Katherine

It was a quick read for me, and I really enjoyed it! The main plot line of Tori’s story is her poisoned skin, and I found that to be super interesting! Not only is she having to navigate the sudden change in life, but she also has to make sure she doesn’t kill her sister, her mate (Legion), and anyone else just by her touch. Can you imagine?

I love the push and pull of Legion and Tori. They both simultaneously don’t want the mate bond and do at the same time. They each need to overcome and work through their blaring trust issues and trauma, but it is really enjoyable to watch them do so.

I also liked the Tartarus and ‘regular world’ with a portal world building. The estate and town Legion lives in was described so well! In addition, the general story line of the Crimson Roses adding on to this? Kept me engaged in the story.

This book does have a HEA, and there is romance, danger, death, tension, betrayal, action, and mystery all bundled up in this book.

Overall, I enjoyed Hunt Me, book 3 in the Shadow Shifter Bonds series by Heather Hildenbrand, and will be reading the rest of the series as well!

I loved this book! The characters were interesting, the plot was intriguing, and the slow burn was slow but oh my gosh such perfection. Of Blood and Aether is a classically perfect example of how to do slow burn!

We follow 2 wonderful MC’s: Arken is our strong but quiet, introverted and secret keeping FMC, and Kieran is our perfection of a shadow daddy – playboy and grumpy on the surface, thoughtful and passionate and witty inside. The connection between the 2 of them throughout the story? Oh so good. Kieran is one of my favorite types of morally grey and shadow daddy MC’s. He plays tough and stoic, reserved and ruthless, but man does he have a soft spot. He pretends he is a lone wolf, but he has friends and a blooming ‘something’ with Arken. It reminds me of Nyktos in Blood and Ash – and that’s saying something, considering Nyktos is my ultimate favorite shadow daddy!

It is one heck of a slow burn, with angst and pining and trying-and-failing to be friends. I normally like to get down to it, but Of Blood and Aether did the slow burn so well I might be converted. And having them resist for a good reason? It made their agony even more delicious.

Not to mention, the fantasy elements of this story were magnificent. The plot was strong and I did not feel like the story was pushed to the side in favor of the romance – it was blended seamlessly.

I loved the city of Sophrosyne, Arken spreading her wings and living on her own, and truly enjoying life. It reminded me of how freeing it felt to go to college and be truly on my own as an adult. Even her befriending Laurel and balancing their differences in a unique friendship that would never have happened had they not both traveled to Sophrosyne. It was so wonderful to see a strong female friendship blossom and grow! They pushed each other in different ways, and comforted one another when needed. It was so special, and again reminded me of the friendships I gained when I went away to college.

What I didn’t experience during college (ans wished I lived in a magical realm to do so) was magic. I LOVE how magic in this world works. Mastering the different elements; water, fire, air, earth, shadow and light? So wonderful. The history of the Gods, the Fae, the Aether, and the city overall? It really drew me in and kept me interested for the whole story. I loved how it all worked, where each student chose their own path for the future and classes as well.

Overall, I LOVED Of Blood and Aether, book 1 in the Harbringers series by Harper Hawthorne, and I cannot wait for book 2! I recommend this book to, well, everyone! Especially I recommend it to those who love a steamy romance coupled with a wonderful fantasy.

Zodiac Hybrids is the epitome of paranormal dark academia romance.

Its a quick read, spicy, intriguing, entertaining, and overall great!

I enjoyed Lila our FMC a lot. She was confused at times, frustrated, self consious but also intelligent and willing to seek out information about the creatures and situations she is dealing with.

Love a good age gap, a monster romance, and multiple men! The college atmosphere is great because it generally is seen as a time of exploration and discovery, and what better way to do that than to get intimate with several different kinds of monsters and learn about how relevant astrology is to your life?

I started reading this late in the evening when I was headed to bed, and all of the sudden I was finishing the book at 2am. Oops! I tried to set it down 2 separate times, but I was just laying there thinking about Aidan and Marcus and what would happen next.

This is a great quick and spicy, paranormal dark academia romance read! I recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal romance!

Overall, Zodiac Hybrids by Leann Belle is a great spicy book. Leann continues to show up with some great spicy stories that also have an interesting plot.

