I had a really hard time getting into this book because it just starts. The book feels like it starts in the middle of a book. I had to check a bunch of times to see if it downloaded incorrectly. I ended up sticking it out and reading through it. It was really hard to connect to these characters so I didn't love it. The writing style was good and the pacing was ok. I honestly think I didn't really like it because of not having connection to these characters.

After I finished reading this I was looking through goodreads and discovered that this is book 2 in a series, and I would say that reading book 1 is necessary because I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Because of this I decided to not post my review on goodreads and only post it here since I didn't give this book a fair chance since I hadn't read book 1 (Which in my opinion is definitely required before reading this one).

I do wish that the listing would have been more clear that this is part of a series and they aren't interconnected stand-alones.

4.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the E-ARC. I read Roomates and loved it so of course I requested Complicated as soon as I saw that it had come out on Netgalley. When I saw the title it reminded me of when on MySpace we would put complicated as the relationship status and I knew this book was gonna be good. I loved the second book I honestly didnt think it could get better but it did somehow Caleb became more humanized and Ariella well we just saw her grow and blossom. This second book was so beautify woven together still keeping it so raw and real. I found myself stopping my reading because I didnt want to finish the story. Even though this book is fiction it is written as though its something that actually does happen and I love that. I cant wait for the conclusion of Caleb and Ariella because I know its gonna be EPIC if its anything to go by Roomates and Complicated

Complicated-Book #2 Roommates

By Ola Tundun -I read Roommates and gave it 4*. I would highly recommend reading book #1 first because this novel picks up where Roommates left off.

Setting: London/Singapore

Genre : Contemporary Romance, Adult, AA, Women's Fic

Page count📖 : 405

Publication date: 1-5-24 , read 12-31-23

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐

Spice level 2/5 🌶️all the sexy times are when they break up or right after highly emotional scenes

🤷🏾‍♀️WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ pining H
✨ love triangle
✨ dual POVs H/h
✨ plenty of angst

⚠️: SA(just mentioned), social media bullying

Summary: This story continues where Ariella and Caleb left off in Roommates. They are in a relationship and confess love for each other. Enter Melissa Chang, a wealthy investor from Singapore who happens to know Caleb "personally." She interferes in their relationship, blackmails, and manipulates Caleb & Ariella once she becomes their boss. They still push and pull at each other, making up/breaking up. Caleb fake dates a MMA fighter and Ariella dates another womanizing playboy (Dominic). Can they reconcile, become friends, or nothing at all?

Characters:

- 🚺 FMC Ariella Mason(26)-promoted and moved to Singapore to work for Melissa. She's a BOSS at work but exhausted by Caleb.

-🚹 MMC Caleb Black-miserable about Melissa but still wants Ariella. He has to grovel a lot for his lies and omissions. And he never answered who he really is???

🥰 What I liked:
- Ariella being career driven, getting promoted
- Jasper(Ariella's ex fiancé) and Caleb's bromance
-Caleb and Lara's (Ariella's BFF) budding friendship
-Good advice from Ariella's mother Dahlia
-
😞 What I didn't like:
-Too long, boring parts-office politics, Caleb and Dominic chats w/ Ariella that just confuse her more.
-Trying to redeem Melissa with her bs apology and bribes.
-The fraud story is intriguing but just seems like it was too much in this book. About 100 pages could have been cut.
-The cliffhanger. Ariella has spent her time w/ Dominic friend zoned and vice versa. Now he wants her to take him seriously? I hope book #3 gives more about his intentions.

🙏🏿Thanks to NetGalley and Storm publishing for this ARC 💖! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

This was a real shame.

I absolutely loved Roommates - it was well written and had a host of characters I absolutely fell for. When I found out that the wait for Complicated was over, it shot straight to the top of my TBR and I immediately started to devour it.

Unfortunately, the writing just felt a bit too rushed and the character development didn’t happen. There was a lack of the delight of the first novel - it just felt flat for me. It is very much a follow up story - anyone picking this up without reading Roommates first will probably be quite lost.

I still hope to read more by this author sooner rather than later. Her first - accomplished - novel shows she has a real ability to write stories that people care about with characters they love. Fingers crossed for another novel.

