en-US Tue, 01 Oct 2024 06:07:39 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 22095063
Penelope Santoro is alone, trapped in an empty room of what could only be a boat in the middle of a rough ocean. With no recollection of how she got there, and no escape in sight, she's quickly losing hope that she will ever find her way home.

Tag Reynolds is detached. His life depends upon it. But when the beautiful daughter of one of his biggest rivals winds up in his care, his entire world shifts. Drawn to her innocence, he desperately fights the feelings he can't have...feelings that could destroy everything he's worked for.

Penny is nothing more than a pawn in a deadly game -- a game that Tag cannot afford to lose. Can he save her without compromising his position, or will they become victims of their twisted desire?]]> 277 Laura Dunaway Julia 0 3.76 2014
author: Laura Dunaway
name: Julia
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2016/10/16
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves: mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, safe, annoying-characters-plot, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine
review:

]]> 58523196
Larissa Hostetler is on the run after an arranged marriage to Silus, her abusive, immortal husband. As Silus hunts his disobedient wife, he plots her painful atonement. But Bishop King, the most powerful and eldest immortal in The Order, finds Larissa first, and he has plans of his own.

Meanwhile, a deadly vampire is slaughtering mortal women in the woods, drawing unwanted attention from the media that threatens to expose their species. The Council is hard-pressed to hunt and destroy the creature, but other upheaval is at play while the bishop is away.

Vows will be broken and lives eternally changed as appetites for vengeance grow in this ongoing saga of immortal love, eternal loyalty, and wicked betrayals.]]> 401 Lydia Michaels 1735467790 Julia 3
This installment was.... interesting. A combination of not at all what i expected and EXACTLY what i expected.

My biggest problem with this book was that the author took an overused trope and didnt change it at all. Tell me; Have you read this book before?
- Heroine escapes an abusive relationship and hides away as a stripper
- Hero goes out to find her, only to realize that they're mates/in love
- "I'll protect you always and you'll never suffer again" - our hero talking to the heroine
- Abusive ex gets mad when he finds out
- Heroine goes off by herself and instantly gets attacked by abusive ex
- Hero saves her.
The end.

Have you read this book 1000 times? 2000 times? I know I have and I'm SICK OF IT. You can dress up this trope with as much vampire/amish/fated mates as much as you want, but at the end of the day its all the same bull shit. Why have the heroine become a stripper and include in her inner dialogue that she loves dancing.... only to have it never mentioned again for the rest of the book?! Oh right, because being a stripper is for whores only and our heroine cant be a whore. She has to go back to amish land to be a submissive wife. Which is really my main problem with the series.

While I love a fated mate story, with some really good smut thrown in, this book did not meet my expectations. It felt rushed and lazy. There was also TWO other story lines going on at the same time as our MC's which took away from their romance.

All in all, I probably wont continue with this series. The next hero is a slut.

Safety:
- Heroine is previously married to a very abusive man that beats and rapes her.
- Hero is a virgin
- No seperation, no cheating, no OW drama, slight OM drama in the form of the abusive ex
- Physical violence
- Misogyny. The characters are Amish after all
- fated mates, possessive and obsessive love. CAVEAT: the hero and heroine have known each other for decades but they didnt know they were fated mates until after the heroine is married.

Merged review:

3 stars

This installment was.... interesting. A combination of not at all what i expected and EXACTLY what i expected.

My biggest problem with this book was that the author took an overused trope and didnt change it at all. Tell me; Have you read this book before?
- Heroine escapes an abusive relationship and hides away as a stripper
- Hero goes out to find her, only to realize that they're mates/in love
- "I'll protect you always and you'll never suffer again" - our hero talking to the heroine
- Abusive ex gets mad when he finds out
- Heroine goes off by herself and instantly gets attacked by abusive ex
- Hero saves her.
The end.

Have you read this book 1000 times? 2000 times? I know I have and I'm SICK OF IT. You can dress up this trope with as much vampire/amish/fated mates as much as you want, but at the end of the day its all the same bull shit. Why have the heroine become a stripper and include in her inner dialogue that she loves dancing.... only to have it never mentioned again for the rest of the book?! Oh right, because being a stripper is for whores only and our heroine cant be a whore. She has to go back to amish land to be a submissive wife. Which is really my main problem with the series.

While I love a fated mate story, with some really good smut thrown in, this book did not meet my expectations. It felt rushed and lazy. There was also TWO other story lines going on at the same time as our MC's which took away from their romance.

All in all, I probably wont continue with this series. The next hero is a slut.

Safety:
- Heroine is previously married to a very abusive man that beats and rapes her.
- Hero is a virgin
- No seperation, no cheating, no OW drama, slight OM drama in the form of the abusive ex
- Physical violence
- Misogyny. The characters are Amish after all
- fated mates, possessive and obsessive love. CAVEAT: the hero and heroine have known each other for decades but they didnt know they were fated mates until after the heroine is married.]]> 4.28 2012
author: Lydia Michaels
name: Julia
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/04
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, virgin-hero, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, series-to-wait-for, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, epic-love, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 stars

This installment was.... interesting. A combination of not at all what i expected and EXACTLY what i expected.

My biggest problem with this book was that the author took an overused trope and didnt change it at all. Tell me; Have you read this book before?
- Heroine escapes an abusive relationship and hides away as a stripper
- Hero goes out to find her, only to realize that they're mates/in love
- "I'll protect you always and you'll never suffer again" - our hero talking to the heroine
- Abusive ex gets mad when he finds out
- Heroine goes off by herself and instantly gets attacked by abusive ex
- Hero saves her.
The end.

Have you read this book 1000 times? 2000 times? I know I have and I'm SICK OF IT. You can dress up this trope with as much vampire/amish/fated mates as much as you want, but at the end of the day its all the same bull shit. Why have the heroine become a stripper and include in her inner dialogue that she loves dancing.... only to have it never mentioned again for the rest of the book?! Oh right, because being a stripper is for whores only and our heroine cant be a whore. She has to go back to amish land to be a submissive wife. Which is really my main problem with the series.

While I love a fated mate story, with some really good smut thrown in, this book did not meet my expectations. It felt rushed and lazy. There was also TWO other story lines going on at the same time as our MC's which took away from their romance.

All in all, I probably wont continue with this series. The next hero is a slut.

Safety:
- Heroine is previously married to a very abusive man that beats and rapes her.
- Hero is a virgin
- No seperation, no cheating, no OW drama, slight OM drama in the form of the abusive ex
- Physical violence
- Misogyny. The characters are Amish after all
- fated mates, possessive and obsessive love. CAVEAT: the hero and heroine have known each other for decades but they didnt know they were fated mates until after the heroine is married.

Merged review:

3 stars

This installment was.... interesting. A combination of not at all what i expected and EXACTLY what i expected.

My biggest problem with this book was that the author took an overused trope and didnt change it at all. Tell me; Have you read this book before?
- Heroine escapes an abusive relationship and hides away as a stripper
- Hero goes out to find her, only to realize that they're mates/in love
- "I'll protect you always and you'll never suffer again" - our hero talking to the heroine
- Abusive ex gets mad when he finds out
- Heroine goes off by herself and instantly gets attacked by abusive ex
- Hero saves her.
The end.

Have you read this book 1000 times? 2000 times? I know I have and I'm SICK OF IT. You can dress up this trope with as much vampire/amish/fated mates as much as you want, but at the end of the day its all the same bull shit. Why have the heroine become a stripper and include in her inner dialogue that she loves dancing.... only to have it never mentioned again for the rest of the book?! Oh right, because being a stripper is for whores only and our heroine cant be a whore. She has to go back to amish land to be a submissive wife. Which is really my main problem with the series.

While I love a fated mate story, with some really good smut thrown in, this book did not meet my expectations. It felt rushed and lazy. There was also TWO other story lines going on at the same time as our MC's which took away from their romance.

All in all, I probably wont continue with this series. The next hero is a slut.

Safety:
- Heroine is previously married to a very abusive man that beats and rapes her.
- Hero is a virgin
- No seperation, no cheating, no OW drama, slight OM drama in the form of the abusive ex
- Physical violence
- Misogyny. The characters are Amish after all
- fated mates, possessive and obsessive love. CAVEAT: the hero and heroine have known each other for decades but they didnt know they were fated mates until after the heroine is married.
]]> 34527117 Addison Wanks, rock'n'roll's favorite daughter, is good at keeping secrets.

Secret One

She's responsible for the long-standing feud between her father's band, Wanks and Janks, and younger band Wild Minds. She may or may not have let Wild Minds' sexy bad-boy lead singer Warren defile her backstage at a concert. Okay, she totally did.

Secret Two

She's supposed to be attending college but instead skips town to follow Wild Minds on their European tour. Addy adores Warren Price.

Secret Three

Europe doesn't go so hot. Her sexy lead singer turned out to be king of the assholes. He's arrogant, demanding and controlling. Addy loathes Warren Price. Oh, well.

Secret Four

Fast forward a few years and Addy is planning to attend her father's farewell tour when she hears the news—Wild Minds is back in the good graces of Wanks and Janks. The two bands will be headlining together. This is going to make avoiding Warren difficult. Especially since it seems Warren doesn't want to be ignored. He also doesn't want a divorce. That's right, Addy is married to the Wild Minds front man. Shh. Don't tell.

What will happen when all Addy's secrets are revealed? ]]> 279 Charlotte West 0998724904 Julia 3
Merged review:

Hmmm this one is a tricky one to review. This book could've have been great for had it not been the heroine and her decision making processes. The h was very selfish and cowardly. Also the fact that the following books in this series all have manwhore heros who lead the heroines on with "open relationships." Not digging that at all. But otherwise, this was a solid book. Just the right amount of angst for a Friday afternoon.]]> 4.09 2017
author: Charlotte West
name: Julia
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2017/06/16
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-secondary-characters, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, ott-possessive-hero, rocker, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Hmmm this one is a tricky one to review. This book could've have been great for had it not been the heroine and her decision making processes. The h was very selfish and cowardly. Also the fact that the following books in this series all have manwhore heros who lead the heroines on with "open relationships." Not digging that at all. But otherwise, this was a solid book. Just the right amount of angst for a Friday afternoon.

Merged review:

Hmmm this one is a tricky one to review. This book could've have been great for had it not been the heroine and her decision making processes. The h was very selfish and cowardly. Also the fact that the following books in this series all have manwhore heros who lead the heroines on with "open relationships." Not digging that at all. But otherwise, this was a solid book. Just the right amount of angst for a Friday afternoon.
]]> 44648565 Friends of the family were forbidden fruit.
You didn't get to take a bite, no matter how tempting it might be.

And it sure was tempting when they showed up at your doorstep, soaking wet, shaking, begging for your help, your protection, when you suddenly found them hiding out from their problems in your place, in your bed while you attempted to take on their case, figure out how someone who led the quiet kind of life she did ended up on some bad guy’s radar, who wanted her badly enough to chase her through the streets, to make her need to uproot her entire life.
She was trusting me, depending on me.
There were plenty of things to keep my mind occupied.
Yet all I could think about was what it might be like to get a taste, a touch, a bite.
Maybe if I had been more focused on her case, I would have seen what was coming, could have prevented it before it was too late…]]> 244 Jessica Gadziala Julia 2 Just got really bored with this.

Youre told that the heroine isnt a damsel in distress by everyone in the story... and yet she may just be the biggest damsel ever. She literally couldn't be alone for 5 minutes without getting kidnapped.

Bruh. Over it.

Also over the use of tension when the hero and heroine are constantly getting interrupted by over eager secondary characters. How joy killing is it when the H/h are about to get it on and the bouncy secondary character (always a woman) comes barreling into the room and completely kills the scene?

Future readers beware. The upcoming books about the other Rivers brothers will all feature hero's that are known "skirt chasers."

Literally, gag me.

Merged review:

DNF @55%
Just got really bored with this.

Youre told that the heroine isnt a damsel in distress by everyone in the story... and yet she may just be the biggest damsel ever. She literally couldn't be alone for 5 minutes without getting kidnapped.

Bruh. Over it.

Also over the use of tension when the hero and heroine are constantly getting interrupted by over eager secondary characters. How joy killing is it when the H/h are about to get it on and the bouncy secondary character (always a woman) comes barreling into the room and completely kills the scene?

Future readers beware. The upcoming books about the other Rivers brothers will all feature hero's that are known "skirt chasers."

Literally, gag me.]]> 4.28
author: Jessica Gadziala
name: Julia
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2019/04/05
date added: 2024/04/12
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, annoying-characters-plot
review:
DNF @55%
Just got really bored with this.

Youre told that the heroine isnt a damsel in distress by everyone in the story... and yet she may just be the biggest damsel ever. She literally couldn't be alone for 5 minutes without getting kidnapped.

Bruh. Over it.

Also over the use of tension when the hero and heroine are constantly getting interrupted by over eager secondary characters. How joy killing is it when the H/h are about to get it on and the bouncy secondary character (always a woman) comes barreling into the room and completely kills the scene?

Future readers beware. The upcoming books about the other Rivers brothers will all feature hero's that are known "skirt chasers."

Literally, gag me.

Merged review:

DNF @55%
Just got really bored with this.

Youre told that the heroine isnt a damsel in distress by everyone in the story... and yet she may just be the biggest damsel ever. She literally couldn't be alone for 5 minutes without getting kidnapped.

Bruh. Over it.

Also over the use of tension when the hero and heroine are constantly getting interrupted by over eager secondary characters. How joy killing is it when the H/h are about to get it on and the bouncy secondary character (always a woman) comes barreling into the room and completely kills the scene?

Future readers beware. The upcoming books about the other Rivers brothers will all feature hero's that are known "skirt chasers."

Literally, gag me.
]]> 210704384 And a war fought on the most dangerous battlefield–the heart.

“Skye Warren absolutely owned me with Survival of the Richest. A twisty, raw exploration of money, greed, love, and lust, you’ll be left with your heart in your throat and hooked on the pages to discover what’s coming next! An absolute must-read.�� ~ A.L. Jackson, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author

“What an incredible book! Survival of the Richest has everything �� Skye Warren’s beautiful writing, a sexy, compelling story; intricate characters, and a provocative love triangle that will captivate you until the very end.�� ~ New York Times bestselling author Nina Lane

My story starts with a plunge into the cold water of Manhattan’s harbor. A strong hand hauls me back onto the deck of the luxury yacht. Christopher was supposed to be my enemy.

Instead he protects me with fierce determination. That should have been my happily ever after, but then Sutton appeared–ruthless and seductive. He doesn’t care that my heart belongs to someone else, because he’s determined to win. No matter the cost.

����’s an impossible choice, but I can’t have them both.]]> Skye Warren Julia 4
Merged review:

Trying something out of my comfort zone. Will post full review after the second part of the duet.]]> 3.92 2018
author: Skye Warren
name: Julia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/09/26
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, not-safe, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, business-billionaire-famous, best-secondary-characters, annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry
review:
Trying something out of my comfort zone. Will post full review after the second part of the duet.

Merged review:

Trying something out of my comfort zone. Will post full review after the second part of the duet.
]]> 49948494 Welcome home.

I left Kings Court in the back of an ambulance and swore I would never come back. Now, with no job, no apartment, and no options, I catch the late bus back to the old neighborhood.

Was I expecting anyone to welcome me back with open arms?

Hell no.

But I also wasn’t expecting Jasper Hayes.

The tattooed man-child with the unkempt hair and the bad attitude isn’t anyone’s idea of prince charming. Jasper’s the first to offer up a poison apple. He’s not the man who saves the princess—he’s the one that ruins her.

Maybe I don’t deserve a fairytale.



Wrecked is a standalone NEW ADULT bully romance. This book contains dark themes that could be difficult for some readers. ]]> 275 Cassie Kay Julia 3
What I do remember is loving the beginning and the bully aspect. Hero was a true villain.

And I also remember hating the ending. How the heroine was the one to apologize was out of this world ANNOYING. No ma'am, she should not have been to the one to grovel at the end. Hero should have been all over that.

Safety as much as I can remember:
No cheating
Neither are virgins.
Slight OW drama in the form of a jealous ex
Sexual manipulation
Lots of push and pull and mind games. ]]> 3.92
author: Cassie Kay
name: Julia
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2019/12/26
date added: 2023/09/13
shelves: worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, safe, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
I finished this so long ago I dont think I can write a comprehensive review. I've already forgotten some of the details, so I think that says more about this book than I could say in a review.

What I do remember is loving the beginning and the bully aspect. Hero was a true villain.

And I also remember hating the ending. How the heroine was the one to apologize was out of this world ANNOYING. No ma'am, she should not have been to the one to grovel at the end. Hero should have been all over that.

Safety as much as I can remember:
No cheating
Neither are virgins.
Slight OW drama in the form of a jealous ex
Sexual manipulation
Lots of push and pull and mind games.
]]> 40658422 nerdgasm (noun): an emotional climax at the peak of intense (sometimes sexual) excitement, characterized by a deep attraction to nerdy things and/or people.

My stutter makes it easy to become the center of attention for all the wrong reasons, so I try hard to stay out of the spotlight.
But when Addison Mitchell breezes into the class I TA for, she turns my world upside down, shaking me out of my comfort zone.
Confident and bold, her wandering hands set my body on fire.
She sees the real me, and she’s still interested.
I’m completely out of my element, yet I’ve never felt more alive.
Fingers crossed we're not a one-off fling.
I have a lot to learn, but I’m willing to make this work.
I’m going to give her more than a nerdgasm.
I’m going to give her my heart.]]> 202 Kimberly Reese Julia 1
Personal preference I guess.

Merged review:

Couldn’t stand the writing style. I found it to be over the top bubbly, naive and simple.

Personal preference I guess.]]> 3.77 2018
author: Kimberly Reese
name: Julia
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2018/06/28
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, safe, throw-away-dnf, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Couldn’t stand the writing style. I found it to be over the top bubbly, naive and simple.

Personal preference I guess.

Merged review:

Couldn’t stand the writing style. I found it to be over the top bubbly, naive and simple.

Personal preference I guess.
]]> 45838076
I don’t love him. I don’t even like him. I just want him.

Eli Loveless was my nemesis from the first day of kindergarten until we graduated high school. Everything I did, he had to do better - and vice versa. The day he left town was the best day of my life. Ten years later, the day he came back was the worst. Now he’s my co-worker. Grown-up Eli Loveless is sexy as sin. He’s hotter than asphalt in the summer. The irritating kid I once knew is gone, and he’s been replaced by a man with green eyes, perfect abs, and a cocky smile. ����’s bad that I want him. ����’s worse that he wants me back. There are looks. There are smirks. There are smiles that make my panties burst into flame. And then there’s a shared kiss that leads to the hottest night of my life. This is no office romance. This is a five-alarm fire. What’s a girl to do when the man I can’t stand is the one I can’t stop lusting after? Enter into a friends-with-benefits agreement, of course. No dates. No relationship. Just blisteringly hot sex, because if there’s one person I could never fall for, it’s Eli.... right?

Enemies with Benefits is the first book in the Loveless Brothers series, and can be read as a total standalone. It's for fans of high-heat, low-angst romantic comedies and anyone who enjoys a rivals-to-lovers story. This book also has tons of sibling banter, a workplace romance that smolders, and a small town with tons of charm and quirk. It's steamy, hilarious, and of course it's got a guaranteed HEA. (And yes, it bangs.)]]> 434 Roxie Noir Julia 3
Wasnt on the edge of my seat reading, but I wasnt disliking it either. Just felt very Disney Channel.

Merged review:

3 "down the middle/indifferent stars"

Wasnt on the edge of my seat reading, but I wasnt disliking it either. Just felt very Disney Channel.]]> 4.01 2019
author: Roxie Noir
name: Julia
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/07/28
date added: 2023/06/25
shelves: worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, safe, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 "down the middle/indifferent stars"

Wasnt on the edge of my seat reading, but I wasnt disliking it either. Just felt very Disney Channel.

Merged review:

3 "down the middle/indifferent stars"

Wasnt on the edge of my seat reading, but I wasnt disliking it either. Just felt very Disney Channel.
]]> 41021967
Misha

I can’t help but smile at the words in her letter. She misses me.

In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed.

It didn’t take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever��

And that was the start. For the next seven years, it was us.

Her letters are always on black paper with silver writing. Sometimes there’s one a week or three in a day, but I need them. She’s the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.

We only had three rules. No social media, no phone numbers, no pictures. We had a good thing going. Why ruin it?

Until I run across a photo of a girl online. Name’s Ryen, loves Gallo’s pizza, and worships her iPhone. What are the chances?

F*ck it. I need to meet her.

I just don’t expect to hate what I find.

Ryen

He hasn’t written in three months. Something’s wrong. Did he die? Get arrested? Knowing Misha, neither would be a stretch.

Without him around, I’m going crazy. I need to know someone is listening. ����’s my own fault. I should've gotten his number or picture or something.

He could be gone forever.

Or right under my nose, and I wouldn’t even know it.]]> 343 Penelope Douglas 1952646049 Julia 2 The H was kind of a douche too for no real reason but to make himself seem mentally superior.
]]> 3.76 2016
author: Penelope Douglas
name: Julia
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2016/11/07
date added: 2023/02/07
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, safe, rocker, annoying-characters-plot
review:
This is a bummer. I was so looking forward to this but i DNF'ed pretty early. I just can't stand when heroines cause their own suffering, the this h is a complete suffering-silence-type character. Someone needs to tell the world, and NA authors, that high school is no longer like the 80s and no longer has the same stereotypes. You're not a "loser" if you're in band or in art and electives are celebrated not torn down by the "cool kids."
The H was kind of a douche too for no real reason but to make himself seem mentally superior.

]]> 52240006
Lately, life definitely isn't how I envisioned it. I had it all. The house, the job, the husband. Until one day, I didn't. I don't know when exactly things started to change between us, only that it did, and in a big way. So much so, I found myself standing before a judge and signing off on the end of my marriage. To the only man I've ever loved.

Now, he's back, fighting, and ready to prove to me that we made a mistake, that our love is worth giving this another chance. I'm not sure if he's right, but I know what my heart wants, and it wants him. My ex-husband.


Harrison

Why is it that you don't know the depths of your mistakes until you've already made them? I knew signing those papers was a bad idea, but I thought that's what she wanted. The minute we stepped foot out of that courtroom, it hit me. She's no longer mine.

That's when I also realized that I would do anything to change the past. I have so many regrets. Not her. I could never regret her, but how we ended. We never should have ended. I'm in for the battle of my life to convince her to give us another shot. I have a plan, one that will prove to her that it's not over.]]> 274 Kaylee Ryan 1949151123 Julia 2
Nonsense drama and miscommunication do not make a good love story. And of course the heroine had to have her life in danger for the hero to get off his ass and go after 'the woman he loves.'

*rolls eyes*

Merged review:

2 stars.

Nonsense drama and miscommunication do not make a good love story. And of course the heroine had to have her life in danger for the hero to get off his ass and go after 'the woman he loves.'

*rolls eyes*]]> 4.05 2019
author: Kaylee Ryan
name: Julia
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2019/07/28
date added: 2023/02/04
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 stars.

Nonsense drama and miscommunication do not make a good love story. And of course the heroine had to have her life in danger for the hero to get off his ass and go after 'the woman he loves.'

*rolls eyes*

Merged review:

2 stars.

Nonsense drama and miscommunication do not make a good love story. And of course the heroine had to have her life in danger for the hero to get off his ass and go after 'the woman he loves.'

*rolls eyes*
]]> 29989365
My brother’s ex should have been off-limits, but she wasn’t. Not when we were teens. Not when I married her. And definitely not now.

I thought after I walked away from her in Vegas we were done. I was wrong. This time my brother isn’t getting in the way of what I want. I’m going to fight for her, fight for us.

The girl f*cking loves me, she just doesn’t know it yet.

Friends, lovers, enemies, and now��

To say our relationship is complicated would be an understatement.

Damaged, demanding, a verifiable prick, Mace Hadley is my biggest mistake, but that didn’t stop the former marine from getting back into my panties the night he arrived home.

It was supposed to be one last screw you. Except he’s in my face each chance he gets, between my legs at every opportunity.

I’m not sure how long I can fight him when I still haven’t gotten over him. But I’ll go down swinging. If I give him my heart and he leaves me behind again, it’ll break me. But that’s not the worst part.

I’m having the cocky f@#cker’s baby.
]]> 209 Misti Murphy Julia 2
Merged review:

Yeah this isn't going to work. I don't respect heroines that are "I'm never fucking you never ever again" the one minute and the next being "I'm so in love when he fucks me blah blah blah." Like, give the girl some convictions!!! It just makes her look brainless and pathetic to do the complete opposite of everything she says/thinks to herself.]]> 4.12
author: Misti Murphy
name: Julia
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2016/12/21
date added: 2022/12/14
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Yeah this isn't going to work. I don't respect heroines that are "I'm never fucking you never ever again" the one minute and the next being "I'm so in love when he fucks me blah blah blah." Like, give the girl some convictions!!! It just makes her look brainless and pathetic to do the complete opposite of everything she says/thinks to herself.

Merged review:

Yeah this isn't going to work. I don't respect heroines that are "I'm never fucking you never ever again" the one minute and the next being "I'm so in love when he fucks me blah blah blah." Like, give the girl some convictions!!! It just makes her look brainless and pathetic to do the complete opposite of everything she says/thinks to herself.
]]> 54328610 485 Astrid Jane Ray Julia 3
I finished this months ago and forgot to write a review. And i know that if i had remembered it would have been E X T E N S I V E. I would have gone into great detail about the actions of the hero and heroine. Some parts i loved, some parts i hated, but overall i finished it. Which means a lot in 2020 when i DNF books faster than they're released nowadays.

But alas, months have passed and i need to move on. But i will put my 2 cents out there from what i can remember of my reaction to this book.

The violence the hero inflicted on the heroine was too extreme and cruel for my taste. I wish he had redeemed himself more or i wish the author had excluded the violence. He's not a man i route for, and i dont think domestic abuse can ever be explained away by an emotionally fragile man.

I actually really liked the heroine of this book. I think this is the first book ever where the heroine enacts some justice on a cruel hero, and i was all for it. I like that she stood up for herself in the end. There was good grovel when the hero finally realizes how his actions harmed the heroine.

Safety: (as much as i can remember)
- Heroine is a virgin
- Hero had plenty of experience before he met the heroine
- Rape/Dub-con. The hero assaults the heroine on their wedding night and she is unwilling for each time after. He does satisfy her sexually (if that matters to people. I still classify this as rape)
- Violence and humiliation done to the heroine by hero
- Heroine tries to have the hero killed in a car accident to save her unborn baby (she's preggers with the H's bebe)
- No cheating, no OW/OM drama, no other people after meeting.
- Possessive, obsessed hero on the toxic side, not the hot side. ]]> 3.67 2020
author: Astrid Jane Ray
name: Julia
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/12/07
date added: 2022/07/06
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, tstl-heroine, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, not-safe, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, business-billionaire-famous, best-heroin, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 stars.

I finished this months ago and forgot to write a review. And i know that if i had remembered it would have been E X T E N S I V E. I would have gone into great detail about the actions of the hero and heroine. Some parts i loved, some parts i hated, but overall i finished it. Which means a lot in 2020 when i DNF books faster than they're released nowadays.

But alas, months have passed and i need to move on. But i will put my 2 cents out there from what i can remember of my reaction to this book.

The violence the hero inflicted on the heroine was too extreme and cruel for my taste. I wish he had redeemed himself more or i wish the author had excluded the violence. He's not a man i route for, and i dont think domestic abuse can ever be explained away by an emotionally fragile man.

I actually really liked the heroine of this book. I think this is the first book ever where the heroine enacts some justice on a cruel hero, and i was all for it. I like that she stood up for herself in the end. There was good grovel when the hero finally realizes how his actions harmed the heroine.

