My Review: 

The Crown of the Queen, is a good filler book to get you to transfer from the Twelve Kingdoms to the Uncharted Realms series. This is a story where we get to see more background on Dafne, which I do wish I had read this before I had read "Pages of the Mind" which is her book where she meets and falls in love with her islander king. But in this one, we see the process by which Ursula become the official queen and the ceremony of her coronation. It was so refreshing to get back to this world and these couples and see them come together and get Ursual to face her fears and embracing her destiny. It had me in my hearts and feels so easily and Jeffe Kennedy really tugged me in so easily with this one here. 

If you loved the Twelve Kingdoms series and are curious about the Uncharted Realms, this is a great novella to give you a good introduction. Simple a blast of fantasy good times. 

 My Review: 

What a exciting and thrilling story and I couldn't get enough of this book. I absolutely loved this book here and it was packed with romance and adventure and some suspense trickled in and what a impactful ending. The Wicked is a story of a hero who is broody and tortured but is also suffering from a curse. He acts like a bodyguard for a troop of explorers to discover a new hidden library archive in the jungle. The woman he is attracted to, is one of the top librarians who has her own sense of magic and some vampirical abilities. 

This romance was endearing and sweet! Even though there was some antagonistic tension between them in the very beginning, very quickly they connect to each other. I just loved their romance quiet moments together. And the road trip adventure in the jungle was such fun to read! I loved them finding a secret hidden library and artifacts. For those that love a good adventure romance, I highly recommend this one here. 

Overall this novella was a hit and I had such a fun time with it and was a quick read that kept me on my toes! 

 This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

 Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
 Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
 Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨

No place my heart won't find you.

First Impressions
Never Look Back is the third installment in the "Redemption Hills" series and this book melted my heart in every single way. This series is phenomenal and I think from what I have read so far from this author, my favorite series by this author. There is something that just hits different about this family and love how they stand by each other and the heroines are all so superb and I just adore that there aren't really huge inner conflicts necessarily, the conflicts tend to be more outer which I find so refreshing. And there was so much deep emotion that I was so easily wrapped up in this story.

 “Why are you here, Aster?” Logan’s voice was gravel. “Why did you come back to me?”
“I don’t know if I could have ended up anywhere else.”

First Line
It was just after ten when I pulled into the circular drive of the mansion hidden deep in the forest outside Redemption Hills.

Summary
Logan Lawson, was shocked that the old flame and the woman who broke his heart, walks into the room where he is playing at a illegal card table and that her husband, the man he hates more than anyone else, is now her husband and barters her off for the game. Aster is now his, but Aster has been looking for any opportunity to get away from her abusive husband, and even though she knows how much she hurt Logan, she knows that she will have to work to redeem herself. But there is much more in their past than neither of them realize. But they both were betrayed and they will have to work together and resolve their issues before either of them can embrace the future they dream of together.

 “Even if I can’t see you, I’ll know you’re there, and I’ll find my way to you.”
“And there is no place my heart won’t find you. My North Star.”

What I Loved
I absolutely ADORED everything about this book. I enjoyed so much of this book and is probably my second favorite (the first still holds supreme) but I couldn't get enough of the forbidden love that enters into the story here. And there were so many elements to this story that immediately pulled me into the story. There were many laughs from the children interactions. There was a mafia theme to this story so you mafia lovers will really have a blast with how its implemented within this story. Another aspect to the story that I easily got behind is the heroine having to redeem herself. Even though there are other circumstances involved, she did have sins to atone for and rebuild that trust with him. And while I understood where she was coming from, she still broke her man's heart and very deeply. I appreciated a heroine having to do a grovel through the whole story. But the hero isn't super cruel to her, but you can tell he is hurt from what she had done to him even though its been years. But once they resolve their issues, their connection just grows in such a way that tugs at your heartstrings. You see what makes them work so well together. And seeing how they both fight together for their happy ending was just icing on the cake.

 "Even if I can't see you, I'll know you're there, and I'll find my way to you."

What I Struggled With
The flashbacks! I really am not a fan of flashbacks and would have just wished for one, not multiple flashbacks or a narration from the author of the past from the mindset of the characters.

Narration
BRILLIANT!!! Her books are amazing in audiobook. I recommend it this way if you struggle with lyrical style of writing.

