This year I’ve felt like there was a time BSD (Before Stats Daddy) and ASD (After Stats Daddy). The era of ASD began on July 21st, 2023, when the firsThis year I’ve felt like there was a time BSD (Before Stats Daddy) and ASD (After Stats Daddy). The era of ASD began on July 21st, 2023, when the first book in this series, Too Safe, was released. Ever since Abby Millsaps unleashed the wicked and cunning Kylian (AKA Stats Daddy) on the world with the publication of the first book in the Boys of Lake Chapel book series, I’ve decided no other book boyfriend compares.
With the release of Too Far, the last in this trilogy, my opinion has not changed. I don’t care how much more Josephine got of Kendrick, Nicky, or even the great Decker Crusade himself. No. It is Stats Daddy who forever holds my heart and is still, in my mind, the true male star of Boys of Lake Chapel.
This review is as much for the whole series as it is for Too Far; but make no mistake, Too Far is a truly excellent novel and is the epitome of what a series conclusion should look like. It picks up almost exactly where Too Fast left off and keeps hurtling forward, barreling towards disaster. It’s obvious that all it will take is a single slip-up for the house of cards to fall down.
The first half of the book is suspenseful, heartbreaking, emotional, and frustrating (so, so frustrating). The second half of the book is swollen with emotion, angst, love, and lust. The epilogues made me cry. And cry. And cry. Heck, this whole book made my eyes leak water several times. I did not sob. You did.
The last epilogue was so touching to me. I didn’t cry, but I was deeply, deeply touched. I can’t express how much it meant to me which character was chosen for the last epilogue and what they said in it. My heart grew fifty million sizes.
If you haven’t picked up this series, I can’t express how much I recommend it. This is my book series of the year. If you know me, you must know how rare it is for me to pick a non-LGBTQ Why Choose romance series as my series of the year. I just can’t escape how deeply this series touched me nor how hot Stats Daddy made me. The charisma of the group as a whole cannot be denied. Congratulations, Abby Millsaps–You’re a genius.
All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. No compensation was provided for this review. Thank you.
Finally! Finally we’re fully in Project Watchtower for The Watch series, the second Necessary Evils spin-off series by the genius Onley James (the firFinally! Finally we’re fully in Project Watchtower for The Watch series, the second Necessary Evils spin-off series by the genius Onley James (the first spin-off series being Jericho’s Boys). We’re starting off with The Bone Collector, which considering that’s the notorious name one of the project’s instructors, Park, went by when he was still active in the field (and the second book is going to be called The Sin Eater, which was the field operative name of the head of the project), it seems that all the books in The Watch series are going to be titled after field operative names. I’m down.
I’m not going to go over the whole synopsis with you. That’s just blase. Let’s go over the tropes you know, and then I’ll go over what I found of interest that doesn’t come across in the blurb, shall we?
*Age-Gap Romance (oh yeah, it’s a good gap, too!) *Teacher/Student (this one’s a little loosely interpreted, since Park, one of our MMCs, doesn’t teach much in this book because Gift, our other MMC, isn’t one of the students learning his speciality)
Tropes that the blurb doesn’t mention:
*Older brother/younger brother dynamic (they aren’t brothers, but Park insists on Gift using the honorifics for those roles) *Daddy k!nk (Ohhhhhh yes. Our Park is a Daddy Dom and our Gift is his sweet baby boy (no ageplay)) *Semi-public k!nk, virginity k!nk, slight degradation k!nk, edging, impact play, filthy talk *Touch him and you die *Gift is manipulative, secretive, touch-starved, and needy *Park is a possessive mofo *Park is essentially Gift’s legal guardian and full-time bodyguard
Besides the extremely high heat rating of this book (it is super dooper freaking hot, you guys) and how well-written that spice is (good lord, Onley is trying to kill us all, ffs), it needs to be known this book is FUN. It’s hilarious. It’s like “Necessary Evils: High School Edition”. Imagine if the Mulvaneys, Jericho’s Boys, The Feelings Faction (IYKYK), and Elite Protection Services ALL went to the same boarding school. Some are there on merit via scholarship and some are there because they have connections. Some are there because they have both money and merit. There’s all genders, all walks of life, neurotypicals, neuroatypicals, geniuses, people of average intelligence…you get the picture. The point of the place is for the neuroatypicals to be matched with an emotional support human to keep them tethered to their humanity. It’s brilliant. It’s volatile. It’s going to either be wildly successful or they’re going to burn the world down. Either way, I’m going to have a wild-ass and fun time reading to see what they do while they screw each other into every available surface and torture the bad guys along the way.
Please be mindful of your own mental health before attempting to read this book and read the list of CW/TWs before you start. I don’t ever need them but you might. Take care of you....more
I’ve been so excited for this novella. You wouldn’t be my greedy, grabby hands! Pansexual camgirl? Genderfluid stalker? High spice, low plot? Dark romI’ve been so excited for this novella. You wouldn’t be my greedy, grabby hands! Pansexual camgirl? Genderfluid stalker? High spice, low plot? Dark romance? Oh yes, please and thank you to all of it!
