sup3r_xn0va_maya's reviews
387 reviews

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 09h 30min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 - 4.25/5 
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Halfway to the Grave (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the first book in her Night Huntress series, Halfway to the Grave. This was my first time listening to a production by the company Graphic Audio and I was not disappointed. Catherine Crawfield is a half-vampire and she's made it her mission to kill other vampires because one vampire in the past, destroyed her mother's life. Bones, a full fledged vampire agrees to help train Catherine and help her find her father as long as she agrees to help him take out some of his vampire enemies. 

The story itself was outdated at certain parts, but it was very exciting otherwise. There was a very outdated and poorly aged part where

these two guys at the club try to drug Catherine to date rape her. Because she's a half-vampire, the drugs don't fully work on her so they end up triple dosing a human woman after it didn't work on Catherine. The human woman died, Bones found the perpetrators while they were assaulting the victims dead body. Further spoilers, Bones kills the perps for their crime.

This entire scene made me uncomfortable. I see a trend with older (circa - mid 90's - late 2000's) paranormal or urban fantasy stories where the author includes copious amounts of sexual assaults'.  Other than the issues with date rape and sexual assault, the graphic audio was enjoyable because the story's twist and turns were so interesting. This audio is action packed and it really has me excited to read the second installation. 

The spicy scenes were good, I enjoyed them and I really liked the voice actor for Bones. He has a very attractive voice. I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

Overall, disregarding the sexual assault issues I found this graphic audio to be really riveting. If the outdated parts in the story weren't there, I would definitely have to give this the max stars, but because of the triggering content, I'm giving this 4.25 out of 5 stars instead.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.25/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: “Well, hey there, little lady,” he said in that fake Southern accent that made her laugh and drove her crazy all at the same time. “I haven’t seen you around these parts before.”

Weatherspoon, Rebekah. A Cowboy to Remember (Cowboys of California Book 1) (p. 306). Kensington Books. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: romance, contemporary romance, spicy

📚Page Count: 307

🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 33min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5 
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A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon is the first book in the Cowboys of California series, it's the first western I've ever read and it was very cute. Evie Buchanan is a chef who has a spot on a morning show and she has recently lost her memory from a accident at an industry party. After waking up with amnesia she's informed that there's only one person on her emergency contact list, a sexy African American cowboy named Zach, apparently from her past. Zach messed up the first chance he had with Evie, now that he has a fresh start, will he be able to convince her to fall in love?

Evie and Zach were cute together, and almost all of the side characters were really nice. I don't think this was my favorite romance story, but I did enjoy the read. I can not see myself reading this again though, because of the slow pacing in the middle of the book. It feels as if not much happens for a bit and I hate when I feel like the plot is stalling. I did like the epilogue.  

The spicy scene was okay, there was only one if I remember correctly. It wasn't my favorite spicy scene and I honestly wish there were more, but I understand that the author is trying to tell an actual story that's not exactly an erotica. I'm giving the spicy scenes two point seventy-five chilies 🌶️🌶️.75 out of five chilies

Overall this romance was okay, there were cute moments, a few moments that were boring, and the one spicy scene was alright. I'm giving this 3 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: “Laughing in the intimate space between them, she rose up against him, kissed him in sweet little sips, her hands on either side of his face. Every muscle in his body tense, Vasic surrendered to the kiss, to the possession that may as well have been steel chains around his body."

Singh, Nalini. Shield of Winter (Psy-Changeling Book 13) (p. 374). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: paranormal romance, romance, urban fantasy, adult

📚Page Count: 450

🎧Audiobook Length: 15h 47min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 

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Shield of Winter is the 13th book in the Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh. Two Psy, Ivy Jane and Vasic, one of the central members of the Arrow Squad, are the main characters. I really enjoyed their romance story. Vasic is tasked with protecting Ivy after

the fall of Silence.

There's a lot of action in this novel, but there's also a good amount of romance as well. I really love the balance between the Romance and Paranormal/Urban Fantasy genres, Singh is so good at making the stakes high and interesting while also making sure to naturally make the characters fall in love. I don't want to spoil too much by going into detail about the "threat" in this book, though I will say I was hooked and didn't want to stop reading until I had finished. 

The spicy scenes were so good in this. I especially enjoyed how

Vasic kept teleporting while they were being intimate, I know it was supposed to be dangerous but that made things more exciting. Imaging being intimate with your partner and they teleport you to private island or to a beautiful beach in the tropics?

. I'm giving it four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

I really enjoyed the 13th main book in the Psy/Changeling series. It had action, romance, good spicy scenes, and a handsome brooding MMC! I'm giving this book 4 stars out of 5. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]

💬: ““It’s a sex chair,” Xeni blurted out. “A sex chair for a sex witch,” Mason joked. “Pretty much.” He walked over and examined it more closely. “May I?” he asked.

