Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (So, the scenes were detailed, but it lacked an emotional aspect to me that made it seem to clinical/mechanical to me)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥+
Humor: A bit
Perspective: First person perspective from both Carl and Katie
Percentage which mains are first on page together:
Cliffhanger: No
Format: listened to audiobook from library (hoopla)

Should I read in order?
I think this is a stand alone?

Basic plot:
Katie answers an add on a ‘sugar daddy’ website for a bisexual couple seeking their third.

Give this a try if you want:
- Contemporary romance
- a surprising amount of horse stuff – Equestrian focused heroine
- polyamorous relationship
- bargain – Carl and Rick ‘hire’ Katie for $3,000 a month to spend 3 weekends a month with them
- bit of work place romance
- higher steam – at least 9 scenes of varying acts

Ages:
- Carl is 40, Katie is 22 – I didn’t catch Rick but would guess 30s?

My thoughts:
So I picked this one up for the cover idea, OBVIOUSLY.

I didn’t really have expectations for this one, but will admit I was a touch disappointed. I did listen to the audio and struggled with the heroine’s voice narration. I LOVE Cornell Collins so I was fine with him. But I may have had some kind of disconnect with the narration in the heroine's point of view.

Rick is so lovable – such a great, engaging personality. He is the tattooed, bearded, vegetarian graphic designer of the couple, as tall as Katie in heels. They click immediately. (view spoiler) Carl, on the other hand, makes Katie uncomfortable upon their first meeting. He’s massive, almost twice her age, and gives off Mr. Stern vibes. I enjoyed both of them, though we didn’t get any Rick POV. Katie I liked too, though there were a few dry spots in her POV and sometimes she just felt rather young.

Somehow this book didn’t really feel as steamy as what it is?? Maybe it’s the concentration towards the beginning of the book that made it feel less steamy to me, I’m not sure. I think it was because I didn’t have that emotional component and the sexual tension that really drives up how hot the scenes feel to me. I am not sure if it was West’s writing, or just the narration that made the scenes feel really mechanical to me (I just bought another by her in paperback, so I’m hoping I like it more reading instead of listening??) but it felt kind of put a in slot b. And the heroine narration during the sex scenes really was not for me (gave me vibes of a petulant child yelling fuck her! yeah! fuck her! do it! - I’m sure this was just personal weirdness!)

Going to get into a bit of a spoiler-y part ahead so beware!
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I am still not sure how I feel about the whole Carl wants a baby thing. I think I loved part of it because I read so much historical romance and very few of it has hero wants a baby vibes...so it was a nice change for me, but I also kind of hated it because of how it seemed to be Carl’s main focus. I wanted to love Carl, but I felt like he was searching more for a uterus than a true partner. I felt like Rick really did love Katie, Carl I wasn’t left with that feeling as deeply. I was also a bit disappointed in the whole ending. It’s like it was all wrapped up conveniently with an injury and change of heart. I was left with a niggling wondering of character’s regret in the future. 

Content warnings: Please take these as a minimum, I could have totally missed things

- scenes of smoking
- mention of parental issues, neglect, lies, abuse and abandonment
- hero wants a baby
- Katie’s horse is injured during a meet and makes a recovery (happens on page), Katie also breaks bones and needs to have physical therapy
- mention of prior partners having abortions without mentioning pregnancies to partner

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

Yes, STD checks before relationship starts and heroine mentions birth control 

 
9% - 🔥Katie listens to Rick and Carl have sex her first night there in the next bedroom to her. Carl puposefully leaves the door open to tempt her. Leads to Rick fingering Katie and missionary with Rick and hand job for Carl
15% - 🔥Katie is riding her horse fantasizing about Carl and Rick and (I believe) has one on her horse (poor thing! Haha)
16% - scene between Rick and Carl (I can’t recall how long the Katie/horse scene was so I’m just going to combine these two – they are close together anyway)
24% - fingering for Katie by Rick
28% - 🔥hand jobs for both Rick and Carl (incomplete), kisses for all, breast play, fingering for her, Rick oral for her, fisting, toys, double penetration in the V (combining with the prior fingering scene since they were close together)
45% - 🔥fingering for her, missionary with Carl and blow job for Rick, then missionary with Rick, followed by implied round 2
53% - 🔥Carl takes Rick, Rick on top
56% - 🔥 fingering/oral for Katie by Rick, anal oral, oil and anal fingering for Katie by Rick, oral for Carl, mirror play, then Carl fucks Rick while Rick fucks Katie
75% - 🔥 Rick fingers Katie, double penetration with Rick in the A and Carl in the V
89% - 🔥blow job (incomplete) for Carl, oral for her by Carl then sex with Rick on speakerphone
98% - 🔥put a baby in me sex 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
Percentage which mains are first on page together: It’s a flashback 10-11 years ago in Chapter 1
Cliffhanger: No
HEA/HFN: Yes
Epilogue: Yes, not too far in the future
Format: bought audiobook

Should I read in order?
This is book 1 in Sookoo’s Singular Sensation series.

