Ivy did it again! I'm a HUGE Ivy Smoak fan and loved every second of this book! Thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Bad Things Feel Best releases August 8, 2023

*contains spoilers*

This was the most ridiculously predictable thing I’ve read. Yet it also wasn’t? What the fuck was this…
The only good takeaway here was that it was a really fast and easy read.

<i>Bad Things Feel Best</i> spans just over one month, from August 28 - October 1.
Hazel Fox is an aspiring author from New York and has applied to be the assistant to best selling author, Athena Quinn. This position lands her with a live-in situation in a gated mansion overlooking the beach on an island off the coast of South Carolina. Except, instead of Athena Quinn, Hazel is faced with a man named Mr. Remington who insists on only using surnames, is always cold to the touch, is hardly ever present during the day or night, and speaks with phrases that are not at all modern.

Hazel spends her time being “the assistant to the assistant”, sifting through copious amounts of hate mail, while also trying to weasel her way into every crevice of this house that she so clearly was told not to enter.

It truly baffled me how freaking clueless Hazel was. Despite “living with Athena”, Athena never actually made an appearance, and that should have set off some alarms or red flags, but nope!! Apparently not!
And the way she never once clued in or recognized that the manuscript she stumbled across was an exact replica of her arrival to the mansion?! PLS YOU ARE HIS MUSE, how can you be so blind to something that is right in front of your face!?


TLDR: I really didn’t like how for 99% of this book I was convinced that this was some vampire story, and then apparently in the last 1% it wasn’t?? Like?? Might as well just run with it because there were so many freaking plot points that made this a glaringly cliché vampire story — the cold hands, jars of bulk “tomato sauce”, no bed in his bedroom, seemingly never eating any meals, avoiding sunlight, all of the portraits from the 1600’s that made him look like he hasn’t aged a single day, all of the old language, being allergic to garlic… I could go on and on.

Were all of the neighbours, cops, and security guard in on Remington’s ruse as an author? It just seemed like so much work to involve all of those people, and for what? It makes no sense.

The romance was not believable in the slightest. Remington was so absent throughout this story, and you’re telling me she somehow was able to fall in love with him? How? Every interaction between them had Hazel at the receiving end of curt answers.
That one intimate scene in the ocean was so unnecessary, and I was cringing so hard reading the part when Hazel was drunk and he had her bent over the table in her thong.


I might comp this to Verity by Colleen Hoover just for the creepy vibes of the house and the author characters.

I’ve never been more confused after reading a book. It’s about a girl writing a book using the characters of this book who also write books about this girl. It’s the inception of books. That’s not a compliment. I've read other books by Ivy Smoak and I liked them but this missed the mark, hard.

There were some random editing notes like using the term 'Spanish moss' 4 times in the first 2 pages and using 'Mr. Remington' 4 or 5 times on the same page, that could be fixed.

Toward the end I was waiting for someone to come out with a camera and yell ‘you’ve been punked’ because this entire story felt satirical in nature.

The only positive is that Ivy is a skilled writer, so while the story is not good, it’s easy to read, which makes it easier to get to the end. And then never think about it again.

1 star. The premise sounded super interesting, but I sadly didn’t enjoy the book at all.

I found the writing to be cringey and bad. The characters weren’t convincing as people and the entire set-up at the house was just ridiculous. All the characters were very flat and the protagonist was incredibly annoying and infuriating. She didn’t understand the meaning of boundaries or privacy.

Nothing about this was in any way suspenseful. It was trying very hard to be “gothic”, which didn’t work in any way for me. It just came off as creepy and it wasn’t put together very well. Everything about it reminded me of bad fanfiction.

Not a fun time.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Bad things feel best" by Ivy Smoak. A spicy, emotional story that will be a great addition to any romance lover's shelf!

This book is night and day compared to Ivy's recent books. It was gripping, full of suspense and I couldn't put it down! The further into the story I got the deeper I got immersed into the twists and secrets and couldn't wait until it all unfolded!

It's night and day whereas it's not a RomCom with laugh out loud moments and full of emotion but still an absolute smasher of a book, superb characters, a storyline that will hook you in and definite 5 stars! Loved it!