A Tether Through the Rift is a captivating story about memory loss, hidden power, and the journey to find yourself again.

Our FMC, Hazel, is terrorized every night with terrifying nightmares. Not only that, she lost all her memories a year ago and has been a shell of herself ever since. Scared to live, traumatized by her experiences, she is just trudging through life when we meet her.

I love a good mental health rep! She has amnesia, severe PTSD, anxiety, trauma, and depression. This all mixes together to create a horrible concoction that she spends the rest of the book working on. I feel very passionate about reading books with mental health rep, and this book did it so well!

Even with Vander, his mental health struggles and unhealthy coping mechanism was so well done. The scene with the wisps and the lake? It had my heart in a twist. I really felt for Hazel so much. When you have dark thoughts in your head, sometimes they just seem true. It was heartbreaking but also written so well.

I enjoyed watching Hazel try to figure herself out, especially once back through the rift. She is confused, scared, weak, and dealing with her mental health issues, but she tries to push through. I felt like this was a pretty accurate representation, because she really struggled through the entire book. Mental health issues are super hard to overcome and you can see this manifest in Hazel’s journey. We see the glimpses of happiness when they happen, and we also see the lows when she experiences them.

I loved Vander as her counterpart. He pushes her, and as much as she doesn’t like it, she needs it! He is dealing with his own issues too, but continues to not coddle her, and push her to be strong and overcome her issues.

Arlo was an interesting character. I didn’t love him very much, and was convinced he was nefarious in some way. I won’t say if I am right or not so I don’t spoil, but his overbearing protection and coddling did not sit well with me. He is written so well as a character this way!

The plot was very interesting, and I look forward to the next installment to see what happens! It ends on a cliffhanger which doesn’t bother me, but omg the cliffhanger! Unexpected.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Tether Through the Rift by Lindsey Rhoden. It was a great depiction of mental health struggles, a healing journey, and was in general a great story.

Darkness Comes Again by K.M. Davidson is a wonderful read. The characters are great, the plot is interesting, the stakes feel high, and the overall story was just so good! Normally I am all in on romantasy, or even romance first, but this fantasy with romance as the second plot? *chef’s kiss*

Reva makes a great FMC, with a knack for healing, and a huge secret to keep. She is brave, smart, caring, and determined to do what she needs to do to save Clint. Who, by the way, I love. He is one of my favorite characters, and I hope we see more of him in a different way in book 2! Reva is written so realistically – full of self doubt and anxiety like you and me. She doesn’t let it stop her though, and pushes through to do what she needs to.

I love all the side characters, from Flynn, Elly, even Pax is great at being the character he needs to. Like I said above, Clint is my favorite closely followed by Elly. The character we meet at the end of the book?? Definitely rooting for him in more ways than one…

The plot line with Clint is devastating but so good. Even better? The trio (Reva, Elly, Flynn) working together to figure out Reva’s powers and how they can be used. For such a big secret, it is heartwarming to see some semblance of found family Reva can rely on.

I wonder if / hope we see her original friends/family again, and I am super interested to see in what manner they come together. Also can’t wait to see how the Abyss/ Darkness plot line pans out and what happens! I think it is going to me much higher stakes in book 2 and I am here for it!

Overall, Darkness Comes Again By K.M. Davidson is a wonderful novel about a woman with a secret, and a desire to help. It is the first book in the Sirian’s series and I cannot wait for book 2!

Awakening the Dark Throne is a wonderful book full of elves, light and dark magic, unknown powers, secrets, torture, and so much character development.

I loved our FMC Genevieve. She is half alfar (elf) half human, and should be dead. In her world, she is not allowed to exist, but has been hiding in the shadows to get by. We meet her right at the beginning and see how motherly, strong, caring, and selfless. Willing to do anything to protect those around her.

After giving herself to the light alfar as her only chance to save her sister Lily from the dark alfar, she encounters a very different life. Kings, castles, and being dubbed a mistress of the future king. Life is hard even though he is kind, although she makes a friend in Levos.

While she has to endure a lot of things at the castle, I really loved seeing all her character development and growth throughout the book. The things she has to go through in the book are heartbreaking at times, and while they are so extremely terrible, the description of the mental turmoil was so well done. The development of her powers is really interesting, and I can’t wait to see them further develop!

