en-US Mon, 26 May 2025 18:01:16 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 196037368
As a slave to the Giant King, Estela's life is an endless torment. Her sole hope is to escape with her half-brother and find refuge among the elves.

Teo, the Troll King, is desperate. His people are dying, and he's running out of options. When the giants come for diamonds, Teo's crystal sings.

The slave is the king's mate, and with her comes a solution to save his people.

Even after the king steals her from her masters, Estela's one desire is to flee. She doesn’t see herself as the savior of the Enduar Trolls. She would rather die than be their queen, and, by extension, his mate.

Any amount of time with him is dangerous. His stolen glances and longing stares won’t make her forget the truth—if she stays, she’ll still be caged.

To Steal a Bride is the first book in Estela and Teo's duet, but it is part of a larger series called Entangled with the Enduar. It is an enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance featuring a desperate heroine and a powerful hero. This adult fantasy romance is perfect for readers of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Danielle L. Jensen.

Note: This story is an adult/new adult novel with mentions of trauma, abuse, and illicit meetings between consenting adults, as well as other mature themes.]]> 375 Daniela A. Mera a 🔮 1 3.55 2023
author: Daniela A. Mera
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2025/05/26
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 60826867
All upon their 18th birthday must submit a sample of their blood for soul match testing.

Half-witch Percy Flores never imagined for one moment that she would be matched to a royal.

Vampire Princess Selene Borealis is less than pleased with her soul match, but with a mysterious enemy threatening her future throne, the lower class Percy might be her only hope.]]> 292 J.K. Jeffrey a 🔮 2 3.96
author: J.K. Jeffrey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/05/21
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
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]]> 231301238 AN AMAZON TOP 100 BESTSELLER

Traded for peace. Sacrificed to a monster.

Maia Fremont just wanted a chance. When the opportunity to create floral arrangements for the royal wedding is offered to her, who is she to say no? But the crown is never honest, and soon enough she finds herself thrust into an unwanted union with a fearsome troll. Ripped from her beloved garden and the only life she’s ever known, she’s offered as a bride to a creature she’s only heard whispers of—rumors of brutality, darkness, and insatiable hunger.

Ragnar, a powerful troll healer, is disgusted by the human king’s deception. His duty to his people forces him to accept this lie of a marriage. His bride is a fragile human instead of the strong half elven mate he expected. Her meager magic is an insult, but honor and allegiance bind him to her. No matter how much he hates it.

Married to a beast who sees her as nothing more than a tool to strengthen his bloodline, Maia must fight for her life in the treacherous world of the trolls. But in their kingdom Deep within the mountain, she must balance her growing attraction for her gruff, surprisingly poetic husband against the lurking dangers in this strange new world—especially when the growing darkness threatens to tear them apart.]]> 430 Emma Hamm a 🔮 4 4.12
author: Emma Hamm
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/16
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 227832309 He’s the last kraken—and he’s living in exile.

For centuries, Bjorn has punished himself for the loss of his people in the Great Shifter Wars. He barely lives, hiding away in his nature preserve and overseeing his watery territory.

But an underwater encounter with a human scientist in his bay reawakens his magic. Bjorn is determined to ignore fate, except the quirky and curious scientist won’t leave him alone. When Penelope shows up at his lighthouse, his Kraken takes matters into his own hands.

Can the bubbly scientist convince the brooding kraken to start over?

Kept by the Kraken is the third book in a paranormal shifter monster romance series, featuring fated mates. This can be read as a standalone. This FM monster romance includes hurtful/comfort, a curvy FMC, and all the tentacles.
Check the author’s note for information about content.
]]> 159 Sirena Song a 🔮 3 3.87
author: Sirena Song
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/05
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 219513993 Mafia rules. Vampire secrets. Love wasn’t part of the deal.

Amara Leone has always lived in silence, navigating the dangerous world of her mafia family as the obedient, deaf daughter of a ruthless boss. But when she’s forced into an arranged marriage with Dylan Wood, the cold and enigmatic head of security for a powerful organization, her world becomes even more precarious.

Amara’s father wants her to spy on Dylan, but her new wife is far more complex than she appears. Amara may not hear the words, but she feels every layer of Dylan’s intensity.

Despite Dylan’s icy exterior, Amara discovers hidden vulnerabilities—like her quiet passion for gardening—that challenge her perception of the fierce security chief. But what Amara doesn’t know is that Dylan is hiding a much darker she’s a vampire.

As sparks of attraction fly and their connection begins to deepen, Amara remains unaware that she’s married into a supernatural world far more dangerous than her own.

Amara’s deafness becomes both her strength and her shield, allowing her to navigate the deadly undercurrents of their world. But with enemies closing in, and Dylan’s truth poised to shatter everything, their time is running out.

Will Amara’s newfound feelings survive the revelation of Dylan’s true nature, or will the secrets between them ignite a war that could destroy them both?

If you love your romances steamy with a side of danger, you won’t be able to put this one down.]]> 272 Chloe Peterson a 🔮 2 4.30
author: Chloe Peterson
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/05/04
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 223680940 Love the intergalactic dating show where humans couple up with aliens.

Indebted and desperate, I make the one decision I never dreamed I would. I’m giving up my privacy to be a contestant on a tacky reality dating show. I’m going for the free food, not to fall in love. After twenty days, I’ll shed a few fake tears and return home, ready to start fresh.

There’s only one problem. The show is being filmed on another planet, in another galaxy, and the male contestants are aliens.

Suddenly, I’m coupled up with Sorin, a seven-foot-tall farmer with scales and horns. He lives at the edge of civilized space, on a planet whose population is just him and his two brothers and where opportunities to find a bride are non-existent.

Until Love Galaxy. Until me.

His plan is simple. Convince me to stay beyond the twenty-day trial. Convince me to fall in love with him. And he’s prepared to use any tactic he can. Including studying human dating rituals. Including ‘practicing�� kissing.

But how can I stay, when it means not only giving up my home�� But also my heart? On intergalactic TV.]]> 223 Carlotta Page a 🔮 2 3.98
author: Carlotta Page
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
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]]> 220659421
Book 4 in the Deep Water Series coming soon!]]> 403 Emma Hamm a 🔮 3 4.24 2025
author: Emma Hamm
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/27
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 63229473
Ahmya is different from Rekosh’s kind in so many ways—small, delicate, strange. Human. She’s out of place among the jungle’s towering trees and countless dangers.

And Rekosh knew she was his from the moment he first saw her.

Her beauty is as undeniable as the strength of her spirit, and behind her timid demeanor dwells fire and passion like he’s never witnessed. She is a tiny, vibrant flower flourishing amidst strangling vines. Her allure has bound him as surely as any silk rope could have.

He needs only to claim her.

Rekosh will be her guide, her warmth in the darkness, her unwavering shield. Nothing will harm her.

Nothing will take his mate.
------
The Spider's Mate Trilogy Spin-off Series. For a better reading experience, read Ensnared, Enthralled, and Bound, as this may contain spoilers.

Check the author's website for more detailed content warnings.]]> 0 Tiffany Roberts a 🔮 3 4.00 2025
author: Tiffany Roberts
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 220958384 From Bex Deveau comes a spicy sapphic vampire romance between a coven that owns an adult club and their new bartender.

At O Nightclub, it’s love at first bite.

Someone should've told Vi that. And reminded her that she knew better than to get swept up by four vampires. Especially four vampires that hit all four of her secret relationship wish sexy, stylish, sapphic and stupid rich.

But resisting is easier said than done.

With her mom’s medical bills piling up and no job prospects she’s forced to fill in as a bartender at O, an exclusive vampire-only adult club and finds herself entangled with the captivating coven that runs it.

Sparks fly, and lust turns to more. But old secrets threaten to tear apart their tenuous bond, and the stakes may be too high for happily ever after.

The party won’t stop until mourning.

CW and additional tags for all books are on the author's website

Bite Marks is a queer standalone romance that focuses on a relationship with multiple love interests. This is a medium-burn romance with high heat and paranormal love interests that may have inhuman physiology.]]> 396 Bex Deveau a 🔮 4 4.32 2025
author: Bex Deveau
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 213779197
Maverick Miller is the best player in the league, but he’s never had a winning record. Team captain and desperate to turn things around, he agrees to play nice with the fiery new left-winger even though they’re total opposites.

After a night where the tension between them reaches a tipping point and they fall in bed together, Emmy and Maverick vow it was only one time. Just once to get it out of their systems so they can play better and help their team.

It doesn’t mean anything. She doesn’t date hockey players. He’s a notorious playboy who doesn’t date. Period.

Except�� what should’ve been just once happens again, then again. They tell each other their friends with benefits arrangement is only for the season, but despite facing off on the ice, behind closed doors, the pair is nothing but fire.]]> 450 Chelsea Curto a 🔮 1 4.11 2024
author: Chelsea Curto
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
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]]> 219864561 A chance encounter that ignites a primal passion...

My late-night drive down a lonely country road was supposed to be uneventful, just me and the winding country lanes. But when I accidentally hit a massive wolf with my car, I'm catapulted into a world of moonlight magic, dangerous secrets, and a captivating woman who awakens a wild hunger within me.

Naomi is unlike any person I've ever known. Fierce, protective, and hauntingly beautiful, she's not just a woman—she's a shifter, bound to a pack of sapphic wolves who hide in the shadows of my small Midwestern town. From the moment our eyes meet, I'm ensnared by an undeniable connection, a primal pull that defies all reason.

In this hidden society, love isn’t just a feeling—it’s a force of nature. As I fall for Naomi, I’m entangled in the secrets of her pack, the magic that binds them, and the enemies that threaten to tear us apart. Every stolen moment with Naomi is a delicate dance between burning passion and mortal peril. Can our love survive when the very force that brought me to this small town is determined to destroy us?

They say the moon controls the tides, but in Mayfield Meadows, it controls so much more.]]> 225 Harmony Fuller a 🔮 2 3.97 2024
author: Harmony Fuller
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 230328773
Until she sees him again.

WARREN Mercer has spent years outrunning the ghost of Quinn Rose. He’s buried himself in the grind—early mornings in the pool, late nights training, a singular focus on finishing his senior year strong and qualifying for Nationals. The last thing he expected was to spend the summer lifeguarding at Sycamore, only to find out Quinn was back, walking the same halls, working the same job, acting like she didn’t shatter his trust and walk away like it was nothing.

Warren wants nothing to do with her. Quinn knows better than to push him. But proximity has a funny way of unraveling old wounds, of forcing them to confront the tension still crackling between them. Because no matter how much they try to ignore it—grudges burn hot, history runs deep, and first loves never really fade.]]> 337 Ki Stephens a 🔮 5
Ki has hit it out of the park a total of 8 times and counting with her 7 full length novels (INCLUDING QUEEN’S FIRST TRAD PUB NOVEL) and her novella. Trust me I tried to think of a swimming pun that worked and I couldn’t.

One of my favorite things about this author is how unique and individual all her books and characters are. This is still the case with Warren and Quinn in Good Graces. We have a grumpy swimmer kinesiology major and an even grumpier eldest daughter English major, truly what more could you want? Oh and it’s a slowburn second chance romance.

Second chance as a trope is difficult to do successfully and yet Ki makes it feel like it’s effortless how easy and natural she crafted this story. They fell in love slowly at first and then a bad thing happened and there’s a gap before fate intervenes, often if we want to be honest, and they rekindled the flame that never truly went away.

Warren and Quinn have a raw-ness to them that makes them so real and so human. They make mistakes and they forgive this is not just a story of them falling in love with one another but being seen by another and learning yo love themselves as they are loved by each other.

Anyway, I have already read this twice since I’ve gotten my hands on it and each time is more magical than the last. Ki’s work is something I will always come back to. I’ve said it since I read Spring Tide back in 2022 and for every book since. Ki’s books feel like a hug and coming home all in one. Her work is always going to be a comfort read and reread. ]]> 3.63
author: Ki Stephens
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.63
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/14
date added: 2025/05/14
shelves:
review:
Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience reading this eARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

Ki has hit it out of the park a total of 8 times and counting with her 7 full length novels (INCLUDING QUEEN’S FIRST TRAD PUB NOVEL) and her novella. Trust me I tried to think of a swimming pun that worked and I couldn’t.

One of my favorite things about this author is how unique and individual all her books and characters are. This is still the case with Warren and Quinn in Good Graces. We have a grumpy swimmer kinesiology major and an even grumpier eldest daughter English major, truly what more could you want? Oh and it’s a slowburn second chance romance.

Second chance as a trope is difficult to do successfully and yet Ki makes it feel like it’s effortless how easy and natural she crafted this story. They fell in love slowly at first and then a bad thing happened and there’s a gap before fate intervenes, often if we want to be honest, and they rekindled the flame that never truly went away.

Warren and Quinn have a raw-ness to them that makes them so real and so human. They make mistakes and they forgive this is not just a story of them falling in love with one another but being seen by another and learning yo love themselves as they are loved by each other.

Anyway, I have already read this twice since I’ve gotten my hands on it and each time is more magical than the last. Ki’s work is something I will always come back to. I’ve said it since I read Spring Tide back in 2022 and for every book since. Ki’s books feel like a hug and coming home all in one. Her work is always going to be a comfort read and reread.
]]> 211752091 In this spellbinding, fantasy-rich novel, a woman is swept into a world where she has the power to alter fairy tales, and change a kingdom’s destiny��

To Kaley Arens, a PhD student and expert in folklore, fairy stories have always had a power and an allure beyond mere entertainment.

It’s only when Kaley accompanies her lifelong friend Jobi on a visit to his home that she realizes how much she still has to learn. Bellis isn’t the remote island that she believed it to be. It’s another world—a stunningly beautiful and seductive one, with its own royalty, its own rules, and inhabitants who breathe life into the tales she was taught were fiction.

Kaley’s presence is no simple holiday. She has a mysterious connection with Jobi and with Bellis, and abilities that may help determine this world’s fate. Tasked with locating a lost prince, Kaley and her companions—the enigmatic Tanek, a member of the Order of Swans, and Sojee, Kaley's colossal bodyguard—journey through a land both thrilling and terrifying, where the uncanny and the familiar go hand in hand.

But in fairy tales, heroes and villains are easy to discern. Here, nothing is quite as it seems. And though Kaley is discovering that she can change the outcome of the fairy tales she knows so well, her own story is unfolding in ways impossible to predict, with a destiny she could never have foretold…]]> 352 Jude Deveraux a 🔮 0 to-read 4.02 2025
author: Jude Deveraux
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210411871 A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine

2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess can help explain the vivid dreams that preceded the attack—but her sister is missing. As Lucy waits for her return, she starts to unearth strange rumours about Jess’s town—tales of numerous missing men, spread over decades. A baby abandoned in a sea-swept cave. Whispers of women’s voices on the waves. All the while, her dreams start to feel closer than ever.

1800: Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. As the boat takes them farther and farther away from all they know, they begin to notice unexplainable changes in their bodies.

A breathtaking tale of female resilience, The Sirens is an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and the indefinable magic of the sea.]]> 337 Emilia Hart 1250280826 a 🔮 0 to-read 3.75 2025
author: Emilia Hart
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 206098228 She hates rock music, but her feelings for the rock star are a little more complicated��

Wanda
Ever since my time in the military I’ve been known for my icy calm. Nothing bothers me. Ever. At least until I meet my new protection assignment. Rock star Tasha Blue is young, flighty, and annoying. She’s also my fated mate.

The little human has no interest in vampires, bodyguards, or laying low until we can find her stalker. I can’t decide whether to spank her or mark her as mine. I might have to do both, once I’m sure she’s safe. Because now that I found her, there’s no way I’m letting her go��

Tasha
I’ve worked hard to become a music sensation, and I’m not going to let some woman-hating incel scare me into quitting my tour. Sure, it’s a little freaky how my stalker seems to know so much about me, but I’m sure my new bodyguard will keep me safe. She’s older than me, serious and stern, and she has terrible taste in music! But I can’t help but want to make her lose control, because when she loses control and lets her fangs down, things finally start to get interesting.