Overall View
Never Look Back is a thrilling, emotionally gravitating romance that will steal your breath and dig deep into your heart. Its a tale of redemption, healing and unity in love.

 "Beauty. My heart. My poetry."
"You are every word I've ever written."

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance
Character Types: Alpha Male, Morally Grey, Mafia. Tortured Hero
Themes: Mutual Pining, Hot Smexy Times, Heart/Touching, Gambling Hell
Tropes: Forced Proximity, Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance, Forbidden Love

Book Perspective
Duo POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A Blend

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Catherine Cowles
Kristen Proby

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes I would recommend reading in order

Steam/Spice Explanations

Simmering cup of tea---soft warm touches and light intimacy
Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.
 Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.
Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

Narrators:
Erin Mallon 
Zachary Webber 

 My Review: 

Ceremony in Death is the fifth installment in the "In Death" series and thus continues the saga of Eve and Roarke. In this story, Eve's friend in law enforcement has been murdered, and when it involved the occult, it only makes Eve even more determined to find out who is behind the murders. But then her life is put on the line and Roarke takes guarding her very seriously. This was quite an interesting story and I really had a blast with this one and even though it wasn't quite perfect, the mystery based plot is what made this one so great. The issues that I ended up having was with Eve. I know she needs to be this tough law enforcement officer, but at the same time she is too ruthless in this book. Probably the most ruthless I have ever seen. I would have liked to see her have more vulnerabilities. I am hoping that we see more of that as I explore more of these books in this one here. 

Overall I had a good time with this one, and the plot kept me on edge the whole time and the occult theme was so fascinating. 

 This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

 Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
 Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
 Overall View: ✨✨✨✨.5

 Forever starts today....

First Impressions
The Beast Takes A Bride is the most recent addition to the "The Palace of Rogues" by Julie Anne Long. This is a story that features a retelling as well as a marriage in trouble and I have to say that this book was beyond beautiful and heartfelt and the best cozy vibes. If you love a good regency cozy feels, then this is a series that you must be reading. Julie Anne Long is a brilliant historical romance author, but you definitely need to be in the right mood for cozy historical or try out the audio, its superb in every way. This is also a very unique setup and I guarantee it won't be the story that you expect, but you will fall in love with Magnus and Alexandra.

 Finally, she laid her head back down on his chest. She listened to the precious, steady thump, thump, thump of his battered, stubborn, vulnerable, flawed, foolish heart.
Her own foolish heart beat in time with his now.

First Line
Three of them were thieves (a silver candlestick, a half dozen handkerchiefs, a wheel of cheese, respectively), another one was a forger, and the fifth one had stabbed her husband in the leg.

The Main Protagonists
 The Hero: Colonel Magnus Brightwell
 The Heroine: Alexandra Bellamy

 n the dark, they could be anyone: any man, any woman, any two creatures who’d stumbled across each other and had gotten it into their heads to fornicate, rather than two people who had inadvertently ruined each other’s lives. It needn’t have significance. It needn’t mean surrender. It didn’t change a thing.
 But she might have noticed that his fingertips trembled as they slowly glided over her skin, mapping out the magical terrain of her, showing her the secret places where pleasure hid.


Summary
Alexandra and Magnus have been married for five years and its been a very lonely five years for both of them. Magnus once fell hard for Alexandra, but when he comes upon her on their wedding day in the arms of another man, his secret love for her is spurned and he leaves her in England while he becomes a war hero. Its been five years and he has returned and Alexandra has become immersed in a scandal and they retired to the Palace of Rogues for refuge while the scandal dies down. Magnus, while determined to keep her at arm's length can fall prey to love's sting once again, but will he let her go or trust that her love for him will be enough for her to be willing to fight for what they have discovered together?

 Once when he lay bleeding on a battlefield, a hail of moments from his life had pelted his consciousness, cach distinct as a portrait. The first time he saw The Honorable Alexandra Bellamy was a bit like that: a few thousand simultaneous convictions and desires assailed him.
He would kill for her.
or die for her.
Whatever she required of him, he would do it.

What I Loved
This book packed such a punch straight to the heart and you just know that this author is so capable of doing and what a strike. Man I still am left breathless while writing this review and I still don't know if this review will bring this book justice. I will warn you that there are flashbacks a bit but its in the first half of the book and doesn't drag on but the flashbacks are done in a way that just fits so smoothly with the story so it won't be too hard to adjust to them because it tells the backstory and you do need to read these scenes or the story will not make sense at all. Its just the way in which this author has written this story and I found it so fascinating the way that she went about it.