Her relationship with Gaelin is interesting, and I enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed watching her come to her own conclusions about it. Same with the Dark alfar and Lyklor. She is told they are the worst, but our wonderful FMC comes to her own conclusions.

The plot in Awakening the Dark Throne sucks you in and keeps you wondering how its going to pan out. This really set us up for book 2, and I think big things are to come!

Overall, Awakening the Dark Throne by Jessica Ann Disciacca is a riveting twist on fae and powers, with a great FMC, high stakes, and and interesting plot/ group of characters. I can’t wait for book 2!

What a fantastic book this is! I can’t believe I had not read it before now, and I wish I had read it sooner! A Dawn of Onyx is a really great book, full of magic, sacrifice, enemies to lovers tension, friendship, personal growth, and so much more.

I loved our main character, Arwen. She is caring and strong, stubborn, eager to learn things, and willing to do anything to save her family. Arwen can heal others, and devotes her life to saving others. She doesn’t feel as loved and strong as her brother, but as we go on in the book, we get to witness her growing into herself. One of my favorite things is watching our FMC grow into herself and her confidence, and become the woman she is meant to be.

Our MMC, Kane, is soooo perfect as the MMC. A shadow daddy wicked king, he is as dark and devious as everyone says… or is he? I loved getting to know him more throughout the book and from Arwen’s perspective.

Their budding attraction? AMAZING. Kate Golden knows how to write a slow burn with a ton of banter. It was perfection, and I was eagerly devouring their relationship as it began to grow. I also loved all our other characters as they came into play!

The world building in A Dawn of Onyx was 10/10. I felt as though I was plopped right into the world and story. The details describing everything, the background info, it was all perfect! There was so much character development, a lot of plot, and the story was truly so good.

This is your perfect slow burn enemies to lovers romantasy! It doesn’t have a lot of spice, but the spice that is there is great. I enjoy a good spicy book, but I felt like this was really well done and did not need more than it had!

Overall, A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden was fantastic and enjoyable, and I am so excited to read book 2! I recommenced it to anyone who likes a slow burn enemies to lovers romantasy.

A Promise of Peridot is an excellent second installment of the Sacred Stones Trilogy by Kate Golden.

It has action, love, lust, hope, despair, sacrifice, selfishness, betrayal, joy, trust, and so much more.

We pick up right where we left off in A Dawn of Onyx, with them traveling to the kingdom of Citrine to escape Lazarus’ army and try to gather forces to eventually fight him. Arwen hates Kane, Arwen is devastated and grieving, and we get to see so much of that deep dark sadness and hopelessness inside her.

I personally love reading about a character’s dark times. It makes them more real, and you can really see how they think and feel inside when they are suffering. We all have coping mechanisms we turn to, and Arwen is no different.

This gave the perfect opportunity for the found family/ friends to come in play and help lift her up as well as process everything happening without giving up. I really loved Mari, Kane, and Griffin being ther for her in their own ways. Even Fedrik – while new, he wants to help her not be so sad.

The other thing I loved was how the romance took a back seat in the first bit of the book. It makes sense, she just lost her mom, she learned something life changing, and she feels betrayed by the man she is romantic with; in what world would she just go back to bed with Kane in this situation? It is perfectly reasonable and I actually liked spending time with Arwen figuring herself out again.

I will say that I love Kane, and I was so happy to get some Kane POV chapters! I like how he has his tough, mean, dark side, and also his vulnerable, emotional, loving side with Arwen. He gets jealous seeing her spend time with Fedrik (who wouldn’t), and tries to take care of her when she wants to suffer on her own.

The one thing I didn’t love was the introduction of Fedrik as a love interest – I liked him and his involvement in the group/book, but I just didn’t want Arwen to like anyone but Kane! Kane is just perfection and while everything with Fedrik was written so well, I just love Kane!

I am agonizing over the ending and need the third book immediately! October feels so far away!

Overall, A Promise of Peridot by Kate Golden is a wonderful read and such a great second novel in the Sacred Stones trilogy! I recommend this book and series to anyone who loves fantasy enemies to lovers, slow burn, depictions of depression and coping, and found family/friendships.