This novella was a bit of a fun project for Dana Isaly, sprung forth from her brain when she saw the cover (Can you blame her? It’s a great cover!). Clara is a camgirl, just trying to get by on her own in Boston. She works in a coffee shop during the day and cams by night.
Io is a private investigator, of sorts. They’ve been hired by Clara’s father to find her. The guy’s sketchy though, so Io’s been taking their time to study Clara thoroughly to really make sure they’ve got the right girl. Yeah. That’s totally why they’ve been taking their sweet time and fobbing off the client with excuses as to why there are no answers yet. It’s not because Io’s obsessed.
As Io works to gain Clara’s trust online, her obsession grows into a sense of possession and a hard protective streak. Clara needs to learn some lessons.
This book isn’t meant to be anything but what’s advertised: an erotic thriller novella with low plot, high spice, gender fluid and pansexual representation, a camgirl, and a masked stalker. The spice is very nice, though it’s mostly solo until the back end of the story. When those couples scenes hit, though, BOY HOWDY was I here for it. Io and Clara were smokin’ hot together. Steam up the windows and burn up the sheets.
Terrific novella just in time for Halloween. Loved it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I read and reviewed all four of the originally-planned SPC novels, and I adored every single one. I had that soft sadness that comes whenever a beloveI read and reviewed all four of the originally-planned SPC novels, and I adored every single one. I had that soft sadness that comes whenever a beloved book series comes to an end, but I was absolutely satisfied with where it ended and felt the series had wrapped up exactly where it should’ve wrapped up. Nothing more was needed or wanted, in my opinion. I was happy for Sara to move onto other projects and to create more beautiful books for us to read.
Then Highest Bidder and Madame were announced, and I felt…concerned. Two characters, one very peripheral and one we’d had a cameo from in almost every SPC novel (if not all of them). I was satisfied with letting those characters lie. I liked leaving them to be mysteries. I didn’t want more SPC novels. I wanted Sara to let sleeping dogs lie. Apparently, agents and managers and publishers come before one reader’s opinions, though, and these books were coming whether I liked it or not. And I told myself, “Well, if these books are coming then I’m coming along enthusiastically to support Sara and to support the SPC series”, because the Salacious Player’s Club series has done more to clear up erotica readers eyes concerning BDSM and sex clubs than I thought was possible, undoing a ton of damage that books like 50 Shades had done. Sara had truly taken the romance novel community to church when it came to subjects such as BDSM, polyamory, owning your sexuality and k!nks, letting yourself become emotionally vulnerable, teaching about safe spaces and aftercare, and deprogramming toxic masculinity. I was truly scared Highest Bidder was going to come in and throw off the chemistry of the original four books.
I’m going to be honest with you and say that yes, this book does throw off the direction and chemistry of the original four books. It doesn’t match up with the other books in vibe, emotional depth, or in the way BDSM is woven into the story and the characterizations.
Does the age gap squick me out? No. Honestly, this is a fiery, panty-melting, chemistry-fueled read filled with dirty talk and filthy thoughts. The sexual chemistry between Ronan and Daisy starts off as mere curiosity on her side, but soon balloons into something akin to napalm, brilliantly hot, insatiable, and just about impossible to put out. Ronan, for his part, wants to flip up her tiny uniform skirt as soon as he sees her, but that’s not exactly an unusual reaction for a mature male who regularly visits a sex club. It’s how much she needs someone to help her, take care of her, provide for her, pamper and pleasure her and give her everything she needs that sets Ronan on fire. If Daisy’s physical attractiveness is the flint, then her neediness is the spark.
The largest part of why I loved this book is Sara Cate’s impeccable characterizations and how the woman never takes any shortcuts when it comes to writing BDSM dynamics. She has a reverence for BDSM practices and the lifestyle that most authors wouldn’t bother with that bridge the gap between the sex scenes and the characters that give depth to their individual issues and motivations that would otherwise have to be explained in more mundane and roundabout ways. BDSM forces you to confront your emotions and feelings, to process them and feel them. Sara’s gift as an author is giving her characters safe space to do all this, while keeping their love intact.
The only large complaint I have about this book is that there seems to only be the barest shell of a plot to this book that only appears at convenient times. If you’re going to have a plot, then have a plot and don’t let it just go to the wayside for the sake of whimsy and spice. Keep some structure to the story’s plot at all times.
In the end, this is Sara Cate, this is the SPC, this is some of my favorite tropes, and it’s a dang good book that will melt your underthings off your body.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All views, thoughts, opinions, and ideas herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Age Gap/Age Gap Romance/Billionaire Romance/Contemporary Romance/Daddy K!nk/Forbidden Romance/Kindle Unlimited/KU/BDSM/LGBTQ Friendly/Romance Series/Sex Club/Spice Level 3 ...more
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