Weatherspoon, Rebekah. XENI: A Marriage of Inconvenience (Loose Ends Book 2) (p. 206). Rebekah Weatherspoon Presents. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: erotica, romance, contemporary romance, interracial romance

📚Page Count: 217

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 13min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5 
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TW -

alcohol, cursing, death of loved ones, grief, family secrets

Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon is the second book in the "Loose Ends" series. Xeni's famous aunt Sable Everly passes away and leaves most of her estate to Xeni. Due to Xeni's mother and her other aunts having a decades-old feud with their sister Sable, Xeni has a limited amount of time to clean out her aunt Sable's house alone. That is until she finds out that to claim her inheritance she has to marry her Aunt Sable's young friend and protégée. Well, now Xeni and her new husband Mason can clean out Sable's estate together. They're being trying to make the best of the situation, maybe that includes falling in love.

This was a really cute romance and I enjoyed the read. Both Xeni and Mason seem very attractive. I think the narrator did an okay job on the audiobook. I didn't have very many issues with this book and even though I liked it, it's not my favorite romance. I would recommend this book to a friend though. 

The issue I had with the book was with the

miscommunication

trope at the end.

The two separated for a while before Finally getting back together and that was a bit frustrating to me, though I understand they both wanted to work on their separate lives and issues for a bit.

I loved the spicy scenes! There's even a

pegging

scene in here and that was enjoyable. I like that the couple used condoms until they had been together for a while. I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

Overall this romance was sickeningly cute. I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: “You can try to fight it with all your might, but unless you're some all-powerful being and forgot to tell us, you can't stop every bad thing from happening. You're doing your best, and everyone loves you for it. That's all you can ask yourself for."

Cole, Alyssa. Radio Silence (Off the Grid Book 1) (p. ?). Carina Press. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres:  romance, contemporary romance, interracial romance, dystopian, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic 

📚Page Count: 308

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 34min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 4.5/5 
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TW -

alcohol, blood, confinement, cursing, death, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, murder, physical abuse, psychosis, racial slurs, racism, violence

Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole is a dystopian romance and it was surprisingly good. For some reason I didn't think dystopian and romance genres went together (I guess I wasn't paying attention while reading The Hunger Games.) I thought this was cute and some what action packed, the story kept my attention for the duration of the book. 

Arden, a Black woman, and John, a Korean man, were roommates in college when suddenly all the power went out, technology stopped working, and water stopped running (no one seems to know why). John comes up with the idea to walk the 100 miles from the college to his family's home with Arden, but on the way they come upon some trouble. It's John's brother, Gabriel, who helps Arden and John out of a dangerous situation. Now Arden, John, Gabriel, and Maggie (John and Gabe's teen sister) are tasked with surviving the apocalypse. Gabriel is stubborn, mean, and treats Arden like she doesn't know anything. How long can they last going at each other's throats? Or will they eventually notice each other's softer side? 

I think some of the decisions the character's made were really not well thought out. One example is at the beginning of the book, John and Arden make some questionable decisions and that ends up with them being in danger. Later on in the story, Maggie makes a really silly decision and that ends up putting the entire family at risk to being harmed in the apocalypse. In dystopian and apocalyptic stories, I expect the characters to try harder to live. 

The spicy scenes were enjoyable and I liked that condoms were used, because that's what makes sense in an apocalypse. I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

Overall this dystopian romance was cute. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 4.5/5 

I listened to this for free on <a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/">[Hoopladigital.com]</a>

💬: “She had to wonder when she would be able to look at his well-toned form and his sprawling tattoos, and not want to start drooling."

Weatherspoon, Rebekah. RAFE: A Buff Male Nanny (Loose Ends Book 1) (p. 212). Rebekah Weatherspoon Presents. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: erotica, romance, contemporary romance, interracial romance

📚Page Count: 258

🎧Audiobook Length: 06h 16min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 - 3.75/5 
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TW -

cursing, violence

Rafe: A Buff Male Nanny by Rebekah Weatherspoon is the first book in the "Loose Ends" series. This book is about Dr. Sloan Copeland, M.D who is a single mother to two twin daughters, Avery and Addison. Dr. Copeland needs to find a new babysitter and she gets a recommendation about a male Nanny named Rafe. Well, his references are good and he has the experience so he might be the right person for the job, it also helps that he's very handsome and fit. Will Dr. Copeland and Rafe keep things strictly professional, or will they pursue each other due to mutual attraction? 

