Such an amazing story! Had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't put it down. So many theories running through my head the whole time. Definitely had to creepy factor with the most amazing characters. I love, love, LOVE, me some Mr. Remington!

As a fan of Ivy Smoak's other novels, I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of her newest standalone, Bad Things Feel Best. However; I found the characters to be dull and couldn't connect to any of them. I lost interest by the fifty percent mark and flipped fast through the rest.

The book follows Hazel who is starting a job as an assistant to a famous author, Athena Quinn. The author lives on an island where Hazel is hoping to receive inspiration in order to write her book. However, when she arrives at the house, it turns out she is working as the assistant to the assistant, Mr. Remington. The more time Hazel spends in the house the more she notices how peculiar and haunted the estate is. Secrets begin to become uncovered and Hazel wonders if she should have ever moved to the estate in the first place.

The plot I found to be extremely enjoyable read and just when you thought you knew what was going on, it was all suddenly turn around. My only issue is, that I instantly guessed one of the plot twists, so in that respect was a waiting game for me. There were also several pretty obvious hints towards this twist to I just wish there was more of an illusion towards the unknown rather than the seemingly obvious. But I really didn't mind this at all due to the second major twist (which I shall not spoil on here). I will just say, I wish so much that it was stuck with. You'll understand what I mean once you read it. It honestly kept me reading all night as I absolutely adored this twist and I was determined to give it five stars right up until the ending! Despite this, I was so attached to this book as I really didn't know where it was going to go.

I really would recommend this book to everyone it is such a short and thrilling read with so many twists.

3/5. Releases 8/8/2023.

For when you're vibing with... a chaste romantic thriller, a readalike for Colleen Hoover's Verity, and "my boss is maybe a murderer but like.... he's single...".

When Hazel Fox takes an assistant job on a private island, she looks forward to working with famous author Athena Quinn. But it turns out she's actually working for Athena's mysterious right hand--Mr. Remington. Mr. Remington doesn't want to be known by anyone, let alone Hazel; and the more she attempts to understand him, the more he resists her.

This book wasn't a match for me--and I think that's partly because of how it was marketed. But I think it possibly a good option for those who seek an entryway to romantic suspense... without quite as much murder and sex.

Quick Takes:

--Here's the thing. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not a big fan of reading something you know you won't be into and then giving it a low rating. I like romantic suspense, though it's been a while since I've read it. I'd never read Ivy Smoak before, and I assumed based the descriptions of and reviews for her other books that this would have some heat to it. I may not have done my research well enough there. I also assumed based on the marketing for this book that it would be a) both mystery-forward and romance-forward b) kind of mysterious and sexy.

I would not personally call this romance-forward. There is a romance plot, it is prominent. I do not think it was prominent enough for this to be categorized as genre romance. It's a side quest, in a sense, for Hazel. It's not super woven into the mystery itself, the way it might be in a romantic suspense novel. One of the reasons why I suggested it as a readalike for Verity (a book I didn't enjoy, but I know others have) is that the romance feels about as central to that novel as it does to this one.

--I love the island atmosphere in the novel, and the general sense of isolation is what built the eeriness up the most (though that's perhaps broken by the presence of Hazel's friend Kehlani; while I didn't dislike her character, she very much felt like the obligatory best friend versus a character Smoak put a lot of thought into, and she didn't really need to be there).

I just feel that the style of Hazel's narration, her POV, her personality... Kind of fucked with this book's ability to be a proper thriller. Before I began reading primarily romance, I went through a period wherein I read primarily thrillers. This book didn't commit to being a thriller any more than it committed to being a romance, to be honest. If you are newer to both genres, you may be satisfied with the light touch. I don't like a light touch. With anything.

--Hazel wasn't super believable to me as a protagonist. Yes, it's typical for thriller girls to be kind of nosy, to get into shit they should really leave alone. But there was something about the way she went about it that suggested a lack of connection to reality--and not in an intentional, "unreliable narrator/mentally ill protagonist" kind of way. It felt like she didn't get how this job was a move forward in her career, and didn't value it? Which seems like a petty thing to critique about a thriller-ish romance-ish novel, but like I said, this book has something of an identity crisis, so it felt more prominent to me.

--The reality is that as interesting as Mr. Remington could be in theory... He never actually becomes a truly fleshed out character. And if only one character feels actually prominent (and she never even seems to 100% like this man) you cannot connect to the romance plot. Or at least, I can't.

The Sex Stuff:

This book is closed door, and to be honest, that seems oddly soft for a book that's meant to be dark? Definitely doesn't gel with the title or the way it's being marketed.

I feel like this was hard for me to come to an opinion on--because I'm really not the reader for this subgenre. It's not quite a thriller, not quite a romance. It's difficult for me to critique it, because I don't really know what standards I'm judging it by...? But again, I imagine that Colleen Hoover readers (or at least Verity readers) may like it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Montlake for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bad Things Feel Best is the upcoming newest book for Ivy Smoak and I’ve read some of her other series and loved it but honestly this book fell flat for me :(

I downloaded it because it was available free for one day and went into it blind. I want to keep this review spoiler free-ish so I won’t go into extensive detail but what really broke the book for me was the characters.