I just hope I can say goodbye when this is all over. I know I’m just a client to Wanda, but when she holds me in her arms, it feels a lot like love��

“Guarding the Rock Star�� is an instalove paranormal romantic comedy. This slow burn, lighthearted lesbian romance includes strong women, shape shifter matchmakers, a touch of adventure, and a steamy but sweet happily ever after.

About the Sapphic Security They served their country as part of an elite force of supernatural soldiers. When their time in the military ends, these lesbians create Sapphic Security, providing protective and investigation services to those in need. They're fit, they're funny, and they're...vampires. And shifters too. There's only one don't fall in love with the clients. Oops. They really need to change that rule, because these sexy women are finally finding love with their fated mates.]]> 173 Reba Bale a 🔮 2 4.21
author: Reba Bale
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 221157899 I'm not sure how to come back from this.

Maybe I shouldn't have let the Laniidae sisters pull me into their orbit.

But who could resist them when they looked like that?

After joining the Hunt, I'm finally one of them, which means bubbly Teresa, charming Kennedy, and vicious Xander aren't afraid to stake their claim to me.

But a war is brewing between the us and the vultures of Cathartidae.

To make matters worse my naive brother is about to arrive on Atwood's campus, and I'm not sure I can protect the both of us.

When a play for power threatens to tear House Laniidae apart from the inside, I'm left with only one who can I really trust?

To The Flame is Book Two in the Killer Queens series. It is a dark, sapphic, New Adult, Why Choose (f/f/f/nb), university, bully romance containing sensitive content. Please see the Author's Note for CWs.]]> Kylie Cross a 🔮 1 4.39
author: Kylie Cross
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 221306912 I thought I’d rather die than join a sorority. But when fraternity brothers started hunting me across campus, the Laniidae sisters�� invitation to rush became too tempting to turn down.

Atwood University was supposed to be an escape. A place where I could be free from my past, from the man that haunted my waking nightmare.

Until Lucas Wolfe disappeared from a frat party and the cops came banging on my door for answers.

With a pack of vindictive frat brothers on my tail, the sorority that had been tracking my every move became my only refuge.

Their protection came at a complete loyalty.

But staying loyal didn’t mean I trusted them.

Teresa, the bubbly hacker who could decode my hidden desires with a single, sweet word.

Kennedy, the aspiring politician with the charming smile who worshiped the ground I walked on.

And Xander, the fierce protector who was suspicious of my every move. But the truth was, she wanted me just as much as she loathed me.

As I was pulled further into their web of lies, I realized everyone on this campus had their secrets �� some darker than others.

If I was going to solve the mystery behind Wolfe’s death and clear my name with the police, then I needed to survive the semester.

And distractions as gorgeous as Teresa, as charming as Kennedy, and as commanding as Xander wouldn’t make that easy.

To The Bone is a dark, sapphic, New Adult, Why Choose (f/f/f/nb), university, bully romance. Please see the CW in the Author's note.]]> 483 Kylie Cross a 🔮 2 4.13
author: Kylie Cross
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 59046399 He rejected me, and then he realized I’m the center of his world. Bummer.

Una
I keep my head down. In this backwards pack, females rank low, and my bad leg makes me damaged goods. It doesn’t help that I’ve never shifted. I don’t mind the late twenties single life, though. No one’s paying any attention as I build an illicit farmer’s market empire.

My roomies and I are doing it for ourselves, and if life under Killian Kelly is stifling, at least it’s predictable. We can deal.

But when biology finally kicks in, I lose my mind. I claim our alpha as my mate. And he rejects me in front of the whole pack.
It’s all good. It only hurts when I breathe. I’ll survive. That’s what I do.

Who wants an arrogant jerk for a mate, anyway? I’ve got a business to run.

Killian
To lead this pack out of the dark ages, I’ve had to be hard. Merciless. I don’t flinch, and I don’t make mistakes.

Una Hayes isn’t my mate.

My wolf might have some kind of strange infatuation, but if she were mine, I’d know it. And I can walk away, can’t I?
And if I keep coming back? If she starts living in my head?

I’m the strongest male in five generations. My pack scrambles to do my bidding. I can bring one quiet female back in line. No one can possibly be as stubborn as I am.

There’s no way I’ve ruined the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I’m the Quarry pack alpha. I don’t lose.

The Tyrant Alpha’s Rejected Mate is a full-grown shifter romance. No cheating. HEA guaranteed. Intended for adult readers only.]]> 382 Cate C. Wells a 🔮 2 3.83 2021
author: Cate C. Wells
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 219542918 THIS BOOK IS NOT SAFE TO READ AT WORK. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Twenty year old Temperance Verus has never been kissed. But that's what the basilisk is for.

Along with thirteen other contestants, Tem must train with a basilisk to learn the power of seduction and win the prince's hand in marriage. When Tem is matched with Caspen, the Serpent King, she realizes she might actually stand a chance. But with tensions rising between the basilisks and the humans, Tem is suddenly torn in two directions. As her bond with Caspen deepens, so does her connection with the prince. And when she uncovers a terrible secret about the royal family, Tem finds herself caught between two neither of which she can survive without.

Guaranteed to make you blush (and then some), Split or Swallow is like if fanfic Draco Malfoy went on the Bachelor and had to compete with a snake. Sounds fun, doesn't it? That's because it is!!]]> 528 Lindsay Straube 1464247579 a 🔮 1
Overall, don’t make me talk about this; your guess is as good as mine as to why I didn’t just DNF. ]]> 3.42 2024
author: Lindsay Straube
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:
There was an interesting concept hidden underneath�� well, everything. I think Tem might quite literally take the whole cake shop in most insufferable FMC I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of insufferable FMC’s.

Overall, don’t make me talk about this; your guess is as good as mine as to why I didn’t just DNF.
]]> 222376763 Hannah Grace
'A fresh, fun and fast-paced sports romance that readers won't be able to put down' Becka Mack
_______________________

Ella Davies didn’t trade her life in England for a year in Nashville to let anything—or anyone—throw her off her game. She only has one to prove herself on her new school’s elite cheer squad.

What she hadn’t planned for was meeting a gorgeous stranger on her first evening in America.

Hudson Fox is Whitland’s prized possession, a star quarterback who’s never lacked admirers. But this year, he's sworn off temptation—especially the new English cheerleader who’s proving impossible to ignore.

When Ella and Hudson are forced to spend more time together, their "just one night" pact soon shatters.

Until tumbling from the pyramid becomes the least of Ella’s worries. Because instead of hitting the mat, she's falling hard for the quarterback. . .
_______________________

Praise for Game On:

'Sexy, fun and sprinkled with the best things of a sports romance, I devoured Game On!' Elena Armas

'A spicy and tender romance' Hannah Bonam-Young

'Game On tackles new beginnings, healing, and the thrill of unexpected love' Bal Khabra

'Game On flies high and lands with grace, the kind of sports romance that has you rooting for both leads—as individuals and as a couple—from the first page until the last' Simone Soltani]]> 336 Ki Stephens 1250407842 a 🔮 5 3.56
author: Ki Stephens
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.56
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 228522311 Alys Fairweather has always loved the sea.

So when her father gets the opportunity to build a city beneath the waves, she is the first in the submarine with him. She never expected to discover an entire species of merfolk living there. And she certainly didn’t expect to find one of them so captivating.

But the song of the waves is one she has never been able to deny, even when that temptation comes in the form of a battle scarred merman.


Wave Song was previously published in The Lovely A Monster Romance Anthology by Emma Hamm, Juliette Cross, and Zoey Draven. This book is a novella that takes place long before the Deep Waters series. It is suggested to read Whispers of the Deep before reading this one, but not necessary!]]> 148 Emma Hamm a 🔮 4 4.33
author: Emma Hamm
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 218629982
From that first day, the two of them were drawn to each other, easily becoming closer as the months passed. Their feelings grew and as graduation approached, they both decided to confess to each other, but of course, the universe once again threw them a curveball. Because of this, they both reluctantly went their separate ways after graduation, clinging to the hope that they’d one day be reunited.

Fast forward 5 years later, Adrian finally relocates back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The city where she spent 4 years of her life. The city where she met the only woman she ever loved. The city where she had to let that woman go.

She never planned to run into her again, but when a random trip to a clothing store brings these two lovers back together, they realize that the universe has given them yet another chance, so they take it.

This story is full of love, but also full of grief. With past traumas and anxieties starting to rear their nasty heads, these two realize that the only thing that can help them heal is each other. Thus a love that is sweet like honey starts to blossom.]]> Aricka Alexander a 🔮 2
We didn’t even get to read the buildup of their angst/will they/won’t they because it all happened like close to 5 years before the start of the book. Naturally because they were roomies/besties and during this time they never were romantically involved, distance and time make the heat grow fonder but there was no get to know you. So while not truly an insta love trope, its doing insta love.

Truly, I think this would have been a better execultion if it was broken up into two parts: starting with their last year in college in the present tense, the 5 year post graduation time jump in the middle, and then the second half how they find their way back to each other. ]]> 3.94 2024
author: Aricka Alexander
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves:
review:
There was literally no stakes whatsoever like what was the reason?

We didn’t even get to read the buildup of their angst/will they/won’t they because it all happened like close to 5 years before the start of the book. Naturally because they were roomies/besties and during this time they never were romantically involved, distance and time make the heat grow fonder but there was no get to know you. So while not truly an insta love trope, its doing insta love.

Truly, I think this would have been a better execultion if it was broken up into two parts: starting with their last year in college in the present tense, the 5 year post graduation time jump in the middle, and then the second half how they find their way back to each other.
]]> 213960500 She can write happy endings.

If only writing smutty romance novels paid the bills, then Signe Lange could quit her monotonous nine-to-five. After one of her stories goes viral, her goals may finally be within reach. Only that dream may be snatched away by her company's unfairly attractive Chief Technology Officer, Zaid Ansara.

For Zaid, catching glimpses of Signe sitting at the front desk is the only bright light in his mind-numbing workday--a fantasy, an indulgence. That is until a livestream event goes horribly wrong and reveals his resemblance to the love interest she created in her novel.

Perhaps Signe isn't as indifferent to him as he thought. Except she is off limits, very off limits. He's her superior, but hopefully not for long.

This could be his chance to get the girl. Dreams may be worth the risk, but can Zaid convince Signe that he's the one for her? Preferably, without revealing that he knows about her story?

When her feelings for the man who inspired her reader's favorite character become bigger than she expected, can Signe move forward with her plans to publish? Or will her chances at her own happily ever after be threatened if she does?]]> 400 Andrea Andersen a 🔮 0 dnf
Title is a bit misleading because this FMC reads as if she was written by a man.

It makes me so uncomfortable how much she’s objectifying her boss. So I imagine if it’s been this bad this far, the odds are not in my favor for this getting even remotely better.

So I’m quitting while I’m ahead because although my track record doesn’t show it, I don’t PURPOSEFULLY go into books knowing I’m going to not like them. ]]> 4.12 2024
author: Andrea Andersen
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF at 10%.

Title is a bit misleading because this FMC reads as if she was written by a man.

It makes me so uncomfortable how much she’s objectifying her boss. So I imagine if it’s been this bad this far, the odds are not in my favor for this getting even remotely better.

So I’m quitting while I’m ahead because although my track record doesn’t show it, I don’t PURPOSEFULLY go into books knowing I’m going to not like them.
]]> 220455417
Overnight, Amelia goes from working late nights at a greasy LA diner to a neo-Regency world of beautiful ball gowns, glittering galas, and blood tasting notes. But her debut into vampire society only stokes her worst fears. Everyone wants to sample the unique flavor of her blood, yet nobody wants her as a long-term companion.

Nobody, that is, except for the mysterious Sebastian de Celeste. She's shocked when the handsome, notoriously reclusive vampire lord chooses her as his valentine. Yet he whisks her away to his gothic mountain estate only to avoid her company as much as possible.

Still, Amelia soon finds herself growing fond of the cranky vampire. But Sebastian has secrets, and skeletons in his closet (or rather, buried on the grounds). Amelia has had bad luck in love before, but the world of vampires is far more dangerous than the life she’s used to. This time, if she trusts the wrong person, the consequences could be deadly…]]> Skyla Gray a 🔮 1 3.87
author: Skyla Gray
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 58943394 A sizzling, standalone, feel-good holiday romance from Tessa Bailey, New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer.

Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin.
I'm standing alone in front of the famous Vivant department store, when a charming man named Aiden asks my opinion of the décor.

It's a tragedy in tinsel, I say, unable to lie.
He asks for a better idea with a twinkle in his eye.
Did I know he owned the place? No. He put me on the spot.
Now I'm working for that man, trying to ignore that he's hot.
But as a down on her luck girl with a difficult past, I know an opportunity when I see one—and I have to make it last.

I'll put my heart and soul into dressing his holiday windows.
I'll work without stopping. And when we lose the battle with temptation, I'll try and remember I'm just window shopping.]]> 243 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 5
Yes, I did read a Christmas rom com 5 days before Halloween, I have nothing to say about that except this was probably the best book I read all month.

No one serves boy obsessed with his girl quite like Tessa. The grumpy/sunshine trope with a twist, GRUMPY GIRL/SUNSHINE BOY. I am obsessed. This book had me in my feels. I was grinning like a fool the whole time.

Now, I have said this before with It Happened One Summer, this book can be described with 3 of my favorite words that start with “f��. Fluffy, because of course, Fun, again a given, oh and FUCKING FILTHY. The sexy scenes were just *chef’s kiss*. Aiden’s dirty talk? Please, he is the best of both worlds. Super wholesome man who wears bow ties and suspenders, but also likes it dirty and rough.

If you don’t enjoy happiness, avoid this book ]]> 3.79 2021
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/26
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
The amount of joy this book brought me automatically gives it 5 stars.

Yes, I did read a Christmas rom com 5 days before Halloween, I have nothing to say about that except this was probably the best book I read all month.

No one serves boy obsessed with his girl quite like Tessa. The grumpy/sunshine trope with a twist, GRUMPY GIRL/SUNSHINE BOY. I am obsessed. This book had me in my feels. I was grinning like a fool the whole time.

Now, I have said this before with It Happened One Summer, this book can be described with 3 of my favorite words that start with “f��. Fluffy, because of course, Fun, again a given, oh and FUCKING FILTHY. The sexy scenes were just *chef’s kiss*. Aiden’s dirty talk? Please, he is the best of both worlds. Super wholesome man who wears bow ties and suspenders, but also likes it dirty and rough.

If you don’t enjoy happiness, avoid this book
]]> 60202760
It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation in sweet, sunny Cape Cod—just me and my beloved brother—but discovering a corpse in our rental house really throws a wrench into our tanning schedule. Now a rude, crude bounty hunter has arrived on the back of his motorcycle to catch the killer and refuses to believe I can be helpful, despite countless hours of true crime podcast listening. Not to mention a fulfilling teaching career of wrangling second graders.

A brash bounty hunter and an energetic elementary the murder-solving team no one asked for, but thanks to these pesky attempts on my life, we’re stuck together, come hell or high tide.

I’m just here to do a job, not babysit an amateur sleuth. Although…it is becoming less and less of a hardship to have her around. Sure, she’s stubborn, distracting and can’t stay out of harm’s way. She’s also brave and beautiful and reminds me of the home I left behind three years ago. In other words, the painful hunger and protectiveness she is waking up in me is a threat to my peace of mind. Before I sink any deeper into this dangerous attraction, I need to solve this murder and get back on the road. But will fate take her from me before I realize the road has been leading to her all along?]]> 290 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 0
I loved so much of this book. The banter was top notch, and the smut? TESSA FUCKING BAILEY DELIVERS.

As for the main plot in this story I was fully expecting one thing and got blindsided for the reveal. This doesn’t happen very often.

I loved the dual pov in this book. DEFINITELY made it that much better ]]> 3.97 2022
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2022/06/07
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
4.5 stars.

I loved so much of this book. The banter was top notch, and the smut? TESSA FUCKING BAILEY DELIVERS.

As for the main plot in this story I was fully expecting one thing and got blindsided for the reveal. This doesn’t happen very often.