Hazel has landed her dream job, assisting a world renown author, but her high hopes for her new job vanish as soon as she arrives at the old southern mansion within a strange gated community. Creepy things start to happen and Hazel feels like she is constantly being watched. This book had a few twists and turns but they were kind of expected so my joy for this book was short-lived. This book was more hallmark mystery vibes than a full on thriller vibes.

**Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review**

I love books with great plot twists and Ivy Smoak did it fantastically. With a mysterious mansion and even more mysterious characters in and around the mansion, wanna be writer, Hazel comes to a southern private island to be an assistant to one of the best writers in the country. But where is she and what are all the secrets and clues Hazel finds? Of course imagination grows right along with our heroine and kept me guessing the entire time. A great book, you don’t want to put down.

I would totally recommend this book. I stayed on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to figure out the plot twist. It was captivating and at times humorous how the mind of the main characters worked. The story line was quirky and flowed easily. An easy, fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free book and the opportunity to share my review.

What a great new book from Ivy! This one is completely different from her others and will keep you guessing and wondering if your guesses are correct. Atlas is mysterious and makes Hazel question everything. Hazel is curious and wants all the answers immediately. Toss in some handsome and flirty Hudson and questionable islanders and you have a wonderful romantic mystery. This one is very light on the steamy scale. Lies, love, mystery and vampires????? Grab it quick, you won't be sorry.

Ivy's "The Hunted Series" is what got me hooked on her books. Bad Things Feel Best is definitely different than her other steamy romance books but just as amazing. It's more of a mystery/romance with lots of twists. I love the main character, Hazel's. relationship with her best friend, Kehlani. Their back and forth banter is hilarious. There's no cliff hanger but I feel like there's still so much more to tell and I would love to have another book about Hazel and Atlas (Mr. Remington) and definitely one of Hudson.

Thank you Ivy Smoak, Ryan Hauge Netgalley and Montlake for this ARC.

I am an avid Ivy Smoak fan. Empire High is my favorite series and made me fall in love with her writing. Bad Things Feel Best is the newest Smoak book. We follow Hazel Fox who's been accepted to be the assistant to the assistant of her favorite author, Athena Quinn. There's lots of weirdness, and even some questionable supernatural situations. The MMC, Mr. Remington is the broody, mysterious Adonis I always look forward to in a Smoak novel. The FMC, Hazel, is the nosy, amateur detective hell bound to solve the craziness that's occurring. I loved her interaction with her bestie, Kehlani . Knowing Ivys other works, I got some Tanner/Ash/Chastity vibes from these 3 characters. As for the storyline itself, it kept me guessing or second guessing what was going on. Pretty early on I had my theory which ended up partially correct. But I still enjoyed the ride. The only real criticism I have is I had hoped for a little more explanation of some of questions regarding who/what Mr Remington and family are/were. That's left up in the air a bit. SPOILER-ISH:


Like why was everyone on the island pale and have cold hands? Were they all in on it? Were there truly supernatural things happening or was it all a big rouse? Was Hudson aware of what was going on? He clearly knew who Athena was.

I received an ARC of this novel via Netgalley for my honest review.

This is hard to review without spoilers. Go in with an open mind remembering every book that Ivy writes does not have to be the same. I really liked this. Yes it is different and I think it shows how talented and creative Ivy can be. Full disclosure, I figured it out from the beginning but the read was still captivating and intriguing and made me want to keep reading. Give it a try. It’s a pretty quick read and I feel worth it!

Hazel wants to be a writer and thinks she has found the perfect job; an assistant to a very popular Author.


I received this ARC via NetGalley

ARC Review
Title: Bas Things Feel Best
Publishing date: August 8th, 2o23
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

"I opened up the french doors and stepped onto the wet balcony. The ocean air swirled around me, and the flame of my candle went out. It was the perfect view of the ocean"

We follow the story of Hazel Fox who accepts a new job working with Athena Quinn, when she gets to this estate, she is greeted with the unexpected. She is tasked to be the assistant to Mr. Remington, who is already Athena Quinn's assistant. In this estate there a lot of secrets and creepy things happening. We get introduced to a few secondary characters in the story like Hazel's friend form New York Kehlani, and Hudson who is the pool boy. We go on a journey of Hazel getting to know the area and trying to uncover secrets hidden in this estate.

