The Laughing Listener
May 2020
Format: Hardback

Story Rating: 4.5 Stars

I juuuuuuust… Uggggggggh…



A few days ago I finished this book and I’ve been trying to figure out how the hell to review it ever since. Until this week I had no idea you could love something so much and be so angry about it at the same time. Was this book better than the first? Definitely. Do I recommend you read it?? Absolutely.

Will I light this book on fire and dance on the ashes??? Probably.



I tuned into a virtual tour stop last week and heard Jay describe this installment as “the one where everything goes wrong,” which is absolutely true. It was so FUCKING FRUSTRATING. The Squad couldn't go two steps without something going wrong and throwing them off course. Some questionable decisions were made by the crew that really annoyed the heck out of me. And I have a lot of feelings surrounding Kal and Auri’s relationship that I can’t talk about without getting spoilery.

But if I set aside all my frustrations, there’s so many awesome things to talk about. This story starts at 100 and never slows down the entire time. Non-stop action on almost every page and I couldn't have stopped reading even if I wanted too. I also absolutely LOVED the subtle shift in character focus this time around. Both Zila and Kal finally get their time to shine and it was AWESOME. Zila is officially my favorite of the whole crew now next to Fin. Plus, there were SO MANY REVELATIONS AND PLOT TWISTS. Just when my head would stop spinning, Amie and Jay would throw something else at me. It’s insane.

Not to freak anyone out, but YA’LL ARE NOT READY FOR THIS BOOK.



And if it wasn’t already abundantly clear from all the other screaming reviewers, there is a HARDCORE CLIFFY at the end of this book. If anything happens to my person before I can read the last installment, my ghost is gonna be PISSED.

FINAL WORD

So in summary, I loved every second of the hellish book and I’m NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT. I’ll let you decide what that means because I don’t even know anymore.

#1 ↦ [b:Aurora Rising|30075662|Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle, #1)|Amie Kaufman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560056657l/30075662._SY75_.jpg|50493990] ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#2 ↦ Aurora Burning ↦ (4.5/5) ✦✦✦✦✦
#3 ↦ [b:Untitled|40516976|Untitled (The Aurora Cycle #3)|Amie Kaufman|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|62875712] ↦ ????

The Laughing Listener
July + August 2019
Format: eBooks

DAMON’S MOUNTAINS SERIES REVIEW

I wasn’t planning on reviewing these books at all, but given the fact that I’ve been completely OBSESSED with them for the past month, it feels wrong not to write something. So in the end I decided to write a general series-wide review that I’ll put up on each book because that’s how much fun I’ve had reading these.



OKAY listen. These books are straight up trash. They are. Romance drama trash to the max. But there’s no denying how freaking entertaining these things are. They’re hilariously funny, extremely cute, filled with action (some more than others), and packed with grade-A soap opera drama. Some of the novels are better than others, but if you need to go brainless for a while and just read something fun, these are the books you need.

All the characters are out-of-this world awesome, but the real thing that sets this series apart is the world building. Joyce has created such an elaborately rich universe with all these characters and I am 100% here for it. I love love love how everything overlaps and that we get to see all of our favorite characters even long after their books are done.

To help keep everyone straight, I even created a family tree spreadsheet like a NERD (Willa would be so proud) which you can view here. Just beware of spoilers.



FINAL WORD

These books are insane trash and I’ve loved every second. If you’re needing some laughs and romance, look no farther my friends. It’s worth the Amazon Kindle Unlimited free trial just to get your hands on these.

The Laughing Listener
May 2020
Format: eBook

I was graciously given a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Story Rating: 4 Stars

Did anyone order some intensely angsty drama? Because it’s being served PIPING HOT TODAY MY FRIENDS. Having never read the previous Eagle Elite books (which definitely isn’t required for Mafia Royals), I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this. Being a mafia romance, obviously I knew some craziness would be in my future, but DAYUM. I was not prepared for the wild ride this book took me on and I mean that in the best possible way.