Safety: (as much as i can remember)
- Heroine is a virgin
- Hero had plenty of experience before he met the heroine
- Rape/Dub-con. The hero assaults the heroine on their wedding night and she is unwilling for each time after. He does satisfy her sexually (if that matters to people. I still classify this as rape)
- Violence and humiliation done to the heroine by hero
- Heroine tries to have the hero killed in a car accident to save her unborn baby (she's preggers with the H's bebe)
- No cheating, no OW/OM drama, no other people after meeting.
- Possessive, obsessed hero on the toxic side, not the hot side.
]]> 38325381 Creep. Freak. Crazy Eyes.
I've heard it all.
Over the years, they've slammed me with every demeaning name in the book.
Their taunts warped me like a steady stream of poison.
Anger replaced anxiety as I started believing the cruelty spat my way.
Until she showed up and changed everything.

Lennon Bennett is pure innocence—warm sunshine breaking apart my stormy existence.
She's everything good and maybe I can be too.
For her. With her. Because of her.
Lennon doesn’t know I’m beckoned closer with each breath.
She isn't aware that I'm completely consumed with her.
����’s become my sole purpose to protect her, by any means necessary.
But if she discovers the depth of my obsession, it will be the end of me.
So, I remain in the shadows.
Waiting. Watching. Wanting.
She'll be my first. My last. My only.

Watch Me Follow is a TOTAL STANDALONE new adult romance.]]> 270 Harloe Rae Julia 2 3.64 2018
author: Harloe Rae
name: Julia
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2018/02/05
date added: 2022/01/05
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, virgin-hero, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, college-sports, annoying-characters-plot
review:
Could not finish because the heroine and how bland she was. One of my GR friends compared her to vanilla pudding but I would argue that and say she was more like brussel sprouts. At least vanilla pudding is palatable. Which is honestly a shame, because the H's point of view was written 4x better in my opinion. I found his character super interesting and refreshing but I couldn't get past the h and her banal and inert dialogue. And should I even bother complaint about the h's BFF, Lucy? God, I wish she wasn't a character at all.
]]> 40236990 With a few simple words, my reliable routine crumbles to dust.

“Is this seat taken?��

I could close my eyes and let her voice wrap around me like a lover’s caress.
But this isn’t that type of story.
And I’m sure as hell not that kind of man.

She hovers in my space, batting her lashes and smiling shyly.
The glimmer in her sapphire eyes is a promise of peace.
But I’m not falling for it.
And Raven doesn't take the hint.

What starts as a battle of wills, explodes into a turf war.
She stands directly in my path everywhere I turn.
No matter how hard I shove, she won’t budge.
Raven seems dead set on driving me insane.
But I was here first.
And I’m not going down easy.

After all, no one ever taught me how to treat a lady.]]> 282 Harloe Rae Julia 1 It wasn’t. Truly atrocious writing and asinine characters. I thought I was going to get this great heroine who was truly indifferent to the shit bag hero and yet, I get stuttering and blushing in the first chapter. And a drunk moaning and grinding girl in the second chapter. Gag me.

Heros thought process was disgusting. He needed to be punched in the face...or the dick. Heroine was exciting as a potato.

Don’t waste your time on this. ]]> 3.98 2018
author: Harloe Rae
name: Julia
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2018/05/31
date added: 2022/01/05
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-working-for-me-boring, safe-with-exception, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
I’m not quite sure why I decided to read this or why I thought it would be good.
It wasn’t. Truly atrocious writing and asinine characters. I thought I was going to get this great heroine who was truly indifferent to the shit bag hero and yet, I get stuttering and blushing in the first chapter. And a drunk moaning and grinding girl in the second chapter. Gag me.

Heros thought process was disgusting. He needed to be punched in the face...or the dick. Heroine was exciting as a potato.

Don’t waste your time on this.
]]> 55923539
But twelve years later, she finds herself divorced, settling into a new home, in a new town, with a new job as an elementary teacher trying to pick up the pieces as she goes.

On top of struggling to cope with the future she always wanted versus the one she’s been dealt, she soon realizes that her new neighbor is a strict, stone-faced man she’s all too familiar with.

Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher Miller.

The man once in charge of her ex-husband’s unit.

And as if the reminder across the street of what she lost wasn’t painful enough, she also becomes his young son’s teacher.

A single dad. A divorcee. A second chance at love neither knew they’d get.]]> 249 B. Celeste Julia 2
This author was writing as if it was illegal to give the female MC a personality. Past trauma does not make a character interesting. I would zone out if I ever had to meet either of the MCs in real life. ]]> 4.09 2021
author: B. Celeste
name: Julia
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2021/11/29
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe-with-exception, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2 stars

This author was writing as if it was illegal to give the female MC a personality. Past trauma does not make a character interesting. I would zone out if I ever had to meet either of the MCs in real life.
]]> 49491650 They came to earth--Pestilence, War, Famine, Death--four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

He’s known by many names: Thanatos. Horseman. God’s last angel. And then, of course, there's the one I’m all too familiar with��

Death.

The day Death comes to Lazarus Gaumond’s town and kills everyone in one fell swoop, the last thing he expects to see is a woman left alive and standing. But Lazarus has her own extraordinary gift: she cannot be killed—not by humans, not by the elements, not by Death himself.

She is the one soul Death doesn’t recognize. The one soul he cannot pry free from her flesh. Nor can he ignore the unsettling desire he has for her. Take her. He wants to, desperately. And the longer she tries to stop him from his killing spree, the stronger the desire becomes.

When Lazarus crosses paths with the three other horsemen, an unthinkable situation leads to a terrible deal: seduce Death, save the world. A hopeless task, made all the worse by the bad blood between her and Thanatos. But Death’s attraction to her is undeniable, and try though she might, Lazarus cannot stay away from that ancient, beautiful being and his dark embrace.

The end is here. Humankind is set to perish, and not even the horsemen can stop Death from fulfilling his final task.

Only Lazarus can.]]> 519 Laura Thalassa Julia 3
After years of waiting we've finally come to the epic conclusion of Ms Thalassa's Horsemen series and the crowd.... yawns and shrugs.

In my opinion this installment was a mess. A lot of tell-but-not-show, overly repetitive dialogue and scenes, and the whiplash of the MC's emotions had me going "what the fuck" for a majority of it. But i should clearly state:

This is the best book I've read in some time, and it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. (which is saying something because reading in 2021 has been a total dumpster fire)

Buttttttttt...

I think it could have been better. I thought adding in a child felt forced and underdeveloped. The first 1/4 of the book was dedicated to the MC's killing each other, when that time could have been spent showing the audience how important baby Ben was going to be to Lazarus instead of just telling us a bunch of times.

Also, I was disappointed with Deaths temperament. I was hoping for an indifferent bad boy with a heart of gold and instead I got a total marshmallow that couldn't think for himself. It was very instalove and not in the good way. The past 3 books i found myself GRIPPING onto my ipad for dear life because the tension was THAT hot. For Death and Laz.... a big ol shrug.

And one more thing.... the author totally jipped Sara, Miriam, and Ana!!!!!! We got a decent amount of time with the other horsemen but jeeeezzzzz this author really slighted the past female MC's!!! The women have always been the stars of the show (in my eyes) and I felt without them in it, it left the book feeling unresolved.

While I was slightly dissapointed, I did still enjoy it and this series has a firm place on my favorites shelf. It's a series I'll keep coming back to just for the writing style and character development. For all the crud that gets released at this time, this book is an uncut gem amongst a bunch of dirt. It had the passion and intensity that I've been longing for. It had a smart heroine AND a respectful, loving hero. I cant ask for much more than that. I highly recommend to anyone thats looking for a solid romance.

Safety:
No cheating/no other people after meeting/no separation once they're together.
Hero is a virgin, heroine is not
No OW/OM drama
Some violence (the MC's do kill each other a few times)
HEA with a decent epilogue ]]> 4.30 2021
author: Laura Thalassa
name: Julia
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/11/11
date added: 2021/11/11
shelves: virgin-hero, tstl-heroine, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, epic-love, dark, best-hero, best-character-development, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3.25 stars

After years of waiting we've finally come to the epic conclusion of Ms Thalassa's Horsemen series and the crowd.... yawns and shrugs.

In my opinion this installment was a mess. A lot of tell-but-not-show, overly repetitive dialogue and scenes, and the whiplash of the MC's emotions had me going "what the fuck" for a majority of it. But i should clearly state:

This is the best book I've read in some time, and it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. (which is saying something because reading in 2021 has been a total dumpster fire)

Buttttttttt...

I think it could have been better. I thought adding in a child felt forced and underdeveloped. The first 1/4 of the book was dedicated to the MC's killing each other, when that time could have been spent showing the audience how important baby Ben was going to be to Lazarus instead of just telling us a bunch of times.

Also, I was disappointed with Deaths temperament. I was hoping for an indifferent bad boy with a heart of gold and instead I got a total marshmallow that couldn't think for himself. It was very instalove and not in the good way. The past 3 books i found myself GRIPPING onto my ipad for dear life because the tension was THAT hot. For Death and Laz.... a big ol shrug.

And one more thing.... the author totally jipped Sara, Miriam, and Ana!!!!!! We got a decent amount of time with the other horsemen but jeeeezzzzz this author really slighted the past female MC's!!! The women have always been the stars of the show (in my eyes) and I felt without them in it, it left the book feeling unresolved.

While I was slightly dissapointed, I did still enjoy it and this series has a firm place on my favorites shelf. It's a series I'll keep coming back to just for the writing style and character development. For all the crud that gets released at this time, this book is an uncut gem amongst a bunch of dirt. It had the passion and intensity that I've been longing for. It had a smart heroine AND a respectful, loving hero. I cant ask for much more than that. I highly recommend to anyone thats looking for a solid romance.

Safety:
No cheating/no other people after meeting/no separation once they're together.
Hero is a virgin, heroine is not
No OW/OM drama
Some violence (the MC's do kill each other a few times)
HEA with a decent epilogue
]]> 56238428
Nate Parrish loathes his boss from the moment they meet.

Raffaele Ferrara is probably the most insufferable, domineering man in the world. He doesn’t seem to understand that his personal assistant isn’t actually his personal slave. He expects Nate to do his bidding with a single word. He expects that Nate’s whole life will revolve around him. He expects other, entirely unreasonable things, even though they’re both straight and there’s supposed to be a line your boss should never cross. Apparently, as his personal assistant, Nate has to assist him�� personally.

Except Nate knows it’s just a game. His boss is straight. He knows Raffaele just wants to make him angry enough to quit. But Nate has always been too stubborn for his own good, and he’s determined to be the best assistant his boss has ever had, no matter how insane—or inappropriate—Raffaele’s orders may become. Before long, the two men are drawn into a twisted game neither wants to lose.

Nate knows it has to stop. He has to leave his job. ����’s not good for his sanity. Except his horrible boss is like a bad addiction he can’t quit. The world feels boring without Raffaele’s intensity, and his focus on Nate might be infuriating�� but it’s also something Nate’s starting to realize he can’t live without.

Just a Bit Bossy is a hate-to-love steamy MM romance that contains dubcon (the character gives his consent, but there's an obvious power imbalance between a boss and his assistant), lots of snark, a long-suffering sister, two straight men who become obsessed with each other, and a happily ever after. ]]> 308 Alessandra Hazard Julia 3
I would have liked this a lot more if it was the year 2014. Office romance boss/secretary dynamics have been done to DEATH so you better make it new and interesting if you go down this route. Low and behold�� it was the same plot/trope as all the hundreds of other books that came before it. ]]> 4.20 2021
author: Alessandra Hazard
name: Julia
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/11/08
date added: 2021/11/08
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, hottest-sex-scenes, instalove, not-safe, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, throw-away-dnf, writing-that-s-bad
review:
3 just eh stars

I would have liked this a lot more if it was the year 2014. Office romance boss/secretary dynamics have been done to DEATH so you better make it new and interesting if you go down this route. Low and behold�� it was the same plot/trope as all the hundreds of other books that came before it.
]]> 56145987 An ordinary summer goes royally awry when a prince and princess move next door, bringing their handsome bodyguard with them, from New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle.

Piper Evans: elementary school teacher by day--avid romance reader and anonymous podcaster by night. She lives a quiet, reclusive life, taking care of her mother, who struggles with mental illness, avoiding her regrettable ex, who bartends in town, and trying to make inroads in the tight-knit island community that still sees her, five years in, as an outsider.

And she's happy with how things are--really--until British royals rent the property next to hers and their brooding bodyguard decides she's a security threat. Piper quickly realizes that one person's fairy tale is an ordinary woman's nightmare as a media frenzy takes over the island and each run-in with Harrison Cole is hotter and more confusing than the last. But beneath Harrison's no-nonsense exterior lies a soft heart, one that could tempt a woman who's sworn off attachments into believing in white knights.

But when Piper finds herself smack in the middle of a royal scandal that rocks the island she'll need more than Harrison's strong arms to shield her--she'll have to do a little rescuing herself. With careers, hearts, and friendships on the line, Piper and Harrison will have to decide what they're willing to give up for a chance at their own happily ever after.]]> 351 Karina Halle 0593334191 Julia 3 3 just ok stars 3.68 2021
author: Karina Halle
name: Julia
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/11/08
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, business-billionaire-famous, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, lighthearted-funny, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, writing-that-s-bad
review:
3 just ok stars
]]> 56400140
The one she had a secret crush on last year. The one who refuses to let anyone close. The one she’s discovering by the day may have a softer side than he lets anyone else see��

Tyler knows stress. He’s grappled with it for as long as he can remember. And just because he has to share credit with this girl on his new psychology study doesn’t mean he has to be friends with her. Except she somehow keeps worming her way into his life. In school. In the boxing gym.

In his bed.

But everyone knows it’s safer to keep to yourself. You can't hurt anyone that way. Even if it means giving up the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

As things heat up in the Stress Lab, will this match be able to work together without disruption, or will this growing attraction between them eventually... combust?

Under Pressure is a full-length new adult contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Lessons Learned series, Educated Romance world, Penny Reid book universe.]]> 294 Allie Winters Julia 0
Immature writing style. ]]> 3.87 2021
author: Allie Winters
name: Julia
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/09
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, not-working-for-me-boring, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
No rating- DNF at 20%

Immature writing style.
]]> 55919407 He's a notorious crime lord—and he’s on the hunt for her.

He’s mafia royalty. Worlds above her. Ice-cold and merciless. Driven by duty and dark secrets.
She’s property. Expected to submit. Imprisoned by ruthless criminals determined to break her for information she can’t afford to give.
Except there’s something different about Maxheim Skolov. Something that awakens long buried instincts within Tess and draws her toward the man inside the beast.
A force more dangerous than anything she’s faced to date.
So, she runs.
But she won’t get far.
For mafia prince Maxheim Skolov, hunting down the rebellious, spirited female is a certainty. He’ll do whatever it takes to have her kneeling at his feet once more, even begin a galactic war.

The real question is what he’ll do with her—and to her—when he catches her.

Savage Prince: A Dark Mafia Omegaverse Fated-Mates Romance is the second book in the Ruthless Warlords series. It is a scorching HOT standalone, though it is recommenced to read the series in order for greatest enjoyment.

Like all the books in the series, it includes:
A ruthless alien mafia boss
An innocent heroine growing into her power
A fated bond
Plenty of hot omegaverse action
Betrayal, murder, and revenge
Serious plot twists
And an epic romance that proves love will always triumph over hate.

*Book 1 in the series is Ruthless King: A Dark Mafia Omegaverse Fated-Mates Romance. *Forbidden Flame: A Dark Mafia Omegaverse Fated-Mates Romance is a stand-alone novella in the same world.]]> 357 Alison Aimes 1735456632 Julia 0
I’m so bored I can’t finish it. Heroine is annoying as well. ]]> 3.97
author: Alison Aimes
name: Julia
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2021/07/07
date added: 2021/07/07
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, dark, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hottest-sex-scenes, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, paranormal, safe, safe-with-exception, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
DNF at 50%

I’m so bored I can’t finish it. Heroine is annoying as well.
]]> 57308993
My bride.
The daughter of my enemy.
She’s nothing more than a part of my revenge.

I’m the one who holds her life in my hands,
As well as her body.
And soon, her very will.

Yet, she refuses to break.
This woman disarms me, not with weapons but words
And not with a fist, but with a simple kiss.

A match made in hate can have no other ending except war.

Read the FREE prequel today:


Dark & Dirty Vows Series:
Book 1: A Match Made in Hatred (Maximus)
Book 2: I Thee Lust (Rafael)
Book 3: To Have & to Hurt (Tristano)]]> 215 Morgan Bridges Julia 1
Note: you need to read the prequel to know whats going on in this book. I have no idea why they couldnt just be the same book but whatever.

If you've read this book, then you've read this a million times over in other 'dark mafia' books. It is the *s.a.m.e. e.x.a.c.t. p.l.o.t* as everything else out there.

�� Vulnerable, barely legal, sheltered, virgin heroine
�� 'Bad boy,' Entitled, cruel, vengeful hero that sexually and verbally abuses heroine for 90% of the book. Oh, did i mention he's beautiful like a demigod?
�� Sex scenes with heroine withering away from hero's sexual manipulation
�� Hero tells heroine he'll never love her
�� Heroine gets kidnapped, making hero recognize his feelings
The end

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. This same story is written over and over again and i dont understand why authors dont change it up? My main problem with this type of book is that the cruel Hero NEVER redeems himself. He does fuck all to deserve the heroines love and devotion besides give her a few orgasms. He calls her the italian word for 'whore' almost the entire book. Books like this leave me with a cold and empty feeling.

I was gonna give this 2 stars because i finished it and the writing wasnt completely terrible. But i have to go with 1 star just for the ending. The hero gets the heroine back from her kidnapper and what does he do? Immediately talks about how he needs to be in her cunt (authors words not mine) so HE can be ok. Theres no tenderness or romance or any kind of true feelings in this book. It all felt very surface level, and at this point, porn would have more depth.

Oh, and one more thing. They never say 'I love you' to each other. To make it worse, the hero's inner dialogue is "I'll never be able to give her what she needs" at 97% mark of the book. What a waste of time.

Safety:
Heroine is a virgin
Hero had plenty of experience before h.
No OW/OM drama. No other people after meeting.
Dub-con. sexual manipulation, betraying body alert.
Choking, spanking, D/s.

In short: i dont recommend this if you're looking for anything remotely original.]]> 3.88 2021
author: Morgan Bridges
name: Julia
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2021/06/23
date added: 2021/06/23
shelves: worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, safe, ott-possessive-hero, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, business-billionaire-famous, annoying-characters-plot
review:
1 star

Note: you need to read the prequel to know whats going on in this book. I have no idea why they couldnt just be the same book but whatever.

If you've read this book, then you've read this a million times over in other 'dark mafia' books. It is the *s.a.m.e. e.x.a.c.t. p.l.o.t* as everything else out there.

�� Vulnerable, barely legal, sheltered, virgin heroine
�� 'Bad boy,' Entitled, cruel, vengeful hero that sexually and verbally abuses heroine for 90% of the book. Oh, did i mention he's beautiful like a demigod?
�� Sex scenes with heroine withering away from hero's sexual manipulation
�� Hero tells heroine he'll never love her
�� Heroine gets kidnapped, making hero recognize his feelings
The end

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. This same story is written over and over again and i dont understand why authors dont change it up? My main problem with this type of book is that the cruel Hero NEVER redeems himself. He does fuck all to deserve the heroines love and devotion besides give her a few orgasms. He calls her the italian word for 'whore' almost the entire book. Books like this leave me with a cold and empty feeling.

I was gonna give this 2 stars because i finished it and the writing wasnt completely terrible. But i have to go with 1 star just for the ending. The hero gets the heroine back from her kidnapper and what does he do? Immediately talks about how he needs to be in her cunt (authors words not mine) so HE can be ok. Theres no tenderness or romance or any kind of true feelings in this book. It all felt very surface level, and at this point, porn would have more depth.

Oh, and one more thing. They never say 'I love you' to each other. To make it worse, the hero's inner dialogue is "I'll never be able to give her what she needs" at 97% mark of the book. What a waste of time.

Safety:
Heroine is a virgin
Hero had plenty of experience before h.
No OW/OM drama. No other people after meeting.
Dub-con. sexual manipulation, betraying body alert.
Choking, spanking, D/s.

In short: i dont recommend this if you're looking for anything remotely original.
]]> 57950510
It was the monster that saved me.

The whole city called him the monster: a troubled man with demons in him clawing to get out.

His job was to ruthlessly take lives for the family.

And, yet, he saved mine.

Ever since, I was the one woman who could walk amongst the most powerful men within the Italian Mob—all except him.

To him, I didn’t belong. And he made it clear by being the monster everyone knew him to be:

Cruel, ruthless, and cold.

My gut told me to leave, but my soul wanted to stay. I gravitated toward the man no one understood because the monster in him risked it all to rescue me.

So, I opened the cage where his demons lived. I set them free.

And then I took the biggest risk:

I handed my heart to the monster to see if he’d rip it apart.

This book is the first in a duet. 80000+ words of love, angst, steam, and mafia romance. Their happily ever after will come in the next book set to release this summer.]]> Shain Rose Julia 0
Just another ‘dark�� book that’s just a bunch of buzzwords/toxic tropes meshed together. Carry on ]]> 3.78 2021
author: Shain Rose
name: Julia
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/15
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-safe, throw-away-dnf, writing-that-s-bad
review:
DNF at 10% so no rating

Just another ‘dark�� book that’s just a bunch of buzzwords/toxic tropes meshed together. Carry on
]]> 23794651 A hot, bad boy Romance Well, now now- life just got very interesting!!! Jensen Blake is in the house!! ~ Books Laid Bare Jensen is my new Book Boyfriend... This was my first book by this author and what a book to start on. ~ Amazon reviewer Oh my word what a book! Absolutely loved this. I love the chemistry between Anna and Jensen, it's electric. ~ Amazon reviewer Obsession knows no bounds... Anna Jameson can't wait to escape the hell hole that her cousin has left her in. Desperate to escape her past, the idea of moving to stay with Holly whilst she got her head together sounded like the perfect plan... Until Holly upped and left, leaving Anna to pick up the mess that she left behind. Jensen Blake knows what he wants and will not be told otherwise. Obedience and control are what he knows best. With demons of his own, he has spent most of his adult life traveling from place to place the moment things started to become predictable. When Jensen and Anna are pushed together, an instant dislike simmers between them. Anna hates bad boys. She has witnessed enough of them to last her a lifetime. The sexual attraction between them is evident but will that only make things harder for them both to handle?]]> 228 S.M. Phillips Julia 0 4.09 2014
author: S.M. Phillips
name: Julia
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/10
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, maybe-someday
review:

]]> 57290752
She thought she was alone, that no one heard her play. But I did. I heard every note, every tune, every vibrato. It drowned out the voices. Silenced the demons. It gave me peace.

I’d hide in the shadows so I could get high on the music that stemmed from her soul. It was entrancing. Beautiful. Utterly hypnotic.

She has no idea that I exist—that I live for the nights she performs for me, and me alone. But she will.

Soon she’ll realize how important she is to me.

My cellist.

My soloist.

My Requiem.]]> Bella J. Julia 2
If you've read this trope once, you're read it hundreds of times. Nothing new or unique here.

-Shy, poor, naive heroine thats locked in her bedroom the entire book
-Rich, abusive, 'obsessed' hero that marches in and out of her room at will.
- Bait and switch writing so you THINK the MC's are about to get it on but then it just ends for no real reason other than 'we cant do this.'

On top of this, the writing was just bad. Overly flowery. Every chapter ended with:
"The man who demanded i play for him.... The man that *took me*." ]]> 4.09 2021
author: Bella J.
name: Julia
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/05/12
date added: 2021/05/12
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 stars.

If you've read this trope once, you're read it hundreds of times. Nothing new or unique here.

-Shy, poor, naive heroine thats locked in her bedroom the entire book
-Rich, abusive, 'obsessed' hero that marches in and out of her room at will.
- Bait and switch writing so you THINK the MC's are about to get it on but then it just ends for no real reason other than 'we cant do this.'

On top of this, the writing was just bad. Overly flowery. Every chapter ended with:
"The man who demanded i play for him.... The man that *took me*."
]]> 55817097 He has a heart of ice...but for her, he'd burn the world.

Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can’t escape.

Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart.

But when he’s forced to look after his best friend’s sister, he starts to feel something in his chest:

A crack.
A melt.
A fire that could end his world as he knew it.

***

Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can’t remember.

But despite her broken past, she’s never stopped seeing the beauty in the world…including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn’t want.

Her brother’s best friend.
Her neighbor.
Her savior and her downfall.

Theirs is a love that was never supposed to happen—but when it does, it unleashes secrets that could destroy them both…and everything they hold dear.

Twisted Love is a brother’s best friend/opposites attract romance with a hint of suspense. It's book one in the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.

WARNING: This book contains a possessive, morally gray alphahole; explicit sexual content, and profanity. No cheating or menage, but if you're looking for a traditionally sweet, loveable hero, this is not the book for you. Recommended for 18+. ]]> 360 Ana Huang Julia 2
I got about 50% of the way there and had to give up. There’s a couple reasons why I stay away from this romance trope but the biggest one is the constant..

“I can’t think that way. She’s my best friends little sister.��
X10000000

It is said over and over and over again. Bro. ����’s not that deep.


Besides the trope, I was not jiving with the writing. It had a very Disney channel feeling to it, plus the fact that the heroine and her friends were very immature.

But the main reason why I gave up was the Hero’s constant inner dialogue reminding the audience that he had plenty of meaningless hookups waiting for him that he could call up whenever he wanted.

“I couldn’t stand Madeline’s company outside the bedroom. She was gorgeous, rich, sophisticated, and understood she’d get nothing more than a physical relationship out of me, but she insisted on being wined and dined before each of our sex sessions. I only obliged because the woman fucked like a porn star.��

Does that sound like a hero I would want to route for in a romance book? Fuck no.

Safety: normal
You’ve heard it all before. Hero has way more experience than the heroine who’s never had a good sexual experience ever.
Hero was about to go on a date with said pornstorn in the quote above but heroine interrupts him and he hangs out with her instead.
I quit at 50% so I don’t know all of the safety details but it was pretty safe from OW/OM drama and cheating.

Note to myself: don’t read the third upcoming book in this series because the hero is a mega whore who’s “fucked the entire DC area code”]]> 3.74 2021
author: Ana Huang
name: Julia
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/05/02
date added: 2021/05/02
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, college-sports, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, safe-with-exception, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Girl, that’s the 3rd DNF in a row.

I got about 50% of the way there and had to give up. There’s a couple reasons why I stay away from this romance trope but the biggest one is the constant..

“I can’t think that way. She’s my best friends little sister.��
X10000000

It is said over and over and over again. Bro. ����’s not that deep.


Besides the trope, I was not jiving with the writing. It had a very Disney channel feeling to it, plus the fact that the heroine and her friends were very immature.

But the main reason why I gave up was the Hero’s constant inner dialogue reminding the audience that he had plenty of meaningless hookups waiting for him that he could call up whenever he wanted.

“I couldn’t stand Madeline’s company outside the bedroom. She was gorgeous, rich, sophisticated, and understood she’d get nothing more than a physical relationship out of me, but she insisted on being wined and dined before each of our sex sessions. I only obliged because the woman fucked like a porn star.��

Does that sound like a hero I would want to route for in a romance book? Fuck no.

Safety: normal
You’ve heard it all before. Hero has way more experience than the heroine who’s never had a good sexual experience ever.
Hero was about to go on a date with said pornstorn in the quote above but heroine interrupts him and he hangs out with her instead.
I quit at 50% so I don’t know all of the safety details but it was pretty safe from OW/OM drama and cheating.

