers and it's hard for me to pick, but I think that Cal might just be my favorite-sorry Declan and Rowan.
Both, Alana and Cal were perfect in their own way with flaws and struggles. It was so good to finally get into Cal's POV, and see all that he has to offer the world. He's not perfect and as we have seen he's struggled with alcohol/addictions. Seeing his journey made me cry and root for him. I'm truly happy that he found himself and the journey he was willing to go through. ALANA! we finally meet Lana and she was everything and more. I honestly loved her so much. Her love and dedication for the people she loves is truly beautiful. Let's thank Brady Kane, because he gave Cal and Lana that little push they needed to chase their dreams and their HEA.
The epilogue was beautiful, I cried. I hope Lauren decides to mention the Kane family in the future.
Check TW/CW
February 3, 2023
i cant take it anymore. dnf at 90%
someone should’ve snatched lauren asher’s laptop away from her the moment she hit the 300-400 pg mark bc 600 pgs is just INSANE
my expectations for this book was in hell and basically nonexistent because i’ve read 3-4 books by her and they’ve been average/decent at best and boring at worst. so my opinion of this book will def be in the minority lol. BUT i do think this is her best one yet
i can totally see why people would love this book sm. it was definitely her best writing, and far from being a bad book. but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me and dragged on for far too long. NO ONE can convince me a contemporary romance needs to be 600 pgs especially when a good chunk of of it is just filler and repetitive. despite the the length, we barely got any solid context on their history (their childhood friendships, how they got together, their past relationship, separation etc) which was very frustrating and left so many blanks in their story. why even make ‘em childhood friends if you aren’t gonna build on it ??? i don’t understand. this all just made it really hard for me to connect to them as characters or root for their hea.
i kept track of my thoughts and things that bothered me as i was reading and it ended up just being this huge list of pet peeves 😭 anyway that’s probably just me being picky as usual
the main reason this book is getting 3 ⭐️ is the vibrator scene, iykyk 😌🤭 that scene carried the book for me
books with similar vibes
- addicted series (lily and lo’s books)
- love and other words
tropes
- childhood friends to lovers
- forced proximity
- second chance
- billionaire hero
safety
- no cheating
- no ow/om drama
- both with other people during separation
someone should’ve snatched lauren asher’s laptop away from her the moment she hit the 300-400 pg mark bc 600 pgs is just INSANE
my expectations for this book was in hell and basically nonexistent because i’ve read 3-4 books by her and they’ve been average/decent at best and boring at worst. so my opinion of this book will def be in the minority lol. BUT i do think this is her best one yet
i can totally see why people would love this book sm. it was definitely her best writing, and far from being a bad book. but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me and dragged on for far too long. NO ONE can convince me a contemporary romance needs to be 600 pgs especially when a good chunk of of it is just filler and repetitive. despite the the length, we barely got any solid context on their history (their childhood friendships, how they got together, their past relationship, separation etc) which was very frustrating and left so many blanks in their story. why even make ‘em childhood friends if you aren’t gonna build on it ??? i don’t understand. this all just made it really hard for me to connect to them as characters or root for their hea.
i kept track of my thoughts and things that bothered me as i was reading and it ended up just being this huge list of pet peeves 😭 anyway that’s probably just me being picky as usual
the main reason this book is getting 3 ⭐️ is the vibrator scene, iykyk 😌🤭 that scene carried the book for me
books with similar vibes
- addicted series (lily and lo’s books)
- love and other words
tropes
- childhood friends to lovers
- forced proximity
- second chance
- billionaire hero
safety
- no cheating
- no ow/om drama
- both with other people during separation
April 23, 2023
OBSESSED! The perfect way to end this amazing series! After reading Terms and Conditions I really thought that one was my favorite but after Final Offer, I can't decide. It had a little bit of all of my favorite tropes wrapped up into an amazing storyline. Childhood best friends, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, close proximity, etc. So many great ones! The Latina representation was just the cherry on top! So sad this book and series are over but I can't recommend this book enough!!
October 30, 2023
ngl i started the book with low expectations because of Cal’s immature ass.
I have to say it’s a very very slow burn lol but it’s worth being patience so im happy to say the ending was satisfying and not rushed at all!!
I feel like it didn’t had to be this long but YALL WAIT TILL CHAPTER 30😮💨🤌🏻 it gave me what i wanted from the start hehe
And through all of this it was sad to see cami (Lana’s daughter) was kinda stuck in the middle of everything.
I loved Lana from the beginning that’s why i couldn’t trust Cal half of the book.Like i would kick his immature ass if he’d broke her heart like the last time
But my man chose to be better and healed😏🦾
ALSO..loved the parts where Rowan texted Zahra as Scott🫢👀ahh i missed my babies🫠🤍
“𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴”
Cal’s mother is a blessing🥹🙏🏻
“𝘓���𝘧𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵”
I have to say it’s a very very slow burn lol but it’s worth being patience so im happy to say the ending was satisfying and not rushed at all!!
I feel like it didn’t had to be this long but YALL WAIT TILL CHAPTER 30😮💨🤌🏻 it gave me what i wanted from the start hehe
And through all of this it was sad to see cami (Lana’s daughter) was kinda stuck in the middle of everything.