I loved the dual pov in this book. DEFINITELY made it that much better
]]> 58310915 In the follow-up to It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey delivers another deliciously fun rom-com about a former player who accidentally falls for his best friend while trying to help her land a different man...

King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows he's a guaranteed good time--in bed and out--and that's exactly how he prefers it. Until he meets Hannah Bellinger. She's immune to his charm and looks, but she seems to enjoy his... personality? And wants to be friends? Bizarre. But he likes her too much to risk a fling, so platonic pals it is.

Now, Hannah's in town for work, crashing in Fox's spare bedroom. She knows he's a notorious ladies' man, but they're definitely just friends. In fact, she's nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport's resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker's eye... yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead. As the line between friendship and flirtation begins to blur, Hannah can't deny she loves everything about Fox, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost.

Living with his best friend should have been easy. Except now she's walking around in a towel, sleeping right across the hall, and Fox is fantasizing about waking up next to her for the rest of his life and... and... man overboard! He's fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker. Helping her flirt with another guy is pure torture, but maybe if Fox can tackle his inner demons and show Hannah he's all in, she'll choose him instead?
]]> 400 Tessa Bailey 0063045702 a 🔮 5 4.05 2022
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/12
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:

]]> 55659629
Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart. 

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl�� who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong. ]]> 397 Tessa Bailey 0063045656 a 🔮 4

This was my first Tessa Bailey book and if it any indication on how much I will enjoy her other books I will most definitely be picking more of her stuff up.

I want to say that one of my favorite things about this book is that it was dual POV. I love seeing when both people involved fall for the other.

Brendan serves the grumpy part of a grumpy/sunshine trope like he was born to play it.

I think the character growth (especially for Piper) being shown in a ��5 steps forward, 3 steps back�� was very realistic. Even if it felt a bit abrupt for her and it seemed much more natural for Brendan. That even though they were improving and moving forward they still had their insecurities in the back of their minds.

The pace was odd in the way where it feels like so much has happened that you forget it’s only been a short amount of time.

All in all had a great time with it and I can’t wait for the sequel. ]]> 3.91 2021
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/02
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
4.5 stars overall.


This was my first Tessa Bailey book and if it any indication on how much I will enjoy her other books I will most definitely be picking more of her stuff up.

I want to say that one of my favorite things about this book is that it was dual POV. I love seeing when both people involved fall for the other.

Brendan serves the grumpy part of a grumpy/sunshine trope like he was born to play it.

I think the character growth (especially for Piper) being shown in a ��5 steps forward, 3 steps back�� was very realistic. Even if it felt a bit abrupt for her and it seemed much more natural for Brendan. That even though they were improving and moving forward they still had their insecurities in the back of their minds.

The pace was odd in the way where it feels like so much has happened that you forget it’s only been a short amount of time.

All in all had a great time with it and I can’t wait for the sequel.
]]> 36499107
Family is everything to gambling den darling, Teresa Valentini. Blood comes first, especially before men. So when her brother lands himself in hot water, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to save him. And showing up topless in her unwitting savior’s motel room is turning out to be the furthest thing from a hardship��

Will Caruso is the bad boy of New York’s financial scene…and he just found out the very thing that drives his success is a damn lie. Now, he’s exchanged his high-stress life for the open road, no one but his Great Dane…and half a million Instagram followers to keep him company. When a mysterious beauty arrives, her secrecy prods his suspicions, even while she tempts his lust to the breaking point.

Teresa met Will under false pretenses, but the bond consuming them is real. They’re strong enough to overcome a little betrayal…aren’t they?]]> 192 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 3
3.5 rounded up because of Will and Southpaw.

Overall I had a good time. This was the least mafia, mafia book I’ve ever read because it’s like mafia adjacent.

Anyway will is your CLASSIC possessive dominant MMC which I love especially in a dual POV. He serves the “boy obsessed with the girl�� trope well.

I was not expecting the call girl role playing but I’m not mad about it. The car scene? The Hotel Bar Scene? Wow.

The moments that were cringe were basically all the FMCs. Her “thing�� is being an aspiring film maker so her inner monologue has moments where she was like “and let the cameras roll�� and I hated every single one of those moments. Also her brother is a damn idiot at 20 and she basically mothers him (only being like 3 years older), but I get it. This book needed a plot.

The conflict and imminent resolution happened in the last 20% of the book and to be honest the ending felt rushed.

(Minor spoilers: the dog in this book does not die. I wanted to include this because I don’t watch sad dog movies and I didn’t realize this might have been a sad dog book and I was STRESSED.)]]> 4.15 2017
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
First book of 2022.

3.5 rounded up because of Will and Southpaw.

Overall I had a good time. This was the least mafia, mafia book I’ve ever read because it’s like mafia adjacent.

Anyway will is your CLASSIC possessive dominant MMC which I love especially in a dual POV. He serves the “boy obsessed with the girl�� trope well.

I was not expecting the call girl role playing but I’m not mad about it. The car scene? The Hotel Bar Scene? Wow.

The moments that were cringe were basically all the FMCs. Her “thing�� is being an aspiring film maker so her inner monologue has moments where she was like “and let the cameras roll�� and I hated every single one of those moments. Also her brother is a damn idiot at 20 and she basically mothers him (only being like 3 years older), but I get it. This book needed a plot.

The conflict and imminent resolution happened in the last 20% of the book and to be honest the ending felt rushed.

(Minor spoilers: the dog in this book does not die. I wanted to include this because I don’t watch sad dog movies and I didn’t realize this might have been a sad dog book and I was STRESSED.)
]]> 42613431
Homeschooled from a young age, Olive is now out on her own and discovering the world, one milkshake flavor at a time. Until recently, she has experienced life through books. She’s walked in a million sets of shoes while flipping pages—enough to know that Rory gives her once-in-a-lifetime feelings. If only he would stop trying to protect her…from himself.
]]> 158 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 4
We got this woman who is so clumsy, she has at least 2 near death experiences within a few weeks of each other.

And then we got this dude, who seems to scare people away, because he’s ‘dangerous�� and has a temper.

He saves her, multiple times, and warns her away from him “because she deserves better than a bad guy like him��. Then he doesn’t have the strength to stay away from her and so he doesn’t.

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Anyway,

I was enjoying this book before my brain forced this connection, but I can confirm that upon my mind blowing realization I did enjoy it that much more.

Things that were odd to me but easily block out-able:
- for having a 6 year age gap Rory really made their age difference a big thing.
- I would have liked to see not a 18 year old FMC, but due to a shit load of trauma, she definitely doesn’t act 18 most of the time.
- The whole the FMC’s family YouTube Channel. That was so fucking weird but whatever.

Overall this was a great time. Loved the characters, ‘Sunbeam�� will go down as one of the cutest nicknames I have ever read.]]> 3.54 2018
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/19
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
I might be the only one who had such a strong Twilight Obsession during my formative years that I look for/notice shit like this but Mouth to Mouth felt like a Twilight AU Fanfiction in like the best of ways.

We got this woman who is so clumsy, she has at least 2 near death experiences within a few weeks of each other.

And then we got this dude, who seems to scare people away, because he’s ‘dangerous�� and has a temper.

He saves her, multiple times, and warns her away from him “because she deserves better than a bad guy like him��. Then he doesn’t have the strength to stay away from her and so he doesn’t.

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Anyway,

I was enjoying this book before my brain forced this connection, but I can confirm that upon my mind blowing realization I did enjoy it that much more.

Things that were odd to me but easily block out-able:
- for having a 6 year age gap Rory really made their age difference a big thing.
- I would have liked to see not a 18 year old FMC, but due to a shit load of trauma, she definitely doesn’t act 18 most of the time.
- The whole the FMC’s family YouTube Channel. That was so fucking weird but whatever.

Overall this was a great time. Loved the characters, ‘Sunbeam�� will go down as one of the cutest nicknames I have ever read.
]]> 44446249
Marcus “Diesel�� O’Shaughnessy is a brash, oversized CrossFit enthusiast with a naked lady tattooed on his rippling forearm. Jamie Prince is a private school teacher with an extremely low tolerance for bull. The two men have zero in common. Well, except for three things.

They’re both moonlighting as lifeguards for the summer.
No matter how hard they try, they cannot stay away from each other.
And both of them have secrets they’re determined to keep.

But what happens in the shadows of the Long Beach boardwalk can only remain hidden for so long, before the July sunshine reveals the hot, unrelenting connection they never expected, forcing Marcus and Jamie to decide if they’re simply caught up in a temporary heat stroke or if they’ve found something worth rescuing...]]> 234 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 5
I did not think I was going to be so attached to this book, but here we are, the chest pains have only just subsided. Yes, I sat down and read this in basically one go. It’s been a rollercoaster of feelings, alright?

I laughed.
I almost cried.
My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard at them.

Marcus is my favorite himbo, there’s no competition. I love that man so much. Jamie, my baby, I love him too.

This book is more than your cutesy contemporary romance, Marcus is on a road of self (with Jamie’s help) discovery and has stuff he to work through. Jamie on the other hand, has to work through some possible PTSD, and other things.

I knew this was probably going to be a 5 star read 6-8 pages in, its nice to see I was right. ]]> 4.04 2019
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/20
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
PLEASE THE SECOND I SAW JAMIE AND MARCUS INTERACTING IN ‘MOUTH TO MOUTH�� I WAS ROOTING FOR THIS SHIP AND OH MY GOD TESSA BAILEY FUCKING DELIVERED ON THIS ONE.

I did not think I was going to be so attached to this book, but here we are, the chest pains have only just subsided. Yes, I sat down and read this in basically one go. It’s been a rollercoaster of feelings, alright?

I laughed.
I almost cried.
My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard at them.

Marcus is my favorite himbo, there’s no competition. I love that man so much. Jamie, my baby, I love him too.

This book is more than your cutesy contemporary romance, Marcus is on a road of self (with Jamie’s help) discovery and has stuff he to work through. Jamie on the other hand, has to work through some possible PTSD, and other things.

I knew this was probably going to be a 5 star read 6-8 pages in, its nice to see I was right.
]]> 52116733
Jiya Dalal has dreams. To fly a plane, see the world below…and prove irresistible to her best friend, Andrew. But she needs to be a good daughter first, which is becoming an increasingly difficult task, since her parents expect a good marriage and the man she loves with all her heart refuses to pursue the blistering connection between them. Just when she’s beginning to believe Andrew truly doesn’t want her, a moonlight tryst on the beach exposes his true feelings. But an echo from the past kept them apart before…and it’s only growing louder with every stolen kiss��

SINK OR SWIM is the third and final book of the Beach Kingdom series, but can be read as a standalone.]]> 178 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 4 3.76 2019
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/27
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:

]]> 62656404 New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer comes a romantic comedy about an accidental relationship between three smitten men...and one commitment phobic woman.

Elise Brandeis has never won a Pulitzer—and she never will. At least not while she’s delivering sandwiches at the Gotham Times, instead of working there as an actual reporter. Her only shot at seeing her byline in print is to prove to the no nonsense managing editor that she has a nose for news. And she’s got just the story to grab her elusive attention.

Right after she delivers this turkey on ciabatta.

Chasing down leads brings Elise to Roosevelt Island, but just when the trail of clues begins to take shape, she gets stuck. Literally. On a cable car with three strangers who couldn’t be more different. An uptight rugby coach, a construction worker and a former adult film star she pretends not to recognize a little too well.

At first, Elise wants nothing more than to be rescued ASAP.

An hour later, everything has changed. By pure happenstance, four separate journeys have collided in an intense, meaningful way. Suddenly, disentangling their lives feels more impossible than winning that Pulitzer. Good thing Elise is too busy proving herself at work to consider three boyfriends. Nobody has time for that—even if they make giving in feel oh so right. But three heads are better than one and these loners will teach themselves to work together to win Elise over forever��

And more importantly, keep their dirty socks off her floor.]]> 321 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 1
Whatever you think this is, lower your expectations�� I mean it, keep lowering them.

How does one go from being one of my most anticipated releases to being one of the biggest disappointments of the year? Honestly I don’t know but this takes the cake. Y’all don’t understand how heartbreaking it is to say that, I (usually) love Tessa’s work and I love Why Choose Romances, immediately I suspected that this would be right up my alley and I would LOVE this. This was quite possibly one of the worst why choose romances I’ve ever read (and I’ve read A LOT of why choose romances).

Before I get into it, while I still have your attention, I want to tell you the ONLY parts I enjoyed about this book. They’re called Banks, Tobias, and Gabe. If it wasn’t for these three characters I would have DNF-ed this book, period. But, no matter how much I enjoyed these characters, I do not think the love interests alone can save this book or make it worth recommending.

The smut was okay, and the dirty talk was hot at parts, but no where near her other books.
The other words were a choice, that I was willing to look past: “sex�� in reference to her own bits or the guys, or ‘buns�� ‘bottom�� ‘buttock�� as her ass. But here is where I draw the line, Elise referring to her pussy, several times, as an “it��, (ex. “Fill it up for me. Now.�� Y’all can probably deduce she’s not talking about a car needing gas, but herself.)

The pacing, oh boy, this whole book takes place in maybe no more than 2 weeks? How can a woman who is a self proclaimed “commitment-phobe�� fall in love with three men in that short amount of time? Don’t get me started on the men, they ‘were completely changed�� since meeting her. “She was put in our paths to make all of us better. And we were put in hers, so we can worship her for it.�� The conflict also happened WAYYYYY too close to the end, besides the fact that I could have told you what the conflict was less than 10% into the book, it made for a rushed resolution.

All of this being said, no, I don’t recommend this book and if you do not want to be extremely disappointed with a highly anticipated release like I was, I would skip this one.

I can and do go into heavier detail below. There might be some minor spoilers if you continue on.
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Most of my issues with this book revolve around the FMC and the plot. Let’s get into the FMC. We have a twenty something woman named Elise. A bit of background is that her father is in the Marines, so that means they moved around a lot as a child. This is the basis of a lot of Elise’s own admitted issues. She blames this as to why she avoids commitment in all forms, friendships, romantic relationships, her professional career, etc. She changes jobs every few months like clockwork and has been since she can remember, so when she tries to interview for the Marines “to finally make her parents proud of her�� they reject her on the basis of her having no commitment. This exasperates her already flighty personality and moves across the country from San Diego to New York City. Here she finds her latest interest, she is aspiring to be a journalist/reporter, so she gets a job in the Gotham Times, New York City’s most respected newspaper.

Elise is working in the kitchen delivering sandwiches to the reporters in the office and pitches some ideas to Karina, the managing editor, to have Karina give Elise a chance to write something. Elise has never gone to journalism school, and all the writers at Gotham Times have gone though journalism school and have a master’s degree and years of experience. She’s said and I quote “I’m not cut out for long hauls. I’d make it though one year of journalism school, tops. Forget about a master’s. I don’t have that kind of dedication inside me.�� She got he job delivering sandwiches to the writers in hopes of skipping all the steps and just getting to where she wants to go.

She goes as far as to somehow discover a corruption ploy between the deputy mayor and the construction union boss to out the current mayor during an election year where the deputy mayor is a candidate. We don’t get much of the WHY? on the corruption is happening we just know it is. Elise is playing a shitty Nancy Drew and following the deputy mayor and finds herself stuck on a tram back to NYC with three men. Tobias, the British former adult film star, Banks, the former star rugby player turned coach for a New York Rugby team, and last of all Gabe, the himbo of the group and building construction foreman.

The three men are INSTANTLY lusting over her (insert eye roll here) and there’s an immediate connection to each of them. But like Elise is wont to do, she runs from anything that could even smell like a bit of effort/commitment. I relate to her on literally one line only “I can barely tolerate one man, let alone three.�� Gabe makes it possible for the group to see her again after her very hasty exit of said tram. The guys show up at her office and Karina gives her an opportunity to write an article in the lifestyle column on what it would be like for a woman to be in a polyamorous relationship. She declines because shes not in a polyamorous relationship and she goes to tell the guys off. They are able to convince her to go on a date. The date is fun and ends with some sexy times and she realizes she has big feelings for all three of them and then they all fall asleep in the hotel room. In the morning she leaves before any of the guys are up, dick move in my opinion because she would definitely not like it if they did that to her but we move. They show up at her apartment as soon as they wake up and want her to talk about how it went and come to terms with none of them feel like this was a one and done thing. So they get her in a room to talk about her feelings, harmless right? Nope, she chooses to agree to date them for a limited time trial basis, and then right after, punches one of them in the stomach, pulls one’s beard til they’re on the ground, and then kicks the last one in the leg, all because “they made her talk about her feelings��.

