Heart-thumping, head-scratching, nail-biting stuff: The Favour is classic Nicci French. I read it in one breathless sitting’ Erin Kelly I don't expect this to be a very popular read because it's marketed as a thriller, when it isn't. Like Good Husbands by Cate Ray, readers may be disappointed by the "false advertisement" of sorts. I enjoy a character-driven story, so having to 'adapt" to the content wasn't a negative for me. An enjoyable yet melancholy, poignant tale.

so naturally, with all the tropes above ⤴ i gravitated towards this book like the typical slowburn, marriage of convenience ho that i am. and now you're probably asking, mel why did it take you two weeks to finish?? well y/n imma answer that later. sorry. BUT ANYWAYS- Then we're introduced to Liam's housemates, an eccentric cast of characters, and Jude is mesmerized by these lunatics. Like, what? She finds them all so mysterious and intriguing, and tall - apparently they are all so tall that they make her feel like a tiny little girl. I can't make this shit up. This is mentioned several times. cause yeah, you just experienced something great, something huge and it's something that you secretly hoped it would be cause it's a work by one of your favourite authors, yeah, talking about you, Suzanne Wright Wiping all emotion from my face, I lifted my head. “Not a thing. I’m just bowled over by the level of bling.”

A note about Crude: I didn't consider this a crude story, but some of their sexy times include terms in, um, the vernacular. If you're particularly sensitive to crude language, that may be enough. I didn't think it was, but I'll admit I'm not a great gauge for that aspect of stories. At any rate, none of it was degrading or belittling, for all of the note below, so be reassured if that was a suspicion or concern. Dane has all the respect for Vienna you could hope for and that is always at the forefront of his interactions with her, even in his head.

That trust in each other was key to my engagement in the story both because it was as strong as it was and because it gave me the assurance that they were good for each other and that they'd make an outstanding team. Plus, they communicated, even when things looked dire and/or caused them to question their devotion. The same thing happens with other people as well. Whenever there is a person who objects to their relationship, the way they defend it -even when it was fake- was admirable because they still valued each other when it was pretend.

See also

they both want his trust fund so they're trying to sabotage his marriage by talking shit about Dane and Vienna, fake cheating pictures, telling Vienna's foster parents Dane might not love her because he just wanted to marry her for his trust fund, etc. It's implied that Jude is an incredibly intelligent woman though you'd never guess that by reading this book. First of all, YES you can say NO to this favor. I know as the novel progresses we do learn the reason as to why she helps him but even with this information I still think she should have walked away. Doordat het begin zo goed was had ik misschien ook te hoge verwachtingen voor het verdere verloop. Helaas kwam dit dus niet helemaal uit. Wel is de schrijfstijl weer super prettig! But I would have managed it,” he assured me, pitching his voice low. “Because what do I always get?”

My only criticisms were that the story got a little repetitive in the middle (a reoccurring ex and the spreading of misinformation) and the villains of the story were kind of OTT and really petty. This was dysfunctional family to the extreme. Granted, I personally have dysfunctional relatives that haven't grown out of their high school phase, so I'm willing to let this slide. So there were a lot of things that I enjoyed about this book, starting from the fake marriage trope, workplace romance, the slow burn, the broody alpha hero, the strong smart not a doormat heroine, the side characters specially her family, how they respect each other even if the whole thing was “fake”, and finally the angst which turned into an explosive chemistry.

Wordle Helper

The police put forward several theories, none of which satisfy Jude, and make even more accusations. But it is the final theory that is the most chilling and absolutely feasible. I think the author wanted to kill me NOT softly with every new chapter, since I was waiting for Dane’s pov, but he only opened up in the last couple of chapters.

the beginning was so slow. im so sorry but i wanted to dnf this so many times because of the first half. there was just so much telling > showing and not enough banter to set the tone for the MCs dynamic, thus, i didn't feel their chemistry. like, they went on 3 dates in the beginning and there were time jumps from that and it was all explained in inner monologue. that bums me out because i wanted to see dialogue mainly so i can see MORE chemistry and more of their dynamic through BANTER. but they had none of that in the first half. As Jude gets herself more and more enmeshed in what was Liam’s bohemian life, do her choices stretch the bounds of credibility? Most decidedly. But, a bit like a train crash, it’s hard to look away. Never think I'm a man who ever settles for anything less than exactly what he wants. I never have, I never will. I know how to get what I want, and I know how to keep it." Those are not direct quotes per se but these same questions are asked of Jude by EVERYONE in the book. The same questions and the same answers over and over again. 😵 Well this book was one of my most anticipated read of 2023. I enjoyed it a lot but not the way I thought I would considering it had one of my favourite trope "Marriage of Convenience". The start was really good and captivating because of how the things escalated but then it just got boring and repetitive. But I liked the last 30% of the book so much because of Dane and Vienna's sweet and adorable moments. In the start Dane literally treated her as some thing he owned but thank god he changed that behaviour later because I would have hated him if there was no character development in that matter. Don't get me wrong I love possessive man but he was just way too possessive possessive. But the most adorable thing about this book was when Dane decided that he does wants a future with Vienna and he even wants to have kids with her. Books where the main character who is against having kids in future but ends up having lots of them always melts my heart. And truly Dane and Vienna deserve all this happiness.Anyhow, I saw some of my mutuals point out how overly dramatic this book is and honestly, i didn’t see it at first - does that say how much of a drama queen i am in real life? mayhaps. Kent: sweetest man and he is better off with out Jen. Jen should’ve known better to come after Dane and Vienna.