This is a story of pining love, and betrayal and learning to forgive and a marriage in trouble. Because when Magnus returns he gives Alexandra a ultimatum, she either retires to America on one of his estates, or she will be forced to return to live with her father and have such the minimum of funds. Alexandra has ached to atone for past mistakes and not fighting for her marriage harder. Magnus was an abandoned baby, and learned to work hard at a young age, but never had someone truly love him in return, he always had to fight with everything to get any respect. And Alexandra hurt him on the one day when he had so much hope for the future for them.

But Magnus is tortured and hurt and keeps a shield of ice around his heart and doesn't want to let anyone in. But the more time that Magnus and Alexandra spend time together in the Palace of Rogues, the forced proximity, only brings to the surface the feelings of desire and love that was once deeply buried for them both. The greatest test of love though will be for Magnus, because he will have to risk being hurt again to have the kind of future that he dreams to have for Alexandra. And from the sweet moments they have together, to the ways in which Alexandra has to fight for Magnus, it melted my heart. I loved that the author wrote a story of a heroine that has to prove her love to the hero. And I adored every single moment.

The ending was the best part of this book. Be prepared for a story to wrap you up so deeply in poignant emotion. Literally the third act and the ending of this story put this book from a 4 star to a 4.5 star rating for me, that is how good it is. Literally this author had me dissolving into happy joyful tears and one of the most satisfying endings I have read in a long while. And that future epilogue seeing them as parents really took the cake on that one.

 My heart is […] yours. I’m afraid there’s not much I can do about that. I hope you will not view it as a burden; I shall make no demands upon it. I have no need of it anymore, for I can’t imagine giving it to anyone else ever again. […]
 Perhaps one day you will find forgiveness in your heart for a man who knew everything about war but nothing about love.
 I loved you then. I love you now.
 I love you always.

What I Struggled With
The pacing of the story is a bit slow in the beginning and this series isn't the most engaging. So if you struggle with pacing of historicals, read this in audio if you can or just be patient with it. There is also a some sideline stories features the guests of the palace of rogues location they are staying in and I didn't feel like that was needed. I think it would better if these scenes were done in some novella's.

Narration
BRILLIANT!!! You want to keep it slower though, I couldn't have it more than 1.3x speed but surprisingly I was able to stay engaged and she really handled the emotional aspect of the story very well.

Overall View
The Beast Takes A Bride is a heartwarming romance of healing, redemption, and learning to love again.

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Era, Set in England
Character Types: Tortured Hero, Military Hero
Themes: Mutual Pining, Married Pairing, Marriage in Trouble
Tropes: Second Chance Love, Arranged Marriage, Forced Proximity

Book Perspective
3rd POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
Relationship Conflict

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Lisa Kleypas
Lorraine Heath
Elisa Braden

Song This Book Inspires
All is Fair in Love and War by Kris Bowers

Recommendation For Reading Order
You can read as a standalone if needed. But I would recommend reading the first two books of the series prior to this one at least for background on the Palace of Rogues.

Steam/Spice Explanations

Simmering cup of tea---soft warm touches and light intimacy
 Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.
Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.
Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.


Narrators:
Justine Eyre 

 My Review: 

Dagger's Edge is a story that I listened to so quickly. This is a story that you can easily have an quick immersive experience with. There is something that is so edgy and fun and quite refreshing for this author. If you love a good spicy romantic suspense, then this author and book is a most definitely yes for you. Its always such a delight to return to this author and experience her stories and her heroes are so alphaholes and its absolutely delightful since you rarely since that type of hero anymore being written. And quite frankly its so refreshing to read at times. 

Dagger's Edge deals with some tough topics. We have a heroine who is used by her own family and manipulated and we have to see her go through some rough times. Our hero is out for revenge for crimes that her family has committed against him. But when her life is put in danger, they are forced in a situation of being back together and reconnecting the spark they once had when he rescued her from her own family. I just broke for this heroine and everything that she was having to deal with. She also deals with many insecurities and also certain attitudes because of how she has been betrayed so often, she has major trust issues. But the hero, one is a alpha but also doesn't make apologies and is trying to earn her trust through his actions. It takes some time but once she realizes his devotion and love is for real, then things really start to click for them. I loved how protective he is of her, even from herself. 