Thank you Storm Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I was really excited for this book, but unfortunately it was not for me. I did not find the characters compelling, and like others have mentioned I also did not know it was the second book in a series so the first ~2 chapters were extremely confusing. This book is about coworkers that meet at work, end up dating, and then past decisions/complications mess up their relationship. I don't like the miscommunication/lying/cheating tropes, and I also did not find the characters interpersonal dialogue to seem realistic. It seemed very tell and not show, so they were extremely direct and the dialogue felt formulaic/fake to me. Overall, I found myself avoiding picking it up and it just wasn't for me, but I can see where folks got really immersed in the story!

I hadn't read the first book as I didn't realize this was part of a trilogy. But I wasn't lost. Ariella is a wonderful character and I was rooting for her. Caleb is honestly a character I love to hate. The drama was intense. I definitely need the third book. I can't wait to see what happens.

This story was DRAMA FILLED from start to finish. The title of the book says it all. Ariella and Caleb’s story captured me from the very beginning. Such a great cast of characters that gave this story so much depth and dare I say, toxicity.

This was the second book of the series and it ended on such a cliffhanger. Excited to read the first and third book after such a great read.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Super fun adult fiction. When relationships, and partnerships, are complicated enough you don’t need others making your life more difficult. The author, in mixing relationships with shenanigans in entrepreneurial business brings a high pressure powder keg of a fascinating and enjoyable story. Hadn’t read the previous book, Roommates. This didn’t in any way lessen my enjoyment, but I need to go and read it now! Thank you to Storm Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Liked but didn’t love. Took me a while to get my head around what was going on as it’s a continuation of the first one but if you read the first and then this straight after would be better. Overall, still a good read

Having read and loved the first in this trilogy Roommates, I was delighted to be approved for an advance copy of the second in this trilogy by Storm Publishing. I slipped right back into the characters. Ariella is my favourite character by far, she has a lovely nature, so sweet but she really means business! She is such a strong character, I just love her! With an ending like that, I can't wait to see what happens next and will be sad to finish this trilogy!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. I would definitely recommend for readers to read Book 1 in the series. I made the mistake of not reading it and felt a little behind on a few things but it is totally possible to get into it without it but I wouldn't recommend jumping right in with this one like I did. The story had a lot of elements and I loved the drama. The characters were complex and well written. So much tension and miscommunication between the characters, so if you love that trope you will enjoy this. On top of that is has the cutest cover ever.

OLA TUNDUN PLEASE LET ME OUT OF MY MISERY I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE PLEASE 🧎‍♀️ Three people are suffering: Ari, Caleb, and especially ME. I can’t take this anymore 😭 I thought they’d finally get their happily ever after 😭 How DARE you end this book like that too it’s just so cruel 😭 “Complicated” is a huge understatement. Huge. What a way to end the year, huh? I can’t believe this. At least by the end of this book you promised that the third book will be their last. And I expect a happy ending or I will be sending you my therapy bill. I’ve come to love Ola Tundun’s writing. It captivated me and the characters—while there’s more than I could remember—had great depth and development especially with Ari and Caleb. I love that she had Caleb BEGGING and GROVELING with his life. But I am now too begging with my life to end their misery as it will end mine. I need book three NOW.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is the first book that I have read by the author and it definitely won't be the last.
I didn't realise that it was the second book in a series, but despite this I still enjoyed it. The author's writing is easy to follow and has a great cast of characters. I highly recommend it.
❤️ Thank you to storm publishing and netgalley for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I wish I could say that I liked this, but I was disappointed. I had no idea that this book was a continuation of another book. Most series now can be read as standalones, and I presumptively thought that this would be the same. It was not. From the first line, you are thrust into what I imagine was the cliffhanger of the last book and I was so utterly confused that I re-read the first page ten times until I realized there was no way it could make sense to me. I continued reading on, hoping to gain some context. While there were some sprinklings of it, it wasn't until around the 15% mark that I had any idea what had happened. I will say, however, that the book was well-written and could be something I would have enjoyed had I known more about its backstory. Still, I found the characters to be annoying, but well-thought-out for what I suspect was the author's point.

I think some aspects of the characters should have been introduced, especially if there was a gap between releases as there was here. I know that Krista & Becca Ritchie always reintroduce secondary characters and the important aspects of their characters again if another book follows the same couple. That's the only knowledge I have of non-standalone series, so I don't know necessarily if that is common practice. Just something that should be implemented.

