DID NOT START OFF WELL.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

Okay.

This book made me realize one of my biggest contemporary romance pet peeves.

I HATE when one of the love interests starts off in a relationship. Just super unnecessary for me. It makes all of those good moments between them when that chemistry is starting to build feel tainted by the fact that someone is still attached to someone else. UGH. And in this book it wasn’t until 60%+ where it was confirmed Via was at last single.

Since that brought my rating real low I’ll throw in a few things I did like. I liked the other tropes and conversations surrounding grief, resilience and moving on. There’s some good moments about being in a relationship with a larger age gap and what that can mean for both parties. Solid side characters who were supportive friends to Sebastian and Via.

Also this was oddly Hallmarky and then got dashed with way more heated spice RIGHT at the very end that I was a bit taken back. Easy to skim over since it’s at the end, but if you’re waiting for that slow burn to kick in, it eventually does.

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: multiple open door concentrated at the end
- Trigger/Content Warnings: widower, mentions of growing up in foster homes, depictions of grief

I am utterly addicted to this series. I will finish reading all five books within a month and I can’t tell you the last time I did that. I CAN’T STOP. The writing is incredible and continually draws me in. I don’t even notice that the pages are moving by or that anything is around me. I am too involved in these characters lives and will mourn the loss at the final book.

Alex and Lottie were such a sight. I love snarky banter and this book had it in spades. But what built from that was genuine friendship that turned into a soul binding love. I will say, I struggled with the cousins aspect. I KNOW I KNOW, they’re super distant and all of that, but every time they used the moniker I cringed just a tiny bit. When I put that aside, this romance was utterly sweet.

Alex gave Lottie the chance to grow because she was stuck in one mindset about her life and her family. Thank heavens also for Grandmere who truly saved the day. I LOVED her perfectly placed moments that weren’t overbearing, but eye-opening. There’s a lot of deep conversations and meaning throughout about what it means to be loyal to your family, and also choosing someone to be your family. Made my heart flutter countless times. The endings always get me and the swoony kisses got me good.

 

NEUTRAL.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

I went into this with a different mindset after not loving the previous two books. This series reads much more like a cozy mystery set in a historical time period and once my brain clicked to that kind of genre, things got better.

Veronica and Stoker were as always, just fine! I liked getting more of Veronica’s back story and learning some new angles to her personality. Stoker, formidable and dedicated still made me swoon with the way he talks to Veronica. I love that there connection continually seems to strengthen which each passing tale.

This started off as an interesting story. I liked the new characters added and seeing the old resurface. Towards the end I thought things became repetitive again. There’s only so many times you can get kidnapped at gun point before a switch in story telling needs to be made.

While I didn’t love the ending, it definitely opens the story back up for future books. I heard there’s at least two more coming so I get it, EVEN IF I’M FRUSTRATED BY IT. Anywho, this is a fun series to mix in with denser reads.

Overall audience notes:
- Historical Mystery + Romance
- Language: little
- Romance: closed door
- Violence: low blood, mild otherwise
- Overall audience notes: kidnapping, impersonation, mentions of torture, gun violence, physical altercations, near death experiences, colonialism 

MONSTROUS.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

Y’all. This book was incredible. I was hooked within the first few chapters and it rarely let up as this urban fantasy unfolded. Not generally one for urban in my fantasies, I ended up loving how this played out in London. I think the time-traveling aspects were exactly the right thing needed for this story that this combination led to my inability to put this book down.

Joan wasn’t a bad main character, but I did struggle with some aspects of her personality. I liked that she was incredibly loyal to her family and trying to solve many mysteries around her, buuuut, she was also a mega people pusher. It was bothersome to continually shove her thoughts down someone’s throat until they capitulated. Besides that, Joan made some tough decisions and worked with what she had, and for that, I liked her.

There’s some how a combination of fated mates (with an enemies kicker) + a potential love triangle? Honestly not sure what I’m supposed to do with that kind of romance information. I really look forward to how this expands in future books because it is wildly interesting and can go so many ways.

The magic system within the monster world is fascinating. There’s a lot to explore with the King, mysterious woman, Court of Lions and more. I think this book did a good job of giving the answers needed for THIS read, but leaving enough out there for the future books.

Overall audience notes:
- YA Urban Fantasy
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: mild blood/gore
- Trigger/Content Warnings: mass murder event, loss of loved ones, weapons use, mentions of torture (side character), racism, psychological torture, kidnapping

NEED BOOK TWO.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

This was one of those BIG HYPED books that I took a chance on because I trusted my reading friends. NOT disappointed in the slightest. This is worth the hype and you should get your hands on it ASAP. Highly recommend the audio too because it is FANTASTIC.

I looooved the slow weaving of this tale. It is not fast paced. There’s an incremental build that leads to some devastating blows. And also, incredible reveals. I did not see many of them coming and love a good *gasp* moment as the pages wind down.

