I don’t know what to think about this book. There were lots of annoying things, and it moved pretty quickly, which wasn’t always a good thing. There were also really sad parts, things I didn’t expect. Overall, I dunno. It was okay, I’m fine with the ending, not super happy but not disappointed either. 

This was such an interesting concept! It was super fast-paced and the plot pulled me in. I didn't like the insta-love, hardcore insta-love after the first meeting, and Devi was annoying, along with a few other things, but a solid book! 

This was addictive.

Mariana Zapata writes book crack.

Perfection.

Bianca's insecurities (hard relate to her inner struggles, that was too real), Zac's adorableness, ugh, I am dead. 

These characters have no business being this attractive.

He knew this feeling. It happened when his consciousness stepped aside during a seance to let something else take up residence in his body.
He was being possessed.

4.5 stars

This was magical, whimsical, demonic, and heartbreaking. It was about finding yourself, finding unconventional and unconditional love. David was so alone, so broken and damaged from his father that he made it hard for people to want to be around him. Moria was a beacon of light, the strength and heart. Rhys was the determined, scheming, confused man, trying to fit his desires with his upbringing. This was beautiful and sad and fun.

If David was an unstoppable force, Moira was an immoveable object.

I did have a hard time with the timeline. Or maybe the era? I know it was set in present time, Instagram made an appearance, but the way they spoke and dressed kept getting me confused, like it was set back in time more, and it threw me off throughout the story.

"Humans need rest. It’s part of our natural rhythms.”
David stared at her like she had just started speaking Latin. “You seriously think self-care can help me now? I was just possessed.”
“Maybe because you don’t do enough self-care,” Moira said.


Thank you to Angry Robot and the Author for an ARC! 

You are my world, Luck. And even when all goes dark, I will look for you. I will find you, blinking for me in the endless night, and I will be with you always.
My brilliant firefly.
My love.
My Luck. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so heavenly before.
She’s an angel.
She’s a devil.
She’ll be my downfall.

I want to make this clear. These aren’t morally grey characters, these are monsters. They do, not morally grey things, but monstrous things.

4.25 stars

“Might you let me down too?”
I see what’s happening. She thinks because I made her come, I’m about to get sweet on her too.
I smirk. “ I already gave you ecstasy with my fingers. Don’t get greedy little fish.”
Then, I turn and walk to the door, leaving her naked on the cross.

This was a first for me lmao

She’s my sustenance.
She’s my meal.
And if I was back in the ocean with her, I have no doubt I would be hers.

A first for cruelness and spice together. Nailing her to a cross and then doing spicy things. Her biting off a chunk of his hand and then his ear and more spicy things.

They killed a dude, ate him, than had sex beside his body.

And there were lots more of those scenarios lmao. These two were…um, twisted. I guess you woudn’t expect anything different from a siren who eats humans and a vampire/beast that drinks blood.

It was a fast, enjoyable read though, and I liked Larimar as a main character, more about Priest later (or Aragon/whatever his name actually was). I thought she was a strong character. I always love a sea-related story. Books that take place on a ship >>>

If you like:
🔥Hot blasphemous priests
🧜🏻‍♀️Sex-crazed Syrens
🩸Blo0d play
🐚Murderous MCs
🖤Equally unhinged hero and heroine
🌶️Enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers
🏴‍☠️Pirates
📿Captor and captive situation
🔪Obsessed hero
🗡️”I’d rather kill you than have feelings for you”
🧛🏻 Vampires
✋She eats his hand and his ear but they still have sex
💦 He *does things* after nailing her to a cross 👀

"Larimar," he says, my name a whisper, an offering, something revered.
Then, he plants a kiss on my shoulder.
Sweet.
Soft.
"Priest," I whisper back.
He tenses with hesitation.
Then, he chuckles warmly.
"Sorry, I'm having trouble hearing you," he says. "My ear seems to be missing."

Okay, sometimes I like a book enough, even though it’s not 5 stars, that I don’t need to write anything negative. This was not the case. This next part is negative but keep in mind that I still enjoyed this book enough to rate it 4.25 stars!

It was pretty rushed since the first part went on for so long that the second half, or last 40% was quick through everything. The blurb made it seem like the second half would have been a bigger part of the story, but it was mostly them on the island and her tied up. I would have liked more story of them on the ship and all the things that happened there.

I also didn’t expect the time jump, it threw me off a little, like, completely. I would have liked more on that.

5 years

– I would have expected some character change or something, but there wasn’t anything, so the jump wasn’t necessary.

I also stopped liking Priest after his “talk” with the beast. Things were revealed about his past that just weren’t right, and I stopped liking him. I mean, he was a hard character to even like in the first place, but after, eh.

He literally thought about killing his wife and kids cuz they were annoying, as a human, and then conveniently he killed them when he turned into the beast. There’s dark romance and then there’s murdering your wife and children, so yeah, I lost any positive thoughts I had of him after that.

Overall, I would have liked more editing, I know she was writing it up until it was submitted, it may have helped when it dragged in the beginning, and maybe a new MMC lmao. I still liked this though, so yeah, *conflicted*

Thank you to the author for providing me an eARC and a pretty special edition physical ARC.


_____________________


A physical ARC is headed my way *swoons*

___

Priests IRL <<<<<<< Hot Book Preists 

Wren didn't need him to save her. What she needed was someone to help her finish the job.

Phew. This was emotional. All of the characters faced such hardships and heartbreak 😭

This review is short because it’s just one of those books where I loved the vibes, characters, and plot but I don’t have much to say about it 😂 The quotes make it look longer lmao

"I think we're doing pretty well so far"
"I think you've got low standards," Julian scoffed.
Wren smiled. Cocked her head. "I kissed you, didn't I? I guess you're right."