Worthy of a re-read.

I really enjoyed Worthy of Fate. The characters, the setting, the world building, the plot. It was all excellent and I am so happy I had a chance to read it!

I loved Kya as our FMC. She is a Roav, she is tough, and she is prepared to participate in the trial, even though it might mean she doesn’t return. She is a great fighter, and I loved her. After the trial, I loved her just as much, if not more!

Ryker is a great MMC. Another wonderful shadow daddy, lord of a land, and potential stalker? stalker turned lover?

One thing I appreciated was the romance/budding relationship of the story. It wasn’t an enemies to lovers, but maybe a stalker to lovers but also fated mates romance? Also, Kya didn’t push him away constantly, she accepted it and was into it too – which was a refreshing angle to the fated mates and enemies to lovers norm. It was so sweet at times, it was so spicy-tense at times, and quite enjoyable.

Worthy of Fate is a great book and I enjoyed the story! We spent the first half or less of the book with the trial, and then the second half with life that comes after. I feel like this book set us up perfectly for book 2 – there was a lot of world building, discovering more about the gods and the glaev, character development, and foreboding.

Overall, I really liked Worthy of Fate by A.N. Caudle and can’t wait for book 2! I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, fated mates, hunger games-esqe trials, and gods and prophesies.

Cardinal Sins is a great high stakes enemies to lovers, why choose, dark mafia romance. We have warring mafia’s, an heiress for one group taken by another, self destructive behavior, and assassination attempts. Protective men, an unbreakable brotherhood, and almost a beauty and her beasts type of story, where she is trapped in the penthouse.

This was a good book, I enjoyed it! I feel like it was a plot introduction, story starter book, where we are now set up for the real story/bigger plot to begin, and I am really excited for that. The book ended on a cliffhanger and I am very excited to see what happens next!

I love the warring mafia group theme, especially when it is over this woman. I loved the self destructive behavior she reverted to, it was hard to see her do it to herself but totally understandable for the situation. It was very realistic, and I liked that. Who is going to just accept this life? Stuck in a penthouse, having nothing to do, sleeping with the men to bide her time, and then what? Cooking? That takes up so little time.

I really felt for Zara, and hope she has a chance to pick herself back up in book 2 and beyond and become something powerful.

Dom, the head of the other mafia faction, is kinda giving Rhysand in book 1 and 2 of ACOTAR vibes??? I wonder if that is just me, or if we will see his dark but good side in book 2? I am excited.

Overall, Cardinal Sins by Charlotte House was a really good book! I am excited to read more of this series, and will definitely be picking up book 2 when it comes out!

Oh god this is such a good book. SO FILTHY, so dark, so steamy, so good. Like, so so so so good.

I devoured Vengeful Gods like these men devoured Fox. It was the hottest book I think I have ever read in my entire life. I love a good kidnapping, hostage, and then wearing 3 hot ominous men down until they can’t resist you anymore.

Fox is a fantastic FMC – strong and fierce but also submissive and scared. She knows what she wants and when she finds her voice to tell them what she wants? OH MY. Also I love that she had purple hair, ran a tattoo shop, and was overall a super cool woman.

Then we have our MMC’s Ky, Ven, and Throne, who are the perfect captures/enemies turned lovers. Tall, dark, handsome, and violent, these 3 men swooped into Fox’s life with the intention to use her for her gain, and it was the BEST thing ever.

Not only was this story deliciously filthy and detailed, but the plot was also very well done. The secret society of Anguis was a really great setup for our story, it was rich and cruel and full of people even worse than the society its self. The details were well thought out, the story line was firm and really good, and I was hooked on the story just as much as I was hooked on the spice. There were many parts where I was shocked by the twist in the story, and did not know what would happen at the end.

Overall, Vengeful Gods by Elliott Rose is incredible and so good. I have an inkling about who the next book will be about, and I can’t wait for it! This book is at least 50% spice, if not more, and I loved it. If you like dark, filthy, MFMM romance, then this is for you!

The Professor is exactly what you think it will be. Girl sleeps with man for money, has amazing experience. Girl goes to class at the start of the semester, what do you know, the man is her professor now.

