Whitney G.

Oh, wow, this was ridiculously bad.

Carter and Arizona have been friends since fourth grade. They are the closest of platonic friends - until they, as is most convenient for the plot, both suddenly at the same time realise how insanely hot they are for each other.

With all the language skills of a teenager and the sensitivity of a butcher, Whitney G. spins a tale as coherent as a fever dream and as inventive as a rerun (this novel contains not a single original thought).

Arizona sneaks show more routinely into paid cooking lessons, and, in doing so, manages to get a full scholarship at “the second best culinary school in the world” in France and plans to move there. The remaining two weeks until her departure, she spends nearly every waking moment and every night with Carter. He, in turn, is so great between the sheets, he sexually awakens her, and Whitney G. writes smut like this:

»“Oh… Oh...Oh god…”. I felt him [...]. “Ahhh… Ahhh…”«

And that’s just the very obvious tip of the proverbial iceberg of bad, weird writing throughout the entire novel. In my reading experience, G.’s authorial eloquence is pretty much at rock bottom. It’s so bad that she used to self-publish under what is probably her real name, Whitney Gracia Williams. In Germany, the media must shorten the names of criminal suspects. That G. does it herself seems perfectly fitting.

Just before leaving for the airport, Arizona finally expresses her feelings for Carter to him in plain words. Carter, who wants to become a hotshot lawyer, has the amazing idea to respond by pushing her firmly away (“I don’t love you like that and it was just sex for me.”). He does it because he is obviously convinced Arizona needs to be protected from herself…
(Which she will actually confirm to be true later on.)

To top off this male chauvinist crap, Carter is obviously as smart as a paramecium when he tells Arizona the following near the end of the reader’s torture:

»If I knew that what I said would make you give me the cold shoulder or stop talking to me, I can promise you that I never would’ve done it and I would take it back in a heartbeat.«

Arizona moves to France, becomes the ultimate cooking princess there, befriends characters as flat as cardboard cutouts (which every person in this novel is), and eventually returns home with a boyfriend to whose presence Carter predictably reacts like an enraged gorilla. He first pounds his chest until Arizona caves and finally lets him pound her again.

Much to my dismay, the author also seems to face semantic or memory challenges:

»Panting and trembling, I shut my eyes—not answering any of his questions that he peppered with forehead kisses.«

In this scene, Carter didn’t ask a single question…

There’s also this gem of a scene in which Arizona confesses her feelings for Carter to her mother:

»”I asked him if he had feelings that were more than friend-like, if he felt like there was something more than sex between us, and he said no.”
“You asked him that in person?”
“No. It was in a text message. Same thing.”«

The thing is: She actually did ask him in person before leaving for the airport. It’s bad when an author doesn’t even remember what they wrote before…

As if all of that wasn’t bad enough in itself, the pace is that of a snail on tranquilisers. Thankfully, I read this mostly at night, so the way this steaming turd wore me out helped me find my way to bed. Since the novel was also as emotionally moving as reading IKEA instructions, it numbed my mind sufficiently to sleep at any moment.

Stay well away from this, my friends! Don’t be a non-DNFing Wulf!

One star out of five.

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This book was all over my feed earlier this year. Like, I swear, if my Goodreads friends weren't reviewing it, they were liking and commenting on other reviews of it. And the consensus was generally positive, so I put it on my Amazon wish list, because that's what I do with books I really want to read, but not right this second. And so it sat there for a few months, until I got a notification that the price dropped, and then I snapped it up and devoured it. Why did I wait?

Anyway, everybody show more knows that I love a good friends-to-lovers story. It's literally my favorite trope ever. Sincerely, Carter is a good example of what I like in this genre.

Arizona and Carter, BFF's since the fourth -- or maybe fifth -- grade, have kept it strictly platonic for years. Ask them if they've ever thought about romance, and they'll laugh and tell you absolutely not, they think of each other like siblings. It's a perfect friendship, until one day they realize their mutual attraction. Where did these feelings come from? Should they ignore them? Should they go for it? Can their friendship take it?