Overall this book was a blast of a good time and I couldn't seem to get enough of it. I can't wait to explore more of this series soon and read more of this author's backlist. 

 My Review: 

I am not doing a full length review for this one here just because I don't want to spoil anything for this book here. 

So My Torin was a beautiful story and one of my favorites that this author has delivered. There was just so much pure poetry to the writing that she displays within this story. I would say limit how many reviews you read of this book before reading it, it works best going into it blind, I can guarantee it won't be what you expect it to be. I found this story to just dig deep and it hits different. Our couple has to really face some good challenges, but it also tackles some tough interesting topics such as mental illness and disabilities in such a unique way. Seeing these two really come together and find such common ground delivered such a fascinating dynamic that actually fit them so perfectly well. Seeing their journey will change your perspective in such a breathtaking way. Their growth as a couple just clicks just right. I found the way in which the author wrote this style and the length just fit right. 

If you are looking for a contemporary romance that is unique and different, then look no further than My Torin. I guarantee you will fall deeply in love with this powerfully portrayed story! 

 My Review: 

This book was beyond adorable but boy was it so HARD to find. Thank goodness I had originally purchased a nook book of it when it first came out because you can't find it anywhere unless its illegally. I hope the author does get this book published so ppl can find it as its super charming and sweet and I had forgotten how much I had loved this series. This novella though, can easily be read as a standalone though, its not even paranormal or even had much steampunk elements to it. Just more of a general historical victorian historical so even if you aren't a fan of steampunk or paranormal like aspects to your historical's I highly recommend it. Its a very quick read, I read it under a hour. 

The story is basically a pen pal scenario. The hero, is a reject and not welcome to most of societey but will do anything for his brother. His brother Adrian, is in an arranged marriage with a Scottish lass, and as Adrian is unable to write, E is asked to take over correspondance with her until its time for them to get married. Over the years they exchange letters of wit and chemistry. And before either of them realize it, they are falling for each other. But Eamon knows that he can't ever have Luella because she belongs to his brother....or does she? 

I truly adored Entwined, it has some conflicts but the inner conflict is surprisingly minimal which I found so refreshing. But it is also a novella so that also makes quite a bit of sense. I found their connection to be so poignant. They are also both virgins and I loved seeing them explore together especially when they are actually more shy and reserved when it comes to intimacy. Just really well written and the author wrote such a great novella that had beautiful depth to it which keeps you engaged. 

Overall I had a blast with this one and highly recommend it if you can find a copy of it. 

 My Review: 

The Snows of Windroven is a novella that while part of the "Uncharted Realms" is actually a continuing story of the couple we see in "The Tears of the Rose". This was my least favorite couple to be honest because the heroine was so unlikeable. But I did have a solid time with this one here. At first it was hard to tell how I felt about the heroine, but I actually ended up really enjoying what this one delivered on though. We see some communication issues, but I think also these two are facing some difficult challenges that they just haven't addressed which only builds on their communication problems. 

There were many elements to this story that I found beyond charming. I really couldn't get enough of them in their endearing moments. And then we have the twins and Ami and Ash just make the best of parents. The kids are still pretty young, wild and so energetic but have such an energetic personality that just charms you as the reader. We see Ami and Ash really have to work through some issues and communication problems. This is where we see them having to face the conflict of them being a couple and the class status. But seeing how they come together in the end was worth of all the drama. 

Overall this book charmed me and kept me involved from beginning to end and making me eager to read more fantasy from this author. 

 My Review: 

I absolutely enjoyed this one here. It was such a blast to see these two together again and it had some great gems that were so endearing. There was a bit of a mystery resolved with the blackmail plot that has been building throughout these novella series for Damien and Nikki. We also had some great romance moments between them. We see that its Damien's birthday coming up and Nikki wants to do some special for her husband and give him a surprise party. But she has one challenge...Damien. This will be a near impossible challenge for her since he knows everything and keeps tabs on everything and everyone but loved how creative she gets. There are some spicy moments that we see happen between them. WE still see Nikki go through her moments though and what she needs what Damien can give her. We also see them getting closer and closer to making the decision to have a family and I really want them to have BABIES!! Lol 

Overall this was a fun treat, and if you are a fan of this author or this couple. these novella's are great treats!