Spice ensues, along with some weird back and forth about ratting one another out or not.

Let me tell you, the spice was really good. I love the taboo nature of professor student, and then the next layer on that? He is her ex-boyfriends not-in-the-picture father. More taboo ensues, still is hot and spicy.

I enjoyed the plot for The Professor, a secret society is always an interesting plot driver. I will say the author did a great job writing about Anne’s bad home life, because it both made me uncomfortable and triggered my past a little bit. This is not a bad thing, it means she did a great job writing it realistically.

Loved Anne’s friend/roommate Daisy. She is amazing and I hope is in the story in book 2 and beyond.

I think this was a good book, and set us up really well for book 2.

Overall, The Professor by Skye Warren was interesting, steamy, and a good book! I am interested to see what book 2 brings us!

A Kingdom of Blood and Magic is really good, I flew right through it! I was hooked from the beginning, and struggled to put it down and go to bed. It kept me pulled into the story, needing to see how everything played out.

The world building, character development, and plot were all excellent! I really truly enjoyed this story!

Mareina was such a good FMC! I love when the FMC is morally grey, it adds a layer of complexity to their character that I love. While she may not be morally grey by choice, she still is. together with her best friend and partner in crime Malekai, she is unstoppable and lives life alone – except for Malekai. He is the only person she has let inside her walls.

Nakoa was weird, wild, and unhinged, and I loved him for it. He was so handsome, interesting, powerful and dedicated to his goal, and I loved it. He was rough with Mareina, and it was so spicy!

The soulbound between them was a super good plot line driver throughout the story. It was so interesting to read about fated mates who kind-of-but-also-not-at-all into each other – it’s like the epitome of enemies to lovers. I really liked how they struggled with it, and fought each other the whole way.

I do wish someone, ANYONE, culminated some of these spice scenes – the scenes as is were oh so good but I wish we had more! I’m interested to see if this comes in book 2, or if we will just be teased through the series… and I am not complaining about that either!

All of the side characters were wonderful and added really well to the story, and I am interested to see how they play a part in the next book.

We end on one heck of a cliffhanger, and I am now dying for book 2! Can’t wait to continue on in this world with these characters.

Overall, I truly enjoyed A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri, and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, romance, fated mates, and a darker more serious fantasy story.

Heart of a Valkyrie is unlike any book I’ve read in a long time. A historical esque fiction following Freydis through her albeit rough and somber life. In fact, the entire book was rough, somber, quite sad, and dark. A father who abandons her, slaves who care for her but are taken away, people who hate her for being her father’s daughter. This novel is a testament to Freydis’ strength and resilience as a person – she does not let any of these things get her down, and continues through life with her viking toughness to become a strong woman.

I will admit, I was expecting ‘serving the gods’ to mean something a bit different than training with the healers, but for a historical fiction, it makes sense.

Overall, Heart of a Valkyrie by Melanie Karsak was enjoyable and set us up very well for book 2. It will be interesting to see what happens in the sequel. If you like viking history and following a girl through many trials and tribulations, then this is the book for you.

Nights of Obedience is dark, twisted, f’d up and so good. This book is not for the faint of heart, you’d do well to read the trigger warnings. But for those of us who relish in reading trigger warnings, this book is a doozy! Non-con, voyeurism, forbidden romance, enemies to lovers, torture, exploitation, virginity, and so much more. Caution: it is imperative to read trigger warnings for this book – many of these things I just listed are detailed out in the scenes.

Emilie and Ladon are such good characters, the quintessential enemies to lovers pairing. What happens to them is horrible, horrifying, and terrible, and also steamy at the same time? I felt like the worst sort of person reading this book and loving it, but honestly worth it. Nights of Obedience is the dark twisted book I didn’t know I needed. I am SO glad I read it!

I always love when one character is completely closed off from everyone else, and the ‘enemy’ character manages to squeeze them out of their antisocial shell and pry their smiles from them. It is so endearing and makes me happy every time. Emilie desperately wants to be accepted by her new family, and Ladon is bound and determined to push her out before she even settles in. Then, they are forced to work together to get themselves out of this terrible situation.