Note to myself: don’t read the third upcoming book in this series because the hero is a mega whore who’s “fucked the entire DC area code��
]]> 56472122 I’m a fraud. Or an imposter. I’m certainly a hypocrite.

I offer advice for a living. Encourage my patients to make wise decisions—help them help themselves to walk through life stronger, healthier, happier.

Isn’t that the goal? To live our best lives?

If only I practiced what I preach.

I wasn’t always like this. Every move I make lately is the opposite of smart. These questionable life choices are a new development.

They started the day a certain Vitale barged into my life.

Brand Vitale might look like a hero to the rest of the world, but looks can be deceiving.

I’m driven by obsession for a man who’s turning out to be dark, dangerous, and downright depraved.

And I don’t care.

Because, sometimes, depraved, debauched—hell, or even deathly—is the only option.]]> 315 Brynne Asher Julia 2
DNF at 50% so I can’t say full safety details but it’s been safe for the most part. ]]> 4.30 2021
author: Brynne Asher
name: Julia
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/04/27
date added: 2021/04/27
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, ott-possessive-hero, safe, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
When I tell you I was BORED..... I literally fell asleep reading this. I’ve tried multiple times but for some reason I do not jive with this authors writing. I find it off putting and I can’t even tell you why. I just know that something isn’t working.

DNF at 50% so I can’t say full safety details but it’s been safe for the most part.
]]> 57384767
Gwen Smithers had a plan. A great plan. A plan that will get her out of the stagnancy of her life and onto an adventure. This week was going to change her life, but in a split second on an icy road, all of her plans were derailed. Her rescuer is growly, and ill-mannered, and won’t show his face. And his eyes are such a strange color. But as she struggles to trust the mysterious mountain man, he’s revealing a strange and dangerous culture she never would’ve imagined existing. For the life of her, she can’t conjure up fear of Aux. Her human instincts must be broken, because it’s becoming clearer and clearer…Aux isn’t the man she thought he was. In fact, he isn’t a man at all. And the more she tries to understand him, the more she wants to break the oath he has made.

Don’t miss this first novella in T. S. Joyce’s exciting brand-new Oath of Bane series.]]> 98 T.S. Joyce Julia 0
Like.... no. ����’s not a cute look sis. ]]> 4.28 2021
author: T.S. Joyce
name: Julia
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/15
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, not-working-for-me-boring, paranormal, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
I got a few chapters in but you totally lost me when the heroine introduces the hero to her HAIRDRYER after being in a car accident.

Like.... no. ����’s not a cute look sis.
]]> 57431388 Pleasure has never been so deadly.

Rose Cassidy doesn’t truly live; she just exists. Numbing herself to fear and pain is the only way she can survive in this cruel world. So when she’s taken as collateral by the notorious Danny Black in a deadly game of power, she’s thrown by the deep fear she feels rising within her. And, worse than fear, a profound desire. She’s heard tales of The Brit. He’s callous. Coldblooded. But no one ever said he was wickedly beautiful and darkly captivating. He sees past her mask, giving her a cruel sense of hope. But she must fight their twisted attraction or risk losing the one thing she survives for.

When Danny Black took an enemy’s beautiful lover as security, he never anticipated the repercussions. Or the warped attraction they would share. Rose Cassidy pushes Danny to the brink of madness with her impenetrable façade and savage allure. He has to remind himself that she’s bait. A solution to a problem. Yet she evokes powerful feelings in Danny, and feelings are risky when you’re wanted dead by endless enemies.

The most dangerous game is about to be played.

But can either of them win?

*This story is gritty, dark, edgy, and contains scenes that some people may find uncomfortable to read. It is NOT for the fainthearted.]]> 413 Jodi Ellen Malpas 1736057227 Julia 1
Ok where to begin with this pile of garbage.....

Let me start off by saying that i am DESPERATE for a good book. Any book. So when i saw this pop up in my feed i just jumped right in, thinking to myself "how bad could this possibly be." Turns out pretty bad that it gets a prime spot in my 'stupid hall of fame' shelf. Here are my 3 main reasons why this book is a waste of time and money.

1. The hero.
He was a literal dumpster fire. This author does not know how to write a bad ass anti-hero to save her life. Just because he drops the f-bomb every other sentence or threatens to shoot people in the face every other page does NOT make someone a bad ass. In fact, i think it does the complete opposite. This dude really thought he was a German Sheppard when in actuality, he came off as a loud and obnoxious Chihuahua. Small dick energy for dayzzzzzz. If you're going to write a main character this horrible, you better have amazing character development and this just did not have that.

And to make his character even worse, he has sex with OW when he feels sexually frustrated over the h. Talk about the least sexy thing a romantic lead can do in a book. ]]> 4.16 2021
author: Jodi Ellen Malpas
name: Julia
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2021/03/22
date added: 2021/03/23
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, stupid-hall-of-fame, stay-away-from-bad-plot-or-cheatin, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, not-safe, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, business-billionaire-famous, annoying-characters-plot
review:
1 Laugh My Fucking Ass Off stars

Ok where to begin with this pile of garbage.....

Let me start off by saying that i am DESPERATE for a good book. Any book. So when i saw this pop up in my feed i just jumped right in, thinking to myself "how bad could this possibly be." Turns out pretty bad that it gets a prime spot in my 'stupid hall of fame' shelf. Here are my 3 main reasons why this book is a waste of time and money.

1. The hero.
He was a literal dumpster fire. This author does not know how to write a bad ass anti-hero to save her life. Just because he drops the f-bomb every other sentence or threatens to shoot people in the face every other page does NOT make someone a bad ass. In fact, i think it does the complete opposite. This dude really thought he was a German Sheppard when in actuality, he came off as a loud and obnoxious Chihuahua. Small dick energy for dayzzzzzz. If you're going to write a main character this horrible, you better have amazing character development and this just did not have that.

And to make his character even worse, he has sex with OW when he feels sexually frustrated over the h. Talk about the least sexy thing a romantic lead can do in a book.
]]> 54447129 From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Callihan comes a charming, emotional romance about redefining dreams and discovering unlikely love along the way.

Life for Emma isn’t good. The world knows her as Princess Anya on Dark Castle, but then her character gets the axe—literally. The cherry on top is finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman. She needs a break, and sanctuary comes in the form of Rosemont, a gorgeous estate in California promising rest and relaxation.

Then she meets the owner’s equally gorgeous grandson, ex–hockey player and current recluse Lucian Osmond, and she sees her own pain and yearning reflected in his eyes.

He’s charming when he wants to be but also secretive and gruff, with protective walls as thick as Emma’s own. Despite a growing attraction, they avoid each other.

But then there’s an impromptu nighttime skinny-dip, and Lucian’s luscious homemade tarts and cream cakes start arriving at Emma’s door, tempting her to taste life again��

In trying to stay apart, they only grow closer—and their broken pieces just might fit together and make them whole.]]> 369 Kristen Callihan 1542016894 Julia 0
Idk, something about two celebrities hiding away at grandmas house to lick their wounds was just off putting to me. I think my capacity to care about a characters problems dramatically decreases when they’re wealthy/famous. What I’m trying to say is, I didn’t get the chemistry or the humanity in either of these characters. It just came off as shallow. ]]> 3.92 2021
author: Kristen Callihan
name: Julia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2021/03/02
date added: 2021/03/02
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
No rating because I only got to 15% in.

Idk, something about two celebrities hiding away at grandmas house to lick their wounds was just off putting to me. I think my capacity to care about a characters problems dramatically decreases when they’re wealthy/famous. What I’m trying to say is, I didn’t get the chemistry or the humanity in either of these characters. It just came off as shallow.
]]> 56523063 I never saw Noah Weston coming. He swept into my life like an unexpected storm, but soon, he was everything to me.
Until tragedy struck.
One day I was planning the rest of my life with my soulmate, and the next I was picking up the pieces of a love so strong, it broke me apart.
It took three years to put myself back together.
Three years until I was ready to move on.
I’ll never forget it. The day he came back.
Can lightning strike twice? Maybe, but when I look into his eyes, all I remember are the last words he ever spoke to me.
The words that left me broken.

NOAH
I loved her before I knew her name. She was more than just my heartbeat. Julia Blake was a dream too good to be true.
When real-life invaded the bubble we had created, I was left a broken man.
I survived, but I was dead inside. Half the man I used to be.
The half I needed had a new life without me.
Three years later, I’m back to reclaim what I’ve lost.
I’m back for her, only she wants nothing to do with me.]]> 332 Evelyn Sola Julia 0
I know pretty early on when a book isn’t going to work for me, and a big indicator is excessive use of words like “broken�� and “shattered��. So yeah, it’s not you it’s me. ]]> 3.87 2021
author: Evelyn Sola
name: Julia
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2021/02/19
date added: 2021/02/19
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, throw-away-dnf, writing-that-has-depth
review:
No rating because I only got a chapter in.

I know pretty early on when a book isn’t going to work for me, and a big indicator is excessive use of words like “broken�� and “shattered��. So yeah, it’s not you it’s me.
]]> 56425857 He's out for revenge. She's out to escape. Neither intends to fall in love.

His instructions are simple: do not open the bag. To escape exile and enact revenge, crime boss Magnus Avitus agrees to play the part of errand boy. But when the volatile package he’s been tasked with delivering begins to squirm, he has to take a peek. He never expects to come face-to-face with her. Or to have everything inside him roar "mine."

Her plans are simple: escape the bag and those intent on using her. But when omega Amora Rose's prison is unpacked before she can free herself, she is claimed by ferocious, scarred warlord who makes her heart whisper "mine."

Except she has a secret that’s about to send all their simple plans up in flames.]]> 138 Alison Aimes 195419501X Julia 0
����’s not you it’s me. I could predict where the plot was going and stopped being interested. ]]> 3.93 2021
author: Alison Aimes
name: Julia
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/14
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-a-manwhore, ott-possessive-hero, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine
review:
No rating DNF @10% in.

����’s not you it’s me. I could predict where the plot was going and stopped being interested.
]]> 54482721 These men don't build bridges... They bury bodies.

I fell for the enemy.
A man whose actions resembled the devil so closely it was sickening.
But I learned from my mistakes.

At least I thought I had.
Until I’m tempted back into his life with a case I can’t refuse.

Cole Torian needs my help.
And I’m unable to deny him.

This time I voluntarily put my career on the line.
Along with my safety. My heart. My sanity.
I risk everything for him and his family of accomplished criminals.

But succumbing to my tormentor comes with more than a personal price.
Everyone will pay for my mistakes with Cole.
And not all will live to tell the tale.]]> 408 Eden Summers Julia 2
2 stars because the hero was great, but i ended up DNFing at 75% because i could not take the heroine for one more second. ]]> 4.41
author: Eden Summers
name: Julia
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2021/02/12
date added: 2021/02/12
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot, best-hero
review:
Honestly one of the worst heroines ive EVER read and thats saying something. Talk about a character with the emotional and mental depth of a toddler. Such a shame tooe she's supposed to be a good FBI agent?

2 stars because the hero was great, but i ended up DNFing at 75% because i could not take the heroine for one more second.
]]> 55919400 He's the most brutal Alpha crime boss in the galaxy—and she belongs to him now. Payment for a debt owed. Pawn for an act of vengeance. Property to be used, knotted, and bred.

Irresistibly gorgeous mafia king Nikolai Skolov is dominant, hard, possessive—and determined to bend innocent omega Dahlia Lundin to his will. But she is equally determined to resist. The lives of those she loves depends upon it.

Except Dahlia isn't prepared for the insatiable hunger the Alpha's discipline awakens. Or her soul's recognition that her new master is also her fated-mate.

As dangers mount and betrayals loom, all Dahlia knows is turned on its head. Allegiances are tested. Secrets exposed. Until Dahlia is not sure if her ruthless enemy is the monster who will destroy her or the only one left who can save her...]]> 360 Alison Aimes 1735456616 Julia 4 3.72 2021
author: Alison Aimes
name: Julia
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/02/12
date added: 2021/02/12
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, epic-love, dark, annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry
review:

]]> 54563986
Dexter Ryan is smug. Arrogant. Manipulative. And he is also…Lacey Amari’s new partner. Well, her partner on one case. A case she doesn’t even want to take, but when Dex—CIA super operative and all around puppet-master—basically blackmails her, she has no choice. Then he asks her the big question��

Will you marry me?

The proposal isn’t real. ����’s just an undercover assignment. Dex needs Lacey to be his fake fiancée for a case. Not exactly her dream job. But, she’ll do it. He wants her to pretend to be head over heels in love with him, he wants her help on a dangerous investigation in a remote ski lodge, and he…wants her?

Their desire isn’t pretend.

Dex doesn’t work well with others and handling a case with a partner in close proximity—as in 24/7 close—isn’t his normal style. He’s pulled Lacey into the investigation because she is smart and resourceful, and maybe because he knows a secret about her that could prove to be very useful to him. After all, Dex uses people all the time. ����’s his thing. Yet the more he is around her, the idea of using Lacey suddenly doesn’t seem like such a good plan. But getting her into his bed? Stellar idea.

He wants her, but so do the bad guys.

The attraction between Dex and Lacey burns red-hot, hot enough to melt the snow around them. Except, just as he planned, Lacey’s presence draws in the enemy. Now the bad guys are after her, and Dex has to stick even closer to her. He’s playing the role of the obsessed lover, only it’s not just a role. Because for the first time in his life, Dex is falling hard. He’s losing his control.

He’s lied. He’s cheated. He’s about to give up his heart.

When Lacey finds out the secret he’s known, her rage and pain break his heart. Dex has to find a way to make things up to her, and he has to stop the enemies who are closing in. Nothing he can’t handle. Maybe. Dex is a master multi-tasker—most days, anyway. Dex will use every trick in his very large arsenal to win this case. Lacey melted the ice around what the whole world knows is Dex’s very, very cold heart, and Dex will fight like hell to protect her and to prove to her that even master spies can fall in love.]]> 342 Cynthia Eden 1952824044 Julia 3
Speaking of standard Cynthia Eden...... this is the same book she’s written hundreds of times. She has a template a sticks to it. Just enough plot and emotional depth to get by, but not real exploration outside of her norm.

Possessive alpha who is rich ☑️
Heroines life is in danger (usually caused by an ex boyfriend) ☑️
Layer of crime mystery that gets in the way and interrupts of the romance ☑️

Someone let me know when CE tries something different

Safety;
No cheating, no OW drama, some OM drama
H not a man white
h not a virgin
Both celibate awhile ]]> 4.33 2020
author: Cynthia Eden
name: Julia
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/24
date added: 2021/01/24
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-hero, business-billionaire-famous, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut
review:
More like 2.5 stars but rounded up for standard Cynthia Eden safe

Speaking of standard Cynthia Eden...... this is the same book she’s written hundreds of times. She has a template a sticks to it. Just enough plot and emotional depth to get by, but not real exploration outside of her norm.

Possessive alpha who is rich ☑️
Heroines life is in danger (usually caused by an ex boyfriend) ☑️
Layer of crime mystery that gets in the way and interrupts of the romance ☑️

Someone let me know when CE tries something different

Safety;
No cheating, no OW drama, some OM drama
H not a man white
h not a virgin
Both celibate awhile
]]> 54671050 A second chance, heart-pounding enemies-to-lovers romance...Breeder Ava Davies has only known pain and punishment. Escape is meant to give her a fresh start. Instead, she crash lands on a brutal prison planet and comes face to face with the one male she’s never forgotten. The ex-warrior, now barbarian convict, she condemned to this very place.Shackled and tossed over the his hulking shoulder, she expects death, but Commander Hunter Valdus has a different plan. He’s finally found the key to his escape and his revenge. All he has to do is keep the treacherous, but beautiful female alive and at a distance until he can use her as bait for his dark purposes.But raw, blood-pounding need is a potent force, and even the best-laid plans can be laid to waste, especially on Dragath25.The second book in the Condemned Series, Taken is a standalone, action-packed, sexy sci-fi romance with a HEA, a resourceful heroine, and a strong, commanding hero who knows what his female needs and how to give it to her. �� Taken was AMAZING. One of my favorite SciFi romances to date.�� -5 Star Reviewer“The intensity started on page one and didn’t stop until it was over.�� - 5Star Reviewer]]> 314 Alison Aimes Julia 3 3.82 2016
author: Alison Aimes
name: Julia
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/17
date added: 2021/01/17
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-heroin, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, paranormal, safe, safe-with-exception, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut
review:

]]> 48677178 Dominic was staring at me like he couldn’t decide whether to chop me into pieces or pull my hair and French kiss me.

Dominic
I got her fired. Okay, so I’d had a bad day and took it out on a bystander in a pizza shop. But there’s nothing innocent about Ally Morales. She proves that her first day of her new job�� in my office�� after being hired by my mother.

So maybe her colorful, annoying, inexplicably alluring personality brightens up the magazine’s offices that have felt like a prison for the past year. Maybe I like that she argues with me in front of the editorial staff. And maybe my after-hours fantasies are haunted by those brown eyes and that sharp tongue.

But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to be the next Russo man to take advantage of his position. I might be a second-generation asshole, but I am not my father.

She’s working herself to death at half a dozen dead-end jobs for some secret reason she doesn’t feel like sharing with me. And I’m going to fix it all. Don’t accuse me of caring. She’s nothing more than a puzzle to be solved. If I can get her to quit, I can finally peel away all those layers. Then I can go back to salvaging the family name and forget all about the dancing, beer-slinging brunette.

Ally
Ha. Hold my beer, Grumpy Grump Face.

Author’s Note: A steamy, swoony workplace romantic comedy with a grumpy boss hero determined to save the day and a plucky heroine who is starting to wonder if there might actually be a beating heart just beneath her boss’s sexy vests.]]> 584 Lucy Score Julia 2 4.07 2020
author: Lucy Score
name: Julia
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2021/01/10
date added: 2021/01/10
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, lighthearted-funny, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
����’s got that Disney channel special corniness that I just don’t care for.
]]> 425516 The Silver Devil

From the moment he sees the beautiful Felicia, he must have her. Overnight he changes Felicia's nightmare world of tavern drudgery into an erotic adventure as his royal mistress.

He is the Duke of Cabria who holds his subjects in constant fear. He is troubled. He is ruthless.

And Felicia is hopelessly in love with him—though at times he seems like the devil incarnate...]]> 373 Teresa Denys 0345289927 Julia 1

Side note; it feels weird to review a book that’s over 40 years old but I Could not stop myself from adding my 2 cents.]]> 3.65 1978
author: Teresa Denys
name: Julia
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1978
rating: 1
read at: 2021/01/03
date added: 2021/01/03
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, safe, safe-with-exception, stupid-hall-of-fame, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters
review:
No character development, no redeeming qualities in the hero, and a masochistic heroine. 700 iPhone ebook pages of miscommunication, misogyny and insufferable characters for no reward. No satisfaction. Except for 1 page where the hero suddenly professes his love for the h when right before he gambled her away to another man.


Side note; it feels weird to review a book that’s over 40 years old but I Could not stop myself from adding my 2 cents.
]]> 55921032
He wasn't interested in normal.

He didn't care about things like love and commitment, damn sure not marriage and forever.

But the second Maggie Ramirez parked outside his family’s restaurant, his life became a series of distractions he was learning to love. Maggie and her kid have shaken up his world and dislodged every hard and fast rule he’d ever made.

And when the demons from her past resurface, Smoke and Maggie may have to break more than their own rules to win their freedom.

But will it cost them everything and everyone they love?

The Carelli Family Saga
Book One - Smoke
Book Two - Dario
Book Three - Dante
Book Four - Toni
]]> Eden Butler Julia 2
Let me start off by saying that i've been looking for a book like this; hero and heroine are in love even though the hero says he can only do casual but slowly learns that the heroine is his entire world.

Simple enough right? It rings true to real life and add in some mafia bad boy-ness and you got yourself a decent plot. Wrong.

A couple problems i had with this:

1. The plot falls back on completely overused 'ex OM becomes the heroines stalker and threatens her life which makes the hero claim the heroine because her life is now in danger' trope.....
You would think authors would stop, think, and go "Maybe i should try something different from what EVERY author has already done before." Like, how unoriginal can you freaking get?!?!?! To me, this just comes off as laziness to the 10th degree.

2. This was written in 1st person POV but you wouldnt think it by the writing style. These characters were FLAT. So flat and distant that i thought i was reading a 3rd person POV the entire time. There was a lot of telling and no showing. No emotional depth in sight.

3. The heroine could not string 2 sentences. together. to. save. her. life.
So much of "But Matteo..." or "Oh... I dont know...." from this truly pathetic excuse for a leading female character. She had no backbone at all. Take one WILD guess what this cookie-cutter woman does when she gets some flowers from her ex husband...

I'll wait...

If you guessed 'packs up her car and tries to leave without saying goodye to anyone because she 'doesnt want anyone to get hurt because of her'' YOU ARE CORRECT!

TLDR; if you're going to write a book as unoriginal as humanly possible i will rant about it.

Safety:
No cheating, no OP after meeting
Slight OW drama (a waitress hits on the H), OM in the form of heroines ex husband coming back to steal her child.
Hero uses his mafia job as an excuse to not be with the heroine in public so their relationship is secret. ]]> 3.88 2020
author: Eden Butler
name: Julia
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2021/01/02
date added: 2021/01/02
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 stars

Let me start off by saying that i've been looking for a book like this; hero and heroine are in love even though the hero says he can only do casual but slowly learns that the heroine is his entire world.

Simple enough right? It rings true to real life and add in some mafia bad boy-ness and you got yourself a decent plot. Wrong.

A couple problems i had with this:

1. The plot falls back on completely overused 'ex OM becomes the heroines stalker and threatens her life which makes the hero claim the heroine because her life is now in danger' trope.....
You would think authors would stop, think, and go "Maybe i should try something different from what EVERY author has already done before." Like, how unoriginal can you freaking get?!?!?! To me, this just comes off as laziness to the 10th degree.

2. This was written in 1st person POV but you wouldnt think it by the writing style. These characters were FLAT. So flat and distant that i thought i was reading a 3rd person POV the entire time. There was a lot of telling and no showing. No emotional depth in sight.

3. The heroine could not string 2 sentences. together. to. save. her. life.
So much of "But Matteo..." or "Oh... I dont know...." from this truly pathetic excuse for a leading female character. She had no backbone at all. Take one WILD guess what this cookie-cutter woman does when she gets some flowers from her ex husband...

I'll wait...

If you guessed 'packs up her car and tries to leave without saying goodye to anyone because she 'doesnt want anyone to get hurt because of her'' YOU ARE CORRECT!

TLDR; if you're going to write a book as unoriginal as humanly possible i will rant about it.

Safety:
No cheating, no OP after meeting
Slight OW drama (a waitress hits on the H), OM in the form of heroines ex husband coming back to steal her child.
Hero uses his mafia job as an excuse to not be with the heroine in public so their relationship is secret.
]]> 55693921 They say everyone has three great loves in their life.
But I only had one, and she was a motorcycle I’d built with my own two hands.
My bike was a testament to how far I’d come, from a gutter child to a business owner. From a bullied, quiet kid to a man with friends that’d lay down their lives to me as much as I would for them.
My bike, my business, and my buds�� the three B’s that I couldn’t live without and would defend to the death.
Life was about to throw one more ‘B�� at me, though, and my life philosophy was about to get turned up on its head.
Bailey�� she wasn’t fierce or outspoken, but quiet and determined.
And she was a magnet for trouble.]]> 204 Raven Scott Julia 2
Nothing was really happening. I got to 50% and it was the tamest Motorcycle club book ive ever read. Just so much 'woe, is me' coming from both the hero and heroine that it really bogged down the story. When every book has characters with tragic pasts, it all blends together and i grow desensitized to it. ]]> 4.11
author: Raven Scott
name: Julia
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2020/12/26
date added: 2020/12/26
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 lack luster stars.

Nothing was really happening. I got to 50% and it was the tamest Motorcycle club book ive ever read. Just so much 'woe, is me' coming from both the hero and heroine that it really bogged down the story. When every book has characters with tragic pasts, it all blends together and i grow desensitized to it.
]]> 48988286
​Evie Savoie has always obeyed the house rules of her coven �� no werewolves. They're known for being moody and volatile. So, when a distempered, dangerous werewolf strolls into the bar and almost strangles one of her late-night customers, she's ready to bounce him through the door. But the desperation in his eyes when he begs her to help him softens her heart and convinces her to bend the rules.

​What Evie doesn't know is that Mateo's wolf has a mind of his own. And now that she's in his sights, he wants only one thing. Her.]]> 378 Juliette Cross 1087848563 Julia 2 3.81 2020
author: Juliette Cross
name: Julia
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/12/25
date added: 2020/12/25
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, paranormal, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:

]]> 34101783
When the woman of Brodie Merrick's dreams walks into Elite Fling, his brother's slightly immoral but incredibly successful “dating�� service, Brodie has two thoughts a) what the hell is a girl like her doing in a place like this and b) what would those sparkly red stilettos feel like wrapped around his neck? He begs his brother to give him the job, even though he’s just the computer guy and most definitely not an escort, but because Brodie is lucky he soon finds himself with one very sexy fake Valentine.

When they meet on the day of the wedding, Bryn assumes he's the escort she's hired to be her date, but Brodie has other plans, plans that involve him and her and a very long and lucky orgasmic future together. Can he win his feisty fake Valentine's heart or will their chemistry fade faster than the syrupy sweet sugar high?

Warning: Forget candy hearts and frilly flowers, Brodie is a man's man—he sees what he wants, he takes what he needs, he lays claim to what's his. He's all alpha, all the time, and determined to give Bryn blissful orgasms, beautiful babies, and the last name Merrick. Hold onto your panties, Valentine For Hire is a saucy romp with a sexy, alpha stranger on Valentine's Day!

Want another Valentine from Aria?
Check out:
Right for Love in the Beaus & Arrows Anthology: FEB 7
Sweet Valentine by Aria Cole: FEB 10










]]> 61 Aria Cole Julia 2 3.69
author: Aria Cole
name: Julia
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2020/12/24
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Unpopular opinion: I haven't liked a single Aria Cole book yet. I don't like the writing style or the characters. Her books have all the criteria for something I would love but I guess she's an author that just isn't for me. Oh well
]]> 55125793 I was sent to make contact with aliens�� I never expected one to claim me as his mate.

What was supposed to be a peaceful mission to find alien life goes horribly wrong when our ship crashes on an unknown planet.

As I emerge from the wreckage with the few other survivors, three things become immediately clear.

1. This wasn’t a peaceful mission at all. The women on board were meant to be sold in exchange for alien tech.
2. There’s no way we’re getting off this planet.
3. Our odds of survival are laughably low.

When I’m accidentally separated from the other women, I’m pretty sure my chances of survival drop to zero. That is, until I fall—literally—into the lap of a gorgeous alien warrior with metallic blue skin and cat-like eyes.

I don’t know who this man is, and I can’t even ask him since we don’t speak the same language. I don’t know why my body craves his touch, or why something deep inside me draws me toward him.

But I do know this: he’s the best shot I have at finding a way back home.

The only problem is, the more time I spend with him, the less certain I am that I want to leave.

Her Alien Prince is a full-length standalone sci-fi romance featuring blue-skinned alien warriors, a heroine who learns what love truly is, and a rebel prince who would move the stars for his fated mate.

If you like sexy aliens, steamy romance, and thrilling adventure, you’ll love this series. No cheating, no cliffhanger, and a happily ever after guaranteed!

Note: each book in the series can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, it’s recommended that the series be read in order.]]> 272 Presley Hall Julia 2
Honestly, this was just boring. I would read three pages and get distracted by something else. Read 3 more pages, forget what I just read, and then look for other books to read lol. Too much inner monologue and explaining/over analyzing.