Multi-POV books are my jam and this is no different. Starting out with just two, and then increasing as more players came into the story I was enraptured. Each took on a role I wanted to know more about and added history to the lay of the land. I liked the addition of the elemental spirits and the easy understanding of the world and magic system.

ROMANCE. I adored both of the main romances happening amongst the cast. Jack and Adaira were my favorite and even though it’s a sub plot, I was very much attached to them. I am shocked by the ending and can’t wait for the next book. What a fantastic fantasy adult debut!

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy + Romance
- Language: little
- Romance: closed door
- Violence: mild blood
- Trigger/Content Warnings: kidnapping of young girls, physical altercations, weapons use, loss of loved ones, assault 

This is my first book by Wilson and it will not be my last! What an enjoyable fantasy romance that holds a lot of potential for future books.

I was here for this slow burn romance. And it is verrrrry slow. But I think that really led to Izolda and Bluebeard connecting past the initial differences between them. Throw in a curse that is an occasional nuisance to work around added to the fun. I thought they had great banter and some of those quiet moments I am always begging for. I can’t wait for to see the intensity ramp up between them.

The plot is really interesting! I don’t know much about the story of Bluebeard (though BRB going to go look it up). Each plot line kept me reading, and even at a short fantasy the world building and magic system lined up well. It wasn’t trying to do too much and was easy to envision and enjoy. I could have used something intense. That was the only thing missing. I never felt amped by the romance or the story itself until the last 20 pages. I wanted a little more from that vibe throughout. The ending is great though and I will definitely have to get to book two ASAP.

This was a great novella. Laugh out loud and gave a lot more insight into Lift. 

What started out pretty well, dropped significantly as the book went on.

I LOVE enemies to lovers. Will read it all day, every day. The way this was portrayed was a lot more intense than I appreciated. Some dialogue crossed lines that I was uncomfortable with and wow do you really feel the hate between them.

As things progressed, some scenes were sweet and I felt myself more invested in their story. I snort-laughed through some of the antics and found the whole plot neat! I love some forced proximity and there was plenty of that around.

Towards the end, things took an oddly dark turn? I’m fine with heavier subject matter in a romance when it’s interspersed throughout and works with the story. The conversations seemed thrown in to maybe create some kind of dynamic that I’m still not fully understanding.

 

STAR FOR POTENTIAL.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

I probably could have rated this somewhere in the 2 star zone, buuuut I think for those who really prefer ROMANCE over FANTASY there’s a lot of potential here. I love fantasy romances, but within a fantasy book I expect and hope for world building. I crave and need it to enjoy the story. There was very little of that here.

There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason as to why the main character has some kind of magic ability involving the ocean but nobody else does? And there’s shifters too? But why? Where did they come from? Why does the ocean speak sometimes? PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME. I spent so much of my time frustrated without these answers that I could barely see the aspects I did like.

One of the things I did like was the romance. Got off on a rough foot (because yet again, needed back ground world building), but once I kind of figured out what was happening, things moved at a sweet pace. I liked Ronan and Keira together. A bit of a second chance, enemies to lovers dynamic that played well for these two. I liked that they both fought for each other and found some common ground to build a new foundation between them.

I won’t be continuing this series (I think there’s one more book?). Didn’t mesh with enough of it to be worth figuring out what happens next.

Overall audience notes:
- NA Fantasy Romance
- Language: little
- Romance: closed door
- Violence: mild
- Trigger/Content Warnings: weapons violence, shipwrecks, death of a parent, near death experiences 

WELL.

BLOG || INSTAGRAM

I knew there might come a day when a Zapata book wasn’t my favorite. Unfortunately today is that day. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book a lot, but it was more on and off then a consistent lover for one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. The setting and theme were some of the best aspects.

The love interest, Dex, flirting with the a-hole/grump line waayyy too often for me. Maybe this is also showing that that type of hero isn’t my jam (which is fine!), but I kept waffling back and forth with how he treated Iris. There were some truly kind moments and a few great, don’t touch her moments too. A mixed bag for him though.

Iris was a great heroine…most of the time. I think she had a lot of spunk and was trying to make the best decision she could when obstacles kept being thrown her way. There were some truly frustrating moments where I could in no way, get behind what she was thinking. I don’t love dumb decision making.

Something that I don’t generally take off star rating for (and didn’t for this book), though I do like to mention, is that this is MUUUUUUCH steamier than I expected. I skipped many long scenes that were on the super graphic side. If you love this kind of steam, then I would recommend this backlist MZ read. If not, I’d go ahead and skip this and read some of her newer books.

The audio narration as always was stellar and it felt like a quick read even at 16 hours. I’m looking forward to continuing my backlist MZ books!

Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: heavy and strong
- Romance: multiple very explicit open door
- Violence: mild
- Trigger/Content Warnings: abandonment, cancer, death of a parent, gun violence, physical violence, infidelity (not with the main couple!), sexual assault