I started off really excited for this book but unfortunately the lack of chemistry between the characters ended with me dnf, i’m sure that many people will love it but it just wasn’t for me. i will look forward to reading more books by this author because i do enjoy the writing

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Shout out to Montlake Publishing and Kianna Alexander.

I’ll admit it – the cover is what got me. When I first spotted ‘Can’t Resist Her’ by Kianna Alexander on NetGalley, I was OBSESSED, and I couldn’t believe my luck when my request for it was accepted.

Skimming through the description, I was intrigued too, and I was sure this was going to be at least a four-star read… Until I actually started to, you know, read it.

The book introduces us to Summer, a teacher who just moved back to her hometown, and her high school crush Aiko, a supervisory planner at an architecture firm, who reconnect after 15 years.

We’re told (not shown*) that the spark is still there between the women, but there’s a problem – Aiko’s firm is behind the demolition of the high school they both attended, Sojourner Truth Charter Academy, which was founded by Summer’s grandmother.

Summer and her sister are hell-bent on saving the school, despite it having been abandoned a decade ago, and the themes of gentrification and community are flung into our faces with the subtlety of an avalanche.

Also touching on family acceptance and second-chance love, the premise of the book is solid and Summer and Aiko’s characters could have been compelling, but the *amateurish writing let it all down.

Right off the bat, the dialogue is clunky and awkward, and while I soldiered on in hopes the plot would save this book for me, it sadly did not.

In one scene, Summer asks a random taco truck employee “tell me about yourself”. This is not a date, this is not two people getting to know each other in a friendly manner – she’s trying to order food, and yet she’s asking the food truck employee to narrate her life story? Who does that?!

But wait, there’s more!

The food truck woman, of course, obliges and when she tells Summer about how Hurricane Harvey not only destroyed her parents’ business, but their home too, Summer responds: “Oh no, that sucks”.

THAT SUCKS?!

The conversations between Aiko and her best friend Peaches are so clunky, it makes me wonder whether the author has ever actually listened to real conversation between real humans.

The characters also do completely absurd things like tapping their chin when they’re “thinking”, and the author’s hyper-focus on descriptions that have absolutely zero bearing on the actual story is baffling. The number of times Aiko’s outfits are described in exacting detail?! Are we at a fashion show? Is this Vogue? What is happening, ma’am?

When it comes to the queer love part – which I was really excited about - the chemistry between Aiko and Summer simply does not feel believable, and given that they barely speak to each other in the beginning, it’s hard to feel this connection they're basing their choices on.

Aiko’s character is written like a typical cishet F-boy, and while I’m sure there are many lesbian women who embody those kinds of characteristics, nothing about her characterisation made her attractive. Her overfamiliarity, constantly calling Summer “baby” from the jump, was so strange, and her persistent reference to Summer’s thighs and bum made me want to burn this book. (Reader, I read a digital version on my Kindle.)

We get it! She thicky! You likey!

There are some spicy scenes, but the pacing is completely off. We go from making out on a couch one day to full on ‘bring your harness and strap up' the next, and overall, the story reads like a sapphic romance written by a middle-aged robot man who’s never interacted with human beings before.

I wanted so much for this book but, ultimately, Alexander dropped the ball in so many ways.

Can't Resist Her has all the tropes I love - queer romance, second chance romance, childhood crushes. Those moments where the stars align? Where the universe gives us a second chance to get it right? From the beginning I was imediately intrigued. Now that Aiko and Summer are adults, they are given the chance to get to know each other. But immediately sparks fly - both good and bad. And you begin to wonder if their lives diverged too much. When these rivals - in their professional lives - see them on opposite sides of a fence, what can happen?

And while Alexander tries to make me like Aiko it was just not working for me. Summer was very clearly my favorite because of how passionate she is. How much she is devoted to the community and the legacy of her grandmother. While Summer isn't perfect - what character is - someone who is willing to fight for a cause will always hit my sweet spot. And Aiko being on the opposite side was hard for me to stomach. There were moments I liked her more - and less - plus she makes some good points about change and about hypocrisy.

I started this book ages ago and wasn't enamoured.... unfortunately, when I eventually continued, I can't say that it got any better. The writing in this book isn't the best, too much focus on unnecessary details and the dialogue got really weirdly formal in bits? Stuff like 'that was an astute observation'. While it wasn't the worst to read, I did skim the last half.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Heat Factor: We’ve got some dildo action!

