4.5⭐

Is this my new favorite?? It might be my new favorite from this series.

I'm obsessed with Apollo. Demisexual soft dom? Yes. Absolutely. I love him.

And prickly, tough Cassandra who's just the right amount of mouthy? Yep. Love her too.

I am so excited to see where this series goes. We got so many fun insights into some of these future characters and I cannot wait. Hermes?? Ooh the little sneak peak into the next book?? And the Eurydice/Orpheus drama that will unfold? 😘🤌🏻 

 It was fine.

I still stand by my original statement that there was not enough kissing and way too many battle scenes.

I ended up glossing over the last 30% because somehow there were still So. Many. Battles.

I don't think I'll give up on Anna Hackett yet though. I may just need to go back to the original series (because apparently this one is a spin off of a spin off.)

That cover is still 😘🤌🏻 though. Bravo, there. 

 This was cute as hell! I needed some fluffy romance and this delivered.

Pastry chef and bakery owner, Retta, needs a date to her cousin's wedding. She's fine being single but there's no way she can show up to this event without a plus-one because the groom is her Ex and she needs to prove she's doing just fine. After a string of bad dates, the clock is ticking so she decides to proposition the cute Gym owner next door- be her fake boyfriend for the wedding and his gym employees can have the coveted parking spots. Of course Duncan agrees.

And then, naturally, they give into their attraction and catch the feels (because that's what happens when you fake date a hottie, okay?)

Totally recommend if you're looking for something quick, sweet and steamy. I'll definitely be checking out the next one because I love a my brothers best friend trope. 

I would only be reading this to power through and I just can't. I considered the 1st book entertaining enough but I cannot say the same here. The worldbuilding is so lackluster - I shouldn't be wondering what "Starblessed" even means in the 2nd book. The magic does not really make sense. And the characters interactions are so 1 dimensional. The series kind of feels like the author had a list of tropes she wanted to write and then tried to build a story around those. 

Obsessed ❤️❤️❤️ !!!!

And thank fuck I just noticed that little #1 next to the title because there's no way I'm ready to be done with Xiaodan and her two emotionally constipated dumb dumbs.

Chupeco's irreverent humor very much reminds me of Tamsyn Muir's writing and that might help explain why I loved this so much.

Messy court politics, fantastic battles, snarky MCs, polyamorous vampires... 😘🤌🏻 The only thing this book is missing is a map. I'd really like a map.

EDIT: (literal seconds after I finished writing the above) THERE IS A COVER AND TITLE FOR BOOK 2 😩❤️❤️❤️ I will not know peace until I have that book in my hands on October 3rd 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 

 2.5⭐

Was this good? No. Not really. Not at all actually. 🤣

Was I entertained? Yes I was.

But will I continue the series?

*Already picking up the next book* 🙃 

Recently learned this book was #2 on the list of 50 Most Commonly Banned Books in America from the 2021-2022 school year. And honestly, if it upsets the old white men that much, I think that's a pretty great indicator that it needs to be read.

George Johnson paints a very personal picture of what his life growing up as a queer black kid in a society that is dangerous to both of those demographics. He covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy.

A the wonderful thing about this book is that it was clearly written for young queer Black kids to ensure that they can see their lived experiences in media. As someone who is of a similar age as the author, I can say that I never had access to queer stories like this growing up. Part of that makes my inner-child really sad but I mostly feel really grateful to the author for being able to put his truth out there for a younger generation.

A note: I ended up switching over to the audiobook which I think helped increase my overall enjoyment. The writing style does come across as meant for a younger audience (which, yeah.. it's a YA memoir.) The cadence and style feel like Johnson is sitting down with you and telling you stories from his past which I think just lends itself better to audio. So, if you have a chance to pick up the audiobook, I think it's absolutely worth the read. Especially to hear it in the authors own voice.

The epilogue of this book had me smiling like a goddamn loon to myself in the dark 😆😭🥰  I adored this!!


Despite the dark premise to this story- a woman summons a demon to help murder her rapist- there is such a sweet and satisfying romance that blossoms between Joy and Malachi.❤️

There is something so gratifying about a woman wanting bloodthirsty vengeance and then getting it- no plot twist, no change of heart- just stone cold vengeance. And a demon who finds those murderous intentions sexy as hell? Delicious. 😘🤌🏻

3.75⭐

Whew! Look, I had a great time with this. An absolutely smut-filled, kinky good time. 

The ending dragged a bit though. I was confused because after they got together, there was still a decent amount of the book left, but nothing really happened? (It was very fluffy slice-of-life moments that I think could have been condensed.) 

I'm excited to see what else Kathryn Moon does with this series though!