Casee
Live for you by Michele Mills: Both the hero and heroine ruined this book for me. They were both unbearable. Not to mention the time spent describing the hero’s junk. I ended up wanting to punch his junk.
Lies by Kylie Scott: The heroine here was TSTL. I couldn’t deal. I liked her “go get ’em” attitude, but it didn’t work in this situation. At all.
More Than Want You by Shayla Black: The hero was awful. Simply awful. I couldn’t stand him or the plot. It was all very off-putting.
Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks: This couple didn’t work for me at all. I didn’t understand what they saw in each other. Their relationship was so forced that it hurt to read.
Fever by Maya Banks: I didn’t like Jace at all. He was such an ass. He had so much more power in the relationship than he did and it was just awful to read. Yuck.
Dishonorable Mentions: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, Still Not Over You by Nicole Snow, and Filty English by Ilsa Madden-Mills.
Holly
Good Girl by Lauren Layne: Rowena told me not to read this book, but I forgot and read it anyway. So.Much.Regret. The “hero” was such a fucking dick I wanted to junk punch him for the majority of the book.
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey: Annie, the heroine, ruined this book for me. She was condescending and judgmental throughout the entire book. She jumped to conclusions and refused to admit when she was wrong. And that was before she seriously breached the hero’s privacy and completely ruined the book for me.
First Contact by Kat Green: Between the TSTL heroine and the predictable plot, this book didn’t work for me at all. I was sort of vaguely interested in the mystery behind the ghosts at first, but that didn’t last long.
Free by Kristen Ashley: KA has been more miss than hit with me for her last few releases, but Free was just so far outside of what I was expecting, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. The villain of the series had more page time getting pegged than the romance had. It was pretty bad.
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez: This fucking book, man. I can’t even. The heroine was such an awful person with all the games she played, I was shaking with rage by the time I finished it. It gets a bit fat NOPE from me.
Rowena
Bad Reputation (Bad Bachelors #2) by Stefanie London: I hated this book. I hated a lot about this book. The heroine’s taste in friends for one, then there was that shitty thing that the hero does, that pissed me off and there was also the way that I understood why the heroine felt the way that she felt but was still frustrated that she was real dumb about it. This whole book was a mess and I didn’t like any of it.
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez: Ugh, I haven’t thought about this book since I finished it. Like, I don’t even know where to start with how much I hated this book. I couldn’t stand the heroine and her stupid ass games, her stupid ass lies, and her stupid ass behavior throughout this entire book. Don’t even get me started on Brandon and the heroine of the next book. Just, don’t even get me started. I fucking hated this book and that’s that.
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfree: Another book on my list with a heroine that pissed me the hell off. I remember wanting to pull her damn hair right out. All of it. She was ridiculous and the way she treated Drew, the way that she acted throughout the entire book, including writing a freaking screenplay about her best friend and her best friend’s boss and THEN SOLD the manuscript BEFORE she told her best friend? Yeah, I thought this book was trash buckets and I didn’t like it at all.
The Wrong Game by Kandi Steiner: This wasn’t the worst book that I read in 2019 but it was nowhere near close to the best. I just didn’t really connect with much outside of the hero. I thought the hero was a good one but the heroine left a lot to be desired and her game playing pissed me off far too often.
Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec & Andi Arndt: Heidi was raised in a small town, lived a very sheltered life and throughout this entire book, she annoyed the snot out of me. The shit that her hero found cute and adorably sweet? I thought was stupid. Just, this entire book had a lot of potential but it didn’t hit at all. The more I listened, the more I wanted to karate chop everyone and everything. Blech.
I have a copy of Waiting for Tom Hanks–wonder if I should bother reading it?
I vote no….but I think we’re one of the only ones that hated it.
I liked both Lies by Kylie Scott and Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. The audio of Lies was great, and while there were moments of stupidity on the part of the heroine, she mostly handled herself well in the situations she was thrown in. My two biggest pet peeves are for heroines to be TSTL or doormat-like, and she was pretty resilient, at least IMHO.
I can see why the Friend Zone was problematic for you guys. I had a few issues as well, but the awesome narrators (Teddy Hamilton!) really pushed me through them. Their chemistry and all the banter was great.
My worst of 2019 were Say I’m Yours by Corinne Michaels and Hooking Up by Helena Hunting. Even the combination of Andi Arndt and Sebastian York could not redeem Say I’m Yours. I hated (HATED) both the hero and the heroine and actively wished for their demise. As for Hooking Up, let’s just say that in a contest for wimpiest heroines with the worst judgements, this heroine has definitely distinguished herself. The worst part was that those were my first books by two much recommended authors; I’m not sure if I’m feeling brave enough to risk a second try.
We read the eBook for The Friend Zone so that’s probably why a lot of the problematic stuff was front and center throughout the entire book for us. It was just, ugh. I couldn’t stand the games, the heroine’s thinking she knew what was best for everyone, mostly the hero. Grrr.
The most disappointing read of 2019 for me was Cara Dee’s THEIR BOY, an m/m/m-bdsm-ménage novel about a committed couple (both “Daddy Doms” in the bdsm world and the heroes of Dee’s TOP PRIORITY) who open their relationship to a younger (but, I hasten to add, legally adult) man. You’d think a book like that would be emotionally angsty and full of hot sexy-times. Alas, I found it utterly tedious.
I’m with you, Casee, in that I have up on Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. I enjoyed The Friend Zone but I can understand the issues others had.
Hmm … That should say GAVE up.
I didn’t like Brazen and the Beast by Sarah Maclean. I know a lot of people liked this book, but I thought the heroine did a lot of talking about being independent instead of actually doing it. I haven’t enjoyed this series.
Interesting to see Lies by Kylie Scott on your list. I found it very meh!