Character Chemistry: It’s pretty insta.

Plot: Summer is trying to stop gentrification; Aiko works for a developer. Even though they’re on opposite sides of a proposed building project, they can’t help wanting to date.

Overall: This book made me irrationally angry.

I must acknowledge that my response to this book was not entirely rational. It was a situation where one small thing irritated me, which then resulted in me reading more critically than was perhaps warranted, which in turn resulted in me noticing more things to be irritated about. On the other hand, there were some craft choices that the author made which I may not have picked up on if I weren’t irritated, but which I argue make this a weaker book.

Let’s start with the small stuff. This book takes place in Austin. I happen to live in Austin. This book is also very detail-heavy. And not all the details are…quite right. For example. In an early chapter, Aiko is tweaking the landscape design for the project she’s working on. It involves a lot of azaleas. I have seen literally zero places landscaped with azaleas in Austin; azaleas need a lot of water and it is dry here in the summer. Like no rain from June to October dry. Now, I’m not saying that no one plants azaleas, because I’m sure they do. Rather, I’m saying that a company that’s building a green building would probably be xeriscaping. It threw me out of the scene and made me start looking for other inaccuracies.

I feel petty writing it out. It’s a small thing, but it felt wrong. And when the little details are off, it makes me question the bigger things. Especially since it wasn’t just the azaleas.

I do not want to imply that Alexander did not do her homework. On the contrary, she includes a lot of incredibly specific details about the places the characters go, the routes they take to get there, what they order, and how it tastes. The vast majority of these places are real. (Side note: there was a scene where they are getting a “light pizza lunch” at a place known for Detroit style pizza and I rage screamed, but I later looked up the menu and the specific pie they order is actually thin crust, so mea culpa on that one. This side note should indicate the level of detail we have going on in this book. Be prepared to crave takeout.)

So let’s talk about how this snowballed. There’s a scene where Summer is buying ice cream with her dad, and gets annoyed when the young woman scooping the cones calls her “ma’am” because that word should only be used for older women. However. Summer is a 30 year old Black woman; the other woman is 20, white, and a food-service worker. Calling Summer “miss” would not be appropriate. I double-checked with a Texas native friend to see if I was missing something and she agreed with me. But because of the azalea scene I’m questioning things. Am I misunderstanding some element of the racial dynamic here? Is the author just wrong? Is Summer in denial about her age? Is Summer just looking for something to be mad about because the ice cream truck is a gentrifying invader in her old neighborhood? There aren’t a lot of context clues about how I should understand this interaction. The details are about the sensory surroundings, not about the main characters’ state of mind.

And then it snowballed again, and this is where the craft decisions come in. (Spoilers ahead.)

Ok, so Summer moves back to Austin and discovers that her old high school (a charter school founded by her grandmother) is being demolished to build a mixed use development. Summer decides this is unacceptable and goes straight into protest mode. However. I couldn’t help but think that Summer was completely unreasonable. The school had closed ten years previously. The building was dilapidated. The time to try to save the building was, I don’t know, before the developer bought it? Five years ago? During the permitting process, which would have involved a public session?

Part of my frustration with this fight was in the details. Like the building is 46 years old but also educated Black kids during Jim Crow, and that math doesn’t square. Part of my frustration was with Summer, who lives in a fancy apartment downtown (which as described is probably $4K a month) but also thinks all development is bad. And I also think she shouldn’t protest the architecture firm, but rather the owner of the property (who made the decision to tear down the school in the first place).

Now here is the spoiler. Summer’s growth moment is her realization that she was actually being unreasonable and that she’s acting out of a sense of guilt. But before Summer has her ah-ha moment, the text never indicates that Summer was in the wrong. Rather it seemed to insist that both Aiko and Summer needed to compromise or rethink their positions on the new development. No one that Summer talked to was like, “Let’s think about this.” (People tell both Aiko and Summer that dating while on opposing sides of the building fight will be challenging.) So I spent the whole book being annoyed with Summer only to be proven right in my opinion in the end, but honestly I felt blindsided. There had been no breadcrumbs left for me as a reader that one party was going to need to apologize for her actions throughout the whole book.

Now, how did all of this impact the romance? Well, the way it plays out is both Aiko and Summer feel an instant connection and want to keep dating despite their disagreement. So while the development drama does cause the Big Fight, for the most part the two pieces are kind of…separate? Like even though I was really annoyed with Summer, I still bought the attraction between the women. And they did go on some cute dates. And Summer’s apology does make up for her bad behavior.