When I was able to pay attention took everything was too neat and clean. If you write an stranded on a strange planet with aliens romance I expect to have some grit to it. Nada. ]]> 3.89 2020
author: Presley Hall
name: Julia
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/12/07
date added: 2020/12/07
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, instalove, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, paranormal, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2 stars.

Honestly, this was just boring. I would read three pages and get distracted by something else. Read 3 more pages, forget what I just read, and then look for other books to read lol. Too much inner monologue and explaining/over analyzing.

When I was able to pay attention took everything was too neat and clean. If you write an stranded on a strange planet with aliens romance I expect to have some grit to it. Nada.
]]> 54467743
Even when he knows that darkness will destroy him.

Enyo has regrets. Hundreds of them. But the one that has plagued her for centuries, is the moment that shattered her friendship with the firstborn of Hades and her own heart with it—a moment that changed her and set her on a new path. With the battle between the sons of Hades and the daemons turning more dangerous for the man she loves, she can no longer stand on the side lines.

����’s time for this goddess of war risk everything to fight for what she wants.

As the battle to save the Underworld and the mortal realm rages to dangerous new heights, will Keras be consumed by the darkness or will Enyo be the light that saves him?]]> 346 Felicity Heaton 1911485164 Julia 3

Keras, oh Keras. How i love thee so so much..... but.....

This book felt rushed. All of that build up over the last 7 books of Hades sons to be a bit of a letdown. I was just expecting more; either some big twist or some big reveal OR something big to happen with the MC's but.... nah.
I felt like the author kinda got bored with her own plot and forgot to tie up loose ends and give simple explanations for things. One of the more important things was WHY the MC's stayed away from each other for 2 centuries. Other than the fact that they hurt each others feelings, i wasnt sure why they were estranged. I needed more explanation all around and i was left unsatisfied.

With that being said, I've loved Keras since he was introduced in book 1. I love me some moody, grumpy, hard ass, but still emotionally fragile heros. Y.U.M. When the MC's finally got together it was pure magic on each page. This author has no trouble creating a real connection with her characters. When Keras and Enyo got together i SCREAMED and had to put my ebook down and take a deep breath. That is how i want to feel with every book.

BUTTTTTTTT

The MC's needed more time together. Now reading this whole series i understand that this is plot driven instead of romance driven. But if youre going to write an extensive series like this, the plot needs to be iron tight. And this was not. So you get points for romance, but loose points on a lackluster plot.

Safety: totally safe. needs to be read in order.
- No cheating, No OW/OM drama, no other people after meeting
- No other people during their 200 year separation.
- Heroine was betrothed to another man when she meets hero, but she never goes through with it and has no feelings for her betrothed besides friendship
- Push and pull
- Violent battle scenes between H & h. Hero looses control of his powers and physically hurts the heroine but she's a tough cookie and hits him right back. ]]> 4.48
author: Felicity Heaton
name: Julia
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2020/12/07
date added: 2020/12/07
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, series-to-wait-for, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, epic-love, dark, best-hero, best-heroin, annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-secondary-characters
review:
3 Stars


Keras, oh Keras. How i love thee so so much..... but.....

This book felt rushed. All of that build up over the last 7 books of Hades sons to be a bit of a letdown. I was just expecting more; either some big twist or some big reveal OR something big to happen with the MC's but.... nah.
I felt like the author kinda got bored with her own plot and forgot to tie up loose ends and give simple explanations for things. One of the more important things was WHY the MC's stayed away from each other for 2 centuries. Other than the fact that they hurt each others feelings, i wasnt sure why they were estranged. I needed more explanation all around and i was left unsatisfied.

With that being said, I've loved Keras since he was introduced in book 1. I love me some moody, grumpy, hard ass, but still emotionally fragile heros. Y.U.M. When the MC's finally got together it was pure magic on each page. This author has no trouble creating a real connection with her characters. When Keras and Enyo got together i SCREAMED and had to put my ebook down and take a deep breath. That is how i want to feel with every book.

BUTTTTTTTT

The MC's needed more time together. Now reading this whole series i understand that this is plot driven instead of romance driven. But if youre going to write an extensive series like this, the plot needs to be iron tight. And this was not. So you get points for romance, but loose points on a lackluster plot.

Safety: totally safe. needs to be read in order.
- No cheating, No OW/OM drama, no other people after meeting
- No other people during their 200 year separation.
- Heroine was betrothed to another man when she meets hero, but she never goes through with it and has no feelings for her betrothed besides friendship
- Push and pull
- Violent battle scenes between H & h. Hero looses control of his powers and physically hurts the heroine but she's a tough cookie and hits him right back.
]]> 52894269

New York City—not for the faint-hearted or the sweetest of souls. The last thing I expected was to be back in this city, after all these years. And I definitely did not expect to be back in this house, where it all started. I have spent years avoiding this place, and the cold hard reality of what happened here.


But I have no choice. We are all back here and quarantined together. It took, the end of the world, for me to come back here. And to face him. Milo Sinclair. Once my legal guardian and savior in life. The person who saved me from drowning in loneliness. Who gave me everything I ever wanted. But then he took everything away from me. Plus interest. He broke me. He will not break me again.


PLEASE READ THE WARNING: Dark romance is subjective. Some readers have found this book to be a light read while others have found it triggering. This book contains dubious and non-consent sexual scenes, virus outbreak, mental health issues, and sexual acts between a 17-year-old and her 21-year-old guardian. This fictional series is ONLY meant for readers who enjoy a specific trope in the realm of fantasy.

**This book is part of a SERIES and NOT a standalone. This is a work of fiction and not based on real characters or incidents.

❤️✒️ What to know more about Milo & Raven? Find Drethi Anis on FB & IG.]]> 266 Drethi Anis Julia 2
Writing was terrible. The heroine was as deep as a shallow pool and there were too many mentions of the hero's past sexual experiences. Also, nothing about this book had anything to do with covid or quarantining. This should be labeled a prequel. Won't continue with the next book.


Safety:
Heroine is a virgin. Hero is a previous manwhore.
Rape/dub-con. I think it was more on the rape side.
Heroine is a minor (17) when the Hero starts pressuring her to have sex.
Hero is the heroines leagal guardian but i still dont know how the math added up for that to happen.
No OW/OM drama for the most part
No cheating after they get together]]> 3.71 2020
author: Drethi Anis
name: Julia
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/12/03
date added: 2020/12/03
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-safe, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, college-sports, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2.5 stars.

Writing was terrible. The heroine was as deep as a shallow pool and there were too many mentions of the hero's past sexual experiences. Also, nothing about this book had anything to do with covid or quarantining. This should be labeled a prequel. Won't continue with the next book.


Safety:
Heroine is a virgin. Hero is a previous manwhore.
Rape/dub-con. I think it was more on the rape side.
Heroine is a minor (17) when the Hero starts pressuring her to have sex.
Hero is the heroines leagal guardian but i still dont know how the math added up for that to happen.
No OW/OM drama for the most part
No cheating after they get together
]]> 53218089
For nearly one hundred and fifty years, werewolf Kiyo has wandered the planet as a lost soul. Cursed with immortality, he spends his awful eternity as a mercenary for hire. When the powerful Fionn Mór confides the truth about the existence of Faerie and hires Kiyo to protect one of the fae-borne, he accepts the challenge out of boredom, not heroism. Yet Niamh is unexpected in every way the werewolf can possibly imagine.

Guarding Niamh from her enemies is nowhere near as challenging as protecting the fae woman from herself. If Kiyo is to succeed, he must help Niamh find herself again, and not just for her sake. Ignoring the fierce connection between them may no longer be an option. A new enemy is rising and threatening to rip open the gate between worlds. To remind Niamh of who she really is, Kiyo must make the choice to lower his defenses and give into their bond. Or safeguard his own heart �� and in doing so lead the human world to the brink of war.]]> 388 S. Young Julia 2


That was my face while reading this book. Let me count the ways this was a big dissapointment.

1. Essentially the same exact thing as the first two in this series.
The plot to the characters all felt repetitive to the point i knew what was going to happen before it happened. Yes, romance is very predictable, but it got to a point where i knew what each interaction was going to entail and thats no fun. I want to be surprised and this was just another book in a long line of sameness.
So this had:
Grumpy hero that doesnt want any friends ? Check ☑️
Flighty, irresponsible, damsel in distress heroine? Check ☑️
Being chases by bad guys and just bouncing around Europe? ☑️
No romantic development until the later half of the book? ☑️

2. The hero and heroine
Girl. Bruh. Manwhore matched with a 26 year old virgin heroine. GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE. This pissed me off so much because it was so unnecessary. It's 2020. Women are allowed to have sex with other men. But what takes the cake is that this is where were by 50%:

"He’d been fighting it for days, and he was tired of resisting.
Kiyo definitely needed to get laid.
But it wouldn’t be with Niamh.
The woman was far too dangerous.��

And this is supposed to be a fated mate story? Get. the. fuck. outta. here.
The romance in this book was extremely disappointing. To the standoffish personality of the heroine to the bored, annoyed attitude of the hero, this was all around a chore to read. And the MC's were insufferable to get to know. I didn't care about their tragic backstories because they were just so annoying.
A Fated mate story where neither character doesnt recognize their fated mate until they have sex.... thats basically a regular romance. Why bother making it fated mates at all?

3. Ex drama.
On top of some poor romantic development, you have to read through a scene where the H is met with an ex hookup and she's all over him and he doesnt push her away. They basically kiss in front of the heroine and he has his hands on her hips. Fucking gross, man. i dont want to read that shit. He doesnt want her, but he doesnt push her away either.

And thats it.

Safety: safe to personal preference
No cheating, no OP after meeting
No OM drama
Some OM drama
H is immortal and 200 years old, so he's been around the block (a lot apparently)
heroine is a 26 year old virgin because sexism is alive and well
Pushing and pulling on both sides.]]> 4.13 2020
author: S. Young
name: Julia
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2020/11/19
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe-with-exception, paranormal, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 dumb stars.



That was my face while reading this book. Let me count the ways this was a big dissapointment.

1. Essentially the same exact thing as the first two in this series.
The plot to the characters all felt repetitive to the point i knew what was going to happen before it happened. Yes, romance is very predictable, but it got to a point where i knew what each interaction was going to entail and thats no fun. I want to be surprised and this was just another book in a long line of sameness.
So this had:
Grumpy hero that doesnt want any friends ? Check ☑️
Flighty, irresponsible, damsel in distress heroine? Check ☑️
Being chases by bad guys and just bouncing around Europe? ☑️
No romantic development until the later half of the book? ☑️

2. The hero and heroine
Girl. Bruh. Manwhore matched with a 26 year old virgin heroine. GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE. This pissed me off so much because it was so unnecessary. It's 2020. Women are allowed to have sex with other men. But what takes the cake is that this is where were by 50%:

"He’d been fighting it for days, and he was tired of resisting.
Kiyo definitely needed to get laid.
But it wouldn’t be with Niamh.
The woman was far too dangerous.��

And this is supposed to be a fated mate story? Get. the. fuck. outta. here.
The romance in this book was extremely disappointing. To the standoffish personality of the heroine to the bored, annoyed attitude of the hero, this was all around a chore to read. And the MC's were insufferable to get to know. I didn't care about their tragic backstories because they were just so annoying.
A Fated mate story where neither character doesnt recognize their fated mate until they have sex.... thats basically a regular romance. Why bother making it fated mates at all?

3. Ex drama.
On top of some poor romantic development, you have to read through a scene where the H is met with an ex hookup and she's all over him and he doesnt push her away. They basically kiss in front of the heroine and he has his hands on her hips. Fucking gross, man. i dont want to read that shit. He doesnt want her, but he doesnt push her away either.

And thats it.

Safety: safe to personal preference
No cheating, no OP after meeting
No OM drama
Some OM drama
H is immortal and 200 years old, so he's been around the block (a lot apparently)
heroine is a 26 year old virgin because sexism is alive and well
Pushing and pulling on both sides.
]]> 54821424
The moment I saw him, I knew.

His eyes would hypnotize.
His lips would speak the most beautiful promises.
His body? Made for pleasure.

But if Corrado Capitani thought that he could fool me into thinking he was a good man, he was wrong.

The moment I saw him, I knew the truth.

Those eyes hid his poisonous heart.
Those lips were vessels of deception.
That body? Made for inflicting pain.

He wasn’t sent from heaven. He was sent to drag me back to hell.

I had something to die for.

Alcina Parisi had a price on her head, and she’d eluded the best. She thought no one would ever find her, but I did. Everyone in our world called me Scorpio—the man who never let the enemy go. But she was a weapon, not an adversary, and I’d claimed her as mine.]]> 396 Bella Di Corte Julia 1
Like, seriously. I got to 50% and I just don’t know what’s going on. I loved the authors first book but these last two feel like a completely different author wrote it. I kept reading thinking “am I missing something here???�� Because the writing is all over the place.

1. There’s wayyyy too many characters, and they all have similar sounding Italian names
2. I have no idea what the main characters objectives are or any reason to find them interesting
3. Little to no sexual chemistry. Very short interactions and really confusing dialogue.
4. Writing is overly poetic and doesn’t make a lick of sense. Her writing doesn’t use contractions so everything sounds choppy and robotic.
5. And OF COURSE the heroine is a goddam 25 year old virgin and she’s never had an orgasm in her entire life. BRUHHHHHHHHH MASSIVE EYE ROLL.

Maybe this author isn’t for me. Which is a shame because the first book was one of my favorites of the year.]]> 4.13
author: Bella Di Corte
name: Julia
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2020/11/14
date added: 2020/11/15
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-working-for-me-boring, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2 ‘what the fuck is going on stars��

Like, seriously. I got to 50% and I just don’t know what’s going on. I loved the authors first book but these last two feel like a completely different author wrote it. I kept reading thinking “am I missing something here???�� Because the writing is all over the place.

1. There’s wayyyy too many characters, and they all have similar sounding Italian names
2. I have no idea what the main characters objectives are or any reason to find them interesting
3. Little to no sexual chemistry. Very short interactions and really confusing dialogue.
4. Writing is overly poetic and doesn’t make a lick of sense. Her writing doesn’t use contractions so everything sounds choppy and robotic.
5. And OF COURSE the heroine is a goddam 25 year old virgin and she’s never had an orgasm in her entire life. BRUHHHHHHHHH MASSIVE EYE ROLL.

Maybe this author isn’t for me. Which is a shame because the first book was one of my favorites of the year.
]]> 55502327 Destined to leave their home, their coven, their way of life.
To fulfill the age-old treaty with the demons.
A Sacrifice.
We spoke of their fates in hushed whispers around open fires like ghost stories, conjuring tales, each more horrifying than the last.
I never thought I would become her.
The Sacrifice.
Ripped from everything I had known, thrown into a dark and uncertain world, my life in the hands of its purest evil.
Nothing could have prepared me for the truth.
Or the growing warmth I felt toward one of my captors.
But the questions remained:
What did they want from me?
What would happen to me once they took it?
What price was I willing to pay?
And what would I willing to sacrifice to hold onto a love I never saw coming?]]> 225 Jessica Gadziala Julia 3
While this book was hot, it was missing the tenderness and the vulnerability that makes romance.... romance.

“And with the Claiming, we had grown closer in every possible way, staying up late to talk, sharing stories, secrets, hopes for our very long future together.��

Ok that’s great, but the author didn’t show any of that. So what you have left is a very sexy book but ultimate shallow and a little empty when you’re down with it.

Especially when you don’t have the MCs saying “I love you�� to each other. Why make this choice? Why is this a trend in romance these dayS? I swear, more and more authors aren’t having their characters profess their love for each other and I think it’s the stupidest goddam thing in the world. If this is how the genre is gonna go, I might as well watch tacky porn. Ugh.

Safety:
No cheating
H is a previous man whore, heroine is a virgin
No OP after meeting. No ow/Om drama

]]> 3.77
author: Jessica Gadziala
name: Julia
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2020/11/09
date added: 2020/11/09
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-heroin, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, instalove, ott-possessive-hero, paranormal, safe, safe-with-exception, tstl-heroine
review:
3 stars

While this book was hot, it was missing the tenderness and the vulnerability that makes romance.... romance.

“And with the Claiming, we had grown closer in every possible way, staying up late to talk, sharing stories, secrets, hopes for our very long future together.��

Ok that’s great, but the author didn’t show any of that. So what you have left is a very sexy book but ultimate shallow and a little empty when you’re down with it.

Especially when you don’t have the MCs saying “I love you�� to each other. Why make this choice? Why is this a trend in romance these dayS? I swear, more and more authors aren’t having their characters profess their love for each other and I think it’s the stupidest goddam thing in the world. If this is how the genre is gonna go, I might as well watch tacky porn. Ugh.

Safety:
No cheating
H is a previous man whore, heroine is a virgin
No OP after meeting. No ow/Om drama


]]> 55285911 The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.

Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella's village to be their Human Queen.

To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she's dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town's only healer.

That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives... for her.

Everything Luella had thought she'd known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.

The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another... but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.

A Deal with the Elf King is a complete, stand-alone novel, inspired by the tales of Hades and Persephone, as well as Beauty and the Beast, with a "happily ever after" ending. It's perfect for fantasy romance fans looking for just the right amount of steam and their next slow-burn and swoon-worthy couple. ]]> 317 Elise Kova 1949694283 Julia 2 3.62 2020
author: Elise Kova
name: Julia
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/11/08
date added: 2020/11/08
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-working-for-me-boring, paranormal, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Writing was mechanical. Heroine was annoying. No chemistry between the MC’s.
]]> 34688558 276 E. Marie Julia 2 3.96 2017
author: E. Marie
name: Julia
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2017/10/11
date added: 2020/10/27
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, throw-away-dnf, virgin-hero
review:

]]> 55778501
Think again, your majesty. Gwen isn’t interested in being the king’s paramour, no matter how attractive she finds the big, brawny warrior. She needs to find a husband or she’ll have to sell the family farm. Now if the king would only stop growling seductive words in her ear long enough, maybe she’d have some success. When Corbet refuses to let Gwen find a husband…and Gwen refuses to be Corbet’s mistress…who will crack first?]]> 64 Jessa Kane Julia 2 3.77 2020
author: Jessa Kane
name: Julia
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/10/27
date added: 2020/10/27
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, instalove, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, safe, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
This book was so beyond cheesy/cringy that it actually started making me uncomfortable to read. Last couple of books by this author have been the exact same way, so I think I’m done with jessa Kane for awhile. ����’s not you, it’s me.
]]> 53078968
Only, she lied to Duke. She gave him a name as fake as her hair color. According to her driver’s license, her real name is Lucy Ross, the famous country music singer whose sudden disappearance has been a hot topic in the media over the past two weeks.

He’s not sure why Lucy lied about her identity or why she’s in Calamity. And she’s not talking. Instead, she offers him a bribe to keep her secret.

But Duke doesn’t want her money. He wants to know why this woman is on the run. And as long as the star shines on his badge, he’s going to find out.]]> 322 Devney Perry 1950692205 Julia 3
Very rarely do I vote books down the middle. I usually love it or hate it, but this one sat in the middle of the satisfactory scale.

It was entertaining and cute but it lacked depth in the romance department. There wasnt enough time with just the hero and heroine being in each others company without the interruption of secondary characters.

Safety:
No cheating, no OW/OM drama, no OP after meeting
No seperation, no push and pull, HEA]]> 3.84 2020
author: Devney Perry
name: Julia
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/22
date added: 2020/10/22
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, instalove, annoying-characters-plot, business-billionaire-famous
review:
A very solid 3 star read!

Very rarely do I vote books down the middle. I usually love it or hate it, but this one sat in the middle of the satisfactory scale.

It was entertaining and cute but it lacked depth in the romance department. There wasnt enough time with just the hero and heroine being in each others company without the interruption of secondary characters.

Safety:
No cheating, no OW/OM drama, no OP after meeting
No seperation, no push and pull, HEA
]]> 54364041 Anti-hero (noun):
1) A powerful and charismatic man lacking moral character
2) A magnificent bastard
3) Killian Black

You don’t know me.
You think you do, but you don’t.
The only thing you know is my name, and even that’s a lie.

I’m king of Boston, lord of criminals, ruler of an underworld empire. Or am I?

Only one thing’s for sure: I operate alone.

Until I cross paths with a brazen little thief who sets my whole kingdom on fire.

Just as two wrongs don’t make a right, two villains don’t belong together. Especially since she’s the daughter of my most deadly enemy.

Taking her would start a war.
Keeping her would be suicide.
Making her mine would break every code of honor and defy all common sense.

Then again, where’s the fun in following the rules?]]> 320 J.T. Geissinger Julia 3
Ahhh the classic tale of a solid romance ruined by an idiot of a heroine.

Amount of romance: good
Plot: Great
Hero: Amazing
Heroine: Stab-worthy.

Seriously, this book would have been 5 stars if the heroine wasnt such a buzz-kill. She was sabotaging her own story at every turn, and I was just gobsmacked that the author made her this dense. I thought I was getting this badass chick and instead I get one of the more annoying heroine leads ive read this year.

Another thing that brought this down a few stars was the secondary character involvement; meaning there was wayyy too much. WHY, tell me WHYYYY we need an entire chapter dedicated to the heroine telling her friends exactly what happened one chapter prior??? Such a pointless recap and add on cringey girl-banter to make the characters sound lame as hell.

One more thing; can we stop with the whole characters breaking the 4th wall and questioning if the life theyre living is a romance novel????? Pretty please?!?! It's cheesy as fuck.

Killian saved the book for me. So he gets 3 stars.

Safety:
No cheating, no OP after meeting, no OW/OM drama
Push and pull from heroine
Some seperation
Violence
HEA]]> 4.22 2020
author: J.T. Geissinger
name: Julia
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/12
date added: 2020/10/12
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, best-hero, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 stars

Ahhh the classic tale of a solid romance ruined by an idiot of a heroine.

Amount of romance: good
Plot: Great
Hero: Amazing
Heroine: Stab-worthy.

Seriously, this book would have been 5 stars if the heroine wasnt such a buzz-kill. She was sabotaging her own story at every turn, and I was just gobsmacked that the author made her this dense. I thought I was getting this badass chick and instead I get one of the more annoying heroine leads ive read this year.

Another thing that brought this down a few stars was the secondary character involvement; meaning there was wayyy too much. WHY, tell me WHYYYY we need an entire chapter dedicated to the heroine telling her friends exactly what happened one chapter prior??? Such a pointless recap and add on cringey girl-banter to make the characters sound lame as hell.

One more thing; can we stop with the whole characters breaking the 4th wall and questioning if the life theyre living is a romance novel????? Pretty please?!?! It's cheesy as fuck.

Killian saved the book for me. So he gets 3 stars.

Safety:
No cheating, no OP after meeting, no OW/OM drama
Push and pull from heroine
Some seperation
Violence
HEA
]]> 54467742
Even when he’s sure it’s only a game to her.

Cassandra has a sword hanging over her, a duty she has no choice but to perform and one she’s been putting off for years. Her latest excuse? Helping a band of immortal brothers with a war that might mean the end of this world if they fail. Her delaying the inevitable has nothing to do with the gorgeous Greek god who keeps rebuffing her and everything to do with saving the world. He’s a nice distraction and nothing more. She keeps telling herself that.

Even when she’s sure he’s a danger to her heart.

As things heat up in the battle to save the mortal world and the Underworld, will Daimon’s icy heart be able to withstand the fiery witch who can scorch him with just a look?

If you love Greek gods romance books featuring powerful dark lords of the Underworld and strong heroines who steal their hearts, this adult paranormal romance series is for you!]]> 306 Felicity Heaton 1911485156 Julia 3
A couple elements at play that I didnt like with this one, which is a shame because I was really anticipating this book to be one that I would love.

-Daimon loved and lost an other woman in his past which makes him push the h away.
-The heroine is promised to someone else so she does her own pushing away.

So theyre both pushing away.... which leads to very little romance and all buildup that doesnt satisfy in the end. For the first 70% you hear all the reasons why they cant be together and then...

WHAM! The 'I love yous' come out of nowhere. Felt rushed and bogged down with all of the annoying fight scenes mixed in.

I'm still looking forward to Keras book, but im sure that one is going to face the same problems this one had with the little information we have to go on.

Safety:
-Hero celibate for two centuries. But prior to that, he got a girl pregnant and they died in battle. The hero was celibate ever since her death and promised his loyalty to her until the end of time.
-Heroine had past sexual experience
-No cheating, no OW/OM drama, no other people after meeting
-hate to love romance ]]> 4.47
author: Felicity Heaton
name: Julia
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/05
date added: 2020/10/05
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, series-to-wait-for, safe-with-exception, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, best-secondary-characters, best-heroin, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 just ok stars.

A couple elements at play that I didnt like with this one, which is a shame because I was really anticipating this book to be one that I would love.

-Daimon loved and lost an other woman in his past which makes him push the h away.
-The heroine is promised to someone else so she does her own pushing away.

So theyre both pushing away.... which leads to very little romance and all buildup that doesnt satisfy in the end. For the first 70% you hear all the reasons why they cant be together and then...

WHAM! The 'I love yous' come out of nowhere. Felt rushed and bogged down with all of the annoying fight scenes mixed in.

I'm still looking forward to Keras book, but im sure that one is going to face the same problems this one had with the little information we have to go on.

Safety:
-Hero celibate for two centuries. But prior to that, he got a girl pregnant and they died in battle. The hero was celibate ever since her death and promised his loyalty to her until the end of time.
-Heroine had past sexual experience
-No cheating, no OW/OM drama, no other people after meeting
-hate to love romance
]]> 53463575 A demi-goddess with the power over life and death, the God of the Underworld burning for revenge...it's a forbidden obsession waiting to happen.

HADES is the third book in a new paranormal romance series, based in a dark, sexy city ruled by Hades and his court of gods and monsters.

If you love forbidden romance and banter that burns, you'll enjoy this scorching instalment of 'The Court of the Underworld.'

Hades is ready to take the fight to the gang Pithos who keep pissing him off and messing with his business. When a money trail leads back to Demeter, Queen of Athens, he takes the one thing she values; her daughter Persephone.

Persephone is no pampered princess. With a curse to create life in one hand and control death with the other, she's going to make life Hell for her kidnapper.

Hades is willing to play dirty to get what he wants, but he's about to meet his match in the irresistible demi-goddess who only plays to win.

HADES is a modern re-telling of the Hades and Persephone Greek Myth. It contains adult content, including violence, swearing, and steamy sex scenes.]]> 203 Alessa Thorn Julia 2
All the ingredients of a good romance book are here; an alluring dark non man whore hero, a sexually experienced heroine, Greek gods, and the fact that I’m a sucker for a hades and Persephone retelling.

But no.

It really all comes down to writing, and this book wasn’t doing it for me. Weird, overly quirky characters, a plot that gets in the way of the romance, too many side characters interrupting the story, and bait and switch sexual tension.


Safety:
Standard safe
No cheating, no other people after meeting, no ow/om drama ]]> 4.22 2020
author: Alessa Thorn
name: Julia
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/09/20
date added: 2020/09/20
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, paranormal, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2 stars

All the ingredients of a good romance book are here; an alluring dark non man whore hero, a sexually experienced heroine, Greek gods, and the fact that I’m a sucker for a hades and Persephone retelling.

But no.

It really all comes down to writing, and this book wasn’t doing it for me. Weird, overly quirky characters, a plot that gets in the way of the romance, too many side characters interrupting the story, and bait and switch sexual tension.


Safety:
Standard safe
No cheating, no other people after meeting, no ow/om drama
]]> 30508920 I mean, video games.

I'm Payton Blake. A successful, balanced twenty-something girl living the dream.

OK. So it's a big-ass lie.

I could be all of those things. If I had friends outside of work. And if I didn't mainline watermelon slushies like they were a food group. It wouldn't hurt if I'd had sex in the last year, either. (My best friend insists Jorge the Nightstand Boyfriend doesn't count.)

