bookishbillijean's Reviews (586)

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 4/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 3/5🌶️

However You Want Me by Willow Winters and Amelia Wilde is a dark romance with psychological thriller aspects. Haley and Dean are both dealing with the trauma from ten years ago. How far are they willing to go? 

Thank you to Hambright PR and the authors for this ARC! 

The opening of this is quite terrifying and really sucks you in! I liked the twist thrown in! Thought that was clever and was not expecting it. Definitely gave it a thriller vibe. 

This was a super quick read under 200 pages but it did have a lot packed in. I do wish however it was just a little longer. I think the story could have used a little more character development as well as plot extension. 

I have read quite a bit from Willow and she never disappoints! I definitely recommend this to those who want a quick dark romance read with some stalkerish vibes and spicy scenes!

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 4.5/5⭐️

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi is a high fantasy novel that immerses you into mythology and political intrigue! 

Alizeh is a Jinn living in a world where they are considered disposable citizens and where she can only hope to continue to survive as a servant in a noble house. Kamran is a young prince who cannot keep Alizeh off his mind after a chance encounter even to the possible determent to his kingdom!

This is a YA fantasy with a touch of romance. It was definitely a slow burn but had a lot of good tension building and surprises! I was thoroughly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this. It did take me a little while to get into but once I did I could not put it down. 

I loved all the intricacies of the court and the prophecy. How Alizeh and Kamran kept getting pulled together. Don’t even get me started on the ending! SHOOK! I absolutely will be continuing this series. It was really well written and very imaginative! I need to give her other books a read!

Recommend this to those who like YA fantasy, slow burn romance, political intrigue, and a bad ass female lead who does what she can to survive!

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 4.5/5⭐️

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker is a horror story set during Covid. Cora is a crime scene cleaner who has witnessed the murder of her sister. She is being haunted by inner turmoil, racial prejudice, and actual ghosts!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the ALC of this! The narrator was excellent! Seriously highly recommend you listen!

I seriously love Kylie’s writing. She is so good at painting a picture and really putting you in the book. She does such an excellent job of blending supernatural and horror with real world events in this book! It is so interesting how she weaves the supernatural and gore into this!

This is gory! Heads up if you are planning to read it. It really takes a great writer to blend real life brutal events with ghosts and gore. Definitely worth a read if you enjoy gory, supernatural horror that showcases social injustices in real world events!

The only thing I can say is that I had wanted more! More from Cora maybe later down the line more in the future on how she ends up coping. I know we have an ending but maybe I am just being greedy. 

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 4/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 2/5 🌶️

Every Sweet This Is Bitter by Samantha Crewson is a new mystery that follows Providence a felon who went to prison at age 17 for aggravated assault who comes back home when her mother goes missing. 

Trying to rebuild her life and move on from the horrors she faced as a child she attempts to find her mother and get to know her sisters while confronting her abusive father. 

I listened to this and read along with the physical copy. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ALC!

I loved how character-driven this book was. It was really well-written and emotionally charged. It took on a lot of hard hitting topics in a way that showcased them but also showed how they can be overcome. 

I really enjoyed the narration! They did such a good job! Definitely a good listen. 

The one thing that I had a hard time with was the pacing. At times it felt really slow and then it would feel super fast. It kind of gave me whiplash!

I would recommend this to those who like emotionally charged thrillers with a strong female character. 

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 4/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 3/5 🌶️

Wild Side by Elsie Silver is book 3 in the Rose Hill series but can be read as a standalone. This is Tabitha and Rhys story! This is now my favorite of the series! I swear every book I read gets better and better. I cannot wait for the next book!

Tabitha is my favorite! She is strong, determined, and so fierce in her loyalty. Rhys is a big teddy bear who takes his role as protector and guardian seriously. I really enjoyed the added emotional trauma and grief that Elsie delved into in this book. I think it gave it so much more depth. 

Forced proximity, sham marriage, and slow-burn. YES PLEASE. Had a lot of my favorite things in this book. Once I really got into it I could not put it down. Cleocatra 🤣 had me laughing so hard. Read this series!