Basic plot:
Leah needs help recovering a stolen item and recruits her brother’s best friend, Carew Harcourt.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1816)
- London setting
- a bit of unrequited love
- soldier hero (Major in the service)
- disability rep (hero)
- Duke hero
- brother’s best friend
- light love triangle drama
- LGBT positive
- childhood friends to lovers
- bit of a mystery to solve
- working together on a goal
- low to medium steam – 3 full scenes (one is epilogue sex)

Ages:
- Hero is 37, heroine is around 28? She’s 9 years younger

My thoughts:
I ended up struggling with this one for a few personal reasons. First was a disconnect with the narrator. It was my first by this narrator, but I really couldn’t get behind her male voices. I know it’s difficult to voice another sex, but it was very ‘elderly female’ sounding and I didn’t like it.

But what really hindered me from enjoying this book, is the fact that the hero is engaged to another woman for almost the entire book. They didn’t love each other, but he refuses to break it off with her and does talk multiple times about setting up the heroine as his mistress.

What upset me the most about this novel though, was when he finally has a heart to heart with his fiance. They agree they aren’t meant for each other, but both need/want the protection of the marriage. He needs an heir and the heroine offer to support her as his mistress and then raise his children by her as their own. This was heartbreaking for me, especially because the hero wasn’t against it enough for me. He was more ‘oh I don’t think she would like that’ than that’s messed up I would never take my lovers children away from her...BUT! What really got me here was he then found an engagement announcement in the paper for the heroine (who he is proposing be his mistress so he doesn’t have to stop his marriage) and he is PISSED. I was so disgusted by his double standards here. He goes into a bunch of self doubt about her – was she just lying to him the whole time and using him for sex??? Well who cares if she was, you are offering her basically nothing. Not impressed with this hero at all. 

I think those that love a bit of a mystery and some intrigue will enjoy this novel. It has a lot of fun tropes and I love that they are working together on a goal for much of the story.

Content warnings:

- feelings of infidelity – the hero is engaged and has been for awhile (and it’s mentioned they have had bad sex with each other) for much of the story while kissing the heroine
- death of friends/family members
- physical violence and threats, harassment, marriage pressure from the villain

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

No. The hero blows it in her knowing he's engaged to someone else and she's at risk - he believes he will set her up as his mistress if she becomes pregnant. 

 
Chapter 3 – kisses
(I missed taking notes but I think there’s another kiss or 2 and a partial scene with lots of kisses and touches/breast play)
Chapter 9 – 🔥 kisses, fingering for her
Apparently I stopped taking notes, but I think there were 2 scenes within the story and 1 put a baby in me epilogue sex 

 Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (Scenes were a bit too light and short for me)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥+ I have notes for 2 scenes but feel like I might have missed one? Not sure.
Humor: Not really
Perspective: First person only from the heroine
Cliffhanger: No
HEA/HFN: Yes
Epilogue: Yes
Format: read the e-book version through Kindle Unlimited

Should I read in order?
This is Hatton’s debut.

Basic plot:
General Truda starts to question the rules of her society when she meets a slave scheduled for death.

Give this a try if you want:
- fantasy romance
- tall elf heroine
- human hero
- strong themes of right the wrongs
- you’re okay with slavery, murder, and death as content warnings
- medium-ish steam – I only have notes on 2 steam but want to say there was one more towards the end? My KU subscription is up so I can’t check

Ages:
- Hero is 29, didn’t catch heroine

First line:
Today I was confident my sword would run red with the blood of our enemies.

My thoughts:
I really wanted to love this novel, because I think it had a really unique story line and goals for the heroine! But a few things ended up not working for me, just some personal preferences.

The biggest thing for me, was I felt like the hero and heroine were not together nearly enough. The first 30% of the book was a bit slow for me because I kept waiting for more interaction between the mains.

The steam was also a bit on the light side to me. I loved the actions in the scenes, but wanted more emotional pull (especially with how much they both had overcome to get to that point), and details. I think for me I just wanted them longer to be able to get those feelings in. Those that like open door sex but want to keep it light will enjoy this.

And we didn’t get any hero perspective and I always struggle with that and am sad.

I couldn’t help but think this world didn’t get quite it though, as women. 

They were oppressed by men, women discovered magic, and then they ended up taking over and changes things to suit their needs. But they are still oppressed in my opinion. The fact that they don’t have breeding autonomy is enough to showcase that. 

Overall, I think Rattan has some fabulous ideas going in this world and I’m really curious how she’s going to continue it in the next book. It was nice reading such a strong female lead, and really going through her change of perspective through the novel. The start is a touch slow, but then it really begins to pick up and there’s quite a bit of intrigue and action scenes for those that like that.

World Building

- It’s a requirement of the best warriors and strongest elves to pass their knowledge and skill to the next generation to ‘remain an unassailable race’ to they are made to have babies
- When you go to the breeder, you are given a potion for if you will have a boy (which is born a ‘Guan’ or a slave) or a female, who becomes an elf leader
- Slaves are not allowed to live past the age of 30 (our hero is 29)

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

To show the beginning stance of elf women versus men (heroine reflects on the death of her slave)

I had never yelled at him or punished him, but I had also never been kind. I had never said thank you or given him a gift of gratitude. It was not our way. Men were beneath us, they were our slaves, born into our race of female elf warriors as servants. The histories told us that a long time ago we had been human, in a world of constant war because of men, with their natural inclination and tendencies towards violence, until a group of women discovered they could use magic. They rose together and killed all but a few of the men.
 

