Talk:America's Most Eligible: All Stars Choices/@comment-37139825-20190522073252

I didn't think I would like this series, mostly due to my immense hatred of reality television, but I was pleasantly surprised. The first book wasn't anything special to me and, outside of Adam, I didn't really love it overall. But I surprisingly liked this one quite a bit. I guess I felt it was more fair in terms of the show itself, even with all the "twists," but I suppose most of my love for it is because of the romance aspect. Although that also feels lacking in some places, I still really enjoyed how often I was able to have romance scenes with Adam (a rare positive for the first book, too), and I enjoyed how organically it played out. I could really get behind the growth of my MC and Adam and buy the progression of their real relationship within a setting like this. Finally being able to partner up with him was fun. And yes, I'm a big 'ol romantic so the engagement alone made this book worth playing, for me! So sweet.

I'm glad they didn't feature Ivy so extensively this time around since her whole ordeal was one of the main reasons I didn't like the first book as much. I truly hated Vince and how sickeningly two-faced he was, but I respected that he was at least obvious about being a terrible person off camera, whereas Ivy was always a snake and got away with it. I liked being able to encourage Heath and Kiana's relationship (I'm personally someone who hates when other characters are created to be paired off with the extra LI's, even ones I never romance, because it makes the story feel as if the MC is canonicly second best, which is purely my opinion; I was always glad they never really made anyone for Chris in TF series... he was the only one I ever romanced/loved out of those LI's, but if I had to had play with the knowledge that there was someone else out there for him then you bet I would've been very unhappy! lolol. Anyways, my actual point was to say that while it's usually a big No from me when it comes to matchmaking LI's, I usually always go for matchmaking secondary characters, and I thought it was sweet that my mc could take Heath under her wing and set him up with Kiana). I liked spending time with and learning more about Adam, Jen, Derek, and Mackenzie I liked, as previously mentioned, all the cute romance stuff with Adam.

I also liked that Carson had sort of an arc, but I didn't like that they never really gave me an opportunity to be upset with him about how he helped Ivy sabotage MC the previous season. He was just as guilty and yet the story acted as if he was just some goofy friend who needed comforting in the end. Carson is an interesting character, but being fired from the promotion he got from underhanded means is no punishment, especially since he's happier being the host. I also didn't like how they tried to force Jen on my MC, or at least it felt that way, a couple of times. I never had any romantic interactions with her at any point, so the weird bits with Omar--that seemed to disappear as fast as they showed up--were pretty unnecessary. Also, Slater felt so wasted. I didn't particularly like him, but I felt as if he could have been more impactful and yet just ended up as a wasted opportunity. And it was so strange that he seemed like Vince's lapdog when they became partners when A) he had just as strong a personality as Vince and should've stood out more during those chapters, and B) he acted like an enemy of the MC even when I kept him in the game as long as possible, with his status as ally! Also-also: the whole big to-do about Vince snd Slater wanting to "expose" the MC--over the meeting with that Gallagher guy, I'm assuning--and also claiming the MC isn't as innocent as they let on even tho the worst thing I did was ruin Vince's pie, which had already been out on the open, was strange. Is it somehow sequel thing or just empty words? Eh.

So, yeah. There were issues I had with this book (and series), but I'll admit to being extra picky due to my hatred of the premise in general. The MC/Adam stuff really had me enjoying this installment and, at least for now, has me looking forward to what's next.