But when you know where you're headed, who needs to enjoy the ride? Even if part of me longed for a little between-the-sheets adventure, Max Donovan would be the last guy I'd call.

Sure, he made the indie video game that broke the internet. His eyebrow piercing's sexy, in an 'are-you-in-a-band?' way, and fighting with him gets me off faster than Jorge on bezerker mode. But he's arrogant. Presumptuous. Colder than a cactus and twice as prickly.

None of it changes the fact that I crave Max Donovan like a watermelon slushy on a hot summer day.

I should ignore him. But I can't, because he just became my biggest client. And whether he'll admit it or not, he needs me even more than I need him.

Game on, Max Donovan.]]> 274 Piper Lawson Julia 3 Can’t say that i didn’t enjoy it though. And I did finish it, which lately I consider a huge accomplishment.

Safe with exception. ]]> 4.06 2016
author: Piper Lawson
name: Julia
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/12/30
date added: 2020/09/12
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-secondary-characters, business-billionaire-famous, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut
review:
Definitely not as good as the next book, NSFW. Characters were a bit dry and the heroine wasn’t as level headed as I thought she would be. She forgave the hero wayyyy to easily for my taste. Hero was broody but not the good kind. I wanted to reach into the book and give him a good “get over yourself�� slap.
Can’t say that i didn’t enjoy it though. And I did finish it, which lately I consider a huge accomplishment.

Safe with exception.
]]> 53141220
Kat Monroe is spunky, opinionated, and the new DJ for the Chicago Norsemen. When her boss, the "Duke of Douches" fires her for her colorful behavior, she's left with a small business loan and not even a small income to pay it. But then the same Duke offers her the chance to have her job back and her loan paid off--if she'll agree to be his bride of convenience in exchange. But Winston is not at all what she bargained for, and he might make Kat rethink everything she's ever wanted.

The Duke is a standalone royal billionaire marriage of convenience romance with a grumpy hero, a spunky heroine, and an HEA worthy of Cinderella.]]> 274 Selena Laurence Julia 0
The start of the H’s character has him waking up besides a one night stand after he fired the h.

I thought we were over this type of bullshit? Thank you, next. ]]> 3.86
author: Selena Laurence
name: Julia
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/06
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, business-billionaire-famous, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, not-safe, not-working-for-me-boring, throw-away-dnf
review:
Can’t rate because I only read to chapter 2.

The start of the H’s character has him waking up besides a one night stand after he fired the h.

I thought we were over this type of bullshit? Thank you, next.
]]> 53460588
Maxx Reynolds needs help.

His shop, house, and life are all in a state of disarray.

In desperation, he turns to the internet to hire a new employee,
thinking it will make his life easier

What he expects is a fellow named Charly.

What he gets is a quirky, sassy, red-head named
Charlynn who runs circles around him.

And she’s all woman.

He can’t stand her.

He can’t keep his hands off her either.]]> 294 Melanie Moreland 1988610389 Julia 3
An enjoyable read that was standard entertainment. Nothing too crazy, too angsty, too romantic, too sexy. And I guess thats the reason why I'm rating this book 3 stars instead of 5. It was just fine. Everything was kindof lukewarm and vanilla, but this kind of book is good every now and then! At least I finished the whole thing, which is an accomplishment in its own right.

One thing that brought this from a potential 4 star to 3 is the heroines cutesy annoying personality trait of saying "Holy Moly" and "Yowsers" and "chap my ass" every. single. chapter. Holy Moly was said over 40 times. After the first 3 times it was like nails on a chalkboard.

If youre looking for something light and not too heavy, this is the book for you!

Safety: completely safe
H had a girlfriend that cheated and stole from him which cause slight push and pull because he cant trust easy
Heroine is harassed and assaulted by 2 locals.
No cheating, no OP after meeting, no OW/OM drama ]]> 4.07 2020
author: Melanie Moreland
name: Julia
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/05
date added: 2020/09/05
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, hottest-sex-scenes, best-secondary-characters, annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry
review:
3 stars

An enjoyable read that was standard entertainment. Nothing too crazy, too angsty, too romantic, too sexy. And I guess thats the reason why I'm rating this book 3 stars instead of 5. It was just fine. Everything was kindof lukewarm and vanilla, but this kind of book is good every now and then! At least I finished the whole thing, which is an accomplishment in its own right.

One thing that brought this from a potential 4 star to 3 is the heroines cutesy annoying personality trait of saying "Holy Moly" and "Yowsers" and "chap my ass" every. single. chapter. Holy Moly was said over 40 times. After the first 3 times it was like nails on a chalkboard.

If youre looking for something light and not too heavy, this is the book for you!

Safety: completely safe
H had a girlfriend that cheated and stole from him which cause slight push and pull because he cant trust easy
Heroine is harassed and assaulted by 2 locals.
No cheating, no OP after meeting, no OW/OM drama
]]> 48662069 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B07ZQXM6HW


"Breathtaking, intense, and scorching hot, KING OF SHADOWS is the modern myth I've been waiting for." -New York Times Bestselling Author Skye Warren

The king of the underworld...

Luther Hades rules the mountain with a cruel fist. He has no mercy for the young, innocent woman thrown before him. The contract is binding.

The sheltered daughter of his enemy...

Persephone wants freedom from her mother's home. Instead she trades one prison for another. There's only one way to save the man she loves—by sacrificing her body.

He's determined to own her.

She's destined to hate him.

Their battle will bring the mountain to its knees.]]> 308 Amelia Wilde Julia 0
Theres just no way I can route for either of these characters, on top of some really poor bait and switch writing. ]]> 3.82 2020
author: Amelia Wilde
name: Julia
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2020/09/03
date added: 2020/09/03
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, paranormal, not-working-for-me-boring, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
No stars, DNF at 50%

Theres just no way I can route for either of these characters, on top of some really poor bait and switch writing.
]]> 54788058 An age-gap, spicy romance about power, obsession, and finding true love in a nontraditional fairy tale

Where do I begin?

Oh. Yeah.

Once upon a time.

Isn't that how all good fairy tales start?

And Maximo and I, we were definitely a fairy tale.

Not the cleaned-up, sanitized ones where life's problems were solved with a smile and a song. We were the old-school kind. The tales packed with greed, violence, and tragic beginnings.

Okay, so maybe we weren't a traditional fairy tale. After all, Maximo was more villain than prince. He was scarily sexy. Devilishly charming. Controlling, possessive, and dangerous.

He gave me the world. In exchange, I gave him what he wanted most.

Me. All of me.

I was his little dove.

And heaven help anyone who tried to free me from my gilded cage.]]> 373 Layla Frost Julia 2
Forreal this was not good. For three specific reasons.

1. This felt insanely predatory and creepy.
Hero basically grooms the heroine into being dependent on him. Waits a whole year for her to become a legal age while jerking off and watching her on video cameras placed around the house. Ummmm thats fucking creepy when shes 17 years old. Its creepy no matter what age she is!! He says hes "not into age play" but isnt that exactly what this is? The hero is in his 30's making a teenager live in his house. A lot of these feelings have to do with the tone of the writing. The writing was so simplified and dumbed down that it added to the creep factor.

2. The heroine was nauseating.
Dont get me started on this dumb bitch. Her inner dialogue sounded like a family friendly sit com from the 80's. It was like nails on a chalk board. Some examples...

For a monster, that was hot.
Wait what?
Shut up, self. You're delirious.

.....

But I'm here by choice now.
Wait what?
Shut up, Brian.

...

Yes [I wanted to be spanked.]
Wait what?
No, definitely yes. I def want that to happen.

Seeing a pattern here? I wanted to stab my eyes out. Her though process was just so asinine. Like no human woman thinks this way. Just so over the top bubbly and child like that added to the creep factor and made her feel like a 13 year old vs an 18 year old. On top of that, she was a moron. Tries to escape and runs into the desert thinking that she'll just 'find civilization nearby'. Its called the desert for a reason!!!! And another point when the heroine is told by the 'villain' that the hero doesnt like her... she just believes him immediately. Super juvenile stuff here.

3. The lack of any kind of chemistry or story.
The first 25% of the book was the heroine being told to take naps, eating, and doing arts and crafts. Fucking yawn. The rest of the book was...

Heroine: "Youre a control freak"
Hero: "Youre a brat" *grinds dick into ass*
Repeat. Over and over again.

There was no build up to any romantic feelings. Just being told over and over again that the heroine is wet and the hero is super hard with his big dick energy.

I used to really love this author, and I really like this genre of romance but this was just BAD.

Safety: Safe
No cheating, no OP after meeting, No OW/OM drama
Heroine is a virgin. Hero isnt. (shocker)
No push and pull
No seperation
No conflict, no anything really.]]> 3.88 2020
author: Layla Frost
name: Julia
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/09/01
date added: 2020/09/02
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, safe, stupid-hall-of-fame, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2 cringe-fest stars

Forreal this was not good. For three specific reasons.

1. This felt insanely predatory and creepy.
Hero basically grooms the heroine into being dependent on him. Waits a whole year for her to become a legal age while jerking off and watching her on video cameras placed around the house. Ummmm thats fucking creepy when shes 17 years old. Its creepy no matter what age she is!! He says hes "not into age play" but isnt that exactly what this is? The hero is in his 30's making a teenager live in his house. A lot of these feelings have to do with the tone of the writing. The writing was so simplified and dumbed down that it added to the creep factor.

2. The heroine was nauseating.
Dont get me started on this dumb bitch. Her inner dialogue sounded like a family friendly sit com from the 80's. It was like nails on a chalk board. Some examples...

For a monster, that was hot.
Wait what?
Shut up, self. You're delirious.

.....

But I'm here by choice now.
Wait what?
Shut up, Brian.

...

Yes [I wanted to be spanked.]
Wait what?
No, definitely yes. I def want that to happen.

Seeing a pattern here? I wanted to stab my eyes out. Her though process was just so asinine. Like no human woman thinks this way. Just so over the top bubbly and child like that added to the creep factor and made her feel like a 13 year old vs an 18 year old. On top of that, she was a moron. Tries to escape and runs into the desert thinking that she'll just 'find civilization nearby'. Its called the desert for a reason!!!! And another point when the heroine is told by the 'villain' that the hero doesnt like her... she just believes him immediately. Super juvenile stuff here.

3. The lack of any kind of chemistry or story.
The first 25% of the book was the heroine being told to take naps, eating, and doing arts and crafts. Fucking yawn. The rest of the book was...

Heroine: "Youre a control freak"
Hero: "Youre a brat" *grinds dick into ass*
Repeat. Over and over again.

There was no build up to any romantic feelings. Just being told over and over again that the heroine is wet and the hero is super hard with his big dick energy.

I used to really love this author, and I really like this genre of romance but this was just BAD.

Safety: Safe
No cheating, no OP after meeting, No OW/OM drama
Heroine is a virgin. Hero isnt. (shocker)
No push and pull
No seperation
No conflict, no anything really.
]]> 52667641
Except he may have met his match.

The feisty Amon sister has no fear �� of him or any other dragon shifter �� is brash, doesn’t stick to protocols, and regularly offends his warriors and advisers.

Skylar also has no intention of sticking around. She doesn't believe in the whole destined mates thing and believes all dragon kings to be dangerous. But if it means taking out the High King who murdered her parents, she'll put up with Ladon... temporarily.

But the fates have other plans. And when Skylar disappears in the middle of a battle, Ladon will burn down the world to find her.]]> 416 Abigail Owen 164063911X Julia 3
Another book ive been waiting for for over 6 months for it to just be.... ok. The plot, characters, and romance elements were all there but the whole thing was bogged down with dragged out fight scenes, political talk, and introductions of secondary characters.

Not enough time or interactions of just the hero and heroine. So when they finally say I love you at the last few pages of the book, I was like "but they barely spent any time together!?!?!" Because the author just skips over it!!!!! So many fade to black sex scenes!!! If you're gonna cut out the best part of the romance, I would hop that you would make that time up in other ways. But nooooooo you get a fight/kidnapped scene that lasts way too long and tedious to read.

Tedious is how I would describe this book. The lack of romance and the heroines inability to be serious for 2 seconds. And the fact that it took her to until the 98% mark of the book to get over herself and express her feelings for the hero. Hero was fantastic though, so I gave a couple of stars for just him.

Hoping the next book is better

Safety:
No cheating
No OP after meeting
No OW/OM drama
Pushing and pulling on both sides
]]> 4.30 2020
author: Abigail Owen
name: Julia
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/08/30
date added: 2020/08/30
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, best-hero, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2.5 lack luster stars.

Another book ive been waiting for for over 6 months for it to just be.... ok. The plot, characters, and romance elements were all there but the whole thing was bogged down with dragged out fight scenes, political talk, and introductions of secondary characters.

Not enough time or interactions of just the hero and heroine. So when they finally say I love you at the last few pages of the book, I was like "but they barely spent any time together!?!?!" Because the author just skips over it!!!!! So many fade to black sex scenes!!! If you're gonna cut out the best part of the romance, I would hop that you would make that time up in other ways. But nooooooo you get a fight/kidnapped scene that lasts way too long and tedious to read.

Tedious is how I would describe this book. The lack of romance and the heroines inability to be serious for 2 seconds. And the fact that it took her to until the 98% mark of the book to get over herself and express her feelings for the hero. Hero was fantastic though, so I gave a couple of stars for just him.

Hoping the next book is better

Safety:
No cheating
No OP after meeting
No OW/OM drama
Pushing and pulling on both sides

]]> 52757327 An ancient grudge. A forbidden love.

The only thing worse than being a demon is being a Valari. As an undergraduate at Los Angeles’s Alameda University, Kara Valari can sometimes succeed at forgetting she’s both. Lost between the pages of the classics and tucked into the shadows of lecture halls, she can dodge the paparazzi’s lenses as well as her family’s publicized dramas—not to mention their private expectations. She has one more year to feed her true passions. Then she’ll be expected to fulfill a much darker destiny.

Cursed with inexplicable strength and god-like stature, literature professor Maximus Kane knows all about darkness. Every day he’s reminded of the missteps of his childhood and the devastating consequences they’ve had on those dearest to him. To atone, Maximus spends his nights alone and his days submerged in the quiet life of academia. His existence has become a study in control, and he’s become a master at it—until Kara Valari walks into his toughest course.

Viscerally, Kara’s everything he craves. Logically, she’s everything he rejects. She’s a starlet of privilege. She’s also a student. And after one touch, he can’t deny that she’s awakened something in him that may never go dormant. Nothing about her makes sense, but everything about her feels right. Especially in the deepest strands of his DNA, which are still shadows of mystery to him—a mystery Kara seems determined to uncover.

She’s Hollywood royalty. She’s forbidden fruit. And he’s pretty sure she could be the answer to everything.]]> 217 Meredith Wild 164263218X Julia 2
A book ive been waiting half a year to be released is a total flop. The characters and the plot all fell flat. To summarize, this book was all window dressing with nothing of substance inside. The story just got bogged down under:

-The heroine being a celebrity (I think her and her family were supposed to represent the Kardashians??)
-Student teacher relationship with Hero being a professor of literature (btw this felt like a total rip off of Gabriels Inferno)
-And on top of those two things, both H and h are paranormal beings. (H is a Demi god and h is a demon)

Even though allllll of that extra stuff is going on, the book still felt formulaic and predictable. I felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. Like I havent read a scene where the H and h are making out and about to get the sexy times on but then they get interrupted just so the story drags along. Same old same old.

All of this on top of each other made everything so jumbled and over the top. Like I said, all decoration with no real substance. Especially the Hero's character. He was a total wimp when it came to going after the heroine. And youre telling me this guy is the son of Zeus??? Wasnt buying what this author was selling.

So why 2 stars instead of 1? The hero wasnt aware of the paranormal world and the heroine is the one that introduces him. Usually its the heroine that has to play catchup. Thats the only part I liked.

Safety: Safe as far as I could tell, even though this book ends on a cliffhanger
No cheating/no other people after meeting/ no OW/OM drama yet
Heroine is a virgin and is 'betrothed' to some other demon
H isnt a manwhore but his experience level was never spelled out
Lots of push and pull from both parties. ]]> 3.70 2020
author: Meredith Wild
name: Julia
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/08/30
date added: 2020/08/30
shelves: worst-secondary-characters, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, paranormal, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 stars

A book ive been waiting half a year to be released is a total flop. The characters and the plot all fell flat. To summarize, this book was all window dressing with nothing of substance inside. The story just got bogged down under:

-The heroine being a celebrity (I think her and her family were supposed to represent the Kardashians??)
-Student teacher relationship with Hero being a professor of literature (btw this felt like a total rip off of Gabriels Inferno)
-And on top of those two things, both H and h are paranormal beings. (H is a Demi god and h is a demon)

Even though allllll of that extra stuff is going on, the book still felt formulaic and predictable. I felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen before it happened. Like I havent read a scene where the H and h are making out and about to get the sexy times on but then they get interrupted just so the story drags along. Same old same old.

All of this on top of each other made everything so jumbled and over the top. Like I said, all decoration with no real substance. Especially the Hero's character. He was a total wimp when it came to going after the heroine. And youre telling me this guy is the son of Zeus??? Wasnt buying what this author was selling.

So why 2 stars instead of 1? The hero wasnt aware of the paranormal world and the heroine is the one that introduces him. Usually its the heroine that has to play catchup. Thats the only part I liked.

Safety: Safe as far as I could tell, even though this book ends on a cliffhanger
No cheating/no other people after meeting/ no OW/OM drama yet
Heroine is a virgin and is 'betrothed' to some other demon
H isnt a manwhore but his experience level was never spelled out
Lots of push and pull from both parties.
]]> 53851847 He stole my heart out of revenge.

There was one thing I always thought was mine to give: my heart.

I never imagined a marauder would steal it out of vengeance—vengeance that had nothing to do with me. His greatest enemy happened to be the man in love with me, and somehow I became nothing but a pawn. I was no damsel in distress, though. More like an archer, ready to battle.

And my target? The marauder himself.

Cashel “Cash�� Kelly.

Kelly might have been as gorgeous as he was ruthless, but he had no idea what I’d do to steal it back. Or better yet, get even.


She was determined to keep what was mine.

They say hearts can’t be stolen unless they’re willing to be. Tell that to the man everyone on the streets called “the marauder.��

Me.

Because by the time I was through, Keely Ryan’s heart would be mine. And my enemy’s? As good as broken. Trouble was, the archer was precise with her aim, and her arrow was pointed at my heart.

Marauder is the second of three books set in the savage world of the Gangsters of New York series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but they are all based in the same world.]]> 392 Bella Di Corte Julia 2
Man, what happened!?! The first book was so good and one of my favorites of the year so far, and this one completely fell flat on its face. It was all over the place! It had its moments, and the romance was steamy but too much was bogging it down. Too much dialogue that didnt make sense, too many side characters that didnt help the story progress, too many monologues and back stories that acted as an information dump for a story that was becoming less and less interesting by the chapter.

I felt like the characters were speaking in code. Like a language I was only half understanding. The characters would repeat certain lines over and over again but it was never made clear what their intentions were when you got to their inner dialogue.

Another problem I faced was the timeline, because this book happens at the same time as the first one. I think, and I could be wrong, that the author wrote the first book without a real plan on how to work within the same timeline for the second book. Everything felt so rushed and crunched down.

One last thing: THE HERO DIDNT SAY "I LOVE YOU" TO THE HEROINE. What the fuck is that about? I noticed this is somethign that authors are doing lately. The hero wont say 'I love you' because hes so emotionally stunted? Is he so masculine that he cant express his feelings? Utter bullshit.

Safety: safe with exceptions
No cheating
OM drama- heroine is dating another man at the start of the book and the H sees them having sex in the window. OM causes some drama for the couple.
No OW drama
H not a manwhore, and was in prison for ten years previously. (I think?!?! It was barely touched on and never explained properly)
Some seperation. They 'break up' for a couple of months even though theyre married. Also super confused about this.]]> 4.24
author: Bella Di Corte
name: Julia
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2020/08/10
date added: 2020/08/12
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, dark, annoying-characters-plot, best-heroin
review:
2 disappointing stars.

Man, what happened!?! The first book was so good and one of my favorites of the year so far, and this one completely fell flat on its face. It was all over the place! It had its moments, and the romance was steamy but too much was bogging it down. Too much dialogue that didnt make sense, too many side characters that didnt help the story progress, too many monologues and back stories that acted as an information dump for a story that was becoming less and less interesting by the chapter.

I felt like the characters were speaking in code. Like a language I was only half understanding. The characters would repeat certain lines over and over again but it was never made clear what their intentions were when you got to their inner dialogue.

Another problem I faced was the timeline, because this book happens at the same time as the first one. I think, and I could be wrong, that the author wrote the first book without a real plan on how to work within the same timeline for the second book. Everything felt so rushed and crunched down.

One last thing: THE HERO DIDNT SAY "I LOVE YOU" TO THE HEROINE. What the fuck is that about? I noticed this is somethign that authors are doing lately. The hero wont say 'I love you' because hes so emotionally stunted? Is he so masculine that he cant express his feelings? Utter bullshit.

Safety: safe with exceptions
No cheating
OM drama- heroine is dating another man at the start of the book and the H sees them having sex in the window. OM causes some drama for the couple.
No OW drama
H not a manwhore, and was in prison for ten years previously. (I think?!?! It was barely touched on and never explained properly)
Some seperation. They 'break up' for a couple of months even though theyre married. Also super confused about this.
]]> 53287484 When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting beautiful, mysterious Bella is both the most intriguing and unnerving event he has experienced in his long life as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he let himself fall in love with Bella when he knows that he is endangering her life?

In Midnight Sun, Stephenie Meyer transports us back to a world that has captivated millions of readers and, drawing on the classic myth of Hades and Persephone, brings us an epic novel about the profound pleasures and devastating consequences of immortal love.]]> 662 Stephenie Meyer 031670704X Julia 4
Whelp. 10 years later. Here we are.

Before I continue I have to confess that I read the leaked draft version back in 2009. Good ol 2009 when times were simpler. The leaked draft from this version didnt change all that much. A couple scenes were edited differently and some new ones were added, but overall it was almost exactly the same.

Reading this made me realize how this book was such a huge part of my adolescence and my introduction to romance in general. I was around 15 years old when I first read this series, and it was a SHOCK to my teenage hormonal system. These books were like crack cocaine and I could never get enough. It ultimately lead to me reading 50 shades of Grey and then go on to other romance books where I honed in on what I enjoyed and what I despised in the romance genre.

No matter what the internet says, these books are amazing and I wont let anyone tell me otherwise. To date, I dont think anything has captured my attention and put me in such utter turmoil. I remember as a teen waiting months for the next release and crossing off every day on my calendar for the next one to come out. I miss that level of enthusiasm with reading. Now when I wait for a book to come out, I have to cross check other peoples reviews to make sure it doesnt have grossly overused plot devices and stereotypes.


Anyway.... so.... yeah. Of course I loved reading this. It was like reuniting with old friends. A cool glass of water in a hot desert. Was nostalgia the main driver of my enjoyment? Most likely, but you cant argue that Stephanie Meyer knows how to weave a good story. I simply love her writing style.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? One simple reason; I know what happens next. Edward leaves, Bella finds solace in Jacob Blacks arms and thus begins the biggest angst saga of my lifetime. In my current romance preferences, I HATE IT when the Hero doesnt fight or stand by his heroine. So all of the great writing and romantic scenes were a tad bit spoiled by my prior knowledge that Edwards just hands Bella over to Jacob (who I never even liked to begin with. All the Team Jacob Stans can f*ck off)

I feel like my twilight journey is finally complete. I dont need anything more from it. I'll skim the next three books and read my favorite parts and then put it behind me where it belongs. I will always look back fondly on the series even if the rest of the internet wont.

(If you want my long rant on why hating Twilight is sexist, please DM me.)

Some random thoughts I had:

- I actually liked Bella more in Edwards perspective. She has this subtle strength to her that not a lot of people appreciate.
- I loved how S. Meyer crafted the vampire mind so well. She clearly put time and effort into making it sounds different from Bella's perspective.
- Was Rosalie always this much of a twat? My lord, whats up her ass.
- Would love Charisle and Esmes book! ]]> 3.72 2020
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Julia
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/08/06
date added: 2020/08/06
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, virgin-hero, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, instalove, epic-love, best-secondary-characters, best-heroin, best-hero, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-character-development, annoying-characters-plot
review:
4 stars.

Whelp. 10 years later. Here we are.

Before I continue I have to confess that I read the leaked draft version back in 2009. Good ol 2009 when times were simpler. The leaked draft from this version didnt change all that much. A couple scenes were edited differently and some new ones were added, but overall it was almost exactly the same.

Reading this made me realize how this book was such a huge part of my adolescence and my introduction to romance in general. I was around 15 years old when I first read this series, and it was a SHOCK to my teenage hormonal system. These books were like crack cocaine and I could never get enough. It ultimately lead to me reading 50 shades of Grey and then go on to other romance books where I honed in on what I enjoyed and what I despised in the romance genre.

No matter what the internet says, these books are amazing and I wont let anyone tell me otherwise. To date, I dont think anything has captured my attention and put me in such utter turmoil. I remember as a teen waiting months for the next release and crossing off every day on my calendar for the next one to come out. I miss that level of enthusiasm with reading. Now when I wait for a book to come out, I have to cross check other peoples reviews to make sure it doesnt have grossly overused plot devices and stereotypes.


Anyway.... so.... yeah. Of course I loved reading this. It was like reuniting with old friends. A cool glass of water in a hot desert. Was nostalgia the main driver of my enjoyment? Most likely, but you cant argue that Stephanie Meyer knows how to weave a good story. I simply love her writing style.

So why 4 stars instead of 5? One simple reason; I know what happens next. Edward leaves, Bella finds solace in Jacob Blacks arms and thus begins the biggest angst saga of my lifetime. In my current romance preferences, I HATE IT when the Hero doesnt fight or stand by his heroine. So all of the great writing and romantic scenes were a tad bit spoiled by my prior knowledge that Edwards just hands Bella over to Jacob (who I never even liked to begin with. All the Team Jacob Stans can f*ck off)

I feel like my twilight journey is finally complete. I dont need anything more from it. I'll skim the next three books and read my favorite parts and then put it behind me where it belongs. I will always look back fondly on the series even if the rest of the internet wont.

(If you want my long rant on why hating Twilight is sexist, please DM me.)

Some random thoughts I had:

- I actually liked Bella more in Edwards perspective. She has this subtle strength to her that not a lot of people appreciate.
- I loved how S. Meyer crafted the vampire mind so well. She clearly put time and effort into making it sounds different from Bella's perspective.
- Was Rosalie always this much of a twat? My lord, whats up her ass.
- Would love Charisle and Esmes book!
]]> 53425523
If you love Greek gods romance books featuring powerful dark lords of the Underworld and strong heroines who steal their hearts, this paranormal romance series is for you.

Seven powerful Greek god heroes. Seven passionate paranormal romance books. No cliffhangers. Just happily forever afters!

Grab your copy today and step into an action-packed paranormal romance world filled with mythology and mystery from New York Times and USA Today best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton. Be swept up in the story and characters as the princes of the Underworld fight to protect their world and ours, and the women who claim their hearts, from an enemy bent on destroying everything in the Guardians of Hades romance series:
Book 1: Ares
Book 2: Valen
Book 3: Esher
Book 4: Marek
Book 5: Calistos
Book 6: Daimon �� Coming Fall 2020
Book 7: Keras �� Coming Fall 2020]]> 306 Felicity Heaton 1911485148 Julia 4 4.45 2020
author: Felicity Heaton
name: Julia
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/07/29
date added: 2020/07/29
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-character-development, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-heroin, best-secondary-characters, epic-love, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hottest-sex-scenes, instalove, lighthearted-funny, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, ott-possessive-hero, paranormal, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, writing-that-has-depth
review:

]]> 54185459
Always the dutiful daughter, Lady Joselyn is weeks away from marrying a rival lord in order to secure the future of her father’s house. However, she suddenly finds herself in the clutches of an ancient beast she’s only ever heard of in legends. More terrifying than that is the beast’s master, a wild man who insists Joselyn is his bride by right, and plans to seal his claim in blood.