Content warnings:

- death of a favored slave
- lack of body autonomy – heroine is decreed it’s time for her to breed and she must go to a ‘breeder’ every other night for 3 months until pregnant. When she goes there, a man is chained to the wall, there to sexually serve her.
- mention of infanticide – before they controlled a fetus’s genetics, most male babies were killed at birth
- slaves are branded, killed at age 30 and whipped

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
31% - kiss
44% - kiss
63% - 🔥kisses, oral for her, her on top (it’s all fairly light)
72% - kisses
87% - 🔥BJ to wall sex (somewhat short) 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: First person from both hero and heroine, alternating chapters (with the last chapter from Ashley’s perspective)
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: Not really – there is a final chapter from a side character perspective who will have her own story
Percentage where mains are first on page together: 9%
Format: read an e-book advanced reader copy from the author

Should I read in order?
I would say yes. Her Alien Warrior series and Treasures of Trillume series are rather intertwined. I’d love for her to come out with the perfect reading order at some point. The romance itself can be read as a stand alone but there’s a lot of world building and character mentions of other stories. Ideally, I would read Her Alien Exchange, Jewel of the Alien Bandit and Her Alien Prince to get the best understanding of the politics, cultures and world building.

Basic plot:
Riley joins the Human Exchange Trade because there is nothing left for her on Earth – when her vessel is hijacked, she finds herself relying on warrior Direl.

Give this a try if you want:
- science fiction romance
- alien/space setting
- human heroine/alien hero pairing
- higher technology (DNA samples taken quickly, chips inserted for language)
- light love triangle
- light fated mates feel
- medium steam – 4 scenes with knotting, some primal play, blood play, but most is together at the end

First line:
Staring at the numbers highlighted on the screen above my head, I took in a breath and sat down.

My thoughts:
This is another truly immersive scifi romance by Robert! I am finding these complex and deep with a decent amount of character depth and lush world building.

I love the idea of the Human Exchange Trade and mates being found that way so I was really excited for this novel. Direl is such a sweetie – so gentle, protective and takes time when Riley needs it. Riley is smart and strong and is an amazing addition to the fight for what is right among these alien races. The beginning of the book had so much that I loved and I really enjoyed getting to know both our mains in the first quarter.

There were a few things here I don’t think I was in the mood for at this time – I felt a bit overwhelmed with all the world politics and wanted more focus on just Riley and Direl (definitely just a personal preference). I know we also had alternating chapters between the two mains, but I felt like we didn’t get as much from Direl and I always want more hero.

I have a couple other things to mention but I’ll mark it as spoilers…
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A few minor things I wasn’t a fan of – the med bay necia offering herself to the hero, the heroine kissing another warrior as a distraction, after the duel the heroine having to lick the blood from her defeated foe, the way Nen-Le and Direl fight over Riley the first scene and it turns into an FFM scene...

Now, part of it is just me adjusting to this alien race. Exhibitionism and confidence in nudity are big for their races and I am still pretty new to that as a kink so maybe I am just getting used to it. For me, there’s a bit too much sharing among the mains.

The FFM scene I could have really loved but I think it was the uncertainty behind it all that stopped me from being all in. There were these lingering feelings of is she (Nen-Le) good? Is she bad? And the competition between Nen-Le nad Direl – I think if they had agreed on it from the beginning I could have relaxed a little with the scene but as it was I think I was just too tense??

All that said, I still enjoyed a lot about this one and am really excited for more from Robert. I feel like she’s building a truly unique alien world and culture dynamic here that I haven’t come across yet in science fiction and I love that!

Cock/Hero Stats/World building:

- Trillume species (a side character specifies) have no hair, even the females and must wear masks to thrive with Earth’s oxygen
- Necia species (hero’s species) are warriors and are known for being a bit rough
- Necia have large spikes called epuls on their bodies (shoulders,) and are considered living weapons.
- Necia females are aggressive and territorial over their males and many times stronger
- on Trillume quadrants have been created on the planet to support various species by using forcefield nano nets that control the environment
- Necias have 2 hearts
- Males go into rut
- Necia speak Cial (heroine trained in it for a year before entering the program)
- They have a thick dermis and lethal secondary skeletagl structure, long hair that is only cut during battle or used in braiding talismans for their tribe
- They have strong senses of hearing and smell and can hear the blood pumping through veins
- They have fangs and claim mates by sharing blood
- Eyes are a golden amber color similar to citrine
- They go into rut when their reputation as a warrior is challenged or they accomplish a victory (it’s used to have a public display of pleasure for other warriors to view their prowess)
- To calm down rut, they will ‘bathe’ with each other (NOTE: There is a scene where a side character basically fingers herself and rubs it in the hero’s mouth as an offering
- Female necia have spikes all over their bodies
- Only female necia warrios have veno to help them claim their mates
- Cock is curved with nodules along the shaft and 2 tiny nubs at the base that stimulate the clit
- necia males have a knot
- when mating, there is some blood play/drinking each others blood – the human heroine ends up losing her canines and growing larger fangs to help her feed

Quotes/thoughts:

“I’m not going to try to eat you if that’s what you’re worried about,” I joked, though he didn’t appear to be the joking type.
“Your teeth density would not be strong enough even if you were hungry and tried to do so, but again, you would most likely die if you moved,” he said in seriousness, only confirming my suspicions about his ability to joke, until he lifted a brow and added, “But if hunger isn’t your motivator, then I gladly offer myself for you to fill your mouth with my flesh.” He grinned to show me his canines, and my attention was drawn back to the large lump between his legs, spread wide from restraints on his ankles for my viewing pleasure.
---
Love the touch her and die vibes from the get go