This romance/erotica felt cozy and wholesome for the most part, it's advertised as low angst and I definitely agree with that assertion. Although the story was cute, it wasn't one of my favorite romance stories but I'm glad I read it, though this isn't a book I could see myself reading again. I did however like the little surprise in the epilogue. I'm a 30 year old non-binary women who is child free by choice, so it's possible that's the reason this story didn't resonate with me. 

The spicy scenes were nice, I appreciate that the couple used condoms until

they got married in the epilogue

. I'm giving the spicy scenes three chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall this romance/erotica was cute. I'm giving this 3.75 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 - 3.75/5 Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬:“Being forced to learn the language of your oppressors is an oppression of the mind. They rewrite your history when you’re too young to know what you’re giving away, and before you know it, it’s too late to reclaim what you’ve lost, she said.”

Cole, Kamilah. So Let Them Burn (The Divine Traitors Book 1) (p. 82). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fiction, fantasy,  young adult, dragons, LGBT, queer, mythology

📚Page Count: 392

🎧Audiobook Length: 11hrs 24mins

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2.75/5

TW -

blood, child abuse, colonization, cursing, death, fire/fire injury, injury/injury detail, murder, racism, violence, war

So Let Them Burn is a Jamaican inspired fantasy about two sisters who get separated from each other against their will, it's book one in the Divine Traitors series. Elara and her younger sister Faron live in a country that was just at war, although the countries are currently vying for peace, there's still conflict behind the scenes. 

The setting and backstory are really fleshed out and I liked the dragons and I enjoyed the fighting and action scenes. The end of the book was really exciting. 

The author created a sense of urgency within the premise of the book and then the entire first and second half of the book fell flat because nothing happened. 40% of the way through Faron asks

the gods

for help and they say no, then 60% of the way through she goes back and asks them for help again. Like the first time, they decline to help. At this point 20% of the book has gone by and almost nothing has happened. 

I really didn't enjoy most of this book, the pacing was too off. Most of the beginning and middle of the book was just exposition, and it was frustration. The author would tell you something, not show you and that's not quite as exciting as it could be. It also felt like the author was writing in mundane scenes (even though she created that sense of urgency) just to fill the space so she can make the end of the story lead up to a sequel. 

Here are a few other things I didn't like about the book. The character relationships had little development but

both Faron and Elara find love with their respective companions that they each used to hate.

The action scenes were really entertaining, it's unfortunate that they weren't spread out more. Most of the action scenes were at the end of the book. The end of the book was very info dumpy with "surprises" she revealed. 

I didn't enjoy this book for the most part, I only enjoyed the ending. Due to that I'm going to give this 2.75 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️ - 2.75/5

I listened to this audiobook on [Spotify.com]

💬: “So you're just a quiet, cranky, brooding mountain man?” 
“Something like that.”

Weatherspoon, Rebekah. HAVEN: Beards & Bondage (p. 88). Rebekah Weatherspoon Presents. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: erotica, BDSM, romance, contemporary romance, dark, thriller, interracial romance

📚Page Count: 256

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 28min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 
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TW -

blood, cursing, death, death of loved one, gore, grief, gun violence, hate crime, injury/injury detail, murder, panic attacks, stalking, sexual content, violence

Haven by Rebekah Weatherspoon is the first book in the "Beards & Bondage" trilogy. Haven is about Shep, a grumpy nature photographer who lives out in the woods in Northern California and Claudia, a fashionista from the city. Claudia takes a trip out the Northern California wilderness for a week long get away, but the trip ends in mayhem and Claudia is tasked with trying to survive the night. With no where else to run, Claudia ends up at Shep's door and she's desperate for help. Shep saves Claudia but now both of them are forever changed. To help with the healing process, Shep and Claudia begin a week long sexual relationship, one that includes BDSM session after session. Claudia learns how to be the perfect submissive, and Shep dominates her wonderfully. 

This started off really strong with a thriller element and even though

the thriller element dies down towards the middle of the book

, the book still kept my attention for it's duration. I do think the characters could have had a little more development, but this is an erotica so we got more spicy scenes than character development. 

I'm unsure of how to rate the spicy scenes, they were good but I didn't love them. I appreciated that they used a condom in every scene, because the two had just met. The scenes didn't move me in a way that I wanted them to. Keep in mind that all the scenes are BDSM related in some way. I'm giving it three chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall this erotica was okay, I wish there was a better balance between the romance and spicy scenes. I'm giving this 3.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 Stars

I listened to this on [ChripBooks.com]

💬:N/A

📖Genres: shojo, romance, humor, manga, graphic novels, comics

📚Page Count: 174

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 

TW -

adults having crushes on teens, adults romantically perusing teens

My Love Story!!, Volume 9 by Kazune Kawahara is a shojo humor manga about a Takeo, a high schooler, his girlfriend Yamato, and his best friend Sunakawa. Most of volume 9 is a continuation of the story from volume 8. Volume 9 continues where volume 8 left off. 