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 3/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 4/5 🌶️

Deeply Examined by Lexi Davis is a dark medical romance. Has some forbidden themes and kink. I highly suggest reading the trigger warnings before reading this book and determining if it is for you. 

Thank you so much to the author for the arc of this book!

There were a lot of good things this book had. I enjoyed the passion between Jessica and Adam. I thought it was palpable. It also had some sweet albeit dark emotional moments. 

The one thing I will say is it was pretty quick to get to the spice. Which I don’t usually mind but I think if it had been more of a “longing” type feel the romance between them would have had a little more depth. 

This was super spicy! 

Overall I would say this is a decent smutty read. If you like short books with dark romance and smutty scenes this if for you!

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 4.5/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 3/5 🌶️

Redeeming 6 by Chloe Walsh is a heart breaking story of survival, redemption, and family! This is book 4 in the Boys of Tommen series and the second book for Joey and Aoife. Starts up where the last book ended! 

Joey 💔 it’s like you know what happens because we go through it in Shannon’s story but you don’t know it from this side and the absolute devastation and turmoil Joey and Aoife are going through. 

Aoife is the most patient person in the world and Joey is so strong and caring! I just cannot! I cried so much throughout this book. I cried through the bad, the sad, and the good! 

Also, I love Edel. She is so compassionate and wholly herself that I think she knew exactly how to help Joey! I wish we had an origin story for John and Edel! I’d totally read that. 

 Moving on to Taming 7 😭. This series is quickly becoming a favorite one! Seriously I cannot stress it enough! Read it but also read the triggers! Heavy stuff! 

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 3.5/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 2/5

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid is a dystopian romance. Inesa shares a home with her brother in brother barely scraping by in a world that runs on credit. Melinoi is a trained assassin sent to slaughter the lambs who are offered as a payment for debt. 

This had a lot of good things going for it but it just didn’t really hit the mark for me. It felt really similar to The Hunger Games in some ways. 

I always have had a hard time with dystopian books and this was the same way. I did enjoy the build up of romance but I also though it almost happened to quickly and the ending was a little lackluster I felt. 

Overall it was a decent read and it might resonate more who like dystopian romances. 

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 5/5⭐️

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney is a fast-paced domestic thriller. Amelia and Adam win a weekend away and they hope that it is just what their marriage needs. Ten years of marriage, secrets, and lies all lead up to this one weekend. 

OMG! 😱 I could not put this down! I loved the story! I loved the chapters with the letters she writes to him for their anniversary and how she never lets him read them. It gives you just a glimpse into their marriage and why it was falling apart. 

I liked the added intrigue of Adam’s face blindness. I have never heard of this before. How interesting and definitely adds a little extra to the story. 

THE ENDING THOUGH! The twists and turns. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING. There were so many good surprises in here that I audibly gasped! Seriously, though I don’t want to give anything away but READ IT!

This is perfect for those who enjoy fast-paced domestic thrillers, with complex characters, lots of twists, and shocking revelations! 

𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 2.5/5⭐️

𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 4/5🌶️

Flock by Kate Stewart is book one in the Ravenhood series. Cecelia is 18 years old and recently moved to Triple Falls to work at her estranged father’s company. Here she meets Sean who then involves her in a tangled web of romance, secrets, and twisted relationships. 

This series was recommended to me. Highly recommended. I was bored a majority of the time. I did not connect to any of the characters. They were one dimensional. Sean annoyed me, Cecelia annoyed me, and I wish there had been more Dominic maybe. 

I didn’t hate it but I also didn’t really enjoy it. I wanted to like the story line. It kept me interested enough that I kept reading but I’m not sure if it was because I was interested in the plot or just wanted to see Cecelia’s naivety and what stupid thing she would say or do next. 

I plan to continue the series because people do say it gets better. I do think that if you like MFM relationships in books with a touch of dark romance, and semi decent story you’d probably like this.