I rubbed at my wrists, my once captor gently scooped them both up in his large hands and kissed my bruises from his tight hold as if in apology, before the whole scene was cut short with the smell of burning flesh.
It wasn’t mine.
I glanced around Chuel to see my cell companion struggling against his bonds, uncaring of how the straps around his neck, biceps, wrists, and calves sizzled with electricity coursing through him. His once amber eyes were black, and terrifying, making me stumble back in alarm.
Chuel caught me about the waist, and the fury of my criminal companion intensified, only now horns grew out of his scalp pointing downwards that must be some sort of exoskeleton defense of the necia, but I was more worried about the pain the warrior was going to feel, after all the shocks to his system he was getting for moving within restraints that would have kileld a human instantly.
---
“They wish to see us mated, to see that you have claimed me. Pulsunne, all you must do is take me.”
 

Content warnings:

- infertility
- hero is drugged and imprisoned
- possible feelings of infidelity – there’s some level of tension between the mains and the heroine kisses another warrior as a distraction to get away – but this does follow with an open relationship type of FFM scene – the necia aliens have some feelings of protection and jealousy but are way more open sexually and with their bodies
- death of an almost mate remembered, poisoning
- death on page

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex? 

There is mention of female space condoms (they are folded and slipped inside and they melt with the body heat to create a film that is a barrier to the uterus. Eggs still fall through but it prevents the seed from getting to the egg. 

 
21% - heroine kisses another warrior as a distraction to get away while being held on a ship
30% - kisses
34% - 🔥 the heroine ‘bathes’ Nen-Le (a female side character) then Nen-Le, Riley and Direl are kissing, fingering for Riley from Nen-Le, oral for her from Direl, Riley gives oral to Nen-LE (exhibitionism in front of 3 rescued humans)
71% - 🔥 ‘rakture’ – a bit of primal play battle when Direl is in rut – leads to a bit of a fight between them, physically with an audience. Heroine bites the hero, then they go to the forest. She goes on top holding his shoulder spikes
78% - 🔥 fingering for her, wall sex
83% - 🔥 fingering/oral for her, sex 

 

Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (for the countable scenes, the others are much lighter)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine (mostly heroine)
Percentage of the book the mains are first on page together: 5% (but it’s years before, more like a prologue feel), the main story they are together about 9%.
Cliffhanger: No
Happily Ever After (HEA)/Happy For Now (HFN): Yes
Epilogue: Yes, a few years in the future
Format: checked out audiobook on Hoopla
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
It’s not TOTALLY necessary but yes, I think you could here – you’ll get a better feel for the Highlands and families in book 1 and the couple from book 1 is in this one so you will get more enjoyment out of their HEA on page.

Basic plot:
Connor uses a childhood proposal from Brenna to his advantage to get revenge on her current betrothed...

Give this a try if you want:
- Medieval time period (1119)
- Highland setting
- English heroine/Scottish hero
- Huge hero/tiny heroine (hero is described as ‘tall as a pine tree’ and the top of the heroine’s head doesn’t meet his chin)
- the humor was quite fun
- marriage of convenience
- hero wants revenge (and uses the heroine in a way to get it, but not against her or her family)
- light feel of road trip romance
- lower steam – there are a handful of scenes but I would say only a 2 steam feel

First Line
Donald MacAlister didn’t die easy.

My thoughts:
I adored the beginning of this story so, so much! The humor was so fun and I liked their first meeting as adults immensely.

But as we get into the story, I started to not like Connor. He came off as a bit dumb to me over a few things and didn’t seem to truly listen to Brenna and it was really frustrating for me. While I still enjoyed quite a bit of the humor at play throughout the book, a few scenes fell a bit flat for me – like the whole her having to explain comforting to him. The first sex scene also had me cringing a little bit…

I also have some pretty big baggage from my abusive in-laws so reading about toxic family always does a number on my emotions. I struggled to read some parts of this and that was just personal due to what it made me remember. I wanted Connor and Brenna together all the time and in the second half there was a lot more separation for them.

I will say the scene where she tells him to kiss her goodbye always, and he rides to her and scoops her up in his horse had me swooning. I think this book was more of a 3 star read for me, but I rounded up due to loving that scene and some of the delightful humor that I really loved. Of the two in this series, I liked The Bride more but probably wouldn’t reread either. I’m really happy to have finally given them a try though!

Content warnings:

- there is quite a bit of religious talk – heaven, God, praying, etc but it’s not overwhelming and some of it is done in jest (like the heroine saying ‘oh god’ and the hero wondering why she is always praying so much
- abusive, manipulative and toxic family members
- attempted sexual assault
- death/murder on page
- animal abuse, cruelty and death
- could be construed as some roughness with the first sex scene – even though the heroine is in pain, he doesn’t really stop, but she doesn’t ask him to either
- remembrance of child trauma of being forgotten as a child
- death of a parent on page

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

No 

 
Chapter 4 (didn’t grab percentage when listening) – kiss
25% - 🔥kisses, missionary
32% - kiss
38% - missionary – quite short and not a lot of details
53% - kiss
58% - remembered brief scenes
66% - kiss
79% - kiss
83% - 🔥missionary (light but still countable) 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (2 are close together)
Humor: A bit, yes (but there’s also quite a few darker things and I wouldn’t consider this a comedy or anything)
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
Percentage which mains are first on page together: 2%
Cliffhanger: No
Happily Ever After (HEA)/Happy For Now (HFN): Yes
Epilogue: Yes (maybe 6-8 months after the events of the book?)
Format: checked out audiobook version on Hoopla
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
I believe this is a standalone.

