"I didn’t realize it then, but that day in the pool was the first time he carved his name into my heart. He did it deeply. Deep enough to leave a f"I didn’t realize it then, but that day in the pool was the first time he carved his name into my heart. He did it deeply. Deep enough to leave a fine, silvery thread of scar tissue. I didn’t mind or complain. Not at all. Hell, I cracked my own sternum and held my ribcage wide open, giving him the time and access he needed to cut as deeply as he wanted. I didn’t wince. I didn’t flinch or pull away. I stood still. I was such a dumbass. I looked on and smiled as he did it."
Honestly, I don't have enough good things to say about the heart-wrenchingly angsty and totally divine standalone Romeo Falling by the fabulous Jesse H. Reign.
Romeo Falling is an MM, best friends-to lovers-to enemies-to lovers romance, with some achingly beautiful moments between our MCs Romeo and Jude, all the steamy first times, so much pining and alllll the angst. The writing is just perfect and the single POV keeps you wondering until the end.
What To Expect:
❣️MM romance ❣️small town ❣️co-dependency ❣️childhood best friends to lovers to enemies to.... ❣️all the firsts ❣️spicy but with love ❣️soulmates ❣️cheating (not between MCs) ❣️miscommunication ❣️single POV ❣️hard won HEA
"That was it. That was the moment I thought would set the course for the rest of my life. Even now, I could swear it was real. I could swear as I lay there beneath him, I saw Romeo falling."
One of my favourite reads this year, one of those that stays with you.
"I don’t know how to have a friend," Gage admits, finally putting me at ease. I like it when other people feel awkward because it makes me feel les"I don’t know how to have a friend," Gage admits, finally putting me at ease. I like it when other people feel awkward because it makes me feel less alone in my awkwardness. Quirks like company, I guess.
Sober Dope & Sundays is book 2 in the fabulous Nordika Night's Weekday Weirdos series. Like the first book in the series, Red Flags & Tuesdays, Sober Dope & Sundays was an unexpectedly quirky, funny and enchanting read, particularly given its dark-themed subject matter (addiction, recovery, relapse, mental health rep, amongst more).
Nordika Night handles the subject matter so beautifully, you can't help but get sucked into the journey these two amazing characters are on.
I totally adored Gage and Alexei. Gage literally WOULD NOT GIVE UP and Alexei was his brightness and strength, without giving up his own identity.
Although this book has dark themes, it's not a dark book; there's so much positivity and support to draw on, with the best parents (on both sides) and the best 'found family' support that you could wish for.
It's absolutely a romance, but it's not smutty or really spicy in any way; whilst the boys both fall quickly, they fall deeply in friendship and soulmateship first, and take baby steps with the intimacy.
"Somewhere, opposing forces raised weapons and unleashed bloodshed. And nearby, the rainforest watched us. And around us, the water flailed. This w"Somewhere, opposing forces raised weapons and unleashed bloodshed. And nearby, the rainforest watched us. And around us, the water flailed. This was how it felt to surrender and conquer. This was how it felt to kiss a villain."
Well, where to start?! I first read Dare by the sublime Natalia Jaster back in 2020 when it was the second book in the Foolish Kingdoms series and I adored it. Now 4 years later, the author is re-writing the series, making it way longer, expanding and developing all the amazing story lines, character arcs and world-building, and upping the spice rating ten-fold!
The first book Trick is now told across three books, the other two being Ruin and Burn, and all books in the series do need to be read in order, because whilst they are about different couples (Poet and Briar are across the first three books) they are all interlinked and there is one overarching story.
So back to Dare, which is Jeryn and Flare's story. Prince Jeryn is heir to the Winter Kingdom (Poet and Briar are from the Autumn court) and Flare is a 'born soul', considered 'less than' because of her inability to speak and her tendency for the dramatic; she has been imprisoned for most of her life.
They hate each other and they are obsessed with each other. Flare escapes from Summer's prison and Jeryn hunts her down. All the way to a tropical island undiscovered for centuries. Where things slowly start to change between them, as misunderstandings and revelations and life and death situations lead to lines being crossed, and the longing for things that can never be starts taking root in both of them....
What To Expect:
❣️MF fantasy romance ❣️Enemies to lovers ❣️Dark themes ❣️Forced proximity ❣️Forbidden ❣️Found family ❣️"Touch her and die" ❣️ALL THE STEAM! ❣️HFN
On the topic of steam, these are probably some of the longest spicy scenes, so be prepared!
As always, with Natalia's work, we have wonderfully diverse characters and fabulous representation. The writing is beautiful, such amazing prose, flowery and descriptive and divine. The world building is stunning and the characters sublime.
When we finally break apart, our chