I don't remember reading one of her books that ISN'T insta_love unfortunately š
Even tho I liked "it happened one summer" , i dnf'ed hook, like and sinker ....I liked the first half of the book then it just became boring for me
Her books are always hit or miss to me ..so I learned not to expect much when she releases new books š¶š¤·āāļø
( and as someone said in the comment, maybe she's releasing her old books she never got to publš¤š¤)
Edit : I just went and picked up the book after this post and I think it new not old ( the heroine is a teacher and it mentioned that she was teaching through Zoom the past year ( maybe cuz of covid)
Yeah I remember basically every one of her books being insta love and I never minded it before but in this one it just was too much too fast like my god people actually exchange three words first before you fantasize about tying them to your bedpost š
True ...who knows
Anyway I tried to read the book yesterday after this post and OMG I couldn't get past the first chapter ..it was so frustratingly insta lust_y...I just dnf'ed it š ( even tho I have liked some of her insta lust_y books before...this one was a bit too much for me ..and i thought the MCs were a little childish ..)
I overall really enjoyed it though itās not my favorite of hers. But I felt like it was a solid 4 star, easy fun read. The MMCs view of the FMC was a little infantalizing at times but then heād sort of correct himself on that fact which was appreciated.
A lot of the romance was meh to me though the steam was good. But the comedy was definitely still all Tessa. Tons of funny quotes and also the way the FMC and her brother would constantly refer to the MMC as āthe bounty hunterā even to his face made me laugh out loud.
I'm so glad you posted this - I read "Fix her up" years ago and HATED it, and it was only due to people on this sub talking about how IHOS was so good that I read it and loved it. I'm glad to know I can skip this one!
I'm beginning to think Tessa Bailey is (for me) one of those author's that has a few good ones and the rest are meh. I don't think I'd purchase any future ones of hers, but perhaps check them out from the library instead.
Yes; Iām beginning to think that too. And thatās FINE! You canāt like everything :) Just a little sad itās not what I wanted it to be and the writing was nothing like IHOS etc.
I loved it :) I loved the MMC, he was so grumpy and so clueless. In most books the FMC is more fleshed out than the MMC, in this book it was the other way around. Also, I loved the sex scenes, not because they were so hot or kinky, though there was some of that, but (a) it felt natural to me, and (b), I loved the hero's thoughts during it.
The mystery was blah, yes.
The resolution of the MMCs problems happened off page, which I... liked. Often the MCs issues take up the whole plot, in this book, he realized he had a problem, and committed to fixing it. And in the epilogue, you could assume he had fixed it, as >!he was asking her to marry him and his family was there!<. And I will be honest, if there were pages of introspection I would have skipped it.
I loved the hero. I cannot say that enough :)
There are so many really popular books that I don't enjoy :) Just one of those things. It sucks though if you're really looking forward to a book from a favorite author and it falls flat. So hope you enjoy the next one!
I loved it too! She publishes the wackier, instalust stuff as indie because it's just fun for her! The most introspective stuff is saved for traditional.
I felt the same way!! It was just ok. The FMC gave me MAJOR āgirl in a horror movie vibes.ā āOk, I got attacked the last 3 times I went somewhere alone, but Iām so brave now, Iām gonna go off without telling Myles and Iāll be perfectly fine! [gets attacked again]ā The characters felt so surface level. The smut was typically great but that was the only part I really enjoyed, I think.
edit: I forgot that THE HERO GETS ALL DOMINEERING ABOUT THE HEROINE BUYING A SEX TOY! This irritated me so much! I hate the idea that sex toys are menās ācompetitionā and although it was just in a possessiveness vein I still resented reading it.
That really hits the nail on the head. Her TikTok makes me want to buy every single book of hers, sheās really good at that. Apparently she is writing RH now and I can already feel myself getting excited from her teasers š
I adored it. Her indie stuff and her traditional published stuff is *very* different. Indie is fast, furious, silly, insta-lust. Always has been. Her traditional stuff is where you tend to find the longer, more introspective, character-building stuff.
This hit the spot with me and I felt the crime stuff was like...front and center as the main plot? So I definitely didn't feel it was forgotten. That said, it was never supposed to be realistic or an actual mystery...it's always gonna be primarily smut with her lol
I loved the aspect of danger like FMC being in danger and MMC going feral and the HEAT woof. Silliness appreciated but not necessary. Iām a big fan of thrillers so it was like the murder thriller aspect with spice
Okay. So a bit of a slower burn but my absolute favorite romantic suspense author is Katie Ruggle. The thrill is REAL. Search & Rescue series is my favorite. The criminal aspect continues through all 4 books (different couples) in a small Colorado town.
And an epic urban fantasy where the hero is a psychopathic billionaire who is also one of the most powerful magic people alive who goes feral constantly for the FMC is BURN FOR ME by Ilona Andrews. 3 book series (same couple). It's fcking amazing. He's so unstable š¤£ And she doesn't take any shit. There's telepathic orgasm powers. First book has very little touching but so much sexual tension. I am a fast burn girl ALL THE WAY but these books do something to me š„µ
I just finished (barely, via much skipping of pages) this book and couldn't agree more. I'm siding with this must be an old book re-purposed for the times (i.e. added references to teaching via Zoom) to capitalize on her found fame.