BUT WAIT THERES MORE.

Once she decides to date them and starts coming to terms with her feelings for them she chooses to start writing the article that Karina gave her the opportunity to write. Tell me how a woman who is willingly choosing to date all three of these men starts this article like this: “What do an egomaniacal porn star, an emotionally bullied construction foreman, and a rugby coach with crippling mommy issues have in common? They all slept in the same bed as me last night. By a simple twist of fate �� and a Roosevelt Island tram malfunction �� there I was, trapped with a trio of walking red flags.�� She writes this and sends it off to Karina. It was exactly in this moment that I fought to DNF this book, and in hindsight I really should have because it only got worse from there.

Oh but wait there’s more, Elise single handedly solves Banks�� “crippling mommy issues��, and Gabe is able to stop being “emotionally bullied�� and find a backbone somewhere in her magical pussy, and Tobias is able to take the ‘I hide my pain and insecurity behind my charm and humor�� mask and ‘become a real man��.

The biggest issue I had makes this book get exponentially worse in my opinion, when, SHOCKER the article she wrote about her and the guy is getting published, and the reaction of the guys finding this article is taken. Tobias finds the article and is understandably and reasonably upset, but he’s the only one. Banks is ready to defend her like the best criminal lawyer in the world and tells Tobias he’s “overreacting��! Absolutely not, his feelings are completely fucking valid. I hated that the guys handled the conflict resolution amongst themselves. Banks inherently gaslit the shit out of Tobias�� feelings.

Honestly, I could keep going and I would, but writing this review is exhausting and I would like to hit ‘delete content�� in my brain for having read this book, but alas I cannot. So I am going to pretend I did not read this and move the fuck on. ]]> 3.27 2022
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2022/11/09
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: read-i-dont-reccommend, read-dont-waste-your-time, problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
*sigh*

Whatever you think this is, lower your expectations�� I mean it, keep lowering them.

How does one go from being one of my most anticipated releases to being one of the biggest disappointments of the year? Honestly I don’t know but this takes the cake. Y’all don’t understand how heartbreaking it is to say that, I (usually) love Tessa’s work and I love Why Choose Romances, immediately I suspected that this would be right up my alley and I would LOVE this. This was quite possibly one of the worst why choose romances I’ve ever read (and I’ve read A LOT of why choose romances).

Before I get into it, while I still have your attention, I want to tell you the ONLY parts I enjoyed about this book. They’re called Banks, Tobias, and Gabe. If it wasn’t for these three characters I would have DNF-ed this book, period. But, no matter how much I enjoyed these characters, I do not think the love interests alone can save this book or make it worth recommending.

The smut was okay, and the dirty talk was hot at parts, but no where near her other books.
The other words were a choice, that I was willing to look past: “sex�� in reference to her own bits or the guys, or ‘buns�� ‘bottom�� ‘buttock�� as her ass. But here is where I draw the line, Elise referring to her pussy, several times, as an “it��, (ex. “Fill it up for me. Now.�� Y’all can probably deduce she’s not talking about a car needing gas, but herself.)

The pacing, oh boy, this whole book takes place in maybe no more than 2 weeks? How can a woman who is a self proclaimed “commitment-phobe�� fall in love with three men in that short amount of time? Don’t get me started on the men, they ‘were completely changed�� since meeting her. “She was put in our paths to make all of us better. And we were put in hers, so we can worship her for it.�� The conflict also happened WAYYYYY too close to the end, besides the fact that I could have told you what the conflict was less than 10% into the book, it made for a rushed resolution.

All of this being said, no, I don’t recommend this book and if you do not want to be extremely disappointed with a highly anticipated release like I was, I would skip this one.

I can and do go into heavier detail below. There might be some minor spoilers if you continue on.
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Most of my issues with this book revolve around the FMC and the plot. Let’s get into the FMC. We have a twenty something woman named Elise. A bit of background is that her father is in the Marines, so that means they moved around a lot as a child. This is the basis of a lot of Elise’s own admitted issues. She blames this as to why she avoids commitment in all forms, friendships, romantic relationships, her professional career, etc. She changes jobs every few months like clockwork and has been since she can remember, so when she tries to interview for the Marines “to finally make her parents proud of her�� they reject her on the basis of her having no commitment. This exasperates her already flighty personality and moves across the country from San Diego to New York City. Here she finds her latest interest, she is aspiring to be a journalist/reporter, so she gets a job in the Gotham Times, New York City’s most respected newspaper.

Elise is working in the kitchen delivering sandwiches to the reporters in the office and pitches some ideas to Karina, the managing editor, to have Karina give Elise a chance to write something. Elise has never gone to journalism school, and all the writers at Gotham Times have gone though journalism school and have a master’s degree and years of experience. She’s said and I quote “I’m not cut out for long hauls. I’d make it though one year of journalism school, tops. Forget about a master’s. I don’t have that kind of dedication inside me.�� She got he job delivering sandwiches to the writers in hopes of skipping all the steps and just getting to where she wants to go.

She goes as far as to somehow discover a corruption ploy between the deputy mayor and the construction union boss to out the current mayor during an election year where the deputy mayor is a candidate. We don’t get much of the WHY? on the corruption is happening we just know it is. Elise is playing a shitty Nancy Drew and following the deputy mayor and finds herself stuck on a tram back to NYC with three men. Tobias, the British former adult film star, Banks, the former star rugby player turned coach for a New York Rugby team, and last of all Gabe, the himbo of the group and building construction foreman.

The three men are INSTANTLY lusting over her (insert eye roll here) and there’s an immediate connection to each of them. But like Elise is wont to do, she runs from anything that could even smell like a bit of effort/commitment. I relate to her on literally one line only “I can barely tolerate one man, let alone three.�� Gabe makes it possible for the group to see her again after her very hasty exit of said tram. The guys show up at her office and Karina gives her an opportunity to write an article in the lifestyle column on what it would be like for a woman to be in a polyamorous relationship. She declines because shes not in a polyamorous relationship and she goes to tell the guys off. They are able to convince her to go on a date. The date is fun and ends with some sexy times and she realizes she has big feelings for all three of them and then they all fall asleep in the hotel room. In the morning she leaves before any of the guys are up, dick move in my opinion because she would definitely not like it if they did that to her but we move. They show up at her apartment as soon as they wake up and want her to talk about how it went and come to terms with none of them feel like this was a one and done thing. So they get her in a room to talk about her feelings, harmless right? Nope, she chooses to agree to date them for a limited time trial basis, and then right after, punches one of them in the stomach, pulls one’s beard til they’re on the ground, and then kicks the last one in the leg, all because “they made her talk about her feelings��.

BUT WAIT THERES MORE.

Once she decides to date them and starts coming to terms with her feelings for them she chooses to start writing the article that Karina gave her the opportunity to write. Tell me how a woman who is willingly choosing to date all three of these men starts this article like this: “What do an egomaniacal porn star, an emotionally bullied construction foreman, and a rugby coach with crippling mommy issues have in common? They all slept in the same bed as me last night. By a simple twist of fate �� and a Roosevelt Island tram malfunction �� there I was, trapped with a trio of walking red flags.�� She writes this and sends it off to Karina. It was exactly in this moment that I fought to DNF this book, and in hindsight I really should have because it only got worse from there.

Oh but wait there’s more, Elise single handedly solves Banks�� “crippling mommy issues��, and Gabe is able to stop being “emotionally bullied�� and find a backbone somewhere in her magical pussy, and Tobias is able to take the ‘I hide my pain and insecurity behind my charm and humor�� mask and ‘become a real man��.

The biggest issue I had makes this book get exponentially worse in my opinion, when, SHOCKER the article she wrote about her and the guy is getting published, and the reaction of the guys finding this article is taken. Tobias finds the article and is understandably and reasonably upset, but he’s the only one. Banks is ready to defend her like the best criminal lawyer in the world and tells Tobias he’s “overreacting��! Absolutely not, his feelings are completely fucking valid. I hated that the guys handled the conflict resolution amongst themselves. Banks inherently gaslit the shit out of Tobias�� feelings.

Honestly, I could keep going and I would, but writing this review is exhausting and I would like to hit ‘delete content�� in my brain for having read this book, but alas I cannot. So I am going to pretend I did not read this and move the fuck on.
]]> 61109599 A steamy new rom-com about a starchy professor and the bubbly neighbor he clashes with at every turn...

Hallie Welch fell hard for Julian Vos at fourteen, after they almost kissed in the dark vineyards of his family's winery. Now the prodigal hottie has returned to their small town. When Hallie is hired to revamp the gardens on the Vos estate, she wonders if she'll finally get that smooch. But the grumpy professor isn't the teenager she remembers and their polar opposite personalities clash spectacularly. One wine-fueled girls' night later, Hallie can't shake the sense that she did something reckless--and then she remembers the drunken secret admirer letter she left for Julian. Oh shit.

On sabbatical from his Ivy League job, Julian plans to write a novel. But having Hallie gardening right outside his window is the ultimate distraction. She's eccentric, chronically late, often literally covered in dirt--and so unbelievably beautiful, he can't focus on anything else. Until he finds an anonymous letter sent by a woman from his past. Even as Julian wonders about this admirer, he's sucked further into Hallie's orbit. Like the flowers she plants all over town, Hallie is a burst of color in Julian's gray-scale life. For a man who irons his socks and runs on tight schedules, her sunny chaotic energy makes zero sense. But there's something so familiar about her... and her very presence is turning his world upside down.]]> 384 Tessa Bailey 0063238985 a 🔮 1
If you would like to continue reading my thoughts, be my guest.

So, I was a very big fan of Tessa for quite a bit. I no longer consider myself a fan, for many reasons but one of the most notable was the entirety of Happenstance. Now, you may be asking yourself, “Is one book enough to make you stop being a fan?�� Usually I would say no, but Happenstance was quite something, and it wasn’t good, bad is too nice of a word to describe that book. But I digress, this is a review for Secretly Yours, not Happenstance, although if you wanna have a hoot go read my review on that one.

Somehow this book managed to surpass my already “the bar is on the floor expectations��. Now, you may wonder if I was no longer a fan, why would I pick this book up? And I would answer with, hate reading is a hobby, but I couldn’t even hate read this properly it was so atrocious.

Now let’s get into the why, it was everything about this book to be quite honest. Well actually the best friend who owns a bakery wasn’t half bad.

So let me set the scene, we have our FMC Hallie. She is 28, owns a gardening/landscaping business, she took over this company from her grandmother who has passed away several months before the events of this book. The grandmother taught Hallie everything about gardening and finished raising her after Hallie’s mother left her. Then we have Julian, he is about 4 years older than Hallie. He is a professor who is home for the summer writing a book.

Hallie has been fully in love with Julian since she was 14, a freshman in high school, and he was about 18, a senior in the same high school. She has been nurturing this crush for 15 years, meanwhile JULIAN DOESN’T KNOW SHE EXISTS.

“For the last fifteen years, she’d been spinning alternate endings in her mind, occasionally even going so far as watching his history lectures on YouTube—and responding to his rhetorical questions out loud, like some kind of psychotic, one-sided conversationalist. Though she would take that humiliating practice to the grave.��

They had been at the same party one time when she was 14 and they were almost going to kiss but Julian realized she was a freshman and did not kiss her. She has been hung up on this almost kiss for 15 years. Not getting kissed by Julian is apparently comparable to losing a grandparent. “She could also feel the way he’d snagged her wrist and dragged her back to the party, muttering about her being a freshman. The greatest tragedy of her life, right up until she’d lost her grandmother, was not landing that kiss from Julian Vos.��

Her level of obsession over this guy who didn’t know she existed, or even remembered her all these years later, was so bad that she made herself and Julian A WEDDING SCRAPBOOK IN THE NINTH GRADE.

There are so many things wrong with this book it would be exhausting to list them all. So I’ll stick to the really bad ones.

First interaction of both of them on page and he’s staring at her “big boobs, very big boobs��. Like there’s a part of dialogue and she says something and in his pov it’s like “[whatever words] said the boobs��. ]]> 3.25 2023
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2023/02/26
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: audiobooks, problematic-author-to-not-read
review:
Ok y’all have been waiting for this one for like 3 weeks, buckle in cuz this is going to be a long one and not so nice. But if you want to know my short thoughts? NO. AVOID THIS BOOK LIKE THE FUCKING PLAGUE.

If you would like to continue reading my thoughts, be my guest.

So, I was a very big fan of Tessa for quite a bit. I no longer consider myself a fan, for many reasons but one of the most notable was the entirety of Happenstance. Now, you may be asking yourself, “Is one book enough to make you stop being a fan?�� Usually I would say no, but Happenstance was quite something, and it wasn’t good, bad is too nice of a word to describe that book. But I digress, this is a review for Secretly Yours, not Happenstance, although if you wanna have a hoot go read my review on that one.

Somehow this book managed to surpass my already “the bar is on the floor expectations��. Now, you may wonder if I was no longer a fan, why would I pick this book up? And I would answer with, hate reading is a hobby, but I couldn’t even hate read this properly it was so atrocious.

Now let’s get into the why, it was everything about this book to be quite honest. Well actually the best friend who owns a bakery wasn’t half bad.

So let me set the scene, we have our FMC Hallie. She is 28, owns a gardening/landscaping business, she took over this company from her grandmother who has passed away several months before the events of this book. The grandmother taught Hallie everything about gardening and finished raising her after Hallie’s mother left her. Then we have Julian, he is about 4 years older than Hallie. He is a professor who is home for the summer writing a book.

Hallie has been fully in love with Julian since she was 14, a freshman in high school, and he was about 18, a senior in the same high school. She has been nurturing this crush for 15 years, meanwhile JULIAN DOESN’T KNOW SHE EXISTS.

“For the last fifteen years, she’d been spinning alternate endings in her mind, occasionally even going so far as watching his history lectures on YouTube—and responding to his rhetorical questions out loud, like some kind of psychotic, one-sided conversationalist. Though she would take that humiliating practice to the grave.��

They had been at the same party one time when she was 14 and they were almost going to kiss but Julian realized she was a freshman and did not kiss her. She has been hung up on this almost kiss for 15 years. Not getting kissed by Julian is apparently comparable to losing a grandparent. “She could also feel the way he’d snagged her wrist and dragged her back to the party, muttering about her being a freshman. The greatest tragedy of her life, right up until she’d lost her grandmother, was not landing that kiss from Julian Vos.��

Her level of obsession over this guy who didn’t know she existed, or even remembered her all these years later, was so bad that she made herself and Julian A WEDDING SCRAPBOOK IN THE NINTH GRADE.

There are so many things wrong with this book it would be exhausting to list them all. So I’ll stick to the really bad ones.

First interaction of both of them on page and he’s staring at her “big boobs, very big boobs��. Like there’s a part of dialogue and she says something and in his pov it’s like “[whatever words] said the boobs��.
]]> 56781947 210 Tessa Bailey a 🔮 4 4.11 2021
author: Tessa Bailey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/08
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: problematic-author-to-not-read
review:

]]> 218586686
objective:

steal brother’s girlfriend
work the tattoo shop
pierce
skateboard
play drums
be the hotter twin


PLAYER TWO: FAUNA

objective:

snacks
dress in all pink
excel in favorite RPG game
play with kittens
beat V for Valin

sWitch is a masc loves femme, contemporary dark sapphic romantic comedy.
Start game?]]> 201 Kat Blackthorne a 🔮 1 3.80
author: Kat Blackthorne
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.80
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 226065997 Doesn’t matter that it’s not-so-secretly Mafia-run, that the lecturers are dodgy, that there’s a whole slew of illegal going-ons just beneath the surface.
I’m scholarship. Forever on the fringes. Away from all that stuff.
Until the night I meet them.
Elly with her gentle dominance and large heart.
Haz with her dark, sweet possessiveness.
And Nic, the dangerous girl who hates me.
They were there when I needed them, but now they’re relentless.
Bent on claiming me. To make me theirs.
They’re wearing me down, I’m losing the fight.
I want to lose the fight.
But there’s something else brewing with Nic. Something sinister.
Something I’m just not getting...
It’s hard to keep my head down when they’re everywhere I look.
To leave this place unscathed, I’ll have to watch my step with these tricky girls.