Basic plot:
Vladamir gains a title as a political prisoner but craves revenge. An opportunity arrives when the daughter of his enemy is found near death at his gate.

Give this a try if you want:
- Medieval time period – 879 AD
- Wessex setting
- Viking hero / and I believe Saxon heroine
- some elements of paganism versus Christianity
- widowed hero with a daughter
- celibate hero
- revenge plot
- scarred hero
- marriage of convenience
- faked consummation
- child in the story (not a huge part)
- jealous hero
- you’re okay with some minor levels of miscommunication/lack of communication
- higher steam – 5 full scenes (2 are close together though) with some rougher scenes (see details below)

My thoughts:
I went into this book with high hopes – a new to me author with Mason Lloyd (who I love) as narrator?? I was sold already.

But as I got into it, I struggled with a connection with either character. The hero is a bit of a jerk and that’s fine, I can love a jerk hero, but in this one I felt like he was a bit too volatile. I never fell for him or trusted him by the end of the book.

The sex was decent – I liked that it wasn’t your average vanilla sex I come across in histrom. It’s a bit rough and includes some bondage and anal play.

There was one scene I truly enjoyed, and it was when the heroine’s family comes to the hero’s castle and they discuss if the marriage is valid. It had me laughing and really loving both characters. I was hoping it would maintain that rhythm for me afterwards but sadly it didn’t.

I struggled with the writing style a bit too. It was written with a medieval feel, with lots of ‘me thinks’ sprinkled throughout – but then we would get some random sentences that just felt really modern. (Like how he ‘checked out her tight butt’) and it just felt a bit unbalanced?? I don’t really care about modern language used in a histrom but it was jarring to come across those lines. (What do I know, maybe ‘checked out her tight butt’ is totally historically accurate too – it just felt a bit weird!). I don’t think this would be a problem when reading because you would see the quotations, but something with the writing style would make it seem like someone was talking, but really it was just thoughts. But I wouldn’t realize this until after the thoughts were done and I was constantly kind of back playing scenes to re-see them as they were written. This is probably just a me a problem though haha (So like the hero would ask her something, and she would respond but you would find out at the end of her thoughts that it was all in her head and she didn’t actually say those things. I really think it was just a minor audio thing that won’t happen when reading)

I started getting a bit annoyed towards the ending too with the hero’s irrational behavior, the whole 24 hours to prove his innocence thing, which I thought was totally unfair...Overall I think I would read another Michelle M Pillow novel and see how I feel, but this one wasn’t a favorite for me.

Content warnings:

- Heroine is beaten and covered in carcasses while left on the hero’s doorstep
- Animal abuse from heroine’s family (a dog is kicked)
- Hero and child have scars from fire damage
- Physical abuse of heroine by betrothed and father
- Mention of slavery
- Scenes of jealousy
- Decapitation (happens in front of a child)
- Possible feelings of infidelity – the heroine implies/asks to sleep with the king to release her husband from prison – he does not accept the offer
- Suicide mentioned
- Hanging on page
- Child born in the epilogue

Author given content warnings: 

Contains graphic sexual content, adult language, and violence

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

No 

 
13% - kisses
38% - kiss
43% - kiss
56% - 🔥 kisses, fingering for her, hero masturbation (short)
58% - 🔥 kisses, fingering for her, oral for her (oral is short), doggy style sex (virginity loss for her)
74% - 🔥 kisses, rough blow job with some thrusting and hair grabbing (incomplete), skinny dipping in the lake with fingering for her, anal fingering and doggy style sex followed by anal
88% -🔥 kisses and he ties her to the bed, anal fingering and oral for her, missionary
93% - 🔥 her on top 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (some parts of the sex scenes felt a bit light to me – maybe I wanted more explicitness?)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (ish – 2 scenes are close together)
Humor: Yes!
Perspective: First person alternating from hero and heroine
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: Yes, about 8 months later
Format: listened to the audiobook from Hoopla
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
This is book 2 of Lau’s Kwan Sisters series but I found it readable as a standalone (there is some mention and page time with the prior couple)

Basic plot:
When Julian is forced to take a vacation from his family, he finds himself asking a woman to teach him how to enjoy life on vacation.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- bargain – the hero will give the heroine $5,000 to teach him how to enjoy life
- tall hero/shorter heroine (hero is 6 feet tall)
- forced proximity – they are temporarily living together
-

heroine has been celibate for 3 years and a mention that the hero hasn’t had anyone in his bedroom in awhile

- bit of instalust
- snuggles, watching movies, baking, book shopping…
- Joey the phallic cactus
- medium steam – 4 scenes (2 are close together)

My thoughts:
This was such a delightful surprise! I don’t reach much contemporary but I have moved Jackie Lau’s work all to my TBR.

The plot of this one was a bit implausable – the hero doesn’t know how to relax and enjoy life so he pays the heroine $5,000 to each him how to live because he sees her getting a gingerbread latte. But I loved it. It was a great way to get them together and I enjoyed the forced proximity of living together.