First of all, I really do feel like it’s important to read the short prequel novella [b:Royal Bully|52244660|Royal Bully (Mafia Royals, #0.5)|Rachel Van Dyken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583801894l/52244660._SY75_.jpg|77334824] before diving into this, especially if you’re like me and haven’t read Eagle Elite. You could probably get by fine if you really wanted to dive straight into this book (honestly, who could blame you?), but it really helped me get a good feel for the characters and mafia hierarchy. Plus, the ending of the novella sets up the feud between Junior and Serena, which plays an essential role in this story.

Reading the novella gave me a small taste of how awesome these characters would be, but oh man, they were so much better than I could have hoped. Seeing them all bicker with each other one second and then get fiercely protective the next was great. At one point Serena stabs Junior in the leg with a knife during class, they throw down on the school’s front lawn (first blood wins), and then they all argue over who steals the bread rolls at dinner. I’m 100% ride or die for this family now. BLOOD IN, NO OUT.

I’m so excited to see the other characters get a spotlight in the future books!! I’M LOOKING AT YOU BREAKER.

And let’s not forget the actual story because wheeeeeeew, WHAT A RIDE. During the first few chapters I thought I knew exactly where this book was going to go, but WOW WHAT A CLOWN.

ME:


There were so many twists that I didn’t see coming at all and I loved it! Both Junior and Serena are perfect and I liked watching their relationship progress over the book, but by the end I was completely hooked by this mafia family and I NEED to know what happens to them. Admittedly, I did kind of feel like there were a few deeper histories at play that I didn’t completely understand since I haven’t read the previous series. There was a very intense hatred towards the De Lange family that I never fully got a handle on. Now I’m just dying to go back and read all the other books in the universe because I need MORE.

FINAL WORD

This book was craziness and I mean that as a compliment. If you don’t mind some violence with your romance, this is definitely for you. But remember, BLOOD IN, NO OUT.

#0.5 ↦ [b:Royal Bully|52244660|Royal Bully (Mafia Royals, #0.5)|Rachel Van Dyken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583801894l/52244660._SY75_.jpg|77334824] ↦ ✦✦✦✧✧
#1 ↦ Ruthless Princess ↦ ✦✦✦✦✧
#2 ↦ [b:Scandalous Prince|52060336|Scandalous Prince|Rachel Van Dyken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583273827l/52060336._SY75_.jpg|76815310] ↦ ????
#3 ↦ ???????? ↦ ????

The Laughing Listener
May 2020
Format: eBook

Story Rating: 3.5 Stars

Even though this book is just a giant excuse for kinky smut, I enjoyed the story way more than I thought I was going to. If you like your poly relationships with a side of political intrigue, this is for you!

#1 ↦ [b:Theirs for the Night|40389498|Theirs for the Night (The Thalanian Dynasty, #1)|Katee Robert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533411844l/40389498._SX50_.jpg|62083521] ↦ ✦✦✦✧✧
#2 ↦ [b:Forever Theirs|40382891|Forever Theirs (The Thalanian Dynasty #2)|Katee Robert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529071289l/40382891._SY75_.jpg|62684221] ↦ (3.5/5) ✦✦✦✧✧
#3 ↦ [b:Theirs Ever After|41740482|Theirs Ever After (The Thalanian Dynasty #3)|Katee Robert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1540497387l/41740482._SY75_.jpg|65134024] ↦ ????

The Laughing Listener
June 2020
Format: Ebook

Rating: 3 Stars

Meh. There wasn't really anything new happening in this book if you know what I mean. I pretty much predicted everything that would happen in the plot and the tropes are familiar to all of us.

Somehow I still found this story kinda charming though. The tropes that Briggs uses are some of my favorites and I thought the romance between Rose and Raith was cute. But what I really loved was the world building! Hearing about all the different kingdoms and learning about the magic system was the best part and I'm excited to explore that more in the next book.

I really love when romance series have a set of main characters that each get their own book and I can sense Briggs setting up the series that way. I'm 100% here for it and am super curious to see where these books go!