Honorable mentions to the Harpy, I can’t wait to see more from her in book 2!

Overall, Nights of Obedience by Rachel Mays was so dark and twisted, but oh so steamy and good. I devoured this book in 1 day, finishing it at 1:30am. I recommend this book to anyone who likes the darker side of things.

Run, don’t walk, to read this book. And then agonize over the wait for book 2 with me!

A Veiled Kingdom was a fantastic read. I read it in a single sitting on a sunday afternoon, completely enthralled by the story and extremely invested in finding out what happens next after each twist and turn. It was written so well, and I truly loved reading it.

Nyra is such a great FMC! She is strong and resilient without being a trained fighter – I would call her more of a scrappy and sly FMC. She has a huge secret to hide, and a huge shame weighing her down, but still she perseveres and survives. Her dual hatred and attraction to Dacre is melt-worthy!

Dacre is such a good MMC. He is handsome, cruel, sharp, rude, and as much as he doesn’t want to be, attracted to Nyra so much. He hates that he is, but once again, the dual hatred and attraction is melt-worthy.

I loved the interactions of these 2, it was so tense, electric, and left me pining for more each time they separated. I also enjoyed the side characters, and have an inkling about one of them – but will keep that to myself to not spoil anything!

The plot was great, I feel fully invested in learning what happens next. Nyra has been through so much, and she continues to stand back up and keep moving forward. The rebels are ready to fight and take the kingdom away from the cruel king, and they just need the final weapon: the lost princess.

I was so shook by the ending of The Veiled Kingdom, I could not believe that is how we end. What a cliffhanger!!! Still so good, so heartbreaking, so raw and real, and I am so excited for book 2.

Overall, The Veiled Kingdom by Holly Renee was truly a fantastic book. I loved it so much, and would definitely recommend it to everyone who loves romantasy, fae, rebellions, enemies to lovers, hidden power, secret identity, and more.

Black Widow’s Bite by Bella Reves is so good. I trully enjoyed reading it, and loved all the quirky characters.

Addie is such a great FMC – she is strong but weak, fierce but scared, and resigned to a life alone in order to not watch everyone she touches die. Seeing her interact with the 4 guys is so good!

I think Austin was my favorite of the guys. His mannerisms, attraction to Addie, and the general oddness of him was so sexy, attractive, and also made you just love the guy.

Piper is the one you’d pick to get your freak on, and he has no qualms about being open with himself. Wyatt is our teddy bear, and Cain is our protector. All written so well, and all aligned perfectly with their unusual natures.

Black Widow’s bite is one of the sexiest books I’ve read recently. It didn’t have anymore spice than other dark romance erotica books, but there was just something so so so sexy and arousing about this book and the events that unfolded within it. Austin and Piper?? They will get your pulse thrumming. Of course Cain will too, but for me it was all Austin and Piper.

The way Addie goes about finding her place with these 4 misfit men is so good, I loved it. And the twist/ending? Wow – so dark, so depraved, so creepy, and so good.

Overall, Black Widow’s Bite by Bella Reves was an excellent read! I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark romance/erotica, dubious consent, why choose, torture, and more all wrapped up in a little black book.

Secrets of Euphoria was a good third installment for the Club Euphoria series. It follows Jade and Luke, who until now, had been keeping their relationship a secret. It was spicy, tense, dark, heartwarming, and full of Mafia trouble. I really enjoyed reading it!

I am glad we got to know Jade more, getting inside her head was super interesting. As the woman who knows everything going on at the club, I always thought there was more to her than meets the eye, and boy was I right! We get to see several different sides of her and I loved each one.

I also enjoyed reading the story from Luke’s perspective! He was humanized a bit more, and became less of the stoic #2 at Club Euphoria and more of a human being with feelings as well. It was so great to see him interact with Maddie and the other kids, definitely was pulling at my heartstrings!

The leveled up Mafia trouble was super good and interesting, and we are set up SO WELL for book 4! I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I have a feeling I know exactly who it will focus on, and I am here for it! I also can’t wait to learn more about Luxe (and get some spicy spice scenes in there as well!) and what that looks like.

