Buck up, Buttercup was utterly disappointing. Between the racial slurs, ableist slurs/language, slut shaming, misogyny, multiple sexual assaults (which some were played off as OK & normal?), physical assault and constant harassment - the only filler was more drama. I was drawn in by the cover and romance but was left feeling so uncomfortable. It’s 2022 - please rethink the language you are using in your books - it had no significance to the story and was written as “normal” and “ok” to say. Disappointed is a understatement.

Thank you to NetGalley and Water's Edge Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an adorable enemy to lovers Rom Com. In Buck Up Buttercup, we meet Randi and Buck. Randi is an uptight, self-contained college girl who needs a room. Somewhere she can study and hide from people (they're confusing and scary, in her opinion). She thinks she's found just that but alas the opposite it true. The room she's reserved is in the campus' most rowdy house. Insert, Buck, who appears to have it all (friends, fun, and a plethora of girls who admire him). Buck gets more than he bargained for in Randi and soon they both begin to think maybe that's what they need.

This is my favorite type of Rom Com. They are angsty until the characters chemistry takes over. The book is well written, and the characters are enjoyable. I found myself rooting for Randi and Buck while loving their individual growth in the book. The plot is fun, I love the combination of campus life with cowboy life. I look forward to seeing how this series unfolds.

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you Anna Alkire and Xpresso Book Tours. I'm excited to be a part of this tour.

This books is full of stereotypes and not in the cliché cute kinda way, it was in the annoying, irritating way.

The whole thing was drama, stupid drama, that I don’t know where it was supposed to go, like Randi was shamed so much for trying to be better at school when she didn’t want to get drunk, like?? And I don’t know how can someone still be friends with Angie and still think she is cool after she drugged Buck.

This was a first time read for me by this author. I have to admit, I was drawn to the book by the cute cover. The story was a romantic comedy with an enemies to lovers, opposites attract trope. Randi is a college girl, and is just looking for a nice quiet place to study. Unfortunately, the room she ends up with seems to be in more of a party house, so not much quiet time to be found there. Then Buck shows up, and things just seem to get worse. He's the guy that has it all, and all he wants is a little break. He sees Randi as the perfect way to get that break by feigning a crush on her. Randi is opinionated and uptight, and Buck enjoys teasing her. But soon his fake crush begins to seem all too real, and Randi begins to 'think Buck is all that bad either.
The story was overall entertaining, but one thing that kind of turned me off from it was that there were also some offensive and hurtful comments, and I feel the author could have been a little more sensitive with her word choices. That said, the story had a good concept, and an entertaining storyline. I generally like her writing style and would be interested in reading more from this author.
Thank you to Water's Edge Publishing and Netgalley for a complimentary copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I actually enjoyed this book more than I thought I would considering the many negative reviews. I liked the chemistry between the main characters, but I would have liked to have more them actually falling in love. It took me a while to decide if Randi is a likeable character. She’s stand-offish, but considering her history, it makes sense. It’s clear from her actions that she’s a good person, just trying to make it through her final semesters of school. The YouTube thing is interesting, but a little strange considering how private she says she is. It also didn’t seem like there was much discussion on what she planned on doing with her degrees, even though she talked about her workload so much.
Pretty much every other female character in the story is kind of insufferable, and Angie is just a monster. Randi’s friend Daisy is so annoying and claims that Randi treated her badly, when it was really the other way around. Even Randi’s aunt is super immature most of the time.
I liked Buck, but the way he acted (not obviously turning other girls away) when dating Randi, was frustrating. If I was her, I would have felt the same way she did.
Overall, I liked the writing style and the story, and would check out more books in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

I had initially stated I wouldn't be giving feedback on this title. But I did try to read it and got a few chapters in and DNF-ed. I bet this book will be for someone, but its just not for me!

A fun read! The writing style was good and it was easy to connect with the characters. Definitely recommend!

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one, to be honest. I thought while the writing and the characters were nice, they felt a little one dimensional at times. I also didn't quite feel the chemistry between the main characters I wish I could've felt.

DNF

Big thanks to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for providing this copy.

Unfortunately I won't be reading a book that will put me under reading slump again.
I'm really sorry I just can't push myself to read this anymore.

Although the cover looks so comforting, cute and so fluffy. I picked this one up because the cover was beautiful.

Honest opinion. This book was VERY PROBLEMATIC!