I’ll be honest. I can’t say I much enjoyed this one. But if an inaccurate detail here or there doesn’t send you into a spiral of criticism, the final stance on gentrification is pretty interesting.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

This book disappointed me on so many levels! This book was Read Now on NetGalley, and while I hadn't heard anything about it, I decided to pick this book up anyways after reading the synopsis. Unfortunately, soon after I noticed that it had an extremely low rating on Goodreads. Something in the 2.98 range, I believe. Despite that, I continued to hold out hope that I would still enjoy it. Unfortunately, after reading it, I'm sad to say that I wish I had skipped this one.

But what was the premise that hooked me? Well, this book follows Summer, as she moves back to her hometown after many years to start a job as a teacher in a private school. When she arrives back home, she learns that the charter school her grandmother founded is being torn down and turned into a multi-use center. Complicating the matter is the fact that one of the women working for the development company on this project is her high school crush, Aiko. Summer then has to balance trying to save her grandmother's legacy with falling in love with the woman of her dreams.

I have three main gripes with the way this story unfolded, but before I get to those, I want to mention that I think this story could have worked really well as a novella. The fact that it was 300 pages made the issues I had with this book glaringly obvious, and when I saw there was no real resolution or payoff for all my frustration after all those pages, that cemented the fact that this book was just way too long.

I'm going to start by talking about my aggravation with the plot. The whole conflict of the story centers around the school Summer's grandmother founded. The currently abandoned, unused school that Summer's grandmother founded. Summer is very upset at all the changes and gentrification that she sees when she moves back home, and she takes out those feelings on trying to stop the demolition and eventual development of her grandmother's school. However, I was never able to connect to her concerns.

From a purely familial perspective, I understood that she didn't want the building destroyed, but on a communal level, getting rid of an abandoned building to turn it into anything else, is a net neutral, or even positive thing. I understood her concerns about gentrification, but that was why I wondered why she didn't focus on what would be built, rather than just trying to keep a dusty old building standing. No one's rent was being raised, no one was getting kicked out of the building, the gentrification would only come if the building was turned into something that didn't benefit the community. Which is also why it made no sense that Summer was upset at Aiko the entire book. Aiko was not the one managing who moved into the space. Yet, Summer blamed her for the changes going on.

Honestly, I think that the setup may have been an attempt to add a tinge of tension between the two characters, but even if that were the case, that attempt would have been immediately overshadowed by the insta-lust. These two apparently shared one kiss in high school that was so mind-blowing that both of them have been thinking about it for years. Then when they meet each other again all these years later, they instantly are attracted towards one another and want to get to know the other person more.

That sounds great, except that there was no chemistry between the two, yet when reading from each of their perspectives it became clear that the main reason they're interested in one another is sexual. Which would be fine, except that they each claimed that wasn't the case while sexualizing the other person every time they were in eyesight. So you were told that there was something interesting and worthy about each woman, but when you actually try to see what that something is, the character is only talking about the love interest's body. The amount of times I read about a character's chest, butt, and mouth was excessive and unnecessary. It only made the lack of actual chemistry and compatibility more evident.

But that brings me to my third and final point, which is the writing itself. Maybe I should have started with this one, since the writing ended up doing a major disservice to the entire book. Not only was every little scene fully described and explained, there were countless moments that should have been cut from the book because they were only included for very specific, obvious reasons that didn't mesh with the overall themes and direction of the plot. Beyond that though, my main gripe with the book is that it was kind of pointless. Summer and Aiko never had any real tension. They had no reason to be together and no reason not to be together. Any drama in this book was fabricated by the characters making dumb choices that none of their many friends and relatives ever tried talking them out of until they were facing repercussions. By the end of the book I just wanted it to be over because I couldn't care less what happened. Anything that I thought might be interesting in the beginning was never given a chance to shine, and by the end of the book I gave up on hoping that anything compelling might happen.

I realize that this review is very harsh, but I just did not enjoy myself. Despite wanting to love it, I just could not, for the aforementioned reasons. I had to push through the very end to finish this book, but I managed, and decided to give this book 2 stars in the end.