The book begins fairly low on the drama scale, and I am all for that. Carter and Arizona have amazing chemistry, and I absolutely loved all the flashbacks and memories throughout. It just made their relationship feel that much stronger. The drama/angst level does pick up with an intentional misunderstanding, and I was so frustrated with these two that I didn't know what to do with myself... but I had to keep reading. The book wraps up quickly, a little too quickly if you ask me, but luckily I was late enough to the party that Sincerely, Arizona was already out by the time I finished.

Overall, Sincerely, Carter is a really well-written example of what I like in my friends-to-lovers stories. It's equally cute, funny, and steamy, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for other books by this author. show less

My Review:

I will keep my thoughts on this one short because I didn't care for this one at all. I really wanted more from this one but I am baffled by all the five stars for it because its such a hot mess from beginning to end. These two are just not good for each other and there wasn't anything in their story to redeem them for me. I think all they have in their relationship is sex and hate and lies lol There is no real substance or value and I wish I had DNF but I honestly kept hoping it show more would get better in the end but it honestly never does and so I am just relieved to be done with this book and move onto something better. It just most definitely wasn't for me. It felt like a old school bodice ripper only instead of historical its a contemporary. Maybe if I read this a decade ago or longer I might have enjoyed it more but I just didn't with this one. show less

I have to admit something about this book....I love love love it. I have read it at least six times since this summer. It is hilarious. Not a typical rom-com type of hilarious because well ...there's a lot of sex scenes--too many for it to be a rom-com. But I laughed at the ways that Lara was being spiteful. And how he was always one step ahead of her. They keep each other on their toes. A complete perfect match! I love books like this! I am sad every time I finish the book. I have book show more depression. I don't do this for many books.

Ok, I will stop ranting and tell ya about the actual book.

Tara Lauren is a Princeton grad with a MBA and JD, who wants to work in the glorious New York City. She didn't account for how flippin expensive it is to live there. After her 200th job application, and almost as many interviews...ok a handful of entry level interviews, Lara is still looking for that first post college career job. In the mean time, she slips into Parker Hotels for their free breakfast and sometimes she borrows a room for the night. Desperate times call for desperate measures. A girl's gotta eat.

Preston Parker is a cutthroat CEO of the prestigious Parker Hotels, a series of hotels that make the Waldolf look cheap. The premier five star hotel chain--#1 in the business. He has two major issues--1) someone is stealing from him, 2) he has to hire a new executive assistant asap since he keeps going through them faster than rushing water. First things first.

Preston Parker does something out of the ordinary for him; instead of firing someone for the theft, he hires them. The first week Lara is there, she wants to quit. But the salary is too good. There's an office pool for when Lara will quit. Nothing ever goes according to plan. Preston is extremely particular about how the office runs. He comes in early and so should his right hand person. Lara's life is turned completely upside down with this job.

But she's had enough. No more. She has spent the last two years answering every text, email, and request from Mr. Preston Parker. No more. She missed moments in her friends and families' lives. Her boyfriend broke up with her. And he even sabotaged her Tinder hook up when she shut her phone off for the date. Done. She had to resort to using BOB while Preston was giving her a run down of what he needed for the next day or to criticize her shortcomings. She imagined Preston the entire time.

Preston won't let her quit. It's in her contract that she can't quit. Never trust white space and the fine print. Idiot. She tries to get fired. She picks up McDonald's coffee instead of his favorite coffee bistro. She comes in late--in yoga pants. She shuts her phone off. She does everything she can but not do her job. She should. But she can't it's not in her. It would break her to completely shuck her responsibilities. Preston knows it. He has also been making comments to get under her skin and skirt.

Something changes. Preston needs her help with a personal matter. If she helps him, she can quit in 6 weeks after finding her replacement. The last six weeks is almost heaven. If her job was like this with Preston benefits she wouldn't want to leave. A part of her doesn't. But if she wants to run her own company some day she needs to do this.

In many ways this reminds me of the movie Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant except Preston isn't an idiot. I never really like Grant's character in that movie because he was completely and utter dependent upon Bullock's character. The movie didn't show what he was like before they met. The character seemed a bit flat until he met her. But Bullock's character does have similarities to Lara...they both want to kill their boss. Both hate their jobs and how their job consumes every aspect of their lives.

Both make me laugh. show less