Wren was such an amazing character. She had so much growth from when she was first introduced and I really loved every aspect of her.

She literally shattered her wrist to get to Julian when he was almost killed - I about died for her then.

Julian was still such a tortured soul and I love him. They were amazing and there was still so much perfect tension because of the ending of book 1 and it came through perfectly (Sophie, use another fucking word).

"I'm fine."
"I know you want to do the right thing, but it's not worth dying for."
Wren stopped as she reached the roof's apex, forcing him to do the same. "Says the person who threw themselves under a fucking rockslide"
"I was fine-I am fine."
"So. Am. I," Wren said.
"You're the most stubborn person I've ever met."
"I know what you're doing. You're trying to catch me out, to prove that this plan is stupid and reckless, just like me, and-"
"What I'm trying to do is show you that I care. About you. That's it."

I liked how everything was wrapped up, sometimes endings can feel rushed but I thought this one was done really well.

That’s it. That’s all I have to say 😂

"Stop!" Wren screamed, yanking her arm until the joints in her wrist protested and her skin was scraped raw. "Don't you dare touch him!"
The regent cast an amused look over his shoulder at Wren, then turned his words to Ravenna. “Muzzle your dog."
"Shut your mouth!" Julian snapped, a vein bulging in his neck as he strained against his captors with renewed vigor. "You're the animal here."

I just reread the scene where

Ravenna dies, or her ghost finally leaves, Protect the baby

and started crying cuz it was just such a sad storyline.

"Exactly? Wren said. "What does a ghost get for lighting your way? What does a revenant get for wielding your sword? Nothing. What they get is denied peace."
"But they get to live forever."
"This"-she jabbed a finger at the nearest sconce-"is not living. And existing to serve others is not life."

Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster Canada and the author for a physical ARC, I shall treasure it forever 🥹



________________



Ahhhh! I just got a physical ARC in the mail today 🥳 

“Immense power is worth little if taken by force. I only want what is freely offered, and won’t have it any other way.”

This is the last (maybe last?) book in the Married to Magic series. In this one, we've moved into the Lykin Plains but there is a bit of travel around as well, which was fun. The concept of spirits was interesting to me, how they were Faelyns friends and how they manifested. I always like books that include these types of characters.

I really liked how kind Faelyn was, to Aurora and the spirits. Even after all her hardships she still didn’t want to use anyone or take advantage of them. The entire plot revolved around how kind-hearted she was.

“I told you, I have done horrible things. Things that would make your throat burn with nausea. I will continue to do horrible things, so long as that man is in power...But…it is not because I want to. I desperately, desperately cling to whatever shred of decency I can. Because…”
“Because?” I breathe, hanging on his words. He takes a small step forward, voice dropping even further.
“Because I like to dream that, one day, I might be free of him. And, when I am, I would like to be a man that can sleep at night.”

Evander was super great. He was so protective and sweet but also hawt lmao.

THE REVEAL. Ohmygod, I did not see that coming! At all! Love a good surprise reveal like that. But I was also a fan of that reveal too, I think it gave some nice “come full circle” feelings. But at the same time, it also didn't make sense? 

Why didn't she recognize him? It hadn't been that long and it's not like he got a new face?

“But he hasn’t hurt me, so far,” I point out.
“Other than forcing you to marry him.”
“Given the position he’s in, it’s⁠—”
“Do not make excuses for him,” Evander cuts me off coldly.

I didn’t like how naive and seriously dumb Faelyn. That sounds harsh but it’s like she had no backbone or brain. She just saw what was right in front of her and never thought beyond that. Her trusting the wolf king almost made me stop reading because of how annoying it was. Hardcore rolling my eyes and putting the book down for all of that section.

Even after she realized he was compelling her, she's still like "eh, he's a good guy, doesn't matter that he keeps trying to assault me, he'll change when I tell him my plans." Like, get it the fuck together.

“I have no idea where this ‘kindness’ of which you speak has been.” I narrow my eyes and don’t move.
“You’re breathing, aren’t you?”
“Careful, the bar is so low you might trip.”

The ending was great but quite abrupt. I would have liked more.

Thank you to the author for this eARC!

This is going to be one big spoiler so don’t read any of it if you don’t want to be spoiled. 

But also, don’t read this book. 

I have so many issues with this book. 

1. The characters. One-dimensional with no real-sounding emotions. The beginning had promise, with her depression and suicidal tendencies but those fell short as well.

2. The romance. 
What the fuck was that? Two weeks. That’s the time frame of this book and yet her and Sebastian fall in love and get vampire-married. 
She’s 17 and he’s who knows how old. 
What the hell? 
This was so cringe. 
All their interactions were cringe. She gets mad when Felipe (what the fuck was that character too) forces himself on her then she forces herself on Sebastian later? Gross. 

3. Her twin. Her aunts twin. I didn’t see that coming but I hated that whole plot line, which was basically the story. They were all horrible. 

4. The other dimensions and beings. It just felt like it didn’t fit with the story. Didn’t help that it wasn’t explained enough, but it was weird.

5. The plot. Super dumb. And written childishly. 
“I wAnNa TaKe OvEr ThE wOrLd” okay, calm down. 

6. The ending. 
Fuck that final “reveal” Like, no, I don’t do non-HEA and if the twin survived over Estela, that’s a non-HEA. People who have read this book, how could you possibly have missed the VERY LAST LINE where it makes it clear that it’s not Estela that survived but the twin. How did Sebastian not notice that she is calling him “Bast”??? How does he think it’s normal for Estela to lure men to the castle for him to hunt?? These are VERY OBVIOUS things her twin does, but oh no, this guy loves Estela, so he clearly can tell. Jesus Christ.

_____________
Nope.

Rtc