*
Tricky Girls is part one in a sapphic, why-choose duet.
Tropes include enemies to lovers, sapphic awakening, found family and hidden identity.
Content warnings can be found inside the cover.]]> 373 Holly Thorne a 🔮 1 4.24
author: Holly Thorne
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 219397924 Ameri Morrel has had bad days. But being thrust into a realm of shadows, one she never even knew existed? That was a new low.

Now she has to find her way back home. Back to her life dodging pretentious male suitors and wearing tight little corsets. That's what she wants. The world of shadows is too different, too weird. The women wear slacks, for gods' sake.

Luck sends her right into the lap of the realm's queen: a towering, vicious woman who looks more like a soldier than a ruler. A woman whose dark eyes watch her like she's something to eat. Unfortunately for Ameri, a bargain with the broody, shadow-wielding demon might be her only way out.

Renna had just about given up trying to break the curse. So when a cute little human with angry hazel eyes shows up, smelling deliciously like cherries and demanding her help, she's completely disarmed. Disarmed and enthralled. There's no way for the little human to get back home. But Renna just can't resist. A promise to help the woman find a way, in exchange for a little taste...

Except, once she has a taste, she's not sure she can let her go.


This novella is complete with a HEA. It is the first in a series of standalones and is told in first-person alternating POVs. Trigger Warnings include sexual content, death, and violence. Details inside. ]]> 216 Nyx Wood a 🔮 3 4.41
author: Nyx Wood
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.41
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 220922076 A ruthless vampire. A powerful witch. A healer with a hidden legacy. A searing paranormal romance that proves three hearts can beat as one.Elena, the head of Miami’s vampire cartel, never expected her ex-girlfriend Zuri—a powerful witch—to storm back into her life demanding help with a rival coven. Seeing Zuri again, Elena knows she would do anything for the woman she once shared scorching nights and dark secrets with.

But before Elena can act, betrayal strikes, leaving her wounded and trapped in a human hospital with no memory of her attack. Desperate and vulnerable, Elena clings to Marisol—a nurse with potent healing abilities she barely understands.

Even as mortal danger looms, the sensual tension between Elena, Zuri, and Marisol becomes irresistible. Their lives intertwine in a throuple romance that burns with desire while peril mounts. Together, they confront Elena’s vampire enemies, the danger to Zuri’s coven, and uncover Marisol's hidden lineage.

For Love and Blood and Fury is a heart-pounding, steamy sapphic paranormal romance where the ultimate power lies in the fierce bond of three women who will fight—and love—till the end.]]> 364 J.J. Arias a 🔮 2 4.50
author: J.J. Arias
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 223979222
Despite being raised as an omega her entire life, she has unexplainable alpha and beta attributes that concern her professors and call her designation into question. Something is clearly wrong and she needs answers.

To prove she's an omega and secure her place at the academy, Raeli seeks out a heat specialist but she gets far worse news than she could have imagined.

She isn't an omega at all.

What's worse? No one seems to know what she is.

Now, she has to travel to the top designation research center in the country if she wants answers. But what she finds there is much more than she bargained for.

Female alpha, Amelia Torres, has dedicated her life to designation research, and she's just about seen it all. So when Raeli shows up with baffling test results, it shakes everything she knows about her field.

Not to mention, there's something magnetic about her newest patient that she can't explain. A bone-deep sense of yearning that would typically be reserved for a scent match has the alpha in a chokehold��

But Raeli isn't her match, and making a move could jeopardize the validity of her work and her job at the research center.

Will taking a risk ruin everything? Or will it prove to the world that there is more to designations than meets the eye?

Delta is an FF omegaverse romance standalone in the Honeyverse.]]> 309 R.K. Pierce a 🔮 3 4.08
author: R.K. Pierce
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.08
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 221609337 *Book one of a duet*

When Ophelia Winters accepts a scholarship at a prestigious Scottish university to prove that her parents' death was the fault of Cain Green, an American aviation tycoon, her plan is simple; keep her grades up and her head down. The last thing she wants is to wind up in a mafia war or step on the toes of royalty.

Her plan gets off to a rocky start when the mysterious man that almost kills her on her first day turns out to be Cain's eldest son. As far as she’s concerned, Alex Corbeau-Green is a younger version of his billionaire father. A monster hiding beneath a beautiful facade.

Loneliness has been Ophelia’s only dependable companion for years, but when anonymous threats and mysterious occurrences start to haunt her time at Sorrowsong, she wonders if she really can survive there on her own.

Between being paired together for a project and ending up as each other’s alibi for a murder, avoiding Alex becomes increasingly impossible. She begins to fall for the soft heart that hides beneath his hard exterior.

Tormented by a malicious stalker and growing closer to Alex, Ophelia’s desperation for revenge wavers for the first time. Can she really bring herself to pull the trigger on Cain now that she knows the family it’ll split into two?
__________

Dark Academic Romance - Enemies to Lovers - Slow Burn - University Setting

This work is dark in places and contains several triggers throughout. Please heed the warnings before reading.]]> 359 Autumn Woods a 🔮 0 dnf-for-now 4.21 2025
author: Autumn Woods
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: dnf-for-now
review:

]]> 212808316 AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES , USA TODAY, AND #1 INDIE BESTSELLER!

A Kids' Indie Next Pick
BookPage Most Anticipated YA Books of 2025 selection
ŷ������ Most Anticipated Releases of 2025 selection

Brimming with magic and romance, a young fairy queen must form an unlikely alliance or risk an unspeakable danger destroying all she holds dear in this fantasy adventure from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft.

“Enchanting and achingly romantic. Readers will feel as if they’ve stepped right into Pixie Hollow.”—Sasha Peyton Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven

It’s been centuries since a warm-season fairy in Pixie Hollow has crossed into the Winter Woods, and while most fear the legends of monsters lurking in the frozen lands, Clarion, can’t help being intrigued by Winter’s stoic beauty. But under the watchful eyes of the current monarch and the court's seasonal ministers, Clarion has little time to dwell on daydreams while the days to her coronation dwindle away.

That is, until reports of a monster crossing from Winter into Spring make their way to the palace. Clarion sees defeating this threat as an opportunity to prove that she is worthy of her new role. But instead of finding a monster at the edge of Winter, she finds Milori, a young guardian of the Winter Woods. Together, they form an unlikely bond as they race to save their lands.

But as their alliance warms to something more, they will discover there is a reason a warm-season fairy and a winter fairy must not be together. And the cost could be just as deadly as the monsters that prowl the Winter Woods.

Discover the origin of the sweeping, star-crossed romance between the queen of Pixie Hollow and the lord of the Winter Woods.]]> 400 Allison Saft 1368098452 a 🔮 0 to-read 4.23 2025
author: Allison Saft
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219290944
Jordan Alexander is in a rut. Her life is not what she envisioned for herself, and she’s barely able to scrape by on the salary she makes as a coffee shop manager. Suddenly facing the daunting prospect of either finding a new roommate or a more affordable place to live, Jordan's stress levels reach a boiling point.

Noémie St. Pierre is a customer from hell. Every weekday morning, Noémie struts into the coffee shop like she owns the place and often makes a fuss. Jordan can’t stand the woman.

But Noémie's life isn't as perfect as it seems, and when her father—founder of the globally expanding Poutine Heaven franchise—cuts off her financial support, Noémie's world is turned upside down. Desperate, Noémie gets a job at the coffee shop, and upon learning of Jordan’s housing woes, proposes they move in together. Reluctantly, Jordan agrees.

As they navigate their new living arrangement, Jordan uncovers surprising depth to Noémie that challenges her previous assumptions, and she develops feelings she never expected. But Noémie dates men, and Jordan doesn’t do relationships. So, all Jordan can hope is that her feelings won’t brew complications.]]> 291 M.C. Hutson 1738253856 a 🔮 4 3.64 2025
author: M.C. Hutson
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 32302223
Donath treats regret as a feminist issue: as regret marks the road not taken, we need to consider whether alternative paths for women may currently be blocked off. Donath asks that we pay attention to what is forbidden by our contemporary rules governing motherhood, time, and emotion, including the cultural assumption that motherhood is a “natural�� role for women—for the sake of all women, not just those who regret becoming mothers.

Donath finds that the women in her study became mothers for a wide variety of reasons: some did so to avoid divorce, exclusion from their family, or alienation from their friends; others did not think about it at all, but accepted it as the “next step�� of what society considers to be a normal and natural life course. Others experienced regret despite initially having an strong desire to become mothers. Though they may love their children, these women each describe the agonizing guilt and suffering they have experienced as a result of becoming mothers, and consider the different ways they have each come to recognize and deal with these conflicts.]]> 243 Orna Donath 1623171377 a 🔮 2
Perhaps it’s listening to the audiobook that made it feel like this, but it felt more like a group interview in a podcast format than anything else. I was hoping for numbers and concrete data than the a variety of opinions.

I wish the people who were interviewed were more diverse. If the pool of interviewees were wider you could see different age groups, religions, edification levels, etc and how that impacted a person’s opinion on parenting.

I think the purpose of this book at the foundation is necessary, but it’s severely lacking in the execution department.]]> 4.14 2016
author: Orna Donath
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:
This read more like a series of questions with a handful of people to answer each one, and different groups of questions were separated into chapters.

Perhaps it’s listening to the audiobook that made it feel like this, but it felt more like a group interview in a podcast format than anything else. I was hoping for numbers and concrete data than the a variety of opinions.

I wish the people who were interviewed were more diverse. If the pool of interviewees were wider you could see different age groups, religions, edification levels, etc and how that impacted a person’s opinion on parenting.

I think the purpose of this book at the foundation is necessary, but it’s severely lacking in the execution department.
]]> 214169366 My fated mate betrayed me, leaving me broken and alone.

As the future beta of my pack, my destiny is set—until the neighboring alpha rejects our bond, shattering my heart and world.

Humiliation and heartbreak weren’t enough for the alpha. He attacks my pack, slaughtering everyone. I barely escape, searching for a new beginning.

Then things get even worse. Ambushed by rogue shifters, I face certain death.

Just as I prepare to fight to the end, a group of wolves emerge from the shadows, their raw power unlike anything I’d ever felt.

Kane, a dangerously alluring shifter, and his friends save me, turning my world upside down.

As secrets unravel, I realize nothing is as it seems. There’s more to my past than I knew, and Kane and I are bound by the same fate we both fear.

To survive, Kane and I must confront the shadows of our pasts we desperately want to escape.

Betrayed Mate is a fated mates wolf shifter romance that includes betrayal, morally gray characters, who did this to you, touch her and unalive, secret heritage, and found family tropes. One-click this story today. ]]> 229 Jen L. Grey a 🔮 2
Perhaps having it dual/multiple POV would have been beneficial to this because Ember had many moments that she not only repeated herself constantly, but was mind numbingly irritating.

Trust me, I don’t even know why I didn’t DNF it. Maybe because it was so short and I had days of effort already put in that I figured maybe it would be easier to just keep going?

Plus, the fact that this is an unfinished trilogy with a cliffhanger did make me a bit frustrated because it had only JUST started getting better right when it ended.

For a girl who didn’t even want to marry the dude (the mate who did the betraying hence the title), she is real broken up about it, which is just confusing to me. Like “oh I can’t let anyone else in my heart.��, “I can’t trust anyone other than my sister��, “look what happened the last time I let a man in�� etc. Like girl, if I didn’t want to be with this dude and he called it off I would be jumping for joy.

Jury is still out if I care enough to come back in March and May of this year when books 2 and 3 come out to finish the series. ]]> 4.16
author: Jen L. Grey
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:
It’s 229 pages and it took me 12 days to read, do with that information what you will.

Perhaps having it dual/multiple POV would have been beneficial to this because Ember had many moments that she not only repeated herself constantly, but was mind numbingly irritating.

Trust me, I don’t even know why I didn’t DNF it. Maybe because it was so short and I had days of effort already put in that I figured maybe it would be easier to just keep going?

Plus, the fact that this is an unfinished trilogy with a cliffhanger did make me a bit frustrated because it had only JUST started getting better right when it ended.

For a girl who didn’t even want to marry the dude (the mate who did the betraying hence the title), she is real broken up about it, which is just confusing to me. Like “oh I can’t let anyone else in my heart.��, “I can’t trust anyone other than my sister��, “look what happened the last time I let a man in�� etc. Like girl, if I didn’t want to be with this dude and he called it off I would be jumping for joy.

Jury is still out if I care enough to come back in March and May of this year when books 2 and 3 come out to finish the series.
]]> 223880190
LIAM Donovan is the carefree jokester everyone assumes he is. As a star right winger on Dayton’s D1 soccer team, he’s always ready with a sarcastic remark or teasing grin. But the nonstop banter? It’s a cover for the heavy weight of family expectations he struggles to bear. He doesn’t have time for a complicated artist who sees straight through his defenses.

When Birdie and Liam’s paths collide, what starts as a reluctant partnership quickly turns into something deeper. Late-night study sessions melt into midnight confessions, and they find themselves drawn into each other’s worlds in ways they never expected.

As the final stretch of soccer season heats up and Birdie’s fellowship deadline looms, they’ll have to decide if they’re willing to take a chance on each other. Because sometimes, leaning on someone else isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a leap of faith.]]> Ki Stephens a 🔮 5
This is Ki’s 6th full length novel, by golly does this woman know how to bring it.

I have been around since she released her first novel back in December of 2022, and she has managed to write banger after banger (after banger and so on��) I love her writing. I have said this once before, and I will continue to say it, Ki writes in a way where you’re getting wrapped in a big hug. The way she writes about love is so gentle, raw, real, and soft. High Hopes is another example of this.

Birdie and Liam stole my heart in a slow, unexpected way, the way they stole each other’s heart I’d assume.

Naturally, this is the part of the review where I list tropes so I can get you to pick up this book. We have a college sports romance between a soccer player (who is a civil engineering major, we love a man who knows how to ball and Aristotle) and an arts major (everyone say thank you, Ki for giving us a potter MC). We’ve got a neurodiverse golden retriever MMC paired with a black cat FMC who due to unforeseen circumstances has chronic pain/migraines and anxiety.

I don’t want to give too much away but their development as individuals and as pair was something so beautiful to witness. A chaotic start, a reluctant partnership, a soft and accepting friendship, and a slow realization that they already had feelings for each other.

Overall, this was a joy to read and always an honor to have the opportunity to ARC read for Ki. She’s been my favorite author for years now and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. ]]> 3.71
author: Ki Stephens
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves:
review:
Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy. This honest review was based off my experience reading this eARC, which in no way biased me. All opinions are my own.

This is Ki’s 6th full length novel, by golly does this woman know how to bring it.

I have been around since she released her first novel back in December of 2022, and she has managed to write banger after banger (after banger and so on��) I love her writing. I have said this once before, and I will continue to say it, Ki writes in a way where you’re getting wrapped in a big hug. The way she writes about love is so gentle, raw, real, and soft. High Hopes is another example of this.

Birdie and Liam stole my heart in a slow, unexpected way, the way they stole each other’s heart I’d assume.

Naturally, this is the part of the review where I list tropes so I can get you to pick up this book. We have a college sports romance between a soccer player (who is a civil engineering major, we love a man who knows how to ball and Aristotle) and an arts major (everyone say thank you, Ki for giving us a potter MC). We’ve got a neurodiverse golden retriever MMC paired with a black cat FMC who due to unforeseen circumstances has chronic pain/migraines and anxiety.

I don’t want to give too much away but their development as individuals and as pair was something so beautiful to witness. A chaotic start, a reluctant partnership, a soft and accepting friendship, and a slow realization that they already had feelings for each other.