I really enjoyed the imagery throughout the book (highlighted in quote above). This really helped me stay engaged withe the story and feel like I am inside the book. The story was well-paced which made it a fast read since I enjoyed it so much. I enjoyed how all of the characters were introduced and focussed on throughout the story. I liked all of the characters and felt connected to them all. They worked together in unison. I also enjoyed the relationship between Kehlani and Hazel, they were very connected and had many scenes which I liked. I also really liked the mystery aspect of the story. It gave me anxiety when every I thought Hazel was going to caught, I felt like I was in her body. I also liked how Kehlani was involved even though she was far away. liked that Hudson was brought into the story, it added more mystery surrounding Mr. Remington. I don't think he needed to be in the few ending scenes but his presence felt like it dropped off near the end. I thought Hazel's prediction about Mr. Remington was going to be true, I think it would have been cool if it was. But overall I really liked how the end of the book played out, and that is was a happy ending as well. I would recommend this for everyone to read!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC

Wow! Ivy Smoak has done it again with this book. First off I love the setting with Hazel who wants to be a writer and gets a dream opportunity to be an assistant to one of her favorite authors Athena Quinn. The house is a huge estate set in South Carolina. When she arrives it’s not exactly what she was expecting. You will also meet other characters like Big and Little Remington. Then strange things start happening that will have Hazel questioning everything. This book is part thriller part romance. The perfect fall read.

This romantic thriller gives me Made of Steel (another of Ivy Smoak’s series) vibes… and I am here for it! It’s mysterious and has you questioning every action, every word, every oddity… just everything. It’s all about the buildup, so, while there is spice, it’s relatively minimal compared to some of Ivy’s other works.

Hazel arrives at a beautiful ocean-side manor, where she’s set to be the assistant to a famous author. When she meets the handsome and gruff (yet gentlemanly) Mr. Remington, she second-guesses her commitment to this new job.

It’s not just Mr. Remington that has her second-guessing everything - strange things keep happening and Hazel’s not sure what it all means. Is her life in danger? Can she escape this island? Does she want to?

I know this book is supposed to be a stand-alone, but I feel like some of the plot lines were left unfinished. Will we get a follow-up book, Ivy?!

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

One of better recent works of this author. But I would appreciate more of romance in it and not that many speculations about unimportant things this heroine had. Plus it was very easy and it didn’t rock my boat in slightest.

I went into this book blind and think others should do the same. I don’t want to give anything away that could change how you view this story.

I liked this book because it keeps you interested. I will say the FMC, Hazel Fox, is very naive and after a bit it tends to get annoying and you just want her to catch a clue and move the heck on. The tension between Hazel and Mr. Remington is what makes this story worth reading.

I will say for an Ivy Smoak book I was expecting a little more romance than what was here but I still enjoyed it even though the ending seemed quick and unfinished to me.

Thank you Montlake for my ARC!

Rating: 2.5
-There aren't actual spoilers but I did go into extensive details with quotes and all so you've
been warned. Basically once I start trashing the main character I use some quotes etc. So
proceed at your own risk, though I haven't spoiled the plot. Happy Reading!

I went into this book without knowing much about the plot or even genre. Nevertheless I was
excited to get into it. The plot was okay, if a little inconclusive. In the end secrets were
uncovered, however the answers to the many questions the main character obsessed over for
the last half of the book were never found. Worse, there was a poorly conceived love triangle
which really wasn't one and it was so thoroughly boring that I'm at a loss of words. But fine,
the love triangle was a part of the plot in hindsight.

If I were to talk about the characters, none of them were particularly riveting. The main
characters are Mr Remington and Hazel. Her best friend Kehlani and the pool boy Hudson are
the important secondary characters.

-Remington was meant to give off a morally gray vibe I suppose, but to be honest he was
boring. Nothing about him was especially different nor did he have anything that would land
him in the hall of book boyfriends. And he was the best character in my opinion.

-Hudson was the typical buffer dude who likes the main character, just to create a sense of
wow she can pull guys. Or whatever. I never really understood why so many books had the
one guy who would like the main character but was sweet and accept that they won't be
endgame.

-Kehlani was the typical best friend. Hazel complains about her job/ boss and Kehlani
automatically starts calling him hot and encourages Hazel to get with him. She does the same
with Hudson- go out have fun, sleep with him yada yada. Then she does the customary don't
you mess with MY bestie, I know people. So again nothing new.