The humor in this one was so fun. I really liked Lau’s writing style. A romcom with lots of heart and some heavy issues also addressed. I loved both main characters, especially the hero and his family.

I appreciated the steam here but something about it wasn’t quite as intense as I was hoping for. Maybe I wanted the scenes a bit longer or more explicit? It’s kind of hard to tell on audio I guess. BUT the last scene??? With the wall sex??? Mmmmmm.

The ending did drag a bit for me and I struggled with a couple small parts but overall so happy to have found Lau’s work!

Content warnings:

- mention of father surviving a heart attack
- some mention of possible substance abuse with family members
- depression and anxiety – detailed scenes on page
- suicidal thoughts and remembrances of suicidal hospitalization
- remembrances of bad relationship and abandonment during a time of need
- remembrances of family not supporting mental health

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

Yes, condoms used

 
38% - kiss
48% - 🔥 touches, fingering/oral for her, missionary followed by mention of other scenes
69% - 🔥 fingering for her in the limo
70% - 🔥 blow job (incomplete), missionary in the hotel room
75% - 🔥 kisses, fingering against the door while he holds her hands above her head, sex against the door, mention of more sex
81% - kiss 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖 (I had to force myself to repeatedly pick this up and wanted to give up multiple times)
Feels: 🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡
Romance: 💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥 (There’s a few scenes, most are rape, others are so vague you don’t know what’s going on...)
Humor: No
Perspective: Third person mostly from the heroine, but also the hero, Garth (a side character), and a villain
Percentage which mains are first on page together: 9%
Cliffhanger: No
HEA/HFN: Happily Ever After (bleh)
Epilogue: No
Format: physical book

Should I read in order?
I believe this is a standalone.

Basic plot:
Jennifer is stranded on an island when the ship she was traveling on sinks in the Atlantic during a storm.

Give this a try if you want:
- Georgian time period (1741)
- Island setting (in the Atlantic)
- you’re okay with serious content warnings including murder and rape (by the hero) on page
- kidnapped/captive theme
- body betrayed me trope (where you don’t want to be intimate, but when they touch you your body betrays your brain and falls into passion with them)
- murder mystery
- literal bodice ripping

Ages:
- Heroine is around 20, not sure about the hero but he’s older

First line:

Black, turbulent clouds hugged the horizon, choking out the last bright, golden rays of sunshine.

My thoughts:

“If you’re trying to make me feel guilty, don’t bother. I’ve never felt guilty about anything in my life.”


I wanted to like this book SO BADLY!!!! Look at this cover!!! I am in love!!!

Well, I didn’t like anything about this book except the first 40 pages. Once the hero enters the book, I struggled until the very end. And even the first 40 pages, the heroine is stranded on an island and she admits she’s been a pampered helpless lady her whole life but has no problem making nets to catch fish, builds a shelter with a door and window, starts fires, and knows tons about survival.

I know reading old school romance you never know when you’re going to get some toxic aspects. Misogyny, dubious consent or rape. Severe jealousy. Codependent relationships. I can really love some dark elements. I can looooove dubious consent and pushy, arrogant jerky heroes. But one thing I chase when it comes to that is some form of remorse from the hero. For example, Whitney, My Love by McNaught, while toxic AF has a hero that is at least remorseful. This hero, Chad, had zero remorse and it was awful to read.

He not only rapes the heroine repeatedly, he distrusts her, uses her, threatens her until the very end. He is cruel and comes off as downright stupid to me in some situations.

Those chasing that dark, forbidden old school romance bodice ripper feel should give this one a go. (Maybe for fans of Stormfire by Christine Monson, or The Silver Devil by Teresa Denys?)

It didn’t work for me and I had to force myself to finish it. I saved some quotes below that feature my annoyance with this story. Read at your own risk.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts: Any typos are my own. Please avoid if you love this book because it’s mostly me ranting.

“So why does the fact that you bedded her upset you?”
“It doesn’t,” Chad growled, rubbing the back of his hand inside the stubble on his chin. He wasn’t about to tell Jason that she had been a virgin. He’d never taken a virgin before, not by force anyway.

Really, you expect me to believe this? Not by force anyway...I’m highly doubting any virgin gave him her virginity willingly.
---
This poor fucking woman. Lived alone on an island for a week, was discovered and immediately raped, dragged and imprisoned at a brothel in town, escapes and then he finds her and is taking his pistol out (so he can rape her again) and she starts to panic thinking he’s going to shoot her. And this is his thought process…

He had no desire to kill her, but he wasn’t against giving her a few bruises which he thought she deserved for all the trouble she’d put him through.

So he doesn’t care at all that she’s terrified of him and hurting herself to get away from him. In his mind she “deserves” it.
---

He could hardly believe she had actually bitten him when all he had done was kiss her. What the hell was the matter with her? And why was she looking at him as though she wanted to stick a knife in his heart? What had he done?

HE’S A FUCKING RAPIST IDIOT
---

He hoped to spark a flame of passion in her that would match his, to have her experience the rapture of desire, the pleasure he could give her; but for a moment his need ebbed when he saw the torment twisting her beautiful face. He couldn’t understand the game she played, why she resisted, why she wouldn’t allow herself to feel the ecstasy this moment could arouse.

