Note: These books each stand alone but are related to each other.
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
Narrated by Joy Nash and Sebastian York
I had a recommendation for A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone, but I wanted to start at the beginning of the series so I picked up A Merry Little Meet Cute by the duo first.
Bee Hobbs is a plus-sized porn star who is offered a last-minute lead role in a Hallmark-style Christmas movie on the Hope Channel, but she has to keep her alternate career a secret from the wholesome channel. Her co-star is none other than her childhood boy band crush, Nolan Shaw. The problem is, Nolan recognizes her because he is one of the biggest fans on her private porn channel.
A Merry Little Meet Cute had all of the elements of a book I would love, but I had a few issues with it.
A: What meet cute? B: It’s over 11 hours long, too long for a cute Christmas romcom. C: Seriously? How could they think nobody would find out she’s a porn star? D: How many times could he jerk off with gingerbread lotion? E: It wasn’t very Christmassy. Last, F: The depiction of bipolar. As someone who has lived with a person with bipolar and is in a ton of support groups, it is rare that someone’s illness is completely out of control and affects all of the family all the time.
Still, I loved that Bee was plus-sized. I really liked all the characters, and it was an pretty good listen. The narration was fabulous and added to my enjoyment.
Rating: 3.5 stars, 4 Heat, 5 Narration
AMAZON | AUDIBLE
A Holly Jolly Ever After by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
Narrated by Joy Nash and Chris Brinkley
A Holly Jolly Ever After followed another member of the boy band INK, this time it’s about Callum who was always the least popular member of the band. He has a dad bod, but when a sex tape starring him leaked he suddenly became more popular, and he is starring in another movie, this time for the sexy new channel, Hope After Dark.
The co-star in this movie is Winnie, who was brought up very religious and pure and starred in the Hope channel’s pure movies when she was younger, until her narcolepsy was mistaken for public drunkenness and her reputation was ruined. Now, years later, she is making a comeback in the adult branch of the company. But when she has to act out the climax in intimate scenes, she isn’t able to because she has never experienced one for herself. Don’t you worry, Callum offers to step in and fix that for her!
I absolutely loved the first half of A Holly Jolly Ever After, but I’m wondering if the co-writing style was just to switch authors halfway through, because the second half did not live up to the first at all, and almost felt like a different book.
I loved how the authors continued focusing on body positivity, self-esteem, media reputation, double standards and more. I loved that we had a slightly plus-sized male star in this one and he was Jewish, but I found it a little too long again, and the second half just was a little too predictable, and it lost its way a bit. Still, I will definitely pick up a third one next year if they write it about the third band member.
Rating: 4 Stars, 4 Heat, 4.5 Narration
AMAZON | AUDIBLE
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