Buck Up, Buttercup by Anna Alkire is loaded with misogyny, an absolute mess of a story. As an editor, I would ask for many changes. I can't imagine how this story will have any type of wide appeal. NIce cover though.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

After being approved for this book and reading the reviews, I refused to download it. It is completely unacceptable to use slurs, misogyny, and ableist terms in a book in this day and age. This was a no for me and I can not in good faith, recommend this book to anyone.

Buck Up, Buttercup by Anna Alkire
Rating: ⭐️

We excitedly requested this book on Netgalley because we were in need of some romcom meets cowboy shenanigans and the cover was adorable.

We were severely disappointed with this novel.

As empaths and creatives it breaks our hearts to negatively review a product into which someone invested their heart, effort and time, so we decided to mark this title as “we will not be providing feedback,” however since learning this affects our rating we will comment on some problematic elements.

There is NEVER an excuse to use the “r” word. Period. This reflects a lack of creativity and care in the writing and editing. There is ALWAYS a better word.

The girl-on-girl excessive drama and slut shaming was hard to read. In a time wherein women need to be lifting each other up and aligning meaningfully and genuinely for a common goal, the underlying tones here backtrack on years of feminist efforts.

There are also undertones of bullying and actively isolating individuals for their choices, such as studying instead of drinking to excess. This just isn’t of interest to us and is harmful for young readers to internalize.

The relationship dynamics were also very problematic for young, impressionable readers.

We hope the constructive feedback shared about this book on Goodreads and Netgalley influences and improves future writing from Anna Alkire. Thank you Netgalley, Anna and Water's Edge Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. We will not be sharing this review on Goodreads or Instagram.

This book was not good. I’m very sorry, but the cover was the nicest part. The characters were unlikable, the behavior abhorrent. Recommend going back to the drawing board on this one

This was so cute! A wonderful romance, filled with witty banter, delightful characters, and just enough steaminess. A must read for romance lovers!

As soon as I read the blurb for Buck Up, Buttercup, I wanted to read the book. It seems like laughs are in short supply these days, so I try to grab them whenever the opportunity arises. This one certainly has potential, and there are parts of the book that deliver. We have the cowboy and the nerdy girl, so opposites attract is the most prominent trope in my opinion. I'm always up for an opposites attract romance (could be that I had 17 wonderful years with my opposite), and I love when the smoke clears and the couple figures out they have more in common than they thought. Of course, the sparks that ignite between them with the push and pull are pretty fun too. There are some areas that gave me pause - things that I think could've been left out without compromising the storyline, and I kind of feel like those things could alienate some readers from a promising new author. That aside, the story has good pacing, so it's easy to keep turning those pages, especially on a relaxing day on the porch swing: comfy seat, good coffee, and a romantic comedy with a sexy cowboy, which is exactly how I read most of this one. I'll be interested to see how this series and this author grow with each new book.

I did choose this book for the cover and the plot
I WAS WRONG
what I disliked Tjian’s Enemies vibes at the beginning same kind of nerdy heroine jumps on party house
She is a collection of cliches nerdy introverted good problem solver orphan and inexperienced
Athe Hero is extroverted gorgeous sexy with hordes of women throwing their thong at him no more to add
Sub plot with a evil roommate and racist
Said so the last part of the book defended itself I did enjoyed it so
2 stars Thanks for the arc to NetGalley

A very interesting read about opposites attract. I loved its uniqueness and that it was a little different than normal love romance. It was funny with weirdness, slow burn, and was interesting with very different characters- for this story, it is true what they say opposites attract. I loved it.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley

DNF. I was very disappointed in this book. There were so many issues with the storyline, that by the time it went anywhere, you were no longer interested. And the main character, who you were suppose to feel sorry for, but ended up disliking by the second chapter.

I really wanted to enjoy this book and if there's one thing you need to know about me is that i am always game for a rom-com with a cute cartoon cover. In fact, I don't think I have ever found one I did not like, but this one was, unfortunately, a miss and eventually lead me to DNFing. I thought it may have been that my pesky mood reader qualities just weren't letting me fully get into the story, but after trying and failing for weeks, I came back to see if it was just me and am glad that I am not alone. I just could not connect with the characters - they lacked depth, and chemistry.

This book was never sent to me, making it hard to review in advanced. If given the opportunity I would definitely read this book to give it a fair review. Thank you!