Yes, it’s just so hard to figure out. Impossible. She loves to play games, that Jennifer.
---
We also find out one of the reasons he hates women and will never marry is because they are all evil – take the other beautiful woman he found while pirating who he also attempted to rape. Except she had a dagger and almost did him in. He let his crew kill her. There is nothing remorseful about this hero.
---

“Insensitive?” He chuckled. “She wanted to kill me.”
“Because you were trying to rape her!” Jennifer exploded, frowning at him. “You’re barbaric!”
Chad shrugged a shoulder. “If I were barbaric, her death would have been slow and agonizing. I’m sure it wasn’t.”
---
“No, mum. Captain LaShelle won’t allow it. That’s why he brought prostitutes to the village. If his men have need of a woman, they are to come to the inn. Captain LaShelle says the others are to be left alone, that we’re needed to work, not fulfill a man’s pleasures.”

Ahh so other people are told not to rape everything in sight, but this doesn’t apply to him.
---

It was the love of a woman he yearned to know.

Honestly HOW do you think that happens? You aren’t trying very hard here…
---

“I liked Megan!” Tears sprang to her eyes at the unsympathetic look he gave her. “I had nothing to do with this!”
“Then prove it,” he growled, seizing her arm and yanking her forward.

Ummmm you have kept her locked up, imprisoned, and raped this whole book – when exactly would she have time to murder multiple people?
---
This part broke my heart. We’re over 60% into the book and it has been all negative interactions between these two. Chad hasn’t budged an inch from his claim on King Asshole and this scene had the possibility to impart a bit of change in their relationship, a bit of vulnerability and closeness. But no, we get this (scene: the heroine put dinner together and he purposefully missed it to stay in town)

“You didn’t ruin my dinner,” she gently pointed out. “You ruined yours. But since you’ve already eaten, nothing’s really lost.”
“Damn it, woman!” he raged, hurling himself off the sofa. “Why don’t you whine and cry and complain the way you’re supposed to? The way any other woman would?”


So it’s like, she’s fucked no matter what. When she disobeys you, you rage at her. When you rape her, you rage at her. When she’s nice to you, you rage at her. I had wanted to chuck this book since page 50 but this is the point where I knew I was done.
---
We come to a part where the hero actually opens up about his feelings and he admits he has daddy issues and he just wants his father’s love. That is why he left home and pillaged and raped everyone. Daddy’s love!
---
We are at the END of the book and the hero and heroine are being reunited and we get this shit. Like how am I supposed to be believe in a HEA after he thinks like this right up until the end? Nope. Nope.

Why had she come back? If all she had ever truly wanted was the leave the island, to escape him, what had made her change her mind? He’d wondered if he should just shoot her before she had a chance to explain, before she could lie to him. Or should he torture her, make her watch while Garth and his men were executed one by one, knowing she would be left for last? Aye. He was angry enough to do either of those things. And he had the right. For the first time in his life, he’d allowed himself to give way to his emotions. He had fallen in love with her and she had betrayed him. He could pull out his pistol and kill her right where she stood and no one would blame him. He wanted to.

---
LISTEN TO THE LAST LINE OF THIS BOOK! This shows the heroine still fears the hero, still knows he doesn’t trust her. Their HEA doesn’t exist, she experienced the classic Stockholm syndrome and is now in an abusive relationship.

Tears of joy filled her eyes, and when she blinked, they spilled over her lashes and raced down her cheeks. Slipping her arms up around his neck, she kissed him feverishly and silently pledged that he would never find cause to change his mind.

Lastly what happened to the poor cat????
 

Content warnings:

- tobacco plantation owning heroine (her father) – it’s not a big part of the story but mentioned a few times
- scenes of cooking and eating fish
- repeated rape on page by the hero that slowly turns more into body betrayed me scenes
- murder on page (one is of a younger woman (I can’t recall if she was an older child or not), that ends with her legs being chopped off, another is a repeated stabbing
- violence and death on page
- threats of sexual assault/rape by another character
- not like other girls vibes throughout the book (and the other women are either nasty to her, and the one that befriends her is murdered immediately after)
- heroine slaps the hero (I mean, he deserved more than that!)
- some mentions of god and praying (not a big part)
- heroine is imprisoned without a blanket and with rats (by the hero)
- sex shaming (heroine’s thoughts) She cringed at the thought of having to allow a man – any man – to touch her just because he had paid for the privilege, and she swung her bare feet to the floor. How could a woman do such a thing? Didn’t she have any pride in herself? Shrugging it off as something she truly didn’t care to learn, much less discuss with someone, Jennifer went ot the dresser and picked up the brush.
- hero calls the heroine a bitch

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

Nope 

 
Pg 48 – rape of the heroine
Pg 118 – hero rapes the heroine in the brothel
Ppg 232 – starts as rape at the brothel, then turns to body betrayed me (you could read it that it’s implied the heroine orgasms)
PG 307 – missionary scene that is short and not descriptive 
Pg 339 – another sex scene that is vague and you can’t tell what is happening
Pg 473 – brief mention of past sex happening
Total pages - 493 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: No
Format: library borrow on Hoopla for audiobook

Should I read in order?
This is book 1 from the Whitaker Island series.