Overall, this was a joy to read and always an honor to have the opportunity to ARC read for Ki. She’s been my favorite author for years now and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
]]> 218521562 Nothing ruins a perfectly good friendship quite like romance.

Amica should know. It’s happened to her more times than she can count.

From the destruction of her middle school reputation to her latest eviction, Amica knows that love and dating are nothing but tragedies lying in wait. When she senses another ill-fated romance creeping her way and threatening the stability of her friend group, Amica does what any sensible person

Snag the nearest hottie to pretend to be her boyfriend.

Austin is a great fake boyfriend, and he might even be the best friend she’s had in a while. There’s no danger of love’s usual messiness rearing its ugly head between them.

But Soren, Austin’s unnervingly blunt and unfairly alluring roommate, is a different matter entirely.

Roommates and Fake Dates is a WLW romance that will appeal to fans of Alison Cochrun's Kiss Her Once for Me and Alexandria Bellefleur's The Fiancée Farce.]]> 334 Ruby Whitlock 106893431X a 🔮 0 dnf DNF at 14%<br /><br /> 3.33
author: Ruby Whitlock
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF at 14%


]]> 57764810
Heartbroken by betrayal, Liliana thinks all is lost until she is unexpectedly rescued by two mysterious and beautiful noblewomen, Duchess Violante Martin and her closest friend Elena Moreno. The Duchess will erase Liliana's past if she agrees to be Elena's paramour while Violante is away advising the Queen of Spain. By day, Liliana would act as Elena's dutiful handmaiden. By night, she would satisfy Elena's every need and desire...

Liliana must decide whether she should walk away and take her chances on her own or explore her desires with the alluring Elena. Contains mature themes.

"Her Paramour" has been featured at #10 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Historical Erotica, #16 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Lesbian Erotica, and #20 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Gay Erotica.]]> 198 Luna Oblonsky a 🔮 3 4.22
author: Luna Oblonsky
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 53287923
That is until she meets Cole...

Gemma’s roommate, Collette Khloros, tests Gemma’s resolve for the first time and Gemma finds herself finally giving in to her desires. The more Gemma connects with Cole, the more difficult it is for Gemma to justify hiding her sexuality.

When things go wrong, Gemma has to choose between the life that she’s expected to accept and the one person who loves her for who she really is.

"Gemma" has been featured at #2 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Lesbian Fiction, and #4 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers in Lesbian Romance.]]> 197 Luna Oblonsky a 🔮 3 4.10 2020
author: Luna Oblonsky
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 198429800 183 Luna Oblonsky a 🔮 3 3.57
author: Luna Oblonsky
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 203955641 A spellbinding rivalry unraveled by fate...A sapphic romance born from the ashes of prejudice…A Regency Era tale of lust and magic.

Iona's magic thrives in ways that defy explanation.
The threads of fate pull Iona to Lysander College, an illustrious school for aristocratic witches of great renown. Though Iona is only a novice witch with no ancestral claim to old magic, her anomalous power garners the unwanted attention of imperious witches in her class.

Ariadne is a prodigy of magic descended from a prestigious bloodline of witches.
Ariadne is her family’s one hope of maintaining their noble status in high society. When Iona arrives at college under mysterious circumstances, wielding magic that somehow rivals Ariadne’s, she makes it her vendetta to put Iona in her place.

The scholarly witches of Lysander College share one common goal: to claim the coveted pendant of Morgan Le Fay.
Within the pendant's shimmering stones lies indomitable power, which can only be claimed by the witch who wins Morgan’s arcane trials in Spring. Ariadne must claim the pendant for her family or face the consequences should she fail. Ariadne will not let Iona steal her victory, though she might steal her heart.

Her Spell That Binds Me is an F/F rivals to lovers, dual POV, dark fantasy romance novel. Contains mature themes.]]> 499 Luna Oblonsky a 🔮 4
The only things that prevented me from rating this higher were 2 things. One, every single theory I developed pretty early on, I ended up being right. Which is a blessing and a curse, of course I’m trying to solve the mystery that is weaved in the plot, but also I wanted to be shocked at the plot twist. Alas I wasn’t but I do enjoy being right. The second part is that while this book took place within 2 semesters it was less than a year passed from the start to finish, and yet it was written so very slowly at parts and then occasionally between paragraphs, days or weeks would pass. It felt a bit slow overall, which is odd with all the action.

All in all, I had a good time. 3.5 rounded up for extra enjoyment. It was a slow start but once it started going it was smoother sailing from then on. I will be reading more of this author’s work. ]]> 4.11 2024
author: Luna Oblonsky
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:
It’s a book about sapphic witches going to a school of magic for a year to compete for a magical relic. The 2 fmcs begin as actual literal enemies since they’re both powerful and is the other’s competition to win the magical relic. There is quite a bit of forced proximity, and its def working its magic. The slow burn was slow burning. It was a journey to see them as strangers to enemies to hesitant partners to dare I say friends to lovers.

The only things that prevented me from rating this higher were 2 things. One, every single theory I developed pretty early on, I ended up being right. Which is a blessing and a curse, of course I’m trying to solve the mystery that is weaved in the plot, but also I wanted to be shocked at the plot twist. Alas I wasn’t but I do enjoy being right. The second part is that while this book took place within 2 semesters it was less than a year passed from the start to finish, and yet it was written so very slowly at parts and then occasionally between paragraphs, days or weeks would pass. It felt a bit slow overall, which is odd with all the action.

All in all, I had a good time. 3.5 rounded up for extra enjoyment. It was a slow start but once it started going it was smoother sailing from then on. I will be reading more of this author’s work.
]]> 219479932 A good daughter, a good friend, a good person.
It shouldn't be that hard, right?

Hunter Whitlock doesn't care about being good.
He just wants to be left alone.
Turns out, that's not so easy.
Turns out, when it comes to the pretty girl in the flowery dresses, that's not what he wants at all.


Bloom is a single POV, small town romance following a shy florist and her grumpy cowboy love interest. The Serenity Ranch Series is a spin-off series of The Sun Valley Series. It is not required to read Sun Valley, but it is recommended.]]> 412 E.J. Blaise a 🔮 0 dnf DNFing at 12%<br /> 3.97
author: E.J. Blaise
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: dnf
review:
DNFing at 12%

]]> 218542301
Kayleigh has sworn off dating after enduring a toxic relationship with her ex and vows to stay single to prioritise herself in her healing journey. As she navigates university life and focuses on her friendships, she gradually begins to embrace the self-love that she desperately needs.

Kayden is eager to find the woman matched with him by the Moon Goddess. After watching his pack members settle down with their fated mates, he constantly wonders when it’ll be his turn to share his heart of gold.

When he meets Kayleigh, he immediately feels drawn to her and discovers he can hear her thoughts—an ability he should only be able to experience with his fated mate and his pack. Despite their magnetic attraction, he tells himself to resist. Kayleigh is human, and he knows he shouldn’t fall for someone outside of his world.

But with their inability to stay apart, Kayden gradually works his way into Kayleigh’s guarded heart. She might try to resist his flirtatious nature, but even she cannot ignore their undeniable connection.

With their bond growing stronger each day, the last thing they expect is a visitor to arrive and tear their world apart.

Their love might be magical, but can it beat the fates?]]> Savanna Rose a 🔮 3 3.99
author: Savanna Rose
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 203578896 The first unauthorized look at the inner workings―and ultimate breakdown―of the Disney Channel machine

For many kids growing up in the 2000s, there was no cultural touchstone more powerful than Disney Channel, the most-watched cable channel in prime time at its peak. Today it might best be known for introducing the world to talents like Hilary Duff, Raven-Symoné, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and Zendaya.

It wasn't always destined for greatness: When Disney Channel launched in 1983, it was a forgotten stepchild within the Walt Disney Company, forever in the shadow of Disney’s more profitable movies and theme parks. But after letting the stars of their Mickey Mouse Club revival―among them Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling―slip through their fingers, Disney Channel reinvented itself as a powerhouse tween network. In the new millennium it churned out billions of dollars in original content and triple-threat stars whose careers were almost entirely controlled by the corporation. Suddenly everyone wanted a piece of the pie―and there were constant clashes between the studio, network, labels, and creatives as Disney Channel became a pressure cooker of perfection for its stars.

From private feuds and on-set disasters, to fanfare that swept the nation and the realities of child stardom, culture journalist Ashley Spencer offers the inside story of the heyday of TV’s House of Mouse, featuring hundreds of exclusive new interviews with former Disney executives, creatives, and celebrities to explore the highs, lows, and everything in between.]]> 336 Ashley Spencer 1250283450 a 🔮 3 4.00 2024
author: Ashley Spencer
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:
I always struggle with rating books like these. Like yes the information was great, but the experience wasn’t like life changing, you know?
]]> 211974738
I regret nothing.
��
Okay, maybe I regret some things.
In my defense, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get caught.
Also in my defense, I had no way of knowing that “The Incident�� would go viral.

But Toronto’s most notorious billionaire isn’t exactly known for his generous or understanding spirit, and he doesn’t want to hear my excuses.
Not when my little public stunt cost him the biggest investment deal of his career.

What he does want is cold, hard revenge.
And that’s how I find myself backed into a corner, forced to strike a deal with the snarly, green-eyed devil.
I have no choice but to be at his beck and call 24 hours a day, succumbing to his every bossy whim.
But as his demands—and the blistering tension—become increasingly unbearable, I can’t help but start to bite back.

Adrien Cloutier isn’t a man to be messed with, though.
And as the old saying goes, bad girls deserve to be punished.

This is a full-length enemies-to-lovers romance with loads of spicy banter and laugh-out-loud moments, featuring a dimpled bosshole devil in a suit and the smart-mouthed woman who brings him to his knees. (Literally.)

�� Enemies to lovers
�� Fake relationship
�� Only one bed
�� Three slow-burn peppers
�� Good girl]]> 434 Kyra Parsi a 🔮 0 dnf
You would think after how ever many years I’ve been on book spaces online, I’d learn my lesson in trusting hype in books, alas I have not.

“The man thought I was a straight-up imbecile with, like, two fully functioning brain cells max.��

Oh, don’t worry girl, he ain’t the only one.

I refuse to believe that there’s any way that this FMC got that high of an LSAT score, and yet acts that fucking ridiculously stupid. And that she has had ten whole years to get over a breakup and she hasn’t. She has the emotional maturity (and sense of humor) of a preteen.]]> 4.11 2023
author: Kyra Parsi
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF at 15%

You would think after how ever many years I’ve been on book spaces online, I’d learn my lesson in trusting hype in books, alas I have not.

“The man thought I was a straight-up imbecile with, like, two fully functioning brain cells max.��

Oh, don’t worry girl, he ain’t the only one.

I refuse to believe that there’s any way that this FMC got that high of an LSAT score, and yet acts that fucking ridiculously stupid. And that she has had ten whole years to get over a breakup and she hasn’t. She has the emotional maturity (and sense of humor) of a preteen.
]]> 217443065
**

After finishing his cardiology fellowship, Blake London moves to Boston with a single hope: fix as many hearts as he possibly can…including his own. Considering the one woman he's ever loved—his best friend from medical school—got engaged to another man, he needs to move on.

But that’s easier said than done, and Delaney proves harder to escape than he expected.

��

Delaney Delacroix's fiancé has fallen in love with another woman. Since love was never part of their arrangement, Delaney isn't upset about it. But it does mean she can't access her inheritance until finding a replacement husband, and she must put off her dreams of founding a specialty heart clinic for patients like her brother.

In the meantime, Delaney returns home to the East coast where she stumbles into Blake, whose abrupt cross-country move had devastated her. Their unexpected reunion is shocking, as is the reveal of Delaney’s broken engagement—her fake, broken engagement. But nothing stuns as much as Blake’s reaction: he promptly steps up to the plate. Or rather, the altar.

Their decade-long friendship can survive a year of playing husband and wife…right?]]> 463 Amelie Rhys a 🔮 0 to-read 4.12
author: Amelie Rhys
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219828380 A sapphic, fake dating, small town romance from Amazon top 50 best selling author, Hannah Cowan.

It was always the plan to come back home to Cherry Peak. But after being gone for four years, it’s apparently not as easy as I expected for things to go back to the way they used to be.

Instead, they get beyond complicated the moment I realize my brother’s house has paper thin walls and a general lack of privacy. Desperate for someplace else to stay, I move in with one of my brother’s friends. The only problem with that? Bryce can’t stand me.

Everyone in town calls her the Ice Queen, and over the first few days of living with her, I begin to understand why. She’s blunt, broody, and even cruel at times. But when I learn she could use some help in the dating department, I offer mine without a second thought.

It’s supposed to be a harmless favour, but somewhere along the line, Bryce stops being the woman who barely tolerates me, and starts becoming the one person who understands me best. The walls of ice she’s built up around herself start to crack, and the more I get to know what lies behind it, the more I realize how wrong I’ve been about her this entire time.

She might be frosty to everyone else, but to me . . . I think she’s the warmest person I’ve ever known.]]> 388 Hannah Cowan a 🔮 3 3.91
author: Hannah Cowan
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 63271217
Hazel

This trip was supposed to be about him. Chris, my dead fiancé.

I had it all planned.

The cabin. The friends, back together after a year of mourning. The annual ornament exchange.

But what I didn’t expect is Quinn. From the moment that little ‘going�� icon popped up beside her name, she was all I could think about. Her. That stupidly small dorm room. The way she’d made me feel.

I told myself I could ignore the messy feelings between us, but that all went out the door when we were snowed in together, alone.

It would take more than spiked hot cocoa to keep me from losing myself in the memories of her.

Quinn

All I wanted to do was give Hazel the space she needed to grieve.

She was my best friend, and so was her now dead fiancé.

It was the least I could do for the both of them.

But going up to that cabin was a mistake.

I could handle being next to Hazel when all our friends were around.

But when we were forced alone by a freak snow storm?

The memories of our past would resurface as the real world melted away, leaving me unable to separate my desire for her and the reality of our situation.

At least alone in the cabin, I could pretend she was mine once more.

Would I be willing to do whatever it took to keep her forever, or would I be ringing in the New Year alone?]]> 168 Eden Emory 1959187023 a 🔮 2 3.83
author: Eden Emory
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 219144401
LIAM Donovan is the carefree jokester everyone assumes he is. As a star right winger on Dayton’s D1 soccer team, he’s always ready with a sarcastic remark or teasing grin. But the nonstop banter? It’s a cover for the heavy weight of family expectations he struggles to bear. He doesn’t have time for a complicated artist who sees straight through his defenses.

When Birdie and Liam’s paths collide, what starts as a reluctant partnership quickly turns into something deeper. Late-night study sessions melt into midnight confessions, and they find themselves drawn into each other’s worlds in ways they never expected.

As the final stretch of soccer season heats up and Birdie’s fellowship deadline looms, they’ll have to decide if they’re willing to take a chance on each other. Because sometimes, leaning on someone else isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a leap of faith.]]> 329 Ki Stephens a 🔮 0 to-read 3.78
author: Ki Stephens
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201507497 A witch trapped in a marriage of convenience to a deadly gargoyle, and the demon who is determined to protect her.

I have the revenge against my father that I've always wanted. All it cost me was to get married.]]> 482 Lillian Lark a 🔮 3 4.02 2024
author: Lillian Lark
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 218279732 life, one with a future.

At her new rink, she’s required to give trial lessons before taking on students. But after her first lesson with a little girl named Lucy, she gets off the ice to talk to the parents, just to get a sucker punch from the past.

Because the man that Lucy just ran up to�� the man that she just called “dad��...

Is the only guy she ever loved.

And now he’s clenching his jaw and handing her a crisp $100 bill.

Looking down at it, her heart sinks through the lobby’s rubber floor at the realization of what it means�� And now she’s not quite sure she picked the right place to start over.

_____

NHL player Colt Conover didn’t want his 5-year-old daughter, Lucy, anywhere near a rink.

But after a couple run-ins with elementary school bullies leaves her confidence in tatters, he needs to do something.