Wyvern-rider, Hollen, has finally captured the woman of his dreams, though he quickly learns waiting for her was less than half the battle. His new bride wants nothing to do with him and Hollen knows he only has one chance to change her mind. To win her over, he’ll do whatever he must, even if it means keeping secrets.

Their wills pitted against each other, Joselyn will go to any lengths to free herself from this savage and fulfill her marital contract. Her father’s life depends upon it. But even as she plots her escape, Joselyn begins to wonder if one can also be bound by a duty to their own heart.

Author’s Note: This is not a shifter romance. The Dokiri men are savage enough in their manly forms. That being said, this book features subdued sexual content. Enjoy the heat but don’t expect to get singed.

Trigger warning: This novel plays on the trope of abduction. While Dokiri men won’t let anything keep them from the woman they love, even that woman herself, all sexual acts between the hero and heroine are consensual.]]> 502 Denali Day Julia 3
SPOILER WARNING: If you dont like spoilers than dont read this review.


3.5 Stars. A down-the-middle rating for a book I liked and disliked.

***What I liked***

The hero: He was the shining star in this book for me. He encompassed all of the traits I liked in a male protagonist role. He was an alpha barbarian that still had the capacity to respect the heroine at every turn. He listened, learned, and treated her as his equal, which is hard to come by in romance. He was patient and kind. More of these Hero's please!!!! Not every man is an arrogant asshole. I could also say that he may be one of the more intellectual hero's I've ever read. So 5 stars for him.

The Plot: I thought the plot was very interesting and unique. It follows a similar path paranormal romances do - with the hero abducting the heroine and her adjusting to her new surroundings- but the surroundings itself were different. Only men are born in the H's tribe, which means if they want a mate they have to claim one from the outside world. This author was very creative with the intricate details that unfold. The men have to abduct an unwilling woman, but the society they are introducing them to is one that unconditionally respects and cherishes women juxtaposed to an outside world that treats women like cattle. A really clever Catch 22.

The female characters: A hey! A book that properly portrays female friendship!!! What a gem! There were not any female characters that were evil or out to get the hero because they were jealous of the heroine. They were all normal!!! None of them were over the top bubbly or pressured the heroine to have sex with the hero. They all had an actual intellectual conversation with each other that didnt revolve around their vaginas!!!!! WHO KNEW THAT COULD HAPPEN?!?!?

The writing and world building: this author took the time to put in the details you need for a paranormal book. The writing was flawless so I’ll definitely be looking into some of her other work.


****What I didnt like

The heroine: One word to describe her... awful. She was a pretty rotten character from the start to about the 85% mark. Entitled, spiteful, and endlessly naive, she really dragged the story down. I had to put the book down a few times and walk away because she infuriated me so much. Another Catch 22 about this genre in particular is that I personally want a strong heroine at the front and center when she gets kidnapped by a barbarian hero. But she still needs to be likable and soft and vulnerable and have romantic feelings for the H. This heroine didnt have any of that. She barely let the hero even touch her at the 50% mark of the book. A lot of the first 50% was wash and repeat scenes of hero trying to offer her comfort and affection, with the heroine saying cruel things and spiting him for the sake of spite. And why did she act this way? Because she wanted to save her father who was cruel to her for her entire life. She needed to get back to her father so he could marry her off to a L I T E R A L serial killer. Why was she acting like her life was over when her life never even began????? I could never buy into the problem she put on herself. I didnt feel bad for her. I could maybe buy into it if she was trying to save a family member that she lived (like a little sister for example) but for her to so determined to get back to an abusive father relationship just made my stomach hurt.

The romance: This couple wasnt romantic with each other until about the 70% mark. I cant even call it a slow burn because the heroine was so standoffish and prudish for all of it. The couple is really actually happy and together for maybe 4 chapters total out of 42. I'm gonna need a little more than that. On top of that... the sex scenes were FADE TO BLACK. You mean to tell me, that I put up with the heroines judgmental behavior for 30 chapters... only to gloss over the fun part where she realizes sex isnt something to be ashamed of???? Yeah, sorry, not cool.


All in all, I will continue with the series in hopes that the next heroine isnt so uppity.


Safety:
No cheating
No OW drama
Heroine is betrothed to OM who is a serial killer.
Heroine is a virgin
It wasnt mentioned but I'm assuming H is also a virgin because of the details in their culture.
Sexual assault of the heroine - not by hero.
All push and pull done by heroine
Some violence]]> 4.07 2020
author: Denali Day
name: Julia
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/06/20
date added: 2020/07/29
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, virgin-hero, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, best-secondary-characters, best-hero, best-character-development, annoying-characters-plot
review:
***I received an ARC from the author for an honest review.***

SPOILER WARNING: If you dont like spoilers than dont read this review.


3.5 Stars. A down-the-middle rating for a book I liked and disliked.

***What I liked***

The hero: He was the shining star in this book for me. He encompassed all of the traits I liked in a male protagonist role. He was an alpha barbarian that still had the capacity to respect the heroine at every turn. He listened, learned, and treated her as his equal, which is hard to come by in romance. He was patient and kind. More of these Hero's please!!!! Not every man is an arrogant asshole. I could also say that he may be one of the more intellectual hero's I've ever read. So 5 stars for him.

The Plot: I thought the plot was very interesting and unique. It follows a similar path paranormal romances do - with the hero abducting the heroine and her adjusting to her new surroundings- but the surroundings itself were different. Only men are born in the H's tribe, which means if they want a mate they have to claim one from the outside world. This author was very creative with the intricate details that unfold. The men have to abduct an unwilling woman, but the society they are introducing them to is one that unconditionally respects and cherishes women juxtaposed to an outside world that treats women like cattle. A really clever Catch 22.

The female characters: A hey! A book that properly portrays female friendship!!! What a gem! There were not any female characters that were evil or out to get the hero because they were jealous of the heroine. They were all normal!!! None of them were over the top bubbly or pressured the heroine to have sex with the hero. They all had an actual intellectual conversation with each other that didnt revolve around their vaginas!!!!! WHO KNEW THAT COULD HAPPEN?!?!?

The writing and world building: this author took the time to put in the details you need for a paranormal book. The writing was flawless so I’ll definitely be looking into some of her other work.


****What I didnt like

The heroine: One word to describe her... awful. She was a pretty rotten character from the start to about the 85% mark. Entitled, spiteful, and endlessly naive, she really dragged the story down. I had to put the book down a few times and walk away because she infuriated me so much. Another Catch 22 about this genre in particular is that I personally want a strong heroine at the front and center when she gets kidnapped by a barbarian hero. But she still needs to be likable and soft and vulnerable and have romantic feelings for the H. This heroine didnt have any of that. She barely let the hero even touch her at the 50% mark of the book. A lot of the first 50% was wash and repeat scenes of hero trying to offer her comfort and affection, with the heroine saying cruel things and spiting him for the sake of spite. And why did she act this way? Because she wanted to save her father who was cruel to her for her entire life. She needed to get back to her father so he could marry her off to a L I T E R A L serial killer. Why was she acting like her life was over when her life never even began????? I could never buy into the problem she put on herself. I didnt feel bad for her. I could maybe buy into it if she was trying to save a family member that she lived (like a little sister for example) but for her to so determined to get back to an abusive father relationship just made my stomach hurt.

The romance: This couple wasnt romantic with each other until about the 70% mark. I cant even call it a slow burn because the heroine was so standoffish and prudish for all of it. The couple is really actually happy and together for maybe 4 chapters total out of 42. I'm gonna need a little more than that. On top of that... the sex scenes were FADE TO BLACK. You mean to tell me, that I put up with the heroines judgmental behavior for 30 chapters... only to gloss over the fun part where she realizes sex isnt something to be ashamed of???? Yeah, sorry, not cool.


All in all, I will continue with the series in hopes that the next heroine isnt so uppity.


Safety:
No cheating
No OW drama
Heroine is betrothed to OM who is a serial killer.
Heroine is a virgin
It wasnt mentioned but I'm assuming H is also a virgin because of the details in their culture.
Sexual assault of the heroine - not by hero.
All push and pull done by heroine
Some violence
]]> 50550700
Not that my life on Najarie was great, but at least I didn’t have a beastly alien trying to sex me up all the time. And when I say all the time, I mean all the freaking time.

I haven’t forgotten Earth or the loved ones I’ve left behind. In fact, I’m willing to use any means necessary to get back to them. However, when the alien that claimed me offers to help in exchange for my body I find myself torn.

Either I’m nothing more than a breeder to him or he’s trying to find a way to persuade me to stay. And I’ll just say if that’s the case, his method is working...

*It is not necessary, but highly recommended that the series be read in order.
Please note this series is a spin off from the House of Kaimar series.]]> 177 Miranda Bridges Julia 2 4.20 2020
author: Miranda Bridges
name: Julia
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/07/19
date added: 2020/07/19
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, annoying-characters-plot, not-a-manwhore
review:
Entertaining to an extent but couldn't get past the poor writing.
]]> 53461350
Alex Di Pietro started working for the Pagano Brothers in high school, to help his mom with the bills after his dad skipped out. Several years later, he’s still a lowly associate, too young to make his bones. However, because he looks the part, he’s been given the job of guarding one of Don Nick Pagano’s precious daughters while she’s at college.

He takes that job seriously; he knows first-hand what happens to a man who’s let the don down, and he never wants to be in that place again. But it’s not easy to ignore his growing attraction to the sweet, sad girl he’s charged to protect.

Lia Pagano is trying to have a normal college experience despite who her father is. She hates all the security around her, but it helps that her bodyguard does what he can to give her some space. It doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome and kind, either.

All she wants is a chance to make her own life her own way, but that’s not so easy when your father is Don Nicolo Pagano, the so-called King of New England.

Nick Pagano has been don for a long time. He knows his time at the head of the table is moving toward its end, and he intends to leave a legacy of his own choosing. To do so, he will have to declare a civil war, between the old ways of Italy and the new ways of America. He’s marshaled his allies and is prepared to win, but it will not be easy.

He means to protect his family from that war at any cost.

When Lia almost falls to a danger not a part of Nick’s world but very much a part of college life, Nick calls her home—and learns that his daughter and the bodyguard he trusted with her protection have grown much closer than he’d intended. Or wanted.

They are all fighting for the future they want, for things others say are impossible.

But no war can be won without pain and loss.

The true victory comes in what we make of what’s left when war is over.]]> 373 Susan Fanetti Julia 3 Read to 50% and skimmed the rest.

Its a personal opinion, but to me the book stopped at the 25% mark. The part that intrigued me the most was the forbidden/secret aspect of the bodyguard falls in love with mafia princess plot. That was pretty much resolved in the first half so nothing else was capturing my attention. I skimmed the rest, and it was bogged down by mafia violence and death of a family member. No longer interested.

I will say, the writing was good and the characters interested me to a degree, but not enough to continue with my full attention.]]> 4.53 2020
author: Susan Fanetti
name: Julia
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/08
date added: 2020/07/08
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, annoying-characters-plot, best-hero
review:
3 neutral stars
Read to 50% and skimmed the rest.

Its a personal opinion, but to me the book stopped at the 25% mark. The part that intrigued me the most was the forbidden/secret aspect of the bodyguard falls in love with mafia princess plot. That was pretty much resolved in the first half so nothing else was capturing my attention. I skimmed the rest, and it was bogged down by mafia violence and death of a family member. No longer interested.

I will say, the writing was good and the characters interested me to a degree, but not enough to continue with my full attention.
]]> 33515722 For some people, it’s a way to get from one place to another. For others, it’s a search for one’s purpose in existence.
For me, the road was where I could find peace. When everything in my life had shattered, I turned to the road. And that’s where I met him.
Killian Lemarque. A beautiful truck driver, and my salvation. One month on the road together is the deal, and when it’s over, I will have hopefully figured out what I’m going to do about my torn reality.
But sometimes the road can change everything.
Falling in love wasn’t part of my plan nor his.
But here we are.
One Month. One Truck. One Long Drive.]]> 243 Jessica Florence Julia 3 4.16
author: Jessica Florence
name: Julia
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2017/01/18
date added: 2020/07/06
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-hero, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf
review:

]]> 52416900
In the house there lives a girl, and in the girl there lives a dream.

Soon she'll be as free as the fishes that swim beneath the water. But until then she bides her time and lives quietly, her every move ruled over by an uncaring, heartless stepmother.

The hope for freedom is all she has to hold onto. So close she can almost taste it. But when her stepmother’s estranged younger brother comes to stay, he presents a mystery that lures her in.

The girl doesn’t understand that beneath the allure of the unknown sometimes all we find are horrors. And in searching for the truth, her heart is in danger of falling like a rock to the bottom of the deep dark sea.

Beyond the Sea is a Gothic Romance set in modern times. ]]> 396 L.H. Cosway Julia 2
So im confused. I remember L. H. Cosway being a decent writer. I've read a few books of hers in the past but I dont remember her writing being so.... dumbed down. Because this book was exactly that and what contributed to a 2 star review. The narrator, our heroine, talked at a 4th grade reading level which made the romance really cringe. Who wants to read a romance with a narrator that speaks and thinks like a toddler? Ever other sentence began with "I" with every sentence being short with no flow to the writing at all. There was a lot of "I was so tired that I went to sleep. Once I got to bed I started to get sad. I then remembered my father." There was no humanity to the writing at all. I felt like I was reading a robot teens secret journal.

Another thing that brought this book down was the constant bait and switch. Both MC's couldn't make up their minds about each other. In one chapter the heroine would switch from liking the hero to avoiding him. In another scene, things are FINALLY starting to get hot and heavy but then the heroine stops to talk about her dead dad. Whyyyyyy would you bring this up??

And another thing, nothing sexual happens until the 80% mark of the book but at 75% the heroine goes to another boy and kisses him and asks him to get rid of her virginity so she can see if she really wants to become a nun.

Yes you read that right. At 75% mark, our dopey heroine is considering becoming a nun so she asks a random guy to have sex with her even though she has romantic feelings for the H. After I read that I skimmed everything afterword. This is not someone I route for.


Safety: Safe with exception/ not safe depending on personal preference.
No OW drama
OM drama - like I mentioned above, the heroine has feelings for the H but goes to another boys house and kisses him and asks to have sex with him. They never go through with it, but they do kiss.
H and h are both virgins.
Push and pull on both sides.
Violence, domestic abuse, incest
]]> 3.91 2020
author: L.H. Cosway
name: Julia
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/07/04
date added: 2020/07/04
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, virgin-hero, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe-with-exception, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, dark, best-hero, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 dumb stars.

So im confused. I remember L. H. Cosway being a decent writer. I've read a few books of hers in the past but I dont remember her writing being so.... dumbed down. Because this book was exactly that and what contributed to a 2 star review. The narrator, our heroine, talked at a 4th grade reading level which made the romance really cringe. Who wants to read a romance with a narrator that speaks and thinks like a toddler? Ever other sentence began with "I" with every sentence being short with no flow to the writing at all. There was a lot of "I was so tired that I went to sleep. Once I got to bed I started to get sad. I then remembered my father." There was no humanity to the writing at all. I felt like I was reading a robot teens secret journal.

Another thing that brought this book down was the constant bait and switch. Both MC's couldn't make up their minds about each other. In one chapter the heroine would switch from liking the hero to avoiding him. In another scene, things are FINALLY starting to get hot and heavy but then the heroine stops to talk about her dead dad. Whyyyyyy would you bring this up??

And another thing, nothing sexual happens until the 80% mark of the book but at 75% the heroine goes to another boy and kisses him and asks him to get rid of her virginity so she can see if she really wants to become a nun.

Yes you read that right. At 75% mark, our dopey heroine is considering becoming a nun so she asks a random guy to have sex with her even though she has romantic feelings for the H. After I read that I skimmed everything afterword. This is not someone I route for.


Safety: Safe with exception/ not safe depending on personal preference.
No OW drama
OM drama - like I mentioned above, the heroine has feelings for the H but goes to another boys house and kisses him and asks to have sex with him. They never go through with it, but they do kiss.
H and h are both virgins.
Push and pull on both sides.
Violence, domestic abuse, incest

]]> 54171277
She’s quickly proven wrong when the sisters�� transport shuttle is seized by aliens instead. Aliens who want to force an experimental breeding between humans and the muscular Veslor who was also captured.

Gnaw has no intention of touching the human female from the shuttle, no matter how attractive he finds her. But Darla is determined to keep her sister safe by any means necessary, and refuses to take no for an answer.

Captured and threatened by the Elth, they agree to work together as a team. What they didn’t expect . . . was starting to feel things for each other.
]]> 249 Laurann Dohner 1950597121 Julia 2 10% instalove. 90% hot gass. 4.14 2020
author: Laurann Dohner
name: Julia
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/07/04
date added: 2020/07/04
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, paranormal, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, instalove, annoying-characters-plot
review:
10% instalove. 90% hot gass.
]]> 36482485
Broderick Wolfe is a man accustomed to getting what he wants. He will hunt it, fight for it, and make it his own.

Lillith Redd is a straight-laced attorney who’s dedicated her life to serving the people of her hometown of Gingham Lakes.

When Wolfe Industries sets its sights on leveling the old part of town and building a high-rise hotel in its place, Lillith steps up to go toe-to-toe to with its owner.

Little do either of them know, they’ve just met their match.

Hunt Me Down is a modern-day reboot of Little Red Riding Hood set in the world of A.L. Jackson’s bestselling FIGHT FOR ME series, originally a part of the Glamour Anthology and previously titled Red Hot Pursuit. This novella is a fun, flirty, uber sexy contemporary romance. The only fantasy happening here is in the bedroom. So hold on—you’re getting ready to sink your teeth into something hot and sweet.

Disclaimer: This book was originally titled Red Hot Pursuit in the Glamour anthology. It has not been changed or added to in any way. This novella does not need to be read before Show Me the Way and does not give away any spoilers for other Fight for Me novels.]]> 100 A.L. Jackson 1946420069 Julia 3 3.92 2017
author: A.L. Jackson
name: Julia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2017/12/05
date added: 2020/06/15
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, business-billionaire-famous, annoying-characters-plot
review:

]]> 53425521
Haunted by a betrayal that shattered him and set him on a dark path of vengeance, Marek closely guards his heart, as determined to keep it safe as he is to wipe the scourge of vampires from the world.

Until a hunt lands him in the presence of a beautiful woman who threatens to steal that heart as she battles his sworn enemy, her graceful moves igniting a passion so fierce and hunger so deep it consumes him.

Caterina’s sole purpose for the last decade has been freeing her brother of the curse of being turned into a vampire. When an alluring dark warrior steps in to help her battle a nest of bloodsuckers, her entire life is tipped off balance. She knows deep in her heart the warrior can help her save her brother, but can she trust a man who is driven to slay every vampire he meets?

When Marek’s enemy emerges from the shadows, and Caterina is pulled down a dark rabbit hole into a dangerous world, will they be strong enough to overcome their pride and their prejudices or will a dark turn of events shatter both their hearts?


If you love Greek gods romance books featuring powerful dark lords of the Underworld and strong heroines who steal their hearts, this paranormal romance series is for you.

Seven powerful Greek god heroes. Seven passionate paranormal romance books. No cliffhangers. Just happily forever afters!

Grab your copy today and step into an action-packed paranormal romance world filled with mythology and mystery from New York Times and USA Today best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton. Be swept up in the story and characters as the princes of the Underworld fight to protect their world and ours, and the women who claim their hearts, from an enemy bent on destroying everything in the Guardians of Hades romance series:
Book 1: Ares
Book 2: Valen
Book 3: Esher
Book 4: Marek
Book 5: Calistos
Book 6: Daimon �� Coming Fall 2020
Book 7: Keras �� Coming Fall 2020]]> 466 Felicity Heaton 191148513X Julia 4
The romance took a backseat in this one, but I still enjoyed it!
The couple didnt spend enough 'content and happy' time together as I would have liked but I still enjoyed it!
There was a lot of needless miscommunication but I still enjoyed it.
So all in all, this is turning out to be a really great series. I can not wait for Keras book!!! Would def suggest you read these books in order. While you could read this as a standalone, you would be super confused if you did.

Safety:
No cheating, no other people after meeting, no separation
H not a manwhore, heroine not a virgin
H loved another woman in the past that betrayed him which causes him to distrust the heroine for a majority of the book. Not my favorite trope, but the heroine was a fighter.
Theres one scene that irked me, and its where the H is being tricked by a deamon illusionist pretending to be his ex that betrayed him. He's already met and knows he has a connection with the heroine at this point, so I thought it was annoying he still acted so hung up on the ex when he thought she was near. ]]> 4.34 2020
author: Felicity Heaton
name: Julia
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/06/13
date added: 2020/06/13
shelves: writing-that-has-depth, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, safe-with-exception, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, dark, annoying-characters-plot, best-heroin, best-secondary-characters
review:
4 stars.

The romance took a backseat in this one, but I still enjoyed it!
The couple didnt spend enough 'content and happy' time together as I would have liked but I still enjoyed it!
There was a lot of needless miscommunication but I still enjoyed it.
So all in all, this is turning out to be a really great series. I can not wait for Keras book!!! Would def suggest you read these books in order. While you could read this as a standalone, you would be super confused if you did.

Safety:
No cheating, no other people after meeting, no separation
H not a manwhore, heroine not a virgin
H loved another woman in the past that betrayed him which causes him to distrust the heroine for a majority of the book. Not my favorite trope, but the heroine was a fighter.
Theres one scene that irked me, and its where the H is being tricked by a deamon illusionist pretending to be his ex that betrayed him. He's already met and knows he has a connection with the heroine at this point, so I thought it was annoying he still acted so hung up on the ex when he thought she was near.
]]> 49838592 He’s spent his whole life chasing the bright lights of the NBA.
We have nothing in common, except for the fact our friends ditched us for spring break.
I have a bucket list for my senior year at Valley U.
He’s the only person I know on campus.
I’m ready to start checking things off my list.

Frat party: Check.
TP the baseball house: Check.
Goat yoga: Check.
Skinny dipping: Check.
Falling for Zeke Sweets, Valley U’s MVP: Not going to happen.]]> 287 Rebecca Jenshak 0999782096 Julia 0
Total snoozer. ]]> 4.07
author: Rebecca Jenshak
name: Julia
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2019/09/29
date added: 2020/06/10
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, college-sports, annoying-characters-plot
review:
DNF

Total snoozer.
]]> 48895286 SHADOW MAN is the first book in a new duet from bestselling author Catherine Wiltcher’s Santiago saga...

BLURB:
Cause and consequence:
Two words that haunt me.
When I was stolen, I learned to hate.
When he saved me, I learned to fear.
I ran from him, following a trail of the dead, from Miami all the way to Colombia.
Now I’ve fallen into darkness again, and he’s the only one I see.

But he’s a shadow man.
A bad man.
A soldier.
A killer.
The red right hand to the devil himself.
We’re a dirty contradiction: I’m the girl who can’t be touched, whom he refuses to set free.
We’re a dangerous obsession: There’s damage running deep in both of our souls.
Caught up in a cartel war I want no part of.
Trapped between love and hate.
One night will change everything...

For years, Joseph Grayson killed in the name of Dante Santiago.
Now, he kills for me.]]> 348 Catherine Wiltcher 1916445594 Julia 0
I remember reading this a few weeks ago and absolutely hating it. Every character was dysfunctional and psychotic. It made for some really frustrating stupid characters. ]]> 4.39 2020
author: Catherine Wiltcher
name: Julia
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/05/12
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, stupid-hall-of-fame, not-working-for-me-boring, annoying-characters-plot
review:
No rating. DNF 25% in

I remember reading this a few weeks ago and absolutely hating it. Every character was dysfunctional and psychotic. It made for some really frustrating stupid characters.
]]> 52225415
Nobody.

I'd rather be invisible than deal with what happens on the days my classmates decide to acknowledge my existence.

But then Turner Hall shows up - all cool confidence and witty banter - and all of a sudden I don't want to be invisible any more. I want to be seen.

I want him to see me.

I'm not who he thinks I am but I'm starting to suspect he's not all he says he is either.

Just my luck that he starts to make friends with my tormentors. How am I supposed to tell him who I really am? How am I supposed to show him my true face? What if the boy I'm falling in love with decides I'm nothing too?

*Like You Care is a part of the Bully Me Anthology. In the Bully Me Anthology, this was a 30k novella. This is now the complete book. *]]> 203 Kaydence Snow Julia 2
Alright, I was willing to give this 3 'ok' stars at first. The writing was cheesy and over dramatic and it had the tone of a Disney channel teen movie; lots of angst that fell back on over used stereotypes, that sort of thing. But I could deal with it. For the past year, its a big deal if im even able to get past the first few chapters without cringing and DNFing. And believe me, there were ALOT of cringey scenes in this book.

BUT

You loose me when a high school romance suddenly starts bringing in all of these extra shitty plot devices to bring the book to its climax. What was a just-ok written phantom of the opera scenario, (with the heroine apparently having such a grotesque birth mark on her face that she cant even have a conversation with the hero face to face with the lights on for the first half of the book) suddenly turns into a crime mystery that involves kidnapping and wait for it................
a goddam CULT.... with one awkward sex scene that I ended up skimming because these characters were written so naively that if felt a little... gross.

But what was the cherry on top of this shit sundae? The heroine gets physically assaulted and abused by the main villain/bully with a switchblade to the face. And what does this heroine do? Refuse all police or parental or school involvement. Yeah cause thats the message we want to send to people. Dont report assault to the police because you're "nothing and nobody cares".

Bitch. You have a goddam birthmark on your face. Can we PLEASE stop with this hyper martyr personality that always comes with a spineless heroine. And yeah, im gonna say she was spineless because she actively chose to suffer in silence instead of asking for help.

She does eventually report the assault to the police two whole weeks later, but by that time the book is already rapping up and it feels so anti climatic I wanted to just give up. So yeah. If you want hyper angst and drama with your tired stereotype of "popular jocks bully the weird girl" then this is for you. I cant even say the romance was great because they were confessing "I love yous' so quickly that it gave me whiplash.

Safety:
No OW/OM drama
No cheating
Heroine is a virgin
Hero had previous experience but nothing was mentioned

]]> 3.83 2020
author: Kaydence Snow
name: Julia
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/05/08
date added: 2020/05/08
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, stupid-hall-of-fame, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 eye rolling stars.

Alright, I was willing to give this 3 'ok' stars at first. The writing was cheesy and over dramatic and it had the tone of a Disney channel teen movie; lots of angst that fell back on over used stereotypes, that sort of thing. But I could deal with it. For the past year, its a big deal if im even able to get past the first few chapters without cringing and DNFing. And believe me, there were ALOT of cringey scenes in this book.

BUT

You loose me when a high school romance suddenly starts bringing in all of these extra shitty plot devices to bring the book to its climax. What was a just-ok written phantom of the opera scenario, (with the heroine apparently having such a grotesque birth mark on her face that she cant even have a conversation with the hero face to face with the lights on for the first half of the book) suddenly turns into a crime mystery that involves kidnapping and wait for it................
a goddam CULT.... with one awkward sex scene that I ended up skimming because these characters were written so naively that if felt a little... gross.

But what was the cherry on top of this shit sundae? The heroine gets physically assaulted and abused by the main villain/bully with a switchblade to the face. And what does this heroine do? Refuse all police or parental or school involvement. Yeah cause thats the message we want to send to people. Dont report assault to the police because you're "nothing and nobody cares".