I just felt like one of them captured my attention at all and the MMC, Mr. Remington, who was supposed to be morally grey man was anything but to me. He was just flat out boring.
Then we have Hudson who was basically a throw away character. He was in a love triangle with the FMC but was really just a buffer type.
And then we have Hazel who is the FMC, she again was kind of boring to me and had no character development.

The books plot reminded me of an off brand verity and just fell through. I Love Ivy’s other books but this one just didn’t do it for me :(

Thank you to Netgalley for offering this book up in exchange for an honest review

Bad Things Feel Best (Kindle Edition) by Ivy Smoak
Hazel Fox and Mr. Remington both have their own secrets. She is hired to be an assistant to a famous author - but finds out that she is the assistant to the assistant -Mr. Remington. The house is spooky and there are so many rules. There is angst, deceit, secrets, mystery, a few laughs and tears, romance, steam, interesting people all getting to a HEA.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Action-packed Informative Page-turner Haunting Romantic Happily Ever After Twisted Scary Entertaining Steamy.

3.5 stars
Bad Things Feel Best by Ivy Smoak had an interesting premise, smexy bits, silly and fun parts but im still not too sure on the hero. The end fell a little short for me. Will there be a follow up book? I hope so.

I had higher hopes for this one, but it fell flat for me. Hazel was naive and for an aspiring author I expected her to be more in tune with her surroundings. Mr. Remmington was a mysterious character that I wanted to know more of. The plot twist I saw coming and didn't really do much for me. Overall, it was a quick read, but nothing that I was really loving.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.
This is my first title by this author and will read more in the future.
Will recommend this to anyone looking for a new title.
I requested this book as i was drawn in by the cover and thought it looked interesting.
Thanks again for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
5/5 stars

Reading this, I thought we were heading for a vampire reveal, which would have been a positive. That didn't happen and not much else did either.

Thank you Montlake, Ivy and Netgalley for my arc in exchange for an honest review!

This reminded me of Bitten By Desire by Ivy, but with more mystery and way less steam. It is an easy quick romance thriller that will be the perfect end of summer read. As with all Ivy books you get a little bit of laughter throughout with side characters. There was a lot of build up to the mystery and you don’t get any answers until the last 5% of the book! I really want a chapter of Mr. Remington at the end!

Ivy Smoak is a new author for me, but I see she has written quite a number of books previously. This one was a lot of fun, and I would classify it as both a thriller and a romance novel.

Description:
Hazel Fox arrives at her new job on a private island hoping to get inspiration from a renowned novelist, only to discover she won’t be working with the author after all. She won’t even get to meet her. Instead, she’ll be assisting the handsome—and infuriating—Mr. Remington.

Mr. Remington unnerves Hazel from the moment they meet. Not only because he’s cold and strict and seems hell-bent on getting her to quit…but because his eyes are the same color of the ocean in their backyard. And his intense gaze always seems to be trained on her. Mr. Remington refuses to share any personal information about himself—not even his first name. But if there’s one thing Hazel is certain of in this beautiful, isolated estate, it’s that Mr. Remington has secrets. And those secrets are dangerous.

Something sinister is going on, and Hazel is determined to discover the truth…no matter how close she has to get to Mr. Remington. After all, it’s the things that are bad for us that feel best.

My thoughts:
I think I would have quit on the first day of the job when Hazel found out that she was not going to be the author's assistant, but the assistant to the assistant. I enjoyed the back and forth banter between Hazel and Mr. Remington. The book was a fun read and there were a couple of times I laughed out loud. There was just enough spookiness to make you wonder. Loved the setting of the creepy old house with the secret passageways and all the locked doors.

Thanks to Montlake through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on August 8, 2023.

I already laugh with double meaning in Mr.Remington word. As a writer, Hazel imagination running wild with the estat and it is mystery leading into one conclusion. Remington's is vampire clan. Some question doesnt get answer so the vampire thing maybe true. No sexy time really dissapoitment me.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#BadThingsFeelBest #IvySmoak #Montlake #NetGalley #ARC

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was an excellent read! This was an intense and crazy romance with thrills and some chills. I couldn't put it down. A wonderful and compelling who done it. Highly recommend

I don't even know how I feel about this one... a little Verity, a little twilight inspo?

I like it!

3 stars because the ending was a little lackluster.

This book was brilliant. Such an easy read that had me gripped from the get go. I loved all the characters, Hazel and Kehlani’s friendship was perfect. I still have soo many questions though! I will definitely be thinking about this book for a while yet

I did enjoy my read through of this book! Took a little while but I did finish it!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for early access to this book!

I would definitely recommend this book; it was very engaging and kept me hooked with the plot twists. I loved the development of the main characters. Plot was fast-paced and kept me engaged. 4/5 stars

Ok, so I went in to this book not really knowing what to expect.
I have to say, once I started reading I was kinda gripped by the story.
Ivy's world building is one of my favourite things about her as an author, and this book was no different. I could really picture where the story was taking place.
I did call the plot twist quite early on, but it didn't detract from the story.
I definitely enjoyed the journey our characters went on, even though I did find the FMC a little irritating from time to time.
This is a 3 star read for me because I still have quite a few unanswered questions, and I'm one of those people who much prefers to have everything all tied up in a nice neat bow at the end of the story.
I still think it's definitely worth a read though 👌

This one kept me on the edge of my seat! I had no idea what the ending was going to be and enjoyed all of the twists and turns.