Yamato still

has her job at a pastry shop and the 21 year old pastry chief that she works with has a crush on her and he thinks that she is his muse

. This story arc makes me uncomfortable, I think Yamato is 15, 16 at the oldest. I don't think it's appropriate for a 21 year old character to romantically peruse a 16 year old character. 

There is a bonus story near the end of this manga and it was really cute, it was my favorite part of this manga. 

Needless to say, I don't think this manga was as good as the others in the series. Just like volume 8, this volume is not my favorite. I'm giving this 2 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️

I read this manga for free on [Libbyapp.com]

💬: “Don’t be afraid,” he whispered into my hair. “There’s the two of us now.” I felt warm, soothed, and safe for the first time in many days."

Gabaldon, Diana. Outlander: A Novel (Outlander, Book 1) (p. 212). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

📖Genres: romance, romantasy, adult, adventure, historical romance, historical, fantasy

📚Page Count: 850

🎧Audiobook Length: 32h 38min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2/5
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TW -

ableism, animal death, blood, body horror, cursing, death, death of parent, emotional abuse, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, pregnancy, rape, sexism, sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual content, sexual violence, torture, violence, vomit, war

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is an 800+ page historical romance that has action, spice, time travel, and adventure. Claire is a nurse from 1945 and she's thrusted back in time a few hundred years, where she has to survive until she figures out how to get home. It's here that she meets Jamie, a Scott who wants to show her a love so true. At least she won't have to try and survive alone, with him by her side. I didn't love this story, I barely liked it. Between the weird and slow pacing and the threat of rape being constantly thrown around, by the time the book was over I was exhausted and annoyed from the read.

I didn't like the book's pacing. The book started off really slow, I'd say it took about 2 to 3 hours of listening to the audiobook for the story to actually start moving forward. Once the story started to move, things got interesting and I became invested. Then, I'd say 200 pages into the action, things slowed down to a crawl and I stopped caring about the story. After about 150 pages of the slow crawl, things picked up again. Do you see where I'm going with this? This strange pacing continued throughout the entire novel.

(Trigger Warning  - rape, sexual assault)
The threat of rape was constant from the moment the main character went back in time. I understand that your female main character went back in time, that doesn't mean you have to have every other man she encounters try to physically & sexually attack her. I honestly should have counted the amount of times Claire was threated with physical or sexual harm by a man, there are a few times where she actually IS attacked. Claire apparently isn't the only one who's in danger of being sexually assaulted.

At the tail end of the book Jamie gets arrested and he incidentally ran into Randall, well Randall is an evil man so he wanted to take revenge on Jamie and he does that by mutilating, torturing, and raping Jamie for an uncertain amount of days.

(Trigger Warning  - rape, sexual assault, drugging)
Unfortunately, it gets worse. Now,

by the time Jamie is rescued from Randall at the end of the book, he has PTSD, he's so sick that he might die, and he doesn't want to look at his wife because he feels ashamed and disgusted with himself because of the sexual assault. How do I know this? Because he tells Claire and there's a dialogue about the assault and Jamie tells Claire exactly what was said and done to him. For some odd reason the author decided to make Claire drug Jamie with opium, so he hallucinates, and then she pretends to be his assaulter (Randall) and she says the things he said and then she does the things he physically did to elicit a response out of Jamie. Well, it does get a reaction, Jamie attacks Claire and they go tumbling to the ground (while Claire is getting beat on by Jamie). Somehow, while they're tumbling on the group Claire is able to insert Jamie into her, and now they're having intercourse. Claire "cured him" and helped him claim his "manhood".

OMG. How ridiculous, gross, and unnecessary.

(Trigger Warning - physical abuse, domestic abuse)
The spice fluctuated. At first I was into it but then there was this strange scene where

Jamie physically held down and beat Claire because he wanted to prove to his band of merry men that he was punishing her for her actions. I just didn't understand this scene, it made me sick to my stomach and it made me like Jamie a lot less than I previously did. After that, I wasn't interested in any spice between Jamie and Claire.

I'm giving it one and a half chilies 🌶️.5 out of five chilies

This book also ends in the

pregnancy trope

, and if you know me then you know I hate that trope very much. So, the ending was just disappointing for many reason. I really tried to trust recommendations and then trust the process with this one and that failed me. There were only a few times during the 32 hour audiobook that I enjoyed the reading experience. I just didn't like this book and I won't be continuing with the series.
⭐️⭐️ - 2/5

I listened to this for free on the library app, hoopladigital.com