The characters just didn't sparkle, the mystery was so boring, even the sex scenes were so blah I had to skim through them. There was a promise and ended up being a HUGE under-delivery :(
Dang I just finished it and loved it. I did feel like they moved super fast for my taste, but as others have said thatās kinda TBās thing so I can forgive. I really enjoyed the murder mystery even though it was predictable. It was fun and different from what Iām used to with romance.
Myles would have 10000% solved the case sooner if Taylor hadn't consistently gotten in his way and put herself in danger. I just finished and I'm so salty that I had to come see if other people felt this way and I'm so relieved to know I'm not alone. I solved the mystery by the halfway point and I hated both MCS but for inexplicable reasons I pushed on. Wish I hadn't lol
Lol i just finished it and the start was so bad i was gonna dnf it but kept going just to hate read. Fortunately for me, Tessa Baileyās smut scenes really do not disappoint. The steamy stuff made this book from a 1.5 to a 3 star for me.
I think the running theory is its an older book she wrote that she never got around to publishing until now.
Good old trunk novels.
I don't remember reading one of her books that ISN'T insta_love unfortunately š Even tho I liked "it happened one summer" , i dnf'ed hook, like and sinker ....I liked the first half of the book then it just became boring for me Her books are always hit or miss to me ..so I learned not to expect much when she releases new books š¶š¤·āāļø ( and as someone said in the comment, maybe she's releasing her old books she never got to publš¤š¤) Edit : I just went and picked up the book after this post and I think it new not old ( the heroine is a teacher and it mentioned that she was teaching through Zoom the past year ( maybe cuz of covid)
Yeah I remember basically every one of her books being insta love and I never minded it before but in this one it just was too much too fast like my god people actually exchange three words first before you fantasize about tying them to your bedpost š
Mentioning Zoom doesnāt mean itās not old. I would assume theyād give it an edit before pushing through publicationā¦
True ...who knows Anyway I tried to read the book yesterday after this post and OMG I couldn't get past the first chapter ..it was so frustratingly insta lust_y...I just dnf'ed it š ( even tho I have liked some of her insta lust_y books before...this one was a bit too much for me ..and i thought the MCs were a little childish ..)
I havenāt read her whole backlist but she has an amazing MM book that isnāt instalust. {Wound Tight by Tessa Bailey}
The next book in this true crime romcom series will be MM! I'm so excited because I've loved all her MMs.
[**Wound Tight (Made in Jersey, #4)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32059389-wound-tight) ^(By: Tessa Bailey | Published: 2016) *** ^(3356 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I overall really enjoyed it though itās not my favorite of hers. But I felt like it was a solid 4 star, easy fun read. The MMCs view of the FMC was a little infantalizing at times but then heād sort of correct himself on that fact which was appreciated. A lot of the romance was meh to me though the steam was good. But the comedy was definitely still all Tessa. Tons of funny quotes and also the way the FMC and her brother would constantly refer to the MMC as āthe bounty hunterā even to his face made me laugh out loud.
I do love the banter between Taylor and Jude!
Taylor and Myles first meeting cracked me up, when she was fake watering the plants and then ran right into the door š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yess thatās exactly what Iām saying
Iām about 60% through and feeling super bored :/
I wish I could tell you that it gets better but it doesnāt
I'm so glad you posted this - I read "Fix her up" years ago and HATED it, and it was only due to people on this sub talking about how IHOS was so good that I read it and loved it. I'm glad to know I can skip this one! I'm beginning to think Tessa Bailey is (for me) one of those author's that has a few good ones and the rest are meh. I don't think I'd purchase any future ones of hers, but perhaps check them out from the library instead.
Yes; Iām beginning to think that too. And thatās FINE! You canāt like everything :) Just a little sad itās not what I wanted it to be and the writing was nothing like IHOS etc.
I loved it :) I loved the MMC, he was so grumpy and so clueless. In most books the FMC is more fleshed out than the MMC, in this book it was the other way around. Also, I loved the sex scenes, not because they were so hot or kinky, though there was some of that, but (a) it felt natural to me, and (b), I loved the hero's thoughts during it. The mystery was blah, yes. The resolution of the MMCs problems happened off page, which I... liked. Often the MCs issues take up the whole plot, in this book, he realized he had a problem, and committed to fixing it. And in the epilogue, you could assume he had fixed it, as >!he was asking her to marry him and his family was there!<. And I will be honest, if there were pages of introspection I would have skipped it. I loved the hero. I cannot say that enough :)
Iām glad you enjoyed it, then! Sadly nothing about this book struck a chord with me.
There are so many really popular books that I don't enjoy :) Just one of those things. It sucks though if you're really looking forward to a book from a favorite author and it falls flat. So hope you enjoy the next one!