You can probably guess why I left Hazel for last. She is honestly infuriating, boring, entitled
delusional and plain stupid. She dreams of being an author and takes up a job as an assistant
to a famous author. She then finds out that she was misled and that she's actually the
assistant to the author's assistant. Bummer, I understand. But there's something she doesn't
understand and that's boundaries. It's like they don't even exist.
She's told to use last names only but finds that rude and offensive and just doesn't seem to
understand that if someone's curt or doesn't wish to share personal information with you they
probably don't like you very much and are NOT looking for a non professional relationship
with you.

———
Mr. Remington had stopped coming to the formal dinners. But I still saw him every morning.
He'd say one curt thing to me at breakfast to pretend to be polite, quickly followed by one rude
thing after I asked him a personal question.
———

Yeah well, get a hint.

———
"When's your birthday?" It wasn't my most subtle question, but he'd evaded all my others.
How long have you been working for Athena Quinn? Where did you grow up? What's really
behind all the closed doors in Athena Quinn's wing? Are sitting and drawing rooms a southern
thing or a you thing?
———

Clearly she did not get a hint. It's honestly tiresome to think of how annoying and nosy
someone needs to be to not even see a fault with making a person uncomfortable with
constantly forcing them to talk to you and tell you about their life when they clearly don't like
you. And then she has the audacity to be offended that he's curt, or evades her questions or
acts rude to her. Like the entitlement is strong with this one.

Another thing that irked me to no end was her need to make a big deal about secrets. Oh no,
your two coworkers don't talk to you? One of them is mute? *Gasp* no way, she must talk, the
rude man must have scared her!
He must have a secret! I'm not allowed to enter someone's personal rooms? What?! There is a mystery there. Why would someone keep a total stranger, their new employee out of their private space? (And
this is the same person who doesn't do interviews or anything. So, very private.) I must invade
everyone's privacy at once!
This weird obsession with uncovering secrets like sure it's for the plot but couldn't there have
been something more that could have encouraged her to look for things? Something more
than why am I not allowed in my boss's bedrooms even though she hasn't even bothered to
meet me? I mean sure anyone would be curious about locked doors but also anyone with a
bit of self preservation and common sense would refrain from sneaking into other peoples bed
rooms and basically snooping in someone's house, especially the one who is your
EMPLOYER.

———
"What's in those rooms?" I asked.
"All locked doors are off-limits."
"Okay but what's ...in them?"
"Those are Athena Quinn's personal rooms."
"What kind of personal rooms?"
"Rooms you're not allowed in.
———

Again, infuriating.

———
All I wanted to do was go open one of the doors I wasn't supposed to. But I was pretty sure
that trying to get Mr. Remington to tell me his first name was already offensive enough for my
first day on the job.
———

And yet.

———
But if I knew one thing about Athena Quinn, it was that she wrote bold
female leads. If I was going to get close to her, I'd have to be bold too. It was best if I took this
opportunity into my own hands. And if I was lucky, she'd be behind one of those locked doors.
———

I'm sure the author didn't mean that snooping was bold but sure go on.
And this is the moment she arrives and the first moment she's left alone, specifically asked to
stay in the sitting room and not touch anything till Remington comes back from his phone call
or whatever.

———
I'd already almost gotten caught snooping once. For a few minutes last night, I'd thought Mr.
Remington had known what I'd done. But he hadn't fired me. Instead, he'd left for the day. He
was practically begging me to snoop again.
———

Yes, because knowing you've been caught twice, confronted once and still not fired isn't
enough to make you be responsible and cherish this second chance you've gotten at not
screwing up. Of course, the take away is to try to do the wrong thing again.

———
I pulled two bobby pins out of my hair and looked behind me once more
before crouching in front of Mr. Remington's door. Last night I'd researched lockpicking. And
honestly, it didn't seem that hard. He'd given me inspiration for the hero of my novel, but I still
hadn't learned a single thing about the man. Without knowing more, I was afraid my
inspiration would run dry.
———

Just look at how nonchalant she acts even though she's most definitely doing something
illegal. And look at how she's justified it all in her head.
You need privacy? B-but my book? Whatever will I do without knowing what your bedroom
looks like? I want to be an author but it all entirely depends on me getting inspired by the contents of your sock drawer! You can't do this to me!