Basic plot:
Whitaker Island is a getaway for people that have a past they want to hide. But the past comes to find Hansen and Tessa works with him to solve a mystery before he can be wrongly accused…

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romantic suspense
- island location
- lots of forced proximity
- lower relationship angst
- protective hero
- mystery to solve
- some light unrequited longing from both characters
- small town vibe – 211 residents on the island
- 6’ 3” handyman hero (he’s at least 6” taller than the heroine)
- celibate hero
- medium to higher steam – 4 full scenes (some parts are a bit light)

Ages:
- Heroine is 26, hero is 35

First line:
People didn’t wash up on Whitaker Island’s pebbled shores by accident.

My thoughts:
I usually would say any type of romantic suspense is not for me, but I ended up enjoying this one. I loved how much Tessa and Hansen were together. I love the island setting. I loved all the forced proximity as they worked through the danger and mystery.

This one is relatively low angst, which isn’t really my thing but I found it comforting as an audiobook listen. I wanted a bit more sexual tension – we walk into this story already started a bit and both have a bit of unshared longing for each other that we missed on page. But I did like that they hadn’t really started a solid relationship yet so we got to see most of the fun parts.

This was my first by KelenKay Dimon and I would definitely try another. This one was a nice mix of relationship and mystery with some decent steam thrown in.

Content warnings:

- Mention of some off page sexual harassment and keying of heroine’s car
- some suspenseful scenes
- violence and death
- mention of murder of family member

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

Yes, condoms used 

 
34% - kiss
44% - 🔥 kisses, oral for her, missionary
60% - 🔥 fingering/oral for her (light orgasm denial for heroine to ask for forgiveness for hero’s bad behavior)
73% - 🔥 fingering for her, wall sex
96% - 🔥 her on top, thank god you’re alive sex 

 

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (I found a lot of these scenes quite short, though it’s hard to tell on audio)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥+
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from only the heroine
Cliffhanger: ends with a happy for now but the series continues their story
Epilogue: There’s a bit of a wrap up feel towards the end, and there’s a chapter of bonus content (at least on the audiobook version I had).
Chapter where mains are first on page together:

Chapter 2

Format: bought the audiobook

Should I read in order?
This is the first book in the Hades x Persephone series.

Basic plot:
Persephone is living a mortal life and working on becoming a journalist when she gets into a bargain with Hades at his night club.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary Hades and Persephone retelling
- bargain – Persephone has 6 months to create life in the Underworld or she loses to Hades
- tall hero/shorter heroine
- medium to high steam – there’s a lot of scenes but I found them a bit light (short-ish)
- you’re okay with some jealousy/touch of love triangle worries

First Lines:
Persephone sat in the sunlight. She’d chosen her usual spot at the coffee house.

My thoughts:
Yay for third person! I know I might in the minority here for this but I just adore third person so much and find it harder to find in contemporary-ish genres.

I liked this one but did struggle with some parts. Maybe it’s because I read Katee Robert’s version (Neon Gods) not too long ago and really enjoyed that one and couldn’t help comparing it. I liked the whole plot concept, the bargain. I liked the characters, though had a few parts I was side eyeing Persephone.

I didn’t realize this was a series following their story. I found the beginning half a bit slow but that makes more sense knowing how many books will be in the series about their story. So it took a bit for me to get into it but then I was enjoying listening to it.

As for the steam, it’s a bit hard to me to tell on audio sometimes how long the scenes really are. But they felt quite short here. The narrator did speed up quite a bit during these scenes – it was a noticeable breathless rush to the end of the scene. So that might have made them feel shorter but I really feel like they were only a few sentences/paragraphs. I definitely wanted them more developed. A bit more explicit. They were fine, but ideally I think it would have made me swoon more to have more developed scenes. So this made it feel not as hot as what the rating might seem to be. (at least to me).

I did struggle a bit with a couple of Persephone’s decisions: 

how when she is being blackmailed, her solution is to do exactly what the blackmailer is telling her to do – the fact that she is trying to get him his job back so that she can again be closely monitored, abused, and deal with his toxicity was frustrating and didn’t seem like a solution at all. And when she is the secret garden area with the man that was chained up without food or drink and she gets a terrible feeling to not do what she is about to do but does it anyway for no reason. How are you alive with those instincts?? Or at least lack of being able to follow your instincts. 

So this one isn’t one I would reread I think. I would consider continuing with the series someday but I’m not dying to do so. :)

Cock/Hero Stats:

Gods can use glamour to hide/mask their appearance and also to create other illusions (like Hades creating a garden in his realm)
All gods have horns
Hades is 6 ½ feet fall
Gods have powers that can create various magic/alter reality
Cock is normal!

Content warnings:

- jealousy
- love triangle-ish
- attempted sexual assault/drugging
- blackmailing

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex? 

I don’t think anything is mentioned 

 
Chapter 7 – kiss
Chapter 14 – kiss
Chapter 16 – bath scene, fingering for her, kisses, oral for her
Chapter 17 – heroine masturbation with hero watching
Chapter 18 – fingering for her, then they go to the bedroom, missionary, oral/fingering for her, her on top
Chapter 19 – sex
Chapter 22 – sex
Chapter 23 – blow job in the car, her on top
Chapter 23 – oral for her and short missionary
Chapter 24 – her on top
Chapter 27 – fingering for her (incomplete), blow job (looked like I was supposed to continue taking notes but didn’t so I’m assuming there’s more to this scene?)