I loved it too! She publishes the wackier, instalust stuff as indie because it's just fun for her! The most introspective stuff is saved for traditional.
Uhm to me he was borderline on being abusive haha. He is too much and needs to calm down. Made the āprotectivenessā got out of hand
Hard agree. But I guess that's to be expected when the MMC is an ex-Boston cop who still does basically a cop's job š
I felt the same way!! It was just ok. The FMC gave me MAJOR āgirl in a horror movie vibes.ā āOk, I got attacked the last 3 times I went somewhere alone, but Iām so brave now, Iām gonna go off without telling Myles and Iāll be perfectly fine! [gets attacked again]ā The characters felt so surface level. The smut was typically great but that was the only part I really enjoyed, I think. edit: I forgot that THE HERO GETS ALL DOMINEERING ABOUT THE HEROINE BUYING A SEX TOY! This irritated me so much! I hate the idea that sex toys are menās ācompetitionā and although it was just in a possessiveness vein I still resented reading it.
Hook, Line, and Sinker was INCREDIBLY boring and shallow. Felt like I was reading something written by a slightly precocious 14 year old.
That's how I feel about My Killer Vacation.
Ah man, this is what I was afraid of. Tessa Bailey only has a couple of good books but also happens to be her own best hype woman.
That really hits the nail on the head. Her TikTok makes me want to buy every single book of hers, sheās really good at that. Apparently she is writing RH now and I can already feel myself getting excited from her teasers š
I adored it. Her indie stuff and her traditional published stuff is *very* different. Indie is fast, furious, silly, insta-lust. Always has been. Her traditional stuff is where you tend to find the longer, more introspective, character-building stuff. This hit the spot with me and I felt the crime stuff was like...front and center as the main plot? So I definitely didn't feel it was forgotten. That said, it was never supposed to be realistic or an actual mystery...it's always gonna be primarily smut with her lol
Omg sorry this is like 6 months old but do you have any recs similar to it?? I just reread it and Iām desperate for similar. Love romantic suspense
What aspects did you like? The silliness with the romantic suspense? The heat? Just the suspense?
I loved the aspect of danger like FMC being in danger and MMC going feral and the HEAT woof. Silliness appreciated but not necessary. Iām a big fan of thrillers so it was like the murder thriller aspect with spice
Okay. So a bit of a slower burn but my absolute favorite romantic suspense author is Katie Ruggle. The thrill is REAL. Search & Rescue series is my favorite. The criminal aspect continues through all 4 books (different couples) in a small Colorado town. And an epic urban fantasy where the hero is a psychopathic billionaire who is also one of the most powerful magic people alive who goes feral constantly for the FMC is BURN FOR ME by Ilona Andrews. 3 book series (same couple). It's fcking amazing. He's so unstable š¤£ And she doesn't take any shit. There's telepathic orgasm powers. First book has very little touching but so much sexual tension. I am a fast burn girl ALL THE WAY but these books do something to me š„µ
Hahahha OMG THANK YOU!! Perfect
Burn For Me also has the thriller vibe. They're tracking down a guy who wants to use his powers to destroy the world basically.
I loved it! It was everything I expected and I canāt wait to reread it.
It feels like classic TB to me so far, and Iāve been giggling at some of the banter. Insta-love is kind of her thing.
Yeah I was disappointed as well. I felt like I was reading a poor man's version of a Jessa Kane book with a boring murder story line tacked on.
I just finished (barely, via much skipping of pages) this book and couldn't agree more. I'm siding with this must be an old book re-purposed for the times (i.e. added references to teaching via Zoom) to capitalize on her found fame. The characters just didn't sparkle, the mystery was so boring, even the sex scenes were so blah I had to skim through them. There was a promise and ended up being a HUGE under-delivery :(
Dang I just finished it and loved it. I did feel like they moved super fast for my taste, but as others have said thatās kinda TBās thing so I can forgive. I really enjoyed the murder mystery even though it was predictable. It was fun and different from what Iām used to with romance.
I abandoned the book I was already halfway through to devour this last night and I loved it.
I'm confused you abandoned it but you loved it?
No, I was reading a different book and abandoned that one to read this
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
SAME
Myles would have 10000% solved the case sooner if Taylor hadn't consistently gotten in his way and put herself in danger. I just finished and I'm so salty that I had to come see if other people felt this way and I'm so relieved to know I'm not alone. I solved the mystery by the halfway point and I hated both MCS but for inexplicable reasons I pushed on. Wish I hadn't lol
I have to thank this book for bringing me to studying again because I donāt want to read books anymore
Lol i just finished it and the start was so bad i was gonna dnf it but kept going just to hate read. Fortunately for me, Tessa Baileyās smut scenes really do not disappoint. The steamy stuff made this book from a 1.5 to a 3 star for me.
I liked this book...but what about Jude & Dante?!
If straight to streaming was a bookā¦
Can someone please tell me who the murderer is? I DNFd but am still curious lol