Overall I enjoyed Secrets of Euphoria, book 3 in the Club Euphoria series by V.B. Emanuele and can’t wait for book 4. This book is for you if you like Mafia, spice, dark things, murder, gentleman’s club scenes, and more!

Overall I enjoyed the book, I loved the FMC Astra, she was great! Trained to be a royal guard and to pretend to be the princess, she is so cool! I enjoyed how Marlak was written, it was perfect for a boy who grew up mostly alone and on the run while also having to operate as a pseudo king.

I enjoyed this book and the plot, but struggled a bit with the miscommunication trope. if you are into miscommunication trope, then you will LOVE THIS. If you also like enemies to friends to lovers, forced proximity, and fae magic, then you will love it even more. I really enjoyed all these aspects as we went though the book, and enjoyed seeing our main characters interact and progress their relationship too.

I think this book sets us up extremely well for book 2, and there is so much potential! I can’t wait for it to come out and see what happens. It was a little slow at points, and there was a little too much miscommunication for me, but honestly it was still enjoyable!

Overall, A Cursed Son by Day Leitao was an enjoyable read, and I would definitely give book 2 a read when it comes out.

Okay, this was excellent. It is a quick read, I think I clocked about 4 hours to read it.

As a beauty and the beast retelling, I really liked the nods to the original story. I won’t list them out so you can experience them for yourself, but I really did like them. They blended into the story so well, P. Rayne did an excellent job slipping them in there.

The spice? yes puh-lease! So so so good, I loved their dynamic and the progression of the spice through the books.

The general dynamic of Asher and Annabelle was perfection. Lots of “young innocent confused-but-attracted-to-the-grumpy-man vibes” from Annabelle, which worked perfectly for her character. Asher had a lot of “she is too young for me but I can’t resist so I must be cold to her” vibes, and it worked so well for his character.

Throw in 4 brothers who are billionaires, who get everything they desire, who do some shady things, and also mix in a sex club? Literally there is no way this story could be bad.

Quick note: I did wish there was some more plot, and there were several things I felt were a bit abrupt, BUT this is a shorter novel so it is exactly what you expect. It did not take away, I just wished for more!

Overall I loved Moonlit Thorns by P. Rayne. It was a great blend of the beauty and the beast story retold with modern times and a lot of spicy spice. Definitely would recommend for a quick and dirty enjoyable read! Can’t wait for book 2!

In the Shadows by L.B. August was super good! We are set up so well for book 2, and I can’t wait for it to be released!

I really liked the plot of In the Shadows! An FMC who is dead as far as everyone knows, a MMC who is stubborn, loving, handsome, and oh so attracted to the FMC for reasons he can’t understand.

Lily is a great FMC. She is smart, beautiful, sneaky, powerful, and holding a huge dark secret. She is pining after Theo and suffering for it. Lily has gone through some major trauma but only come out of it super powerful, willing to take down those who wish to harm the innocent, and fiercely defensive of her people.

Theo is a great MMC counter for Lily. He is a gruff captain of the guard, super handsome, but mostly a loner. He used to have an Amari (fated mate) but she died and he can’t bear to find someone else. Theo is loyal to his kingdom and king, and until a sexy barmaid comes along, perfectly content with his life.

The spice scenes were great. Very sexy and very good. They made sense with the plot and I felt like it flowed so well!

The twists and turns as we get farther along in the story? So good! I was shocked several times and loved it.

I love the trope of a dark evil land shadowed in darkness, and the kingdom in the light, and the debate on which one is actually bad.

Overall, I loved In the Shadows by L.B. August! I definitely recommend it and can’t wait for book 2!

The spice is 5 stars hands down! It is SO GOOD and SO SPICY! James and Emma together in his playroom is just wow. I loved all of the spice scenes, they were exquisite.

If you are looking for a plot heavy book, this is not the one for you. If you want kink and playroom scenes, and why choose/RH, this is for you.

I love a good quick read that has less plot and more spice, and this did not disappoint in that aspect. There were parts of the plot I did not understand and was confused about, but my main focus was the spice which I enjoyed. overall I'd give this 3.5 stars.