Bitch. You have a goddam birthmark on your face. Can we PLEASE stop with this hyper martyr personality that always comes with a spineless heroine. And yeah, im gonna say she was spineless because she actively chose to suffer in silence instead of asking for help.

She does eventually report the assault to the police two whole weeks later, but by that time the book is already rapping up and it feels so anti climatic I wanted to just give up. So yeah. If you want hyper angst and drama with your tired stereotype of "popular jocks bully the weird girl" then this is for you. I cant even say the romance was great because they were confessing "I love yous' so quickly that it gave me whiplash.

Safety:
No OW/OM drama
No cheating
Heroine is a virgin
Hero had previous experience but nothing was mentioned


]]> 51223466 It hurts to look at you.
One, two, three, four, five . . . the lyrics to the hell inside your OCD head.
Not alive, not dead. In chains.
You’re broken, Amy. I did this. Can’t undo that.
Six years ago, I played a cruel joke on you in front of the whole school. The girl who made a happiness machine to put her happy inside of me. And I just ripped your heart out.
Now, I’m back to fix what I broke. I’m a psychologist, Amy. I can give you back the happiness I stole . . .


����’s all a lie. I’m not a doctor.
So what. She doesn’t get a choice.
So what if I buy the Victorian estate she lives in, blackmail her into fake therapy sessions.
So what if I get her addicted to my body like a painkiller, make her wish me dead.
I’m not the hero. I’m the monster. The orphan boy gone bad. Cursed, everything broken.
So what, when I discover a dark secret that makes her every inch off-limits, I don’t keep my hands off her.
Her bones are made from emeralds, she’s that precious.
I won’t stop chasing her until she’s mine.

But Amy is a pretty little liar, too. Her lie is the deadliest of them all.
Only one of us is telling the truth.
So bloody what. Nobody’s gonna believe her over me.

����’s her word . . .
. . . against MINE.

You’re in a bad place, Amy, where the monsters go. But it’s only in the bad places . . . I can get to you.

Disclaimer: No cheating �� this alpha-hole keeps it in his pants.]]> 290 Kingsley Ash Julia 0
Alright so youre telling me the hero is a...
1. Billionaire
2. Orphan
3. Has a black belt in karate
4. Owns a club
5. Pretends to be a therapist
6. Enjoys being a psycho

The heroine....
1. Has OCD
2. Likes rough sex but won’t admit it.
3. No other character qualities.

Got it.

Anything else you wanna throw in there?
]]> 3.51 2020
author: Kingsley Ash
name: Julia
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2020/04/29
date added: 2020/04/30
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, stupid-hall-of-fame, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
DNF 20% in

Alright so youre telling me the hero is a...
1. Billionaire
2. Orphan
3. Has a black belt in karate
4. Owns a club
5. Pretends to be a therapist
6. Enjoys being a psycho

The heroine....
1. Has OCD
2. Likes rough sex but won’t admit it.
3. No other character qualities.

Got it.

Anything else you wanna throw in there?

]]> 50231193
I thought he was crazy from hypothermia. Turns out, he wasn’t, and for some reason he keeps coming back. But a day in my world is a year in his. Every time I see him, he’s older. Wiser. Hotter.

Over the past six years, I’ve tried not to fall in love with him because the terms of the curse are clear: If he doesn’t wait for his fated mate in all ways, including an innocent (or not-so-innocent) kiss, he’ll be blind forever.

So when Kirian kisses me and pulls me through the portal to his realm, I make it my mission to do some damage control. It’d be a whole lot easier if he wasn’t determined to marry me... And if someone wasn’t trying to murder me every step of the way.]]> 334 Jamie Schlosser Julia 3
The idea and plot were interesting, but I was only half engaged with the flowery writing. This had the same tone of voice as a Disney special; overly cute and a tad obnoxious. The romance between the MC's wasnt bad and had its moments, but the switch from platonic to romantic was so fast it gave me whiplash. So overall, just ok.

Safety:
No cheating.
Dual virgins.
No OM/OW drama ]]> 3.87 2020
author: Jamie Schlosser
name: Julia
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/04/27
date added: 2020/04/27
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, virgin-hero, safe, paranormal, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 big ol' 'eh' stars.

The idea and plot were interesting, but I was only half engaged with the flowery writing. This had the same tone of voice as a Disney special; overly cute and a tad obnoxious. The romance between the MC's wasnt bad and had its moments, but the switch from platonic to romantic was so fast it gave me whiplash. So overall, just ok.

Safety:
No cheating.
Dual virgins.
No OM/OW drama
]]> 33290328 187 Chantal Fernando Julia 2 3.65 2016
author: Chantal Fernando
name: Julia
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2017/05/16
date added: 2020/04/14
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:

]]> 50991701 When the night falls, he comes out to harvest souls.
He’s silent and invisible —no one notices when he strikes then retreats to the shadows.
Our paths shouldn’t have crossed, but they do.
One day he sees me.
Then he can’t unsee me.
Once upon a time, there was a monster, a killer, a devil.
My stalker.

This is book is a dark stalker romance and contains dubious scenes.

He Hates Me is part of a duet and is NOT standalone. The entire duet will be released two weeks apart.]]> 255 Isabella Starling Julia 2
Before I get into my review I want to call out one thing.
Why... WHY... do authors use outdated ideas and objects in their books. Was this written by a Boomer? The heroine has an landline with an answering machine.....Like... people havent said the term "answering machine" in about a decade now. Maybe update your point of reference? I'm picking things up like this all the time. Another example; NOBODY GETS A TAXI ANYMORE. People get Uber's or Lyfts.

Welcome to 2020.

Ok now that rant is done, lets get into the real review.

You ever pick up a book and everything is going so well... until it doesnt? And the more you read you cant help but think, "What on earth is this author trying to do." The more time you spend with the characters, the more you realize youre rooting for the romance to fail.

The hero Is too much of a conceited asshole to have feelings for the heroine. He knows that he'll have to kill the heroine "once he's bored with her." He engages her in extremely dark BDSM but doesnt respect her any other time that they're together.

The heroine Is a spineless masochist. Doesnt have the brain power to recognize the kinks that she enjoyed and constantly fights the hero instead of embracing it. NEWSFLASH: its not weird to like rough sex!!! Why does the heroine always have to be so unwilling to explore her own desires???? Same old same old.

TLDR;

What was an interesting stalker/dark romance turns into a poorly written erotica with never ending sex scenes that lead nowhere. The MC's never have a real conversation that doesnt involve the heroine crying while also having a quivering body, and the hero constantly ignoring what the heroine says while sticking his hands in her underwear with the dreaded 'arrogant smirk.' Wash rice repeat. For 300 pages.

Safety:
-No cheating between hero/heroine
-No OW drama
-Slight OM drama, the heroine goes on a date with her fucking boss (?!?!) and it ends badly. Another guy has a crush on her and interferes with her relationship with the H.
-Possessive/obsessive Hero, but not in the sexy way. More like the toxic way.
-Push and pull on both sides.
-Dubious consent
-VERY ROUGH AND DARK SEX. Heroine has alot of dark fantasies such as choking, rape, kidnapped, violence, and hitting. ]]> 3.71 2020
author: Isabella Starling
name: Julia
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/04/13
date added: 2020/04/13
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, stupid-hall-of-fame, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 stars..

Before I get into my review I want to call out one thing.
Why... WHY... do authors use outdated ideas and objects in their books. Was this written by a Boomer? The heroine has an landline with an answering machine.....Like... people havent said the term "answering machine" in about a decade now. Maybe update your point of reference? I'm picking things up like this all the time. Another example; NOBODY GETS A TAXI ANYMORE. People get Uber's or Lyfts.

Welcome to 2020.

Ok now that rant is done, lets get into the real review.

You ever pick up a book and everything is going so well... until it doesnt? And the more you read you cant help but think, "What on earth is this author trying to do." The more time you spend with the characters, the more you realize youre rooting for the romance to fail.

The hero Is too much of a conceited asshole to have feelings for the heroine. He knows that he'll have to kill the heroine "once he's bored with her." He engages her in extremely dark BDSM but doesnt respect her any other time that they're together.

The heroine Is a spineless masochist. Doesnt have the brain power to recognize the kinks that she enjoyed and constantly fights the hero instead of embracing it. NEWSFLASH: its not weird to like rough sex!!! Why does the heroine always have to be so unwilling to explore her own desires???? Same old same old.

TLDR;

What was an interesting stalker/dark romance turns into a poorly written erotica with never ending sex scenes that lead nowhere. The MC's never have a real conversation that doesnt involve the heroine crying while also having a quivering body, and the hero constantly ignoring what the heroine says while sticking his hands in her underwear with the dreaded 'arrogant smirk.' Wash rice repeat. For 300 pages.

Safety:
-No cheating between hero/heroine
-No OW drama
-Slight OM drama, the heroine goes on a date with her fucking boss (?!?!) and it ends badly. Another guy has a crush on her and interferes with her relationship with the H.
-Possessive/obsessive Hero, but not in the sexy way. More like the toxic way.
-Push and pull on both sides.
-Dubious consent
-VERY ROUGH AND DARK SEX. Heroine has alot of dark fantasies such as choking, rape, kidnapped, violence, and hitting.
]]> 53030011 The princess isn’t supposed to dethrone the king.

Elsa
He said he’ll destroy me, and he did.
I might have lost the battle, but the war is far from over.
They say it starts with one move to dethrone the king.
No one mentioned he’ll yank me with him on the way down.

Aiden
If Steel’s little princess wants a war, then war it is.
There’s only one rule: my rules or none at all.
By all means, show me what you got, sweetheart.

Steel Princess is book two of Royal Elite Series and should be read after Deviant King. This is a dark high school bully romance, mature new adult, and contains dubious situations that some readers might find offensive.

This book is part of a trilogy and is NOT standalone.

Royal Elite Series:
#1 Deviant King
#2 Steel Princess
#3 Twisted Kingdom

Royal Elite full-length standalone Spin-off:
Cruel King (part of Noble Savages Boxset)]]> 346 Rina Kent Julia 2
Literally the entire book was the h screaming, whimpering, and stuttering... and bending over whenever the H wanted her to. One of the most pathetic, obtuse, and one dimensional characters I’ve ever read. It was tolerable in the first book, and infuriating in the second. Will not be continued with this series. ]]> 4.25 2019
author: Rina Kent
name: Julia
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2019/12/14
date added: 2020/04/07
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, safe, stupid-hall-of-fame, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
This book honestly made me a little embarrassed to be a women. For the fact that the heroine was a complete and utter moron, plus the fact that the author is an adult woman choosing to write her characters like this, and plus the fact that I’m an adult woman choosing my time to read this.

Literally the entire book was the h screaming, whimpering, and stuttering... and bending over whenever the H wanted her to. One of the most pathetic, obtuse, and one dimensional characters I’ve ever read. It was tolerable in the first book, and infuriating in the second. Will not be continued with this series.
]]> 53028521
Non ha però tenuto conto di Aiden King, rampollo di una delle dinastie più potenti d’Inghilterra e re incontrastato della scuola: basta uno sguardo da parte del ragazzo e ogni progetto di Elsa va in fumo.

Forse, anche sfidarlo non è stata una mossa intelligente��

Aiden ha un solo scopo: vendicarsi di Elsa per un evento del passato, un fatto che li ha legati e di cui lei non ha però memoria.

Inizia così uno scontro tra i due, in cui Aiden non esita a usare anche la sua forza fisica per piegare Elsa. Lei dovrebbe soltanto odiarlo e invece inizia a provare qualcosa per quel ragazzo che agisce come un mostro. Anche Aiden inizia a provare qualcosa oltre l’odio che lo anima e, forse, distruggere Elsa potrebbe non essere più il suo unico scopo.

Benvenuti alla Royal Élite School, dove non sono ammessi perdenti.

Attenzione: primo libro di una trilogia, non autoconclusivo. Il testo contiene scene di dubbio consenso e sesso esplicito.

In prima di copertina trovate il titolo del manuale di Sun Tzu, L’arte della guerra, scritto in caratteri cinesi.]]> 360 Rina Kent Julia 3
This book was the strangest thing.... the writing was pretty bad, the characters were awful, and the plot was lazy BUT I COULDNT STOP READING. That has to count for something right? So 3 very conflicting stars.

First off, let me start off that this author blatantly ripped off other popular romance books and combined it to make this one. It was a combination of...
Bully by Penelope Ward
The Four Horseman Series by Laura Thalassa
Raw by Belle Aurora

Dont get me wrong, I loved all of these and I can re-read them and versions like it over and over again. But it comes off as lazy when you spot the similarities. Sometimes it was so blatant that I would burst out laughing.



Secondly... the writing... I'll leave one of my favorite quotes to make fun of and ill let you decide.

"His name gets stuck in my throat like smoke.... He's like smoke.... Suffocating, slippery, and undecipherable."

I think this author fancies herself a poet. She aint. These are high school kids, calm down with the adjectives.



And the last thing ill say is....
The author actually did a good job of creating sexual chemistry even though it was SUPER PROBLEMATIC. The hero basically admits that hes sexually assaulting and harassing the heroine... and he gets away with it. BUT if you can turn off your feminist brain for a few hours, strap in for some soap opera level drama, you'll really enjoy it. Its easy reading. You dont have to think too hard and the twist thats about to come up is so predictable its funny.

TLDR: A watered down guilty pleasure. You're not missing anything if you dont read it.. but if the bully genre tickles your fancy, you'll enjoy it.

Safety:
Safe for the most part.

*Hero isnt a manwhore.. there MIGHT be ex drama but its undefined
- Theres an OW thats possessive of H and causes distress to the h, but theres alot of details that we aren't getting.
*Heroine is a virgin, cause duh
*Sexual harassment, manipulation, humiliation done by hero to heroine
*Super posessive and obsessive H
*Betraying body h... but sometimes I didnt mind it
*lots of push and pull. Both H and h pretend to be into other people to get the others attention.
*Regular high school drama
]]> 4.16 2019
author: Rina Kent
name: Julia
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/11/27
date added: 2020/04/07
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, stupid-hall-of-fame, series-to-wait-for, safe-with-exception, ott-possessive-hero, not-a-manwhore, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, business-billionaire-famous, annoying-characters-plot
review:
Wow. What a ride. Most of it not great.

This book was the strangest thing.... the writing was pretty bad, the characters were awful, and the plot was lazy BUT I COULDNT STOP READING. That has to count for something right? So 3 very conflicting stars.

First off, let me start off that this author blatantly ripped off other popular romance books and combined it to make this one. It was a combination of...
Bully by Penelope Ward
The Four Horseman Series by Laura Thalassa
Raw by Belle Aurora

Dont get me wrong, I loved all of these and I can re-read them and versions like it over and over again. But it comes off as lazy when you spot the similarities. Sometimes it was so blatant that I would burst out laughing.



Secondly... the writing... I'll leave one of my favorite quotes to make fun of and ill let you decide.

"His name gets stuck in my throat like smoke.... He's like smoke.... Suffocating, slippery, and undecipherable."

I think this author fancies herself a poet. She aint. These are high school kids, calm down with the adjectives.



And the last thing ill say is....
The author actually did a good job of creating sexual chemistry even though it was SUPER PROBLEMATIC. The hero basically admits that hes sexually assaulting and harassing the heroine... and he gets away with it. BUT if you can turn off your feminist brain for a few hours, strap in for some soap opera level drama, you'll really enjoy it. Its easy reading. You dont have to think too hard and the twist thats about to come up is so predictable its funny.

TLDR: A watered down guilty pleasure. You're not missing anything if you dont read it.. but if the bully genre tickles your fancy, you'll enjoy it.

Safety:
Safe for the most part.

*Hero isnt a manwhore.. there MIGHT be ex drama but its undefined
- Theres an OW thats possessive of H and causes distress to the h, but theres alot of details that we aren't getting.
*Heroine is a virgin, cause duh
*Sexual harassment, manipulation, humiliation done by hero to heroine
*Super posessive and obsessive H
*Betraying body h... but sometimes I didnt mind it
*lots of push and pull. Both H and h pretend to be into other people to get the others attention.
*Regular high school drama

]]> 50915932
We’ve both been damaged by our pasts, both terrified of building a future��

Still, there’s a sliver of hope for the both of us—if one of us is willing to fold first.

He’s the king of lies, I’m the queen, and together we’re going to build one hell of a legacy...]]> 121 Whitney G. Julia 3
Things I liked:
-Strong heroine at certain times
-Sexy hero. Even though he's pretty scummy for a majority of the book
-Chemistry between characters.

Really, the same problem I have with all of Whitney G's books also apply to this one.
-Tons of baggage stacked on top of each other. For a series this short, can we come up with anything else besides sexual abuse?? It just feels like decoration to make the hero seem redeemable.
-Not enough time with the characters together
-Really rushed ending.
-Rich people problems

Also, I felt like WG was mocking her readers. Each book starts with a prologue in the hero's voice telling us how we, the readers, are stupid to expect a groveling hero that will get down to his knees and cry and beg for the heroine to forgive him. Other times she mocks certain ŷ������ reviews for being negative. Not sure what that was all about? Just came out of left field and it felt political instead of adding to the story.

Safety:
No cheating
No other people after meeting
Sexual abuse of the hero as a child
A week of separation
]]> 3.92 2020
author: Whitney G.
name: Julia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/04/06
date added: 2020/04/06
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, lighthearted-funny, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, business-billionaire-famous, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 stars for the series.

Things I liked:
-Strong heroine at certain times
-Sexy hero. Even though he's pretty scummy for a majority of the book
-Chemistry between characters.

Really, the same problem I have with all of Whitney G's books also apply to this one.
-Tons of baggage stacked on top of each other. For a series this short, can we come up with anything else besides sexual abuse?? It just feels like decoration to make the hero seem redeemable.
-Not enough time with the characters together
-Really rushed ending.
-Rich people problems

Also, I felt like WG was mocking her readers. Each book starts with a prologue in the hero's voice telling us how we, the readers, are stupid to expect a groveling hero that will get down to his knees and cry and beg for the heroine to forgive him. Other times she mocks certain ŷ������ reviews for being negative. Not sure what that was all about? Just came out of left field and it felt political instead of adding to the story.

Safety:
No cheating
No other people after meeting
Sexual abuse of the hero as a child
A week of separation

]]> 50333111
After leaving the city life behind to escape my loveless marriage, I moved to small town Havenbarrow for a fresh start.

What I didn’t expect was to find myself drawn to the town’s black sheep.

They called him troubled. Cold. A man with a dark past.

What everyone seemed to miss about Jax was the splashes of light in his eyes. The random acts of kindness he performed when no one was watching. The way he made me smile and laugh.

Jax helped unpack the baggage I’d been carrying around with me. He was patient with my pain and gentle with my scars. He was the stillness during my hurricane.

Yet when both of our pasts came back to haunt our present days, we realized quickly that sometimes love stories didn’t end the way we’d hoped.

Sometimes you were left with only the damage from the storm.

*Book One in New Compass Series of Standalone Novels.
Coming April 2nd, 2020.*]]> 285 Brittainy C. Cherry Julia 2
If this sentence “You deserve someone who isn’t as broken as me�� completely and utterly ENRAGES you, then you can skip this.

Plot and characters were.......fine. Nothing was special or interesting. Writing was insanely lofty and try-hardy. Lots of “when there is light there is also darkness, and I had to learn how to swallow up that darkness and blah blah blah blah.�� The kind of writing that makes you gag a little bit.

2 stars because the hero wasn’t a man whore and the book was safe. ]]> 4.03 2020
author: Brittainy C. Cherry
name: Julia
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/04/05
date added: 2020/04/05
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, throw-away-dnf, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2 very lackluster stars.

If this sentence “You deserve someone who isn’t as broken as me�� completely and utterly ENRAGES you, then you can skip this.

Plot and characters were.......fine. Nothing was special or interesting. Writing was insanely lofty and try-hardy. Lots of “when there is light there is also darkness, and I had to learn how to swallow up that darkness and blah blah blah blah.�� The kind of writing that makes you gag a little bit.

2 stars because the hero wasn’t a man whore and the book was safe.
]]> 52850041 From New York Times Bestselling author K. Bromberg comes a standalone contemporary romance about trusting fate and finding yourself again.

Jack Sutton was the man I didn’t want to need.
His know-it-all attitude. His annoying suggestions. His outlook on life.
He was determined to help me while I had resolved to figure it out on my own.
But he taught me things I’d forgotten.
How to trust. How to believe in myself. Who I was.
The problem?
I went and fell in love with him.
---
Tatum Knox was the disaster I should have walked away from.
Her ruined reputation. Her failing business. Her chaotic life.
She hated me at first sight and yet intrigued me all at the same time.
I was only supposed to be there six months.
I was supposed to use that time to make amends for things I’d done wrong.
Instead I fell in love with her.
---
They say it’s better to have loved and lost, than not to have loved at all. Does that hold true when the love is based on a lie to begin with?]]> 383 K. Bromberg 1942832192 Julia 1
Let me start off by saying that people will like, maybe even love this book. Its got all of the ingredients there to be a hit. But for me....? Anyone that follows my reviews can attest that I get ticked off at one particular bit of dialogue that is used in every goddam contemporary romance book. So here ya have it folks.


“I wanted to show you exactly how this relationship is going to go. I give orders, and you follow.��
“You’re an ass.��
“Tell me something I don’t know.�� I shrug and take a step toward her.

How many times do we have to read this exact conversation??? Anyway...

This drivel was fucking exhausting. I think this author did everything possible to make me hate the heroine. And believe me, I loathed her. Spoiled, stupid, insecure, and idiotically stubborn for no real reason. Chapters and chapters and CHAPTERS of her feeling sorry for herself and explaining away her 'woe-is-me' attitude. OF COURSE she needs to be super vulnerable and in desperate need of help. Because thats the only way the hero can even seem remotely desirable.

Yep, just keep giving the female characters tragic backstories. Just keep on going with the same overdone plot of heroine cant rescue herself until she has a man in her life. Does she have a terrible ex, you ask? You can definitely count on that.


Am I being hyper critical? More than likely.
Do I care? No.


Just give me a damn heroine who doesnt suck the life out of me. Kthanksbye.]]> 4.04 2020
author: K. Bromberg
name: Julia
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2020/02/04
date added: 2020/03/31
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
DNF

Let me start off by saying that people will like, maybe even love this book. Its got all of the ingredients there to be a hit. But for me....? Anyone that follows my reviews can attest that I get ticked off at one particular bit of dialogue that is used in every goddam contemporary romance book. So here ya have it folks.


“I wanted to show you exactly how this relationship is going to go. I give orders, and you follow.��
“You’re an ass.��
“Tell me something I don’t know.�� I shrug and take a step toward her.

How many times do we have to read this exact conversation??? Anyway...

This drivel was fucking exhausting. I think this author did everything possible to make me hate the heroine. And believe me, I loathed her. Spoiled, stupid, insecure, and idiotically stubborn for no real reason. Chapters and chapters and CHAPTERS of her feeling sorry for herself and explaining away her 'woe-is-me' attitude. OF COURSE she needs to be super vulnerable and in desperate need of help. Because thats the only way the hero can even seem remotely desirable.

Yep, just keep giving the female characters tragic backstories. Just keep on going with the same overdone plot of heroine cant rescue herself until she has a man in her life. Does she have a terrible ex, you ask? You can definitely count on that.


Am I being hyper critical? More than likely.
Do I care? No.


Just give me a damn heroine who doesnt suck the life out of me. Kthanksbye.
]]> 52548628
Maybe if I were older. Maybe if he wasn’t my brother’s best friend. Maybe if he wasn’t my teacher.

Maybe.
Maybe.
Maybe.

Having my dirty little secret living down the hall had me obsessing over alternate endings and happily ever afters. I’d never wanted someone so badly, but his hot and cold behavior was giving me emotional whiplash. In the classroom, he practically ignored me. But here? In my brother’s loft? It felt like we were a thick rubber band, pulled so tight we’d snap.

Falling for Decker Harris made me realize that life wasn’t as serendipitous as everyone liked to think. We weren’t just a collection of maybes thrust into the world with hope and good intentions. Everything started with a choice, and somewhere between grief and redemption, I chose to make him mine.]]> 330 Coralee June Julia 1
All tell and no show. Every sentence starting with ‘I.�� Heroine written to have bad case of martyrdom. Hero hot and cold within freaking paragraphs.

Also the heroines name was Blakely.... that’s not a name. ]]> 3.89 2019
author: Coralee June
name: Julia
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 1
read at: 2020/03/26
date added: 2020/03/26
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, college-sports, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, not-working-for-me-boring, safe, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Bad writing.

All tell and no show. Every sentence starting with ‘I.�� Heroine written to have bad case of martyrdom. Hero hot and cold within freaking paragraphs.

Also the heroines name was Blakely.... that’s not a name.
]]> 50155745
When I joined Seattle’s NHL expansion team, I thought it was the start of something great. But nothing ever goes the way you expect. Take my introduction to my new neighbor. She came rolling in on the hot mess express at midnight, making a racket while she tried to get into my team captain’s apartment. Did I mention that he’s married to a woman who definitely was not her?

Imagine my surprise when I end up with an injury that has me out of the game for weeks, and she’s the one to offer to help me. I should probably add that she’s not the captain’s mistress. She’s his sexy, pastel-haired younger sister.

So we come up with an arrangement: she rehabs me so that I can get back on the ice sooner, and she can add a professional athlete that isn’t her brother to her client list. Seems simple enough. As long as I can keep my hands to myself and my hormones in check.]]> 301 Helena Hunting 1542015472 Julia 2
So formulaic you could predict what was about to happen, a page before it happened. So formulaic that I was questioning why I was wasting my time on a book that the author didn't even try to make special.

- MC's have their initial meet cute
- Cue the main cause/effect that forces our MC's to be in the same room together.
- MC's interactions progress from enemies to friends
- Random misunderstandings and stupid assumptions coming from both sides. {Insert sexual tension here}
- Chapters dedicated to both MC's rehashing everything you JUST read to their friends so they get moral clarity.
- Misunderstandings and assumptions rectified. All good! They finally realize they both like each other!!!
-Sex
- Breakup immediately after for over reactions due to outside forces.
- Seperation with more of both MC's rehashing everything you JUST read to their friends so they get moral clarity.
- MC's get back together. Epilogue.

There you go folks. Thats your outline for how to make a half assed contemporary romance. Usually I'd give something like this 3 stars, but this gets 2 because nothing was special and it leaned on the side of frustrating and obnoxious most of the time. Both hero and heroine were just ok. Once you start thinking these characters *might* start acting normally, they go and say something idiotic or embarrassing. The side characters got in the way ALOT. The reason they break up is unimaginative and unnecessary.

Safety:
-No cheating. No other people after meeting. No OW drama
-OM drama in the form of h's ex boyfriend who, SHOCKER, cheated on her.
-H not a manwhore
-h not a virgin, but the author is sure to let you know that she doesnt have too much experience. We cant have a sexually liberated female character, now can we?
-Seperation for a week.
-Push and pull on both sides. ]]> 4.12 2020
author: Helena Hunting
name: Julia
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/03/21
date added: 2020/03/21
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, college-sports, business-billionaire-famous, best-hero, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2 stars for a very lazy formulaic story.

So formulaic you could predict what was about to happen, a page before it happened. So formulaic that I was questioning why I was wasting my time on a book that the author didn't even try to make special.

- MC's have their initial meet cute
- Cue the main cause/effect that forces our MC's to be in the same room together.
- MC's interactions progress from enemies to friends
- Random misunderstandings and stupid assumptions coming from both sides. {Insert sexual tension here}
- Chapters dedicated to both MC's rehashing everything you JUST read to their friends so they get moral clarity.
- Misunderstandings and assumptions rectified. All good! They finally realize they both like each other!!!
-Sex
- Breakup immediately after for over reactions due to outside forces.
- Seperation with more of both MC's rehashing everything you JUST read to their friends so they get moral clarity.
- MC's get back together. Epilogue.