———
But it was impossible to not piss off the man. And I'd been as well behaved as I possibly could
be, given the fact that I was literally standing in a haunted house.
———

Her definition of well-behaved is very questionable. Like the bar is in the ground. And just
because the electricity of an old house went out during a thunderstorm and you heard a few
creaks which you now know were alive human made, how do you still consider it haunted?
Like there is no evidence. What is she even on?

———
When I'd first arrived at the mansion, l'd been dying to know more about
Athena Quinn. Desperate for just one conversation. Somewhere in the past few days, though,
my thoughts had shifted. I understood Athena Quinn even without meeting her face-to-face.
She ostracized herself from the world because the world was hateful to her. So she brought
museums to her. Libraries to her. The whole world to her. She never left her estate. Hell, she
never even left her private wing. All for good reason.
———

She idolises this woman so much and then also calls her a mediocre author then says oh but
I'm not even an author how can I criticise her then starts feeling connected to her and her
characters and makes hate mail about herself then says it's not about me. The roller coaster.

———
Suddenly it made sense how annoyed he'd gotten when I'd criticized her latest novels.
Because it wasn't just a working relationship. It was way more than that. He was protective of
her.
———

Or he was just smart and didn't bad mouth his boss and her work with others. I think it's part
of professional etiquette. The jumping to conclusions is laughable. She really pulled a Bella
Swan in here somewhere. Like that's the kind of conclusions she was jumping at.

———
My imagination went haywire whenever I felt alone.
———

No shit, Sherlock. Also there's apparently also a slight tragic angle the author tried to play
into. I would still suggest therapy for her. Not because she is particularly traumatised but
because she is traumatising. And she just needs help in general. Her justifications for her
behaviour, if you can even call it that, are stupid.

The writing was smooth and the time skips were not abrupt, so I would say that overall it
wasn't a terrible read. I read it in one sitting just because I had more stuff to do and I didn't
think I would find it in me to return to it, but I didn't have to force myself to read it either. I did
want to know how things were going to end. There wasn't much in terms of suspense, it was
simply a delusional wild goose chase which incidentally happened to have substance
Meaning Hazel was just crazy but she was onto something (purely accidentally imo this could
all be normal tbh).
As I've said before, the ending was inconclusive. The Bella Swan type assumption I spoke of?
Yeah I think the author forgot to clarify that. Maybe she intended for it seem like a thriller
ending but this book just didn't have what it takes to end on a confusing note. Especially since
it seemed more romance centric than anything else. There was also a grovelling trope which
completely overlooked all the huge wrong things. Like if someone lies to you and manipulates
you it's kind of stupid just to take their word for it after they were forced to come clean
because you already found out most of the truth. That's a terrible beginning to a relationship.
This was supposed to be a slow burn maybe but I just don't know where either of the
characters fell in love. I get that there were time skips but you have to show us how a
relationship blossomed from distaste to love. There was absolutely no chemistry between the
two characters and the author simply thought that sexual tension was going to suffice. But it
didn't. I skimmed , more like skipped, the smut. Their 'encounters' were embarrassing and
awkward and did not make me feel anything. Like absolutely nothing.
Moreover, the conservation between Hazel and Kehlani were so cringey. I can't even with this
stuff. (In case you can't tell, my eloquence only goes so far when I'm cringing and at a loss of
words.)

———
"Wait." she said. "I have a brilliant solution
"You want me to seduce Little Remington?" Seriously, stop calling him that!
"Well, duh. But I meant about the stairs. Use your phone's flashlight.
———

I mean what a tube light. How do you even survive to be twenty something if you don't have
like two brain cells which would tell you to use your flashlight in the dark? The interactions and
her inner monologue are so hopeless I mean I feel bad for her. I'm not even gonna talk about
her drunk flirting. Because that was a true tragedy. I don't think booping guys on the nose
while calling them little anything is gonna win you any points.

Other than that, the book wasn't actually that bad. Like if you suffered through all this, it's not
that bad. It's only 225 pages and I'm only flabbergasted by the horrible things after finishing
the book. While reading it I don't think I was nit picking as much as I am now.
Oh and one last disturbing thing I read:

———
She looked up at the huge house, her doe eyes wide with wonder.
———

I'm not even going to say anything.
(If you need a hint it's doe eves.)