Couple of notes on the plot:

• If she is not a vampire, how is she 200 years old? I was very confused on this.
• Her whole family died and she seemed upset but not THAT upset? She seemed annoyed at her sister from the very first page.
• When she sees her siblings again as vampires, she isn't shocked but just goes straight into hating them?? They hate her too??
• all of these men are obsessed with her? Is James just the most obsessed? I'm confused but not mad - I wish there was more RH/why choose scenes, and I can't wait for hopefully individual scenes with them in the future.

This Novella is excellent. I love the portrayal of Melinoë and Helios, and their back and forth. It is such a good showcase of mental illness and also what support looks like from those around you.

Supporting someone with mental illness, or someone who is the goddess of nightmares is tough work, but it doesn’t make the person any less lovable – and that is exactly what we see from Helios. He is her sunshine and he will be the light in the darkness always for her.

I teared up so many times reading this novella – the vulnerability, the despair, the tough relationship. It was all so much and so good.

Their dirty rough spice is amazing and while not my cup of tea in real life, was perfect for the 2 of them. Who new ‘sunboy’ was so dark and depraved?? We love it.

Overall, The Nightmare & the Daydream Novella as book 3.5 in the Love and Fates series by Alexis Rune & Jeannette Rose was excellent and I loved it so much. I companion read it with The Queen and The King (book 3) and it was so perfect together like that. I would love to get a special edition of the book where this and book 3 are combined.

Okay, so we definitely bounced back from book 2! This book was really good, I loved it. I companion read it with the Nightmare and the Daydream novella, and it was so so so great!

We begin with Persephone losing all her memories and being taken back with her mother. Demeter (mother) is cruel and abusive, verbally and physically. She loves the idea of Persephone, but not who Persephone really is.

Hades is healed but has another issue with the shadow tattoos on his body growing. He is also in despair because Persephone was taken from him and he isn’t sure how to get her back.

Once he realizes she has lost all her memories, he starts to date her again and OMG it is so good and mushy and I teared up so many times. There is so much emotion in this book, and I am here for all of it. The poor guy is suffering so hard trying to figure this issue out, and his one saving grace, his spring, his comfort, his queen, is not only not there, but also doesn’t remember who he is.

It is DEVASTATING.

But genuinely this book was so so good following Hades and Persephone and their journey falling for each other again. We got to see another side of Persephone, and also got to witness them formally dating – which was the sweetest most wonderful thing ever.

Watching Persephone come into her power was something we did not get in book 1, and it was a very good plot point in this book. Wavering back and forth between succumbing to her mother and embracing what she feels inside, it is really powerful writing. For anyone out there who has struggled with an abusive parent or abusive anyone, this might sit really heavy – I know it did for me. Not in a bad way, just in a ‘wow this is so nice to see this personified in literature’ way.

This book had tragedy, love, hate, betrayal, war, power, magic, fate, and so much more. It was amazing companion read alongside the Nightmare and the Daydream!

I have so many things I want to say, but want to keep this spoiler free! Overall, The Queen & The King is a wonderful third novel in the Love & Fate series by Alexis Rune & Jeannette Rose. Cannot wait for the next installment!

So I did not love this one. I LOVED book 1, but book 2 focused on Hades being trapped in a tree, and Persephone being thrown into queen-hood and having to figure it all out for herself. Then it focuses on them essentially not understanding each other and not listening.

It just wasn’t a good plot in my opinion, nor was it believable.

I will say that I love Hades so much. We got to learn more of his backstory via his nightmares, and I really felt for him. We also continue to see how much he loves Persephone and how vulnerable he is. The poor guy tried to be good to her in book 1 but finally gave in to sealing their curse, and what does Persephone do? Be pissed at him once she gets him back… smh.

I love Persephone from book 1, and bits and pieces of her from book 2, but overall she missed the mark for me. Her connections with Berry and Mellie, and her exploration of her new home were so good! But honestly it triggered me how she was with Hades. I get that she needed him to let her make choices for herself, and honestly I totally get it that she was abused as a child and so her perception is skewed. But, he is her mate and partner, and they should really talk it out. You can’t be with someone and refuse to deal with your problems to the point where you aren’t sharing rooms.

Overall, If you like the miscommunication trope, and want to see 2 people push and pull and have makeup sex and then continue to fight and not listen to each other, maybe you will love this one. It was not for me.