There you go folks. Thats your outline for how to make a half assed contemporary romance. Usually I'd give something like this 3 stars, but this gets 2 because nothing was special and it leaned on the side of frustrating and obnoxious most of the time. Both hero and heroine were just ok. Once you start thinking these characters *might* start acting normally, they go and say something idiotic or embarrassing. The side characters got in the way ALOT. The reason they break up is unimaginative and unnecessary.

Safety:
-No cheating. No other people after meeting. No OW drama
-OM drama in the form of h's ex boyfriend who, SHOCKER, cheated on her.
-H not a manwhore
-h not a virgin, but the author is sure to let you know that she doesnt have too much experience. We cant have a sexually liberated female character, now can we?
-Seperation for a week.
-Push and pull on both sides.
]]> 48745173 The second time, he was putting his fist through my brother’s face.
Now he’s everywhere I look.
He’s making my life hell with his vulgar remarks and seductive lure, but it’s not my fault my brother joined The Border Lords, his rival crew. I keep my nose out of their business and my head in the books, yet he’s always there provoking me. Dragging me into their conflict.
Everyone in town knows you don’t mess with the Sons of Sinister, but no one ever told me what do when a Son of Sinister messes with me.

New York Times bestselling author Tabatha Vargo invites you to fall in love with the Sons of Sinister! A new adult spin on MC books with all the grunge, angst, and dirty, foul-mouthed biker boys who know how to handle curves.
The Sons of Sinister consists of four standalone novels.
Shattered Skull, Dirty Saint, Ruthless Crow, & Joker’s Wild.
This series is the Blow Hole Boys meets crotch rockets meets naughty, bully bastards who don’t give a f*ck and the good girls who can’t help but fall for them! They run the streets, the money, and can outride any other crew on the streets.
]]> 274 Tabatha Vargo Julia 1
My absolute least favorite.

Manwhore "bad boy" druggie hero is mean to rich anxiety-ridden wet blanket of a VIRGIN heroine, but somehow she likes him anyway. On top of some seriously lame writing.

Stop ]]> 4.22 2020
author: Tabatha Vargo
name: Julia
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2020/03/17
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, annoying-characters-plot
review:
1 star.

My absolute least favorite.

Manwhore "bad boy" druggie hero is mean to rich anxiety-ridden wet blanket of a VIRGIN heroine, but somehow she likes him anyway. On top of some seriously lame writing.

Stop
]]> 52022186 USA Today bestselling author Renee Rose delivers on this intense bully romance with a paranormal twist.

SHE RUINED EVERYTHING... I WILL MAKE HER PAY.
Her mom robbed my dad of his job. Destroyed his life.
Now I have to look at her every day.
The girl next door. A human. A hot little nerd.
She doesn’t belong here—not in Wolf Ridge,
not at our high school, definitely not in my life.
She doesn’t know what I am.
Which makes it all the easier to take revenge.
I will bring her to her knees. Pierce her heart.
Make her bleed. For me.
All for me.

NOTE: This New Adult book features steamy scenes with characters over eighteen and is for an audience that is also over eighteen.]]> 210 Renee Rose Julia 1
This one was T R A S H

Did anyone besides the author preview this? If I was a real friend of this author I would tell her to get a new hobby. Writing isn't for her.

First of all, the hero refers to himself as an "alpha bully" and is proud of it. You do you, dude. I'm sure your dick is HUGE.

You had your usual virgin heroine that doesnt stand up for herself and gets hard nipples whenever the hero is around.
Hero has lots of experience and shoves his ex to her knees so she can lick his jeans in front of the school to make the h jealous AND the h gets aroused watching it.

Thank you, next. Will never pick up a book by this author again.]]> 3.72 2019
author: Renee Rose
name: Julia
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2019
rating: 1
read at: 2019/09/04
date added: 2020/03/02
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, throw-away-dnf, stupid-hall-of-fame, paranormal, not-safe, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, annoying-characters-plot
review:
Picked this up due to some morbid curiosity. Some bully romances are great and some are trash.

This one was T R A S H

Did anyone besides the author preview this? If I was a real friend of this author I would tell her to get a new hobby. Writing isn't for her.

First of all, the hero refers to himself as an "alpha bully" and is proud of it. You do you, dude. I'm sure your dick is HUGE.

You had your usual virgin heroine that doesnt stand up for herself and gets hard nipples whenever the hero is around.
Hero has lots of experience and shoves his ex to her knees so she can lick his jeans in front of the school to make the h jealous AND the h gets aroused watching it.

Thank you, next. Will never pick up a book by this author again.
]]> 51969549 Rule #1: Keep your head down and your eyes up. It makes you invisible. But not stupid.

Ace, a young cardshark, has worked her entire life to achieve one goal. Bring Burlone Allegretti to his knees. As the the head of a mafia family who dabbles in human trafficking, he’s far from innocent, and Ace can't wait to exact her revenge.

As her plan is set in motion, the alluring head of a rival family, Kingston Romano, approaches her with a proposition. One that she’s desperate enough to accept.

Soon, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a war she isn’t prepared to fight. With a target on her back, and intimate feelings she refuses to acknowledge, she'll have to decide if she's all in, or if she'll be taken for all she's worth.]]> 250 Kelsie Rae Julia 3
At first I hated this. A lot of the same old heroines that suffer in silence, think they’re special because they’re ‘different�� from other girls, has a gorgeous BFF and doesn’t know she’s hot until the hero comes along. But the more I read the more I was fine with it. But ‘fine�� as in, when I’m done reading this I won’t ever think back on it again. ]]> 4.36 2019
author: Kelsie Rae
name: Julia
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/03/01
date added: 2020/03/01
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, business-billionaire-famous, dark, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-a-manwhore, not-working-for-me-boring, safe-with-exception, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
Just ok. If I haven’t picked up the second book in this series by now, it usually means I won’t.

At first I hated this. A lot of the same old heroines that suffer in silence, think they’re special because they’re ‘different�� from other girls, has a gorgeous BFF and doesn’t know she’s hot until the hero comes along. But the more I read the more I was fine with it. But ‘fine�� as in, when I’m done reading this I won’t ever think back on it again.
]]> 49085362 Once upon a time she became mine.
Mine to keep.

She was a healer.
He was a serial killer.

She helped people.
He destroyed them.

She was a beautiful angel.
He was a vicious monster.

She wanted to run away.
He captured her instead.

She promised to never surrender.
He guaranteed that she would.

Two lives, the hunter and the prey, forever entwined together. In this battle of wills there would be no winner.]]> V.F. Mason Julia 1 1 minute he wants to protect the h then the next he wants to use her as bait. Then he keeps her captive for 3 months and burns a guy alive in front of her but gets mad of the thought of people in her past that treated her badly.

Like.... pick a direction of how you want this guy to think??? Just piss poor story telling all around.


Also the description of the hero is that his hair is ‘blue like a hot flame��.... because his name is Arson.... and he likes setting things on fire.....

Give me a freaking break. ]]> 4.13
author: V.F. Mason
name: Julia
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2020/03/01
date added: 2020/03/01
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, not-safe, not-working-for-me-boring, ott-possessive-hero, throw-away-dnf, tstl-heroine, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
This book did not make any sense at all. THe main characters thoughts are so full of contradictions it makes my head hurt. And then the random time jumps and appearing in places where you thought they were running away from? Just super confusing and had no flow what so ever. Main issue is the hero.
1 minute he wants to protect the h then the next he wants to use her as bait. Then he keeps her captive for 3 months and burns a guy alive in front of her but gets mad of the thought of people in her past that treated her badly.

Like.... pick a direction of how you want this guy to think??? Just piss poor story telling all around.


Also the description of the hero is that his hair is ‘blue like a hot flame��.... because his name is Arson.... and he likes setting things on fire.....

Give me a freaking break.
]]> 48922039 The man I fell in love with is a f*cking liar...
I don't have much time to reveal all the details, but I will say this: The "Woman disappears after wedding" and "Woman flees before honeymoon" headlines are lying.
I'm not missing.
I didn't run away after my wedding.
I would've never run away right before our scheduled honeymoon.
My husband has taken me.
No, correction: He's kidnapped me because he claims that "it's what's best". That I'm a mere pawn in his twisted game of chess.
Despite the fact that my heart is still tethered to his, or the fact that he's still the most gorgeous and beautiful man I've ever met in my life (he can still make me wet with a single sentence), I have to focus on getting away from him.
I have to accept that he's no longer the man I fell in love with.
He's the king of lies...]]> 119 Whitney G. Julia 3
Will be writing a full review once part 3 is out. ]]> 3.92 2020
author: Whitney G.
name: Julia
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/03/01
date added: 2020/03/01
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, business-billionaire-famous, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, instalove, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, ott-possessive-hero, safe, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, tstl-heroine, writing-that-s-bad
review:
2.5 stars.

Will be writing a full review once part 3 is out.
]]> 51882998 USA Today Bestselling author K Webster comes an angst-filled, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers MM romance!

I’m in love with my best friend.
Lie.
I’m in love with my enemy.
Truth.

But they’re the same.
They. Are. The. Same.
Lines in my world are blurry between fantasy and reality.
Truth and lies. Love and hate.

Copeland Justice is my enemy. My once best friend. The sadist in my heart plucking and pulling at every thread of who I am until I’m unraveled at his feet.
His mouth says he hates me. His eyes burn with animosity for me. His heart beats for someone else.

But Copeland Justice is the best liar of us all.]]> 274 K. Webster Julia 3
This was good until it wasn’t. Ive shared many opinions on K Webster, most of them not great, but one thing I can say about her books is that they are s t e a m y. She really knows how to write a hot and heavy book, and this had that in spades.

What she lacks is the ability to write a decent plot. All that steam and romance angst was soooooo good to then be plowed over by a bunch of non sense rich people tropes. You had a great romance that just starts to get bogged down with:

- pretending to be in an arranged marriage
- OW drama
- secret baby
- some form of abuse by literally every grown up in the story
- blackmail, affairs, money, etc etc etc blah blah blah blah blah BLAH

Like... calm down. Seriously. All of this extra crap made the MCs romance cheesy as hell. It dumber down what could have been a beautiful drama and turned it into a cheap soap opera.

So that’s why it’s 3 stars.

Safety:
Not safe
H1 has a girlfriend that he flaunts in front of H2
H2 makes out with another guy in front of H1
H1 and H2 both kiss this other girl in front of each other
No other people once they start getting hot and heavy with each other. ]]> 4.00 2019
author: K. Webster
name: Julia
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2019/09/02
date added: 2020/02/28
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-hero, hottest-sex-scenes, not-a-manwhore, not-safe, ott-possessive-hero, worst-secondary-characters, writing-that-s-bad
review:
3 stars

This was good until it wasn’t. Ive shared many opinions on K Webster, most of them not great, but one thing I can say about her books is that they are s t e a m y. She really knows how to write a hot and heavy book, and this had that in spades.

What she lacks is the ability to write a decent plot. All that steam and romance angst was soooooo good to then be plowed over by a bunch of non sense rich people tropes. You had a great romance that just starts to get bogged down with:

- pretending to be in an arranged marriage
- OW drama
- secret baby
- some form of abuse by literally every grown up in the story
- blackmail, affairs, money, etc etc etc blah blah blah blah blah BLAH

Like... calm down. Seriously. All of this extra crap made the MCs romance cheesy as hell. It dumber down what could have been a beautiful drama and turned it into a cheap soap opera.

So that’s why it’s 3 stars.

Safety:
Not safe
H1 has a girlfriend that he flaunts in front of H2
H2 makes out with another guy in front of H1
H1 and H2 both kiss this other girl in front of each other
No other people once they start getting hot and heavy with each other.
]]> 51804895
Annalise Hale, daughter of Senator Ronald Hale, is the prima ballerina of the St. Louis Ballet. The picture-perfect trophy from afar, her life is a delicate facade that hides unspeakable pain.

All she wanted was to escape.

She never dreamed of this.

Blameless in her father’s crimes, she is caught up like an exquisite pawn when the Sinners take her. Face-to-face with Dimitri King, like two sides of the same broken mirror, they have scars so deep, pain is the only feeling they know.

A match made in heaven but forged in hell, will they find their wounds fit together to create something beautiful or will the sins of their pasts be too great to overcome?]]> 329 B.T. Urruela Julia 2
This wasn't bad, per say, but this had almost all of your basic bitch ingredients for a dark romance. Many spoilers ahead, FYI.

Books like this are so hard to review because my main problem is so hard to explain, so here goes;

The Hero: his mom died when he was a baby and his dad turned into a drunk and a neglectful father who was the leader of an Motorcycle gang. As the H grows up, he turns into a massive partier and a slut thats strung out on cocaine and alcohol. But somehow still has abs.... got it.

The heroine: emotionally abused by her mother and raped by her father since she was 9 years old. Is extremely sheltered, doesnt have any friends or any positive relationship in her life.

So you tell me; who's drama is worse? If you guessed the heroine, than that is CORRECT!

So whyyyyyyyyyyy was almost all of the book about the hero's "woe-is-me" sob story. Anyone starting to get my problem with this book yet? To top it off, the heroine is the one to sacrifice herself to save the hero.

How about we stop using the rape trope as an excuse to make the heroine meek and vulnerable. How about we stop using rape as a way to make a shitty hero seem even a little bit like good guy?! And how about we stop pushing it under the rug for the entire story instead of dealing with it?!?

Safety details:
not safe- safe with exception depending on preferences
Heroine is raped and abused by her father for 10 years. Not on page. Has no other sexual experience.
Hero is your typical fictional biker. Before he meets the heroine, he's getting out of bed with another random hookup
Drug abuse.
No OW drama.
OM in the MC club is trying to rape the heroine.
No seperation.
There are no sex scenes in this book. ]]> 4.23 2019
author: B.T. Urruela
name: Julia
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2019/07/05
date added: 2020/02/26
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, safe-with-exception, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2.5 'eh' stars.

This wasn't bad, per say, but this had almost all of your basic bitch ingredients for a dark romance. Many spoilers ahead, FYI.

Books like this are so hard to review because my main problem is so hard to explain, so here goes;

The Hero: his mom died when he was a baby and his dad turned into a drunk and a neglectful father who was the leader of an Motorcycle gang. As the H grows up, he turns into a massive partier and a slut thats strung out on cocaine and alcohol. But somehow still has abs.... got it.

The heroine: emotionally abused by her mother and raped by her father since she was 9 years old. Is extremely sheltered, doesnt have any friends or any positive relationship in her life.

So you tell me; who's drama is worse? If you guessed the heroine, than that is CORRECT!

So whyyyyyyyyyyy was almost all of the book about the hero's "woe-is-me" sob story. Anyone starting to get my problem with this book yet? To top it off, the heroine is the one to sacrifice herself to save the hero.

How about we stop using the rape trope as an excuse to make the heroine meek and vulnerable. How about we stop using rape as a way to make a shitty hero seem even a little bit like good guy?! And how about we stop pushing it under the rug for the entire story instead of dealing with it?!?

Safety details:
not safe- safe with exception depending on preferences
Heroine is raped and abused by her father for 10 years. Not on page. Has no other sexual experience.
Hero is your typical fictional biker. Before he meets the heroine, he's getting out of bed with another random hookup
Drug abuse.
No OW drama.
OM in the MC club is trying to rape the heroine.
No seperation.
There are no sex scenes in this book.
]]> 40309980 Hey there sweet cheeks *strike out* no, too forward.

To whom it may concern,
Full disclosure; before we move forward with this email, I would like it to be known that I have consumed an adequate amount of alcoholic beverages to intoxicate myself tonight. Three margaritas, two shots, and one beer—because it was free.
I think it’s important to be open and honest with your co-workers, don’t you?
So here I am, being honest. Drunk but honest. Or just drunk with lust? You decide.
I like you so much it’s clouding my judgment and making me do things I never would sober. Like write this letter.
I have a hopeless, foolish, schoolgirl crush on you when you are the last person on earth I should be falling for. Did you know people around the office call you a sadist? An egomaniac. An insensitive, arrogant prick. Your bark is worse then your bite, and you don’t scare me. The fact is, I’d love that bite of yours to nip at my bare skin while we’re both wearing nothing but sheets.
For once I want you to look at me as more than one of your employees.
And as long as we're being honest, that navy blue suit you wear? With the crisp white shirt? It really makes me want to loosen your tie and show you who’s boss.
Love,
Sincerely,
Yours.]]> 273 Sara Ney Julia 3
Characters were a little too cartoony for my taste but I appreciate that the heroine wasn't a blushing wallflower for a change. Albeit showing some really problematic professional behavior, I liked that she went after what she wanted, pushed the H's buttons, and for once made him blush.

Consider this a biased comment but I LOATHE when the MC's are in a marketing/advertising field since thats my entire job and the authors always get it soooooo wrong. SO SO SO wrong.

Apparently this is Fortune 500 company and the only person that can save the vague 'marketing campaign' is the heroine who just happens to dabble in graphic design.

Lol if only my job was that wonderfully heroic. But I digress. ]]> 3.85 2018
author: Sara Ney
name: Julia
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2020/02/16
date added: 2020/02/16
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
3 Eh stars. I've read better and I've read worse.

Characters were a little too cartoony for my taste but I appreciate that the heroine wasn't a blushing wallflower for a change. Albeit showing some really problematic professional behavior, I liked that she went after what she wanted, pushed the H's buttons, and for once made him blush.

Consider this a biased comment but I LOATHE when the MC's are in a marketing/advertising field since thats my entire job and the authors always get it soooooo wrong. SO SO SO wrong.

Apparently this is Fortune 500 company and the only person that can save the vague 'marketing campaign' is the heroine who just happens to dabble in graphic design.

Lol if only my job was that wonderfully heroic. But I digress.
]]> 51253693 He tried to put her back together.
But it would take a tiny miracle to fix them both.

Her name was Janet, but the psycho who had owned her called her Twenty. She’d do anything to forget about her time as an evil man’s Doll. Even trust another bad man with her darkest secrets. The damaged Alley Cat shifter shows her glimpses of the normal life she desperately longs for. But he might be just as broken as she is. And even if he’s not, girls like her don’t get happy endings.

Samuel “Smokes�� Mendoza was content to live his life incomplete. Until a picture changed everything. One look at the woman known as Twenty, and his entire life purpose changed. Use, take, harm became save, heal, protect in a single heartbeat. Easier said than done when his werecat clan is falling apart before his eyes and his inner beast is clawing its way to the surface.

With a surprise he never saw coming, his broken girl is in danger once again. This time will be different. Smokes knows he’s not good enough for her, but maybe he’s good enough to keep her safe.
]]> 292 P. Jameson Julia 0 4.40
author: P. Jameson
name: Julia
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/02/14
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, not-working-for-me-boring, paranormal, writing-that-s-bad
review:
DNF hero won’t fight for his mate because... reasons.
]]> 51151662
At James & Peterson Investigations, that would be Cameron Grant: sullen, grouchy, intimidating, oh yeah, and sexy as hell. He can make your soul wither with a single disapproving glare. And he never, ever socialises with his co-workers.

This is why Maisie Wilkins, happy-go-lucky ray of sunshine, can’t fathom why Cameron finally decided to show up at their annual office Christmas party. Every year he received an invite, and every year he failed to attend. But not this year.

Curious as to why he’s there, Maisie can’t resist sitting next to Cameron. Before she knows it, she’s had one too many drinks and is drunkenly hailing a cab back to his place. Office party flings are not something she normally does, but despite his intimidating character, Cameron has a charm she can’t resist. Or maybe it was just those five gin and tonics blurring her judgement.

Whatever the reason, Maisie now has to navigate the awkward, tension filled waters of sharing an office with someone she’s slept with.

This story features Cameron Grant, Ellen's cranky and curmudgeonly brother from Fauxmance.]]> 369 L.H. Cosway 1686273142 Julia 2
I cannot continue with this book. Its very repetitive and boring. One of my biggest pet peeves in books is when the author intentionally drags out the suspense of the H and h finally getting together. So you have one quick sex scene at the beginning and then just a bunch of 'heated looks from the hero that made the heroine gasp for breathe' in every chapter. And this goes on for like... 10 chapters.

Also, I couldn't connect with the heroine because I found her to be a huge square. And OF COURSE shes been celibate for years and her last boyfriend turned out to be gay.

AUTHORS OF THE UNIVERSE. PLEASE! I BEG YOU! STOP DOING THIS TO US!!! IF youre gonna write a modern romance than write a modern woman!!!!]]> 3.77 2018
author: L.H. Cosway
name: Julia
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2019/08/22
date added: 2020/02/10
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, lighthearted-funny, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
DNF @80%

I cannot continue with this book. Its very repetitive and boring. One of my biggest pet peeves in books is when the author intentionally drags out the suspense of the H and h finally getting together. So you have one quick sex scene at the beginning and then just a bunch of 'heated looks from the hero that made the heroine gasp for breathe' in every chapter. And this goes on for like... 10 chapters.

Also, I couldn't connect with the heroine because I found her to be a huge square. And OF COURSE shes been celibate for years and her last boyfriend turned out to be gay.

AUTHORS OF THE UNIVERSE. PLEASE! I BEG YOU! STOP DOING THIS TO US!!! IF youre gonna write a modern romance than write a modern woman!!!!
]]> 48559380 An Enemies-to-Lovers Standalone

Once upon a cold, dark night, a Russian killer stole me from an alley.
I’m dangerous, but he is lethal.
I escaped once.
He won’t let me do it twice.

The revenge is his.
The betrayal is mine.
But so are the lies to protect the ones I love.

We’re cut from the same twisted cloth. Both merciless. Both damaged.
In his embrace, I find hell and heaven, his cruelly tender touch destroying and uplifting me at once.

They say a cat has nine lives, but an assassin has just one.
And Yan Ivanov now owns mine.]]> 350 Anna Zaires 1643660713 Julia 2
I dont think this author is for me. I was constantly annoyed by the heroine's weakness and the hero's abusive behavior. Thats right, ABUSIVE. HE was constantly degrading the heroine and treating her like a sex toy, and she would just gladly take it with her 'quivering body'. On top of some really crappy writing, I didnt care much for their romance.

Can we PLEASEEEEE write female characters that are not constantly suffering???? This shit is getting fucking old. Why does every heroine need a dramatic past trauma. And now that I brought it up...
This had every stupid dark romance plot device imaginable.

- Miscommunication for no real reason
- Heroine acting like a martyr for no real reason
- Betraying body alert to the freaking EXTREME
- Hero that 'doesnt understand what love is.' ****EYE ROLL****
- Heroines life is in danger, which is the ideal time for the Hero to figure out his undying love for the h.
- Hero: "Sorry I treated you so badly."
Heroine: "No it was my fault. I made you treat me badly."

I'm over this.

Safety:
-No cheating, no other people after meeting. Both remained celibate for 15 month separation. No OW drama. Slight OM drama, as the hero's brother wants to be with the heroine.
-Hero treats heroine like crap for most of the book. Over the top possessive in a abusive way.
-Lots of details on hero's past sex life. He used to share women with his brother. ]]> 4.09 2020
author: Anna Zaires
name: Julia
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2020/01/31
date added: 2020/01/31
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, stupid-hall-of-fame, safe, ott-possessive-hero, not-working-for-me-boring, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, instalove, hottest-sex-scenes, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, hero-thats-stupid-or-manwhore, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, dark, business-billionaire-famous, annoying-characters-plot
review:
2.5 annoying stars.

I dont think this author is for me. I was constantly annoyed by the heroine's weakness and the hero's abusive behavior. Thats right, ABUSIVE. HE was constantly degrading the heroine and treating her like a sex toy, and she would just gladly take it with her 'quivering body'. On top of some really crappy writing, I didnt care much for their romance.

Can we PLEASEEEEE write female characters that are not constantly suffering???? This shit is getting fucking old. Why does every heroine need a dramatic past trauma. And now that I brought it up...
This had every stupid dark romance plot device imaginable.

- Miscommunication for no real reason
- Heroine acting like a martyr for no real reason
- Betraying body alert to the freaking EXTREME
- Hero that 'doesnt understand what love is.' ****EYE ROLL****
- Heroines life is in danger, which is the ideal time for the Hero to figure out his undying love for the h.
- Hero: "Sorry I treated you so badly."
Heroine: "No it was my fault. I made you treat me badly."

I'm over this.

Safety:
-No cheating, no other people after meeting. Both remained celibate for 15 month separation. No OW drama. Slight OM drama, as the hero's brother wants to be with the heroine.
-Hero treats heroine like crap for most of the book. Over the top possessive in a abusive way.
-Lots of details on hero's past sex life. He used to share women with his brother.
]]> 50116414 It took them less than 12 hours to conquer Earth, and then 9 more years to finally demand what they've come here for—me.

Whatever dreams I have about my future are crushed within hours. The control I have over my life and my body is taken away.
I don't get to plan my wedding.
I don't even get to choose my husband.
I am stripped of my rights and my free will, and reduced to being nothing but the subject of their experiment.

The last thing I expect is to find love among the enemy. Tairan seems to be the only one who sees a person in me, although he appears to be keeping secrets from me, too.

When everything I hold dear is threatened, the only choice I have is to fight back. With no weapons or any combat skills, I will have to find a way to defend my love, my family, and our future from the evil that is in charge of our lives...

"I'll live, love, and die at your side. Always."

Watch the trailer:

Read Chapter 1:

Warning: Experiment is a Futuristic Romance. It contains graphic descriptions of intimacy and discussion on topics that may be triggers for some. Intended for mature readers.]]> 255 Marina Simcoe Julia 3 4.04 2019
author: Marina Simcoe
name: Julia
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/01/31
date added: 2020/01/31
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe-with-exception, paranormal, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, mc-mob-fighter-bad-boys, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, dark, annoying-characters-plot
review:

]]> 50277537 From USA Today Bestselling Author Aly Martinez comes an emotional new standalone.

Growing up, Ramsey Stewart branded my soul in ways time could never heal.

At twelve, he asked me to be his girlfriend.
At thirteen, he gave me my first kiss.
By sixteen, we’d fallen in love, planned a future together, and had our eyes set on the horizon.

Love never fails, right?
But for Ramsey, it did.
Love failed him.
I failed him.
The entire world failed him.

At seventeen, Ramsey was convicted of killing the boy who assaulted me.

Move on, he wrote in his first and only letter from prison.
Start a new life, he urged.
I don’t love you anymore, he lied.

There was no such thing as giving up on Ramsey. Love may have been our curse, but he was mine—then, now, and forever.

So here I am, twelve long years later, waiting for a man I don't even know to emerge from between the chain link gates.]]> 285 Aly Martinez Julia 3 4.15 2020
author: Aly Martinez
name: Julia
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/01/11
date added: 2020/01/11
shelves: annoying-characters-plot, best-couple-or-chemistry, best-heroin, best-secondary-characters, dark, hero-id-like-to-punch-in-the-dick, instalove, not-a-manwhore, safe-with-exception
review:

]]> 38111559 352 Karla Sorensen Julia 2 4.26 2018
author: Karla Sorensen
name: Julia
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2018/12/09
date added: 2020/01/09
shelves: writing-that-s-bad, worst-secondary-characters, tstl-heroine, too-much-plot-not-enough-smut, throw-away-dnf, safe, safe-with-exception, not-working-for-me-boring, not-a-manwhore, heroine-id-like-to-strangle, annoying-characters-plot
review:
Ended up skimming alot. Writing wasnt half bad but literally nothing happened besides the heroines divorce and the inevitable get-together of the MC's that didnt happen until the very end. Everything in between was as exciting as stale crackers.
]]>