Moving on to the characters, I found all of them to be extremely irritating and childish, especially the two main characters (Ariella and Caleb). Caleb hid major news from Ariella at the same time she had done the same to him but made her feel bad about her actions without confessing his. And when he decides to forgive her, he says, "Let's sweep it under the rug." Like, sir, that's the prime time to confess to your downfalls in the relationship. They lacked a lot of communication for me to be convinced that they belong together.

Giving two stars since it's not the worst book I've read, but definitely not my cup of tea.

this was okay, but i couldn't really connect with the characters. i did enjoy reading their stories, there were just instances where i was taken away from the story -- but i i would give this another read because it most likely could just me experiencing a little end-of-year burnout.

All she wants is to stay wrapped up in her lemon-scented love bubble with reformed playboy Caleb. But then her new boss turns up, the high-flying, high-maintenance Melissa, who has a mysterious history with Caleb.

Suddenly Ariella finds herself working miles from home, fighting with Caleb, and wondering where it all went wrong?

And just as they’re about to sort it out, real trouble comes knocking…

Fans of Emily Henry, Tia Williams and Lucy Score will adore this romantic, sexy and joyful novel. Featuring:

♥ Slow burn ♥

♥ Pining hero ♥

♥ Love triangle ♥

♥ Opposites attract ♥

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC and the chance to review this book. The writing in Complicated is excellent and the characters are so well drawn. And THE DRAMA. Even from the start I was wondering what was going to happen! For me, though, it was hard to get into and I think that’s because I didn’t know this was the middle book of a trilogy. If I had read the first book I think I would have gotten into it easier.. I think I would consider going back and reading the first book to see if it made my above-average review of this one different.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Complicated by Ola Tundun is a workplace romance gone wrong. When Ariella breaks up with her long time boyfriend Jasper, moves and falls in love with her new roommate Caleb everything seems to be going well. That is until Melissa, an Asian contact for the company they both work for, offers Ariella the promotion of a lifetime. There are only two things that could make this deal impossible to resist. Her having to move to Singapore and the previous relationship Caleb had with her new boss. While part of the story deals with how to navigate working with your significant other, another, more important part of the story, deals with how to be honest about mistakes of the past. Overall, a good story that I would recommend to others. My only criticism was with the ending. I hate having to wait to see what happens in the sequel!

I didn’t realize this was the second in a series, but I was able to stay engaged in the book/feel like I caught up. PHEW. Complicated is the best title for this book! Ariella is complicated. Caleb is complicated. Jasper and Melissa are complicated. Ivory Bow is complicated. The whole book is complicated… yet so easy to read. This was one of those “I woke up at 4:00 am and started reading to put myself back to sleep, but stayed up to finish it” books. I loved the dual POV and that some parts would give both Ariella and Caleb’s perspective on the same event. But. That cliffhanger at the end! The first thing I did was check Goodreads to see if the third book has been announced! Way to leave a reader hanging (in the best possible way) and begging for the rest of the story! Highly recommend this be added to your January 2024 TBR list!

I liked the first book of the series. This one, not so much. The entire Singapore saga was exhausting. I didn't buy any of the drama that happened. I skipped pages after pages just to reach the point when the other shoe dropped. Ariella and Caleb turned into annoying caricatural characters. Everything that made them interesting disappeared in this installment. And their stereotypical traits were magnified : Caleb being mean and then sorry, Ariella crying and falling for every other big shop, the 'secret' that the reader knew but that he kept NOT telling her, them having the same conversation over and over again.... Big thing missing was Aruealla's family and Caleb's friends who were a big part of what was fun in the first book. None of the secondary characters in this book were interesting. Even Lara was blah. Jasper was totally forgettable too. I think a big opportunity was missed not delving into what happened to Caleb in Singapore with Melissa. And have Ariella and him deal with it as a new couple, with their career and all... It would have liked this book better than the simili 'financial thriller/yet another freaking triangle romance that we got. Big disappointment.

It's with great reluctance that I admit this book was a disappointment for me. While Roomates wasn't my favorite book in the world, I did thoroughly enjoy reading it -- but the same cannot be said about its sequel.

Miscommunication tropes are not typically my cup of tea just because I feel like they're so hard to do well, and often times they're just plain overdone. In this case, it just felt very childish, and the manipulation involved was the cherry on top.

Maybe I went in with my hopes too high, but this was not what I hoped it would be and that's devastating.