And then he remembers the way an old flame used to talk about figure skating, the way she’d light up when explaining it to him. She said it was the only place she felt strong, and special, and fully herself�� And he wants that for his daughter.

It’s just ironic that the person who said that about figure skating, the person Colt was thinking of when he signed Lucy up for the lesson�� is the same person currently standing on the ice with her, giving her instruction.

It’s the girl he swore that he’d marry one day�� they even made a bet on it. He could still hear his young self saying it�� 100 bucks says I marry Meredith Bennett.

It was a real bet.

A bet he lost, and he’s still not quite sure how��

But one sure thing about Colt Conover is that he’s never been good at losing.

]]> 299 S.C. Kate a 🔮 2 4.10
author: S.C. Kate
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 211398151 110 Drea Denae a 🔮 3 3.75
author: Drea Denae
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 219877205


Mia Mattia is working hard, trying to pay off mountains of debt, and doesn't want to ask for help. When Ian unexpectedly intervenes to save her from a creep, it sparks conversation, chemistry, and opportunity. The more they see how well they work together both in front of an audience and when they're alone, the harder it is to believe that this is just for the holidays instead of forever.



The only people fooled by their hoax...is each other.]]> 153 Nichole Greene a 🔮 2 4.03
author: Nichole Greene
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.03
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 196920718
Princess Aurora longs to escape the castle and the marriage that has been arranged for her.

But on the night before her wedding, at a dog fight where captured werewolves are made to fight for sport, she spares the life of a young wolf. It puts her on the radar of the powerful alpha who was going to kill him. And it changes everything.

That night, when the alpha escapes, he kidnaps her and takes her to the rugged lands north of the border �� where the once warring werewolf clans are beginning to unite. He thinks that she is the key to winning the war against the humans.

Only, as they spend time around one another, forbidden attraction starts to grow. And as Aurora learns that not all wolves are bad, the alpha discovers that she is in danger from both his enemies, and those he once considered friends.

With monsters on both sides, a bloodthirsty war between humans and wolves raging, and undeniable passion growing between them �� will their story end in love? Or tragedy?

And will Aurora ever get home?

Does she even want to?]]> 475 Lauren Palphreyman a 🔮 4 Yes.

Did I enjoy it even if it was predictable?
Absolutely.

Am I practically feral for book 2?
Without a doubt.
]]> 4.17 2023
author: Lauren Palphreyman
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
Did every single one of my theories come to pass?
Yes.

Did I enjoy it even if it was predictable?
Absolutely.

Am I practically feral for book 2?
Without a doubt.

]]> 218625593 She’s resigned to being single.
They’re on a mission to change her mind.

Ivy Noelle Winter is content with being a 31-year-old unbonded omega with no prospects of a pack. She adores teaching fifth grade, she has wonderful friends �� and that baking show marathon isn’t going to watch itself.

Until a snowstorm and power outage traps Ivy in her classroom after hours…with three men.

Rome, the new alpha music teacher.

James, the flirtatious beta vet he’s bonded to.

And Logan, the town’s grumpy alpha electrician.

Their scents call to Ivy and her body answers, setting off her first-ever mini heat. When the pheromones settle, she gets a proposition beyond her wildest dreams �� a chance to be a pack.

But there’s no such thing as a perfect courtship, especially when the biggest roadblock to happiness might be Ivy herself.

A Pack for Winter is a standalone MMFM why choose small town romance. It is part of the Cozyverse shared universe, bringing you cozy omegaverse full of heart, heat and humor.]]> 334 Eliana Lee 0645971669 a 🔮 1 4.06 2024
author: Eliana Lee
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 221582807
Make the men who broke her heart fall to their knees begging for forgiveness, of course.

Candy has spent the last six months pouting around Cupidale, wondering why the two men she finally had a connection with haven’t reached out. What good is a cupid if she isn’t lovable?

But Krampus and Mortem have realized their mistake in not pursuing the cupid of their dreams and are ready to grovel. It might take a Christmas Miracle, but the gossip mills in Cupidale say we might have another match made in heaven.

That is, as long as Candy feels they’ve earned her heart.]]> 123 Sarah Blue a 🔮 4 3.98
author: Sarah Blue
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 35095979 Alternate cover edition of ASIN: B072BMG5LS

Dommik was a monster, a Monster Hunter, and an alpha. Part of an elite group that dealt with the horrors of the universe. At least that was what everyone at the spaceport was whispering as he walked by. A Cyborg, a hunter, a beast with eyes as dark as the pits of Hell and the stride of a predator.

Katalina was a nobody who was intimate with death. It clung to her like a shroud, It followed her like the plague, and infected her like a parasite. When she overheard that the Monster Hunter needed an assistant, she took the job. And when the Cyborg’s eyes caught hers, she knew getting closer to death might just bring her back to life.

The Cyborg didn’t scare her.
So she followed him and left fate up to chance.

Warning: mature readers only, explicit sex scenes.

Book one of Cyborg Shifters, same universe as Stranded in the Stars, every book is a standalone that only subtly builds off of the others.]]> 236 Naomi Lucas a 🔮 1 3.73 1996
author: Naomi Lucas
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1996
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 209348457 206 Leah Legend a 🔮 3 3.19
author: Leah Legend
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.19
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 217934172
Until an alpha wolf billionaire walks into the bakery where she works.

Conner came into Magickal Morsels to find a spelled scone to help him finally close a lucrative deal with a reluctant CEO. He's irritated. Furious, even. The wolf shifter almost doesn't notice the pretty woman behind the counter. But then he takes a bite, and suddenly, she consumes his thoughts.

Did she give him a love spell? Because, if so, there are going to be big problems. She'll either ruin his deal or break his heart.

The heartwarming novel Spelled Scones transports readers to a small town where a grumpy character and a sunny personality collide, creating a delightful romantic dynamic. With its cozy setting and guaranteed happily ever after, this book is a must-read for romance lovers.

Tropes:

Grumpy x Sunshine
Small town
Meet cute
Age gap
Have you met my brothers
Fated mates
Spicy 🌶🌶🌶]]> 164 Fleur DeVillainy 1959356194 a 🔮 2 3.17
author: Fleur DeVillainy
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.17
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 174733026
Winter is a Priestess, her life is simple and uncomplicated, but shortly takes a turn when she is appointed as an aide for a Mage who intends to stop the God of Death from spreading a plague that would end their world. Both of them begin searching the Urvalis library for answers and find more than they had bargained for.

And as the end approaches, the questions begin vaguing.]]> 141 Wendy Heiss a 🔮 3 4.00 2023
author: Wendy Heiss
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 214393067 When Daddy’s away, the brats will play��

Brooklynn and Finley are tired of the meetings and work trips that keep their Daddy, Lucas at bay.
Even with all the phone calls, promises, and an upcoming honeymoon vacation, there is only so much two deprived good girls can handle��

When Brookynn and Finley find solace in the arms of one another, they are soon met with a choice. Give into one another, or risk the punishment of their Daddy.
But what Daddy doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?

Will temptation lure these brats into salvation? Or will they find themselves at the mercy of their Daddy when he makes his way back home much earlier than planned?]]> 104 Lenore Danvers a 🔮 1 3.54
author: Lenore Danvers
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.54
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 201768954
So she asks the best man, Jace (tall, dark, and brooding), to pretend their platonic friendship is something more not to have to face the worst day of her life alone.

Fake dating one best friend to forget the other should be easy�� Plot twist—it’s not. When Jace starts acting like the sweetest, most attentive boyfriend, Lori begins to wonder if she’s been seeing him wrong all this time?

They've been an inseparable trio since freshman year, but now everything is changing �� and that's not even bringing Jace's feelings into the mix.

Basically? It’s complicated.]]> 274 Camilla Isley 1835336434 a 🔮 2 3.82 2024
author: Camilla Isley
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
2.5 rounded down for GR. The first 75% was probably in the 3-3.5 range but the last 25% really lost control of the plot.
]]> 197386920
Mara Vance never thought her “useless�� psychology degree would lead to studying an actual monster. Subject X-13, aka “The Nightmare,�� is armed with sharp teeth, claws, and a constantly shifting form�� yet Mara finds the huge shadow creature as intriguing as he is terrifying.

But as Mara studies him, she soon realizes that the Nightmare is far more intelligent than her shady superiors say he is. And every night, she indulges in twisted fantasies about the same monster. What happens in her dreams stays in her dreams - right?

Everyone says he’s nothing more than a monster. But when dream and reality collide, Mara must decide how much she’s willing to trust him - and herself. Will she risk setting him free, or will she lose him forever?]]> 248 Skyla Gray a 🔮 2 3.86
author: Skyla Gray
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 219753776 After her parents�� deaths, Mackenzie was struggling to make ends meet.

Bartending really only got her so far.

She took up a life of cat burglary to help her get through paying those bills, along with the mountain of medical debt left behind.

Unfortunately, that type of lifestyle wasn’t sustainable.

At least, not when you pick the wrong house to hit . . .

**Author's This book was previously released in the Masked Desires Anthology. This is a novella in the Choose Me OV world. These are new characters, not yet mentioned in any other story. It contains MM and MF scenes.]]> 60 R.A. Alyse a 🔮 2 4.06
author: R.A. Alyse
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 203749167
Luca Serrano had a dark past that led to him owing money to dangerous men. Wanting a new lease on life, he takes the new teaching position in the English hall at Lunar Crest University to pay off his debts. But one measly run in with the raven-haired beauty might ruin everything for him.

In which two opposites collide like fire and ice, a sinner and a saint. Boundaries will be crossed. Morals will be tested. Will they manage to emerge unscathed?]]> Cassidy Hudspeth a 🔮 3 4.15
author: Cassidy Hudspeth
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 211004924 DELUXE EDITION—featuring beautiful original illustrated stenciled edges with a foil case stamp, and designed endpapers!

An instant New York Times bestseller!

House of the Dragon meets From Blood and Ash in this epic, scorching dark romantasy.

A conqueror captivated��
A witch prophesied to save them all��
An unforgiving world where dragons rule Rome.

Julian Dakkia, Roman general and nephew to the emperor, has played his role as conqueror well. Yet, the moment he laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him, a captive on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate.

The rules of their world dictate that he is the conqueror and she is the captured. But he and his dragon know one thing: their bond has nothing to do with the laws of mighty Rome. She belongs to them. And they belong to her.

Fierce and powerful, twenty-one-year old Malina has survived the loss of her family and she is determined to fight until her dying breath. Still, she can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality…and now holds her life in his hands. Nor can she deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his. Slowly she learns that Julian is caught in his mad uncle’s machinations for domination, and helps him plot the downfall of the empire itself.

As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.

Firebird is a fantasy with some dark themes, including elements of master/slave relationship, attempted sexual assault (not between MCs), and dubious consent (not between MCs). Readers who may be sensitive to these elements, please take note.]]> 400 Juliette Cross 1250339944 a 🔮 0 to-read 3.57 2025
author: Juliette Cross
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214387949
When an ill-advised date with her Godson’s math teacher goes horribly wrong, she brings him under her protection while she figures out who’s sabotaging her operation.

Nate, the goofy, dog-owning teacher, wants nothing to do with her after learning that she’s the queen of organized crime in the city. But when the choice is life or death, he chooses to accept her help and move in for the summer. Bored out of his mind, though, Nate offers his services on the hunt for a suitable husband, interviewing every eligible mafioso in Massachusetts.

But when more sparks begin to fly between her and Nate instead of her and her suitors... she starts to wonder. Can they work and live together, without falling for each other along the way?]]> 354 Kath Richards a 🔮 5 4.05
author: Kath Richards
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 219098193
Meanwhile, Mary Morelli is floundering. As the youngest daughter and top enforcer of the Morelli crime family, Mary is a force to be reckoned with, but she’s beginning to crumble under the weight of trying to keep her sisters�� growing families safe. In a fit of anxiety, Mary comes up with the perfect solution: marry the Russian. The calculated union will be mutually beneficial, offering protection and power both ways, and conveniently passionless. To cement the deal, she vows to him that she will never, ever fall in love with him.

Maxim has been watching Mary for months, both fascinated and thrilled by her. A no-feelings-attached marriage to Mary Morelli is like a dream, but keeping his heart neutral proves harder than he expected as she worms her way under his skin and into his life. Can their marriage remain a business deal without feelings getting in the way?]]> Kath Richards a 🔮 0 to-read 5.00 2025
author: Kath Richards
name: a 🔮
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218643750 She was looking for quiet.
She found them instead.

Starlight Grove needs a new Lighthouse Keeper and Olive Autumn Harvest needs a fresh start. Preferably one with as much solitude as possible. So, her new job and isolated ocean cottage is perfect—except for the eccentric, meddling townspeople, and the cat who’s adopted her.

When the town wins a grant for lighthouse restoration, Olive is forced to let the contractors into her space…a company comprised of three hot alphas:

Easton, her golden retriever stalker.

Lars, the steady, protective viking.

And Finn, who’s hiding a pain that matches her own.

Suddenly, these guys are everywhere—and they’re completely unfazed by Olive’s prickly personality as they try to care for her, protect her, and court her.

But everyone in this relationship is holding on to secrets�� and it might not just be the lighthouse that needs restoration.

A Pack for Autumn is a standalone MFMM why choose small town romance. It is part of the Cozyverse shared universe, bringing you cozy omegaverse full of heart, heat, and humor. ]]> 362 Emilia Emerson a 🔮 2 3.94 2024
author: Emilia Emerson
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 221285493 Starting over is hard. Falling for her gorgeous butch roommate might make it impossible.

When a tall, stunning butch protects Mira from her ex-boyfriend at the club—and offers her a safe place to stay—Mira should be relieved. Not flustered. She’s not into women.

Yet this tough electrician with curves for days makes Mira’s heart race like never before.

But Isabel, wounded by grief, forces Mira to keep her distance. Until Mira’s desperate to win a union election at work—and only Isabel has the experience to teach her how.

Soon they’re lingering over dinner, teasing each other as the apartment heats up. And Isabel is making her coffee every morning, hanging her shelves, giving her smoldering looks before bed��

But Mira can’t afford temptation. Not after living with her nightmare ex.

No matter how well Isabel takes care of her…or how much Isabel needs healing, too.

She can’t risk her freedom—or her heart.

Make Room for Love is a steamy slow-burn romance starring a trans woman discovering she’s bi and finding her happily ever after.]]> 346 Darcy Liao a 🔮 0 dnf-for-now 3.88 2024
author: Darcy Liao
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves: dnf-for-now
review:
DNF at 12%. It’s a really slow start and idk one of the FMC’s is rubbing me the wrong way. I might revisit this later.
]]> 217043465
After my husband left, all I wanted was to find myself again. Turns out that’s a lot easier said than done when my chronic pain has me canceling plans and everything I try reminds me of my inadequacies.

Things only get worse when my attempt at exploring submission is a total disaster. But hope comes in the form of my stoic, stunning vampire friend, Blair. She offers to teach me, giving me a space to safely explore a side of myself I’ve kept locked away.

It’s meant to be platonic. Just one friend helping another. So then why can’t I stop imagining what it would be like to take things further?

A vampire losing control��
I’ve spent the past ten years building a life where I’m in control. I swore I’d never go back to being the pathetic, emotional girl I was before I was turned.

Then Grace showed up.

I knew from the moment we met she’d be a problem. My monster craves her in a way that terrifies me, and her humor and beauty pierce through the cracks in my carefully crafted, cold facade. Yet keeping my distance would ruin one of the few friendships I have.

How do I shore up the crumbling barriers around my heart before I end up more broken and alone than I was the night I became a vampire?

Afterglow is a spicy, slow burn sapphic romance featuring a jaded, lonely vampire FMC and a bubbly, anxious human FMC.
Afterglow is Book 2 in the Monsters of Moonvale series, however, it can be read as a standalone.]]> Emily Antoinette a 🔮 2 2.5 rounded down 4.20 2024
author: Emily Antoinette
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:
2.5 rounded down
]]> 217111282 An alien criminal in hiding. An enticing female he can’t ignore. But can he protect her from his violent past?

With her birthday just around the corner, Mina Walker has found herself reflecting on her life.