I loved Lana from the beginning that’s why i couldn’t trust Cal half of the book.Like i would kick his immature ass if he’d broke her heart like the last time
But my man chose to be better and healed😏🦾
ALSO..loved the parts where Rowan texted Zahra as Scott🫢👀ahh i missed my babies🫠🤍
“𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴”
Cal’s mother is a blessing🥹🙏🏻
“𝘓���𝘧𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵”
February 11, 2023
2.5 stars.
You know, I’m not even upset that my copy of this book got wet. I’m probably apart of the small percentage of people who didn’t fully enjoy this book. This is the last book in this series and I feel absolutely nothing.
At first, I really was into it, and I was excited for the slow burn. Lana and Cal were giving everything I expected at first, it started off great. But this book is too damn long for no reason??? The writing also became a bit cringe after a while LMAO, I could not take some of the smut scenes serious at times. I still loved some parts of this book, especially the scenes with Cami, she was the cutest! I loved seeing Declan, Iris, Rowan and Zahra as well. But honestly after the 60 percent mark, I was just skimming through. I got bored. The back and forth between Cal and Alana became so.annoying. The bonus epilogue was enjoyable though, it was really cute.
I loved meeting Cal and I’m so glad he got his happy ending. He was the same lovable, funny guy I met in the first two books. It was great seeing things from his perspective. However… I wish we got to see Alana and Cal get to know one another, fall in love, and grow apart in past chapters. It would’ve made them coming back together so much more meaningful.
Also, I wanted to witness Cal overcome his addiction. We watched him struggle so much throughout this series, and it kinda just felt like him beating his addiction happened so damn fast? It was 600 pages too long with no substance for me.
↓ ↓
But here is my order from the best to the worst book in this series..
Terms and Conditions
Final Offer
The Fine Print
You know, I’m not even upset that my copy of this book got wet. I’m probably apart of the small percentage of people who didn’t fully enjoy this book. This is the last book in this series and I feel absolutely nothing.
At first, I really was into it, and I was excited for the slow burn. Lana and Cal were giving everything I expected at first, it started off great. But this book is too damn long for no reason??? The writing also became a bit cringe after a while LMAO, I could not take some of the smut scenes serious at times. I still loved some parts of this book, especially the scenes with Cami, she was the cutest! I loved seeing Declan, Iris, Rowan and Zahra as well. But honestly after the 60 percent mark, I was just skimming through. I got bored. The back and forth between Cal and Alana became so.annoying. The bonus epilogue was enjoyable though, it was really cute.
I loved meeting Cal and I’m so glad he got his happy ending. He was the same lovable, funny guy I met in the first two books. It was great seeing things from his perspective. However… I wish we got to see Alana and Cal get to know one another, fall in love, and grow apart in past chapters. It would’ve made them coming back together so much more meaningful.
Also, I wanted to witness Cal overcome his addiction. We watched him struggle so much throughout this series, and it kinda just felt like him beating his addiction happened so damn fast? It was 600 pages too long with no substance for me.
↓ ↓
But here is my order from the best to the worst book in this series..
Terms and Conditions
Final Offer
The Fine Print
February 6, 2023
Callahan Kane is the most superior brother- I said what I said. I wanted to give him forehead kisses the whole book. (I also wanted to be Lana, but hey.)
(TW: alcoholism, drug addictions, abusive childhood)- if you're like me, some of these topics were something you have faced in real life (or even in some capacity.) I think the author did a fantastic job with this story and adding these elements. It was vulnerable, bittersweet, and emotional, yet hopeful, uplifting, and beautiful. I don't cry with a lot of books- and I did not cry with this one- however, I would expect some readers to find some tears just from the vulnerable conversations about these topics. The discussion of alcoholism/addiction being mental illnesses is so important and I am so thankful Lauren Asher wrote her book to reflect that as so many people have faced these issues or have a loved one who does. This was written with a lot of compassion, reflection, and sensitivity. Very happy about that.
The story was also funny, sweet, and the spice??? Callahan don't play around. I was here for it.
Highly, highly recommend. This was the perfect way to wrap up this series.
(Also, if you like groveling- it's in here!!!)
(TW: alcoholism, drug addictions, abusive childhood)- if you're like me, some of these topics were something you have faced in real life (or even in some capacity.) I think the author did a fantastic job with this story and adding these elements. It was vulnerable, bittersweet, and emotional, yet hopeful, uplifting, and beautiful. I don't cry with a lot of books- and I did not cry with this one- however, I would expect some readers to find some tears just from the vulnerable conversations about these topics. The discussion of alcoholism/addiction being mental illnesses is so important and I am so thankful Lauren Asher wrote her book to reflect that as so many people have faced these issues or have a loved one who does. This was written with a lot of compassion, reflection, and sensitivity. Very happy about that.
The story was also funny, sweet, and the spice??? Callahan don't play around. I was here for it.
Highly, highly recommend. This was the perfect way to wrap up this series.
(Also, if you like groveling- it's in here!!!)
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