Shortcake

Read online Shortcake.pdf PDF, EPUB, MOBI, TXT, DOC Shortcake 3.5 starsThis is a bit of a tricky one. I confess this is a bit rant heavy & going to be kinda rambly. I'm quite not sure why. Honestly nothing really left me pissed. So anyways, you were warned. lol.Start with the good…- For a debut book, credit for Shortcake is definitely due. The appeal is there as is LW’s talent & potential as a writer. For the most part, I did enjoy Shortcake. LW's sarcasm is definitely in my wheelhouse & had me chuckling more than a few times. She also had me pulling for Emmy to find her happiness - whether with Ben or not 🤷🏻‍♀️. - The battle of wills was something else between these two. Honestly, Shortcake might've been more aptly titled The Hating Game: the Real One. lol. Cause I totally believe Emmy & Ben hated each other way more than Lucy & Josh(tHG)[I liked tHG a lot btw, so that's not a diss either way…just to be clear lol]. The chutzpah both had to go at each other was pretty entertaining for the most part.- Ben's friends & Emmy's new friend. Nick & Winston have some serious potential as heroes of their own stories written all over them. Diablo, Emmy's nickname for Nick, is spot on in the best way btw. He is t-r-o-u-b-l-e & I kinda love him already 😂. He was killing me with the kilts & flock of love 😂😂😂. Both guys are charming as hell. Mara was a fun friend too. Although how Emmy & Mara became friends was a bit awkward to me. - Once Ben acted on his feelings, they were great together - passionate, funny, sweet. Love his protective streak for her & when they both took care of each other on separate occasions.On the flipside…- W/o question, enemies-to-lovers & slowburn tropes are favorites of mine. So as humorous & entertaining as the battle of wills was for a time, the story went TOO LONG w/o so much as a hint of Ben developing any romantic inclination towards Emmy. Quite honestly, even after reading it start to finish & taking time to digest it a bit, I still don't buy his confession of fighting his romantic feelings for as far back as he claims. I would contend he legitimately hated her for at least half of the book. I felt no affection from Ben, hidden or otherwise. He came across as taking genuine satisfaction in causing her misery in that time. (To be fair, Emmy was no shrinking violet. She gave as good as she got. Having her POV gave light to where what she gave back at him came from - hurt, disappointment, pride, feeling lost/unsettled.) - Likely the biggest culprit to why I felt this way above is the lack of a dual POV. Dual POV isn't a must for me, but here with Shortcake only being from Emmy's POV, the lack of Ben’s definitely hindered the believability of his change of heart began as far back as he claims. Especially since it was a long time before his actions tipped his hand. I mean it didn't need to be equally shared one. Something like 5 or 6 chapters in Ben's POV would've gone a long way.- There were several noticeable loose ends &/or underdeveloped plot points to their backgrounds. The glaring one of the bunch is her cousin Derek. As close as Emmy & Derek were supposed to be, it's odd their relationship was left unresolved after all the tension by Emmy living with Ben caused them. Honestly, Ben did seem to be right about the accusation he made about Derek, but it was never addressed or squashed. Also the baggage both Emmy & Ben seemed to be carrying around from their own pasts was barely touched on, yet clearly responsible for why they were the way they were entering each other's worlds at the start - imho at least. - I still can't wrap my head around neither one copping to why the proposal really happened & going through with it.That probably sounds like more than it is. The positives really outweighed these latter points for the most part. It was just so close aside from those areas, ya know. I am definitely interested to see what's to come from LW in the future. by Lucy Watson