Thirty and still stuck in her tiny hometown.

Thirty and still clinging to the ghosts of people she lost years ago.

Thirty and still alone. Still a virgin.

She refuses to spend this birthday by herself. So when chance brings her face to face with the town’s mysterious newcomer, she knows exactly who she wants to celebrate with.

Tall, intense, and sexy as sin, Viktor Novak clearly has dark, dangerous secrets. But she never could’ve guessed the truth of what he is—an alien with black horns, wicked claws, and fangs that make Mina wish he’d take a bite of her.

She should be frightened of him, of what he is, yet he saves her at every turn, and every time she looks into his burning eyes, she's drawn closer until she's finds herself yearning to be incinerated by their depths.

After years of loneliness, Mina’s ready; she wants him. Except she wants so much more than pleasure. She wants his heart.

She wants forever.
----
Check the author's website for content warnings.]]> 392 Tiffany Roberts a 🔮 3 4.16
author: Tiffany Roberts
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 220447128 256-Page Hardcover Book
Over 500 images, including never-before-seen performance photos from every era
In addition, exclusive rehearsal photos and behind-the-scenes images of instruments, costumes, set pieces and designer sketches]]> 256 Taylor Swift a 🔮 5 4.88 2024
author: Taylor Swift
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.88
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 206740941
The best way to get over someone is to get under ... anyone other than a jealous and possessive dragon.
�� who’s convinced he’s your mate.
�� and also wants to control every aspect of your life.
�� including paying off your student loans, and buying your corner café a dough press for your favorite croissants, and ...
No, you definitely don’t want this.
Right?
Even if every word from passing between those sharp teeth lights a fire in your chest.
The only way to make the decision for yourself is to go on the run—and hope you can hide from the ever-present, green-gold eyes that always seem to follow.

Can Annie escape from the intimidating, enigmatic Wickham? Does she even want to?

If you enjoy steamy supernatural romances with a reluctant mate and an over-the-top MMC who falls first, then this book is for you.]]> 196 Becca Fogg a 🔮 1 3.71 2024
author: Becca Fogg
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 216818168
But did Pittsburgh have to sign Sabrina McAvoy?

Lila’s played with and against Sabrina before. She’s hot and she’s exactly Lila’s type, but she’s also hockey royalty—her father was a generational talent, and her brother is a star in the men’s league. Players, coaches, and sports commentators fawn all over her because of her family name, and Sabrina shamelessly exploits that.

Lila doesn’t care how attractive she is��no, thanks.

But there’s more to Sabrina’s story than Lila realizes.

Sabrina knows what people say. That her journey to professional hockey was an easy one thanks to her dad. That she left her ex-husband and reverted back to her maiden name so she could leverage her family’s dynasty to sign with a team. That she’s nothing more than a nepo baby on skates.

But she knows the truth, and this is her chance to prove she deserves to play at this level on her own merits. Prove it to the haters. Prove it to her father.

And absolutely prove it to Lila Hamilton.]]> 320 Lauren Gallagher 1642302147 a 🔮 4 4.04
author: Lauren Gallagher
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 217298364 My happy place was living in solitude in my little cabin nestled in the woods.

After spending my childhood in an orphanage, surrounded by others, all I wanted was to be
alone. I had twelve years of silent bliss, then someone��or someones rather—had to come along and ruin it all.

There was something in me that craved these men, and I didn’t understand why. Why did I want them when all they did was turn my whole world upside down? All I knew was I had better figure it out quickly, because another one of my seasonal episodes was on its way. Maybe this time, I wouldn’t spend it alone?

But, did I want that?


*Author's note: this is a novella in the Choose Me OV world. These are new characters, not yet mentioned in any other story. It is MMFM and includes MM and MF scenes.]]> 96 R.A. Alyse a 🔮 2 3.65
author: R.A. Alyse
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 211896447 Unexpected heats, blizzards, and scent matches, oh my!
It's ORA graduation day! Olivia is at the mixer hoping to meet her perfect pack because she knows her heat is fast approaching. However, everyone she talks to makes her less confident that she will find her mates before time runs out. Then, just as she's given up hope, the sole beta in attendance runs up to her, his pack chasing after him.
Could it be? Is this the pack meant for her?
There's only one way to find out, and not a moment too soon.
Her heat has arrived.

**Author's Note** This was previously released in the 2023 Snowed In Anthology. It is a novella about a side character mentioned in Riley's Storm.]]> 51 R.A. Alyse a 🔮 3 3.52
author: R.A. Alyse
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.52
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 212238259 Omegas are being stolen, and no one seems to care.
At least, that's how it feels to Peyton Benjamin. She's on the hunt to find out where the omegas are being taken and who's responsible. But blinded by distractions, Peyton doesn’t see the danger coming.
Can the alpha who claims to be her scent match and the alpha who is her best friend, set aside their differences to save their omega?
Only time will tell.
And time is closing in��

**Author's Note** This book can be read as a standalone within the Choose Me omegaverse world. There are crossover characters and an overarching backstory that may be better understood if read in order, but it is not necessary.]]> 240 R.A. Alyse a 🔮 2 4.09
author: R.A. Alyse
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 202495809 . . . not sold to cover their parents�� debts.

But that’s what happened to me.

Now, I’m in the middle of a heat I didn’t want—nor was I ready to have.
The scent of my dead alpha surrounds me, while a pack that hates me offers assistance that I’m sure is laden with strings.

Which leaves me with only one option.

I’ve gotta run.


**Author's Note** This is the second novel in the Choose Me omegaverse world. It is a standalone and the books can be read in any order. However, there are crossover characters from previous stories that may be further explained if read in order.]]> 263 R.A. Alyse a 🔮 1 3.67
author: R.A. Alyse
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 196641416 Who said an omega couldn’t scent match to another omega?

I never expected to share a room when I went to the ORA, but something about seeing her getting yelled at didn't sit right with me so I invited her to dorm...with me.

When the school decides we are damaged goods and separates us, nothing will stand in my way of getting her back. Not even the three men claiming I'm their scent match. Childhood friend be d*amned. If they want me, they have to take her too.

Two alphas, their beta, my omega and me.
What could go wrong?


Author's Note: CW/TW will be updated before release :) This is a MMMFF omegaverse. There will be both MM and FF scenes. It can be read as a standalone within the series.]]> 287 R.A. Alyse a 🔮 4 3.86
author: R.A. Alyse
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 56386563
Verakko was supposed to liberate the kidnapped humans, then return home to fulfill his obligations. Getting dropped into the forest at the feet of the most confounding female he’s ever met was not on the agenda. So, he’ll help her, then they’ll go their separate ways. That’s the plan…until he starts to suspect that Lily is his mate.

She doesn’t trust easily. He has secrets and responsibilities he can’t avoid forever. Only one thing is clear. If Lily and Verakko want their happily ever after, they’ll have to fight more than the dangers of the forest to get it.]]> 410 Victoria Aveline a 🔮 1 3.94 2021
author: Victoria Aveline
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 221145981 “If this is how I find out what unrequited love feels like, then so be it.�� �� Quinntessa Dawson, Hearts and Stars

Fitting into a new town is hard as a teenager. Fitting in as a bisexual teenager, when your father is a covert government agent, your loveable rescue dog is unstable, and you want to be the only girl on the football team? Hard doesn’t begin to describe it.
When Quinntessa Dawson moves to Coven, Indiana with her father, she wants to survive the year, help Scrabble stay out of trouble, and kickstart her professional sports career by joining the Styxton High football team. What she gets is trouble.
And trouble comes in the form of a spunky, pink-haired biker with a troubled past. Quinntessa’s distracting attraction to Quincy, her father’s erratic behavior, and the pushback from the school at her attempts to join the football team, all complicate life further.
Senior year in Coven may just dredge up long-buried secrets that could shake the entire town. Secrets that very well might turn Quinntessa’s life upside-down.

“There is never a right choice. I’m seventeen. I’m in between every major event of my life. You can’t just . . . You have to love me here in the present and stop thinking about if you can love me enough to trust I can get somewhere unknown.��

Hearts and Stars is the first book in The Coven Chronicles, a queer adult series.

What to look forward to?
💓bisexual romance
💓secret identities
💓ex-cheer captain
💓female football player
💓FBI agent's daughter
💓forbidden love
💓sapphic romance
💓queer rebel
💓mafia conflict / crime underworld

“One of my favorite lgbt reads of the year." �� Kindle Vella Reviewer.

#1 in LGBT on Kindle Vella in July 2024.
#19 Top Fav on Kindle Vella in July 2024.]]> 528 Phoenix Kathryn a 🔮 0 dnf-for-now 4.19
author: Phoenix Kathryn
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves: dnf-for-now
review:

]]> 220389457
When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Alexandria Bellefleur’s Merriment and Mayhem is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 57 Alexandria Bellefleur 1662529341 a 🔮 0 to-read 3.28 2024
author: Alexandria Bellefleur
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41951626 Impossible love between two girls —one human, one Made.
A love that could birth a revolution.

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will.

Now, Ayla, a human servant rising the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family�� by killing the Sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father.

Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.

Set in a richly-imagined fantasy world, Nina Varela’s debut novel is a sweepingly romantic tale of love, loss and revenge, that challenges what it really means to be human.]]> 464 Nina Varela 0062823965 a 🔮 0 to-read 4.12 2019
author: Nina Varela
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53487136 The tribes have wilted. The last of the menfolk have grown old. The human race has been dying since the red comet first soared through the skies above.

My name is Issa, and as the youngest huntress and the only one left within childbearing age, I’m doomed to be the last matriarch of my people. Which would be a great honor, if there were a male to be mine from another tribe. But none have been born, none but my younger brother. It’s been my life duty to protect him.

When the time comes to escort my brother to a neighboring tribe, my friend tells me a rumor of a huntress finding a dragon in the northern plains. And when that huntress touched the dragon’s hide, the beast transformed into a virile, possessively bonded male.

With a thundering heart and nothing left to lose, I venture into the forbidden jungle to find such a dragon. To touch him, to bear his burden.

But the dragon I find is nothing at all like I imagined��

VENYS NEEDS MEN
To Touch a Dragon by Naomi Lucas
To Desire a Dragon by Amanda Milo
To Tame a Dragon by Tiffany Roberts
To Seduce a Dragon by Poppy Rhys]]> 166 Naomi Lucas a 🔮 1 3.73 2020
author: Naomi Lucas
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 67173918
So, when I hear a female scream within my territory, I do not hesitate. I go after her, intending to claim her for my own and prove my strength.

My worth.

This is my chance.

Except�� she is not one of the human females I have come to know. She has just arrived. She is hurt, afraid, and fleeing from another male.

But she does not want to be saved, she wants to fight.

And she does not want to bask in my nest, she wants to leave.

She has secrets and she refuses to share them.

This human female is far more than I bargained for��

Good thing I’m up to the challenge.


---
Boomslang is the fifth book in a series of Bride Hunting Aliens. With the charm of a snake, and the wiles of a devil, these males will do anything, and I mean anything, for their females.

This is Azsote's story.]]> 304 Naomi Lucas a 🔮 1 1.5 rounded down 4.07
author: Naomi Lucas
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
1.5 rounded down
]]> 216116281 The Grim Reaper is missing. And whilst Death is away the charming reaper who’s fallen in love with the fiery mortal girl will play�� and discover the devastating consequences.

Millie Nightingale is lost. Having spent her childhood caring for her recently deceased mother, she has no idea how to live the rest of her life. Until she meets the alluring Jackson Mort. There may be an instant connection between them, but Jackson is as secretive as he is charming��

Because Jackson is more than drop-dead gorgeous�� he’s dead.

It’s been a century since Jackson was recruited into Scythe, the supernatural organisation tasked with guiding the dying from this world into the next according to Death’s immovable plan. Jackson may be a reaper who works hard and plays harder, but everything changes when he meets her - the jewel-eyed girl whose sharp tongue cuts his defences to shreds.

When Death mysteriously goes missing, leaving Scythe in chaos, Jackson seizes the opportunity to be with the love of his life. But when dark forces align and tragedy threatens to tear them apart, Jackson begins to realise his fate is linked with Death’s in ways he couldn’t possibly have imagined.

Soon, Jackson and Millie are not just fighting to be together; they’re fighting to save the world too.

Enter the world of Deathless and experience a wild ride of scheming gods, vicious monsters and forbidden romance. This is the first in the Ethereal Chaos series of standalone novels from fantasy romance novelist Daniella Draven.]]> 441 Daniella Draven 1738554821 a 🔮 2 3.53
author: Daniella Draven
name: a 🔮
average rating: 3.53
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:
I can appreciate what this was trying to do while simultaneously acknowledging that the execution was just not it.
]]> 213302475
Maketes has always been the jokester. No one takes him seriously, and if they do, it's only because he was born violent. But then he starts talking with a human through droids, and he finds a kindred spirit in them. When he's given an opportunity to find out who this human really is, he takes it.

But what he finds in that prison city is not just the person he was friends with. He finds a villainous group of people who wish to use him to their advantage, and a woman who captivates his entire soul.

Together, they travel throughout the remains of Gamma, a city long forgotten. And while they search for a key that will change how they see the entire world underneath the ocean, they find themselves growing closer. Soon enough, they realize that perhaps hiding their entire lives has prevented them from experiencing the greatest part of life.]]> 440 Emma Hamm a 🔮 4 4.09 2024
author: Emma Hamm
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 213094928 NO KING CAN RULE THEM.

Six Wild Crowns is an epic and compelling fantasy filled with dragons, courtly intrigue, sapphic yearning and brave women. This is the Tudor queens as you've never seen them before. . . Henry VIII had it coming.

As tradition has it, the king of Elben must marry six queens and magically bind each of them to one of the island's palaces or the kingdom will fall.

Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be her beloved Henry's favourite queen. She relishes the games at court and the political rivalries with his other wives. Seymour is the opposite - originally sent to Boleyn's court by another queen as a reluctant spy and assassin, she ends up catching Henry's eye and is forced into a loveless marriage with the king.

But when the two queens become the unlikeliest of things - friends and allies - the balance of power begins to shift. Together, they uncover a dark and deadly truth at the heart of the island's magic. Boleyn and Seymour's only hope of survival rests on uniting all six of the rival queens - but Henry will never let that happen.
]]> 462 Holly Race 0356522652 a 🔮 0 to-read 4.06 2025
author: Holly Race
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214152028 The highly anticipated follow-up to Peyton Corinne’s “unputdownable and unforgettable�� (Bal Khabra, author of Collide) TikTok sensation Unsteady follows hopeless romantic Ro and player—on and off the ice—Freddy as their feelings for each other grow from strictly friendly to so much more.

Matt “Freddy�� Fedderic is all smiles—at least on the surface. On the ice, he’s the star left winger for the Waterfell Wolves with a stellar reputation in bed and a potential future in the NHL. But in the classroom, he’s barely scraping by on a 2.0 GPA, retaking dropped classes and struggling with a rough mix of dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. Freddy had plans to enter the NHL draft at eighteen, but then his estranged father added a “graduation�� clause to his inheritance, and now, he needs help to pass Biology with a professor who’s already betrayed him before.

Ro Shariff is a hopeless romantic with terrible luck in love—and now, Freddy’s new tutor. She keeps telling herself that she’s very happy with her on again/off again boyfriend, but Ro is desperate for real affection. As her tutoring sessions with Freddy lead to friendship and late-night phone calls, an undeniable heat begins to simmer between them, which they’re both trying desperately to ignore.

Although they are too protective of their newfound friendship to cross that line, Ro can’t stop thinking about how Freddy was her first kiss her freshman year at Waterfell, a spine-tingling moment seared into Ro’s memory that Freddy doesn’t seem to remember, and Freddy is determined to protect Ro from his reputation at all costs. Meanwhile, Ro wants to prove to him that despite what others have led him to believe, he’s worth more than his body. But maybe, just maybe, together they can learn how easily the right person can love every part of you, even your flaws.]]> 449 Peyton Corinne 1668068486 a 🔮 0 to-read 4.08 2025
author: Peyton Corinne
name: a 🔮
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>