I am not giving it a star rating on Goodreads because I am a white woman and I do not think it is my place. Regardless, I struggled with this one. I was very excited for the premise of this book and really appreciated the gentrification elements of the story. However, I really struggled with this one. The writing was hard to follow at times. It almost felt like the story was there but it needed more editing.

I do not post bad reviews on my page so I will not be posting this one on my instagram but wanted to provide feedback here on netgalley to the publisher. Thank you for the advanced copy!

I just finished an arc of Can't Resist Her by Kianna Alexander. The Cinderalla-esque meet cute of this book hooked me. I stayed for the fighting the corporate man plot and was pleasantly surprised by the spice. The fat rep was pretty good, I would pit one of the FMC's probably small fat and she just got to exist and be good at her job and be desired. So I am always here for that.
I will say the ended fell a little flat to me and some of the dialogue too me out of the story at time, but over all I enjoyed myself reading this book.

Summer Graves is settling back in Ivy, where she grew up. But she didn't expect for it to have changed so much, and she won't let the corporate world change it more by tearing down her grandmother's school. Even if Aiko Holt, whom she's had a crush on for all of high school and one great evening with back then is working on the project and will not back down either. But she also can't help but try to reconnect with Aiko...

I don't know where to start... I had read reviews about the writing but I honestly thought "it can't be that bad." Turns out I was wrong, it was that bad. I actually winced a couple times and rolled my eyes even more. The romantic scenes were honestly the worst for me, which is sad since this is a romance. From one of the main characters calling the other "baby" after talking for two minutes to the witty scenes that were anything but to me, I just could not get into it. I actually ended up skimming after something like 56% because I just couldn't anymore.
i did like the descriptions overall, that was the part of the writing I could stand and also, the family dynamics were interesting. I also quite liked the talk about gentrification. But that just wasn't enough to save this book in my eyes...

This was a STEAMY second chance at love sapphic romance and whew did this one get HOT y'all!!
Set in Austin, Texas, the story revolves around former high school sweet hearts who are reunited when Summer moves back home. When she learns that her old high school building - the one her grandmother helped build - is being torn down, she makes it her crusade to save. What she wasn't expecting was to run into Aiko, who is the architect heading up the revitalization project in the neighborhood. While these two are on opposing sides in life, when it comes to love they can't keep their hands off one another. It was fun seeing how they resolved their differences. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This was my first book by Kianna Alexander and definitely not my last! Recommended for fans of The romance recipe, No rings attached or Written in the stars.

I wanted to love this book but I just kept starting and stopping and starting and stopping. For some reason the beginning wasn't clicking with me. Summer and Aiko had good chemistry but that spark was missing to keep me connected to this book.

Can’t Resist Her is about Summer and Aiko, who reconnect in their small hometown Ivy years after graduation. Summer has moved back to be a preschool teacher. She is tuned when she finds her beloved school will be torn down within a couple of weeks. Aiko is a creative project manager for the project and redevelopment for the site on behalf of the company she works for. They share a bond from their high school days but can they overcome being on opposite sides and try to get to know each other.

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. It was a bit too over explanatory in places and I feel I didn’t get to know either Summer or Aiko in real depth outside of their job and causes. It was a nice story and the representation of queer black women is so strong and enlightening to see.

Thank you Net Galley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this one so much.
Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.
The characters were great, but I just felt like some of the parts were stilted and the first 'date' felt more like a job interview. The interactions between the characters sadly felt forced and it just really let me down.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eArc of this book.

Unfortunately this book was just not for me. Sapphic romance is one of my favorite genres, but I couldn’t get into this story. I liked Aiko’s personality, but Summer was falling a bit flat for me. I also didn’t enjoy the dynamic between the two characters. The plot was also uninteresting to me. I might recommend this book to someone who I think may like it, but it just didn’t do it for me.

Anyways… this book bummed me out. I wanted so much to love it - I mean look at that stunning illustrated cover?! Aiko was fascinating and I loved how at peace she was with herself. I adored her very cool group of gays and theys and her deep affection and realistic relationship with her mom. Summer is straight forward and stands by what she believes in for the most part - but also when called on her double standards eventually realizes them. While I deeply loved how Sapphic/ Queer their romance was (I mean… just it was on every page which was refreshing after a lot of Queer romances feeling like they are just heterosexual but gender swapped.) I didn’t really buy their relationship and in the end it felt like a situation of insta lust left over from high school that didn’t translate well to adulthood. They were on opposite sides of an issue and the values really didn’t end up aligning in a way that worked for me. I also struggled with the pacing - I am not a fashion person but it felt like the level of description of each outfit slowed down the whole book… There were a lot of excess storylines and I ended up wanting more of them building their relationship especially after the third act break up.

I received Can't Resist Her by Kianna Alexander for free by Montlake in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much for my advanced copy!

Can’t Resist Her is a really sweet read with a cute concept! I love the idea of childhood crushes reconnecting later in life and figuring out whether it lives up to their heightened expectations.

I really liked our main characters Summer & Aiko and it was so nice to read a sapphic story with two Black leads (with Aiko being part Japanese too) and I loved how the story highlighted the community around them. Summer is a school teacher fighting against the gentrification of the town and Aiko is part of the architecture firm that is about to tear down their old school - it was a really interesting dynamic between the two of them as they tried to balance their intense feelings for each other with their core beliefs. I thought that there could have been a bit more chemistry between the two of them shown in the story as it mostly relies on the attraction that they had to each other when they were younger - it would have been nice to see them reconnect in a new way but it was still cute.

The writing flows really well especially when it came to the descriptions of the town however I did find the dialogue a little bit awkward in places. It is a really enjoyable read and I finished it in a day!

Can’t Resist her is a lovely sapphic romance that is perfect for summer!

I had a lot of conflicting feelings reading this, and ended with a 4 star because ultimately, I really enjoyed Summer and Aiko. The story sparkles the most when these Summer and Aiko are together. There two deserve their second chance romance HEA and I enjoyed all of their interactions and sexy times (on the page). Where I had some trouble was in the narrative of moving from place to place, scene to scene. Sometimes the writing was just too literal and step by step in describing actions. But when it moved to dialogue and interactions between characters, the story shined, and I couldn't put it down. We also had lots of family and friends, which is the type of world building I enjoy in a small town story. The conflict of Summer and Aiko being on opposite sides of a development project, is a trope that I'm always a little uncomfortable with. I fully empathized with Aiko who was just doing her job, and I appreciated that there was no attempt for Aiko to twist and turn and fake her actions in order to placate Summer. It was fully Summer who needed to figure out that her town had changed and she needed to learn about it now and maybe do the work herself instead of just guilting Aiko for something she couldn't change. And Summer does make that growth and everything is better for it. Their relationship is better, the project is better. So it all worked out for me. There is a plot line of Summer's mother not accepting her as a queer person. It hovers in the background and then there is a scene for her mother to finally apologize and try to heal their relationship. It was handled fine, from my perspective, but may be triggering for some people.
All in all this was an enjoyable read.

I don't think its any surprise that I loved this. A diverse queer romance with plus sized main character? Yes please! This book was just fantastic and I am absolutely so excited that it exists out in the world!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc.

Aiko and Summer shared a kiss at a school dance and have been thinking about one other ever since. After fifteen years, Summer has returned to Austin, Texas, but she is unimpressed by how the city has changed. Aiko, who is in charge of this project, is passionate about transforming Austin for the benefit of society. Conflicting perspectives, attitudes, and future visions are the main source of tension between the two, which sadly makes it impossible to resolve because both parties are too steadfast in their choices.

Can’t Resist Her swiftly delves into a second-chance romance with wonderful sensual scenes, great character development possibilities, and a reasonably engaging plot.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Having enjoyed Kianna Alexander’s work in the past, I was incredibly hyped to hear she was releasing a Black sapphic contemporary. And while it’s not her best work, I did enjoy it for what it had to offer.
I really like how Alexander revolves the story around the characters and their families and community. Summer and Aiko are both Black (Aiko is biracial; part Black, part Japanese), and I love seeing expressions of Blackness so unapologetically, written with Black readers (especially Black queer readers, who aren’t represented often) in mind, focusing on something other than racism.
However, while the intent is there, and there’s a great premise, I can’t help but feel like something was lost in the execution. The dialogue felt awkward, and while the prose style made for a fast read, it also lacked substance. I also feel that beyond the fact that Aiko and Summer have this history together, they do feel rather one-dimensional. The chemistry between them is reasonably well-established and they do have some nice moments, so I didn’t hate reading about them together, but I wish they had a bit more to them.
While this is not Kianna Alexander’s best offering, it’s a fun, relatively light read to pass the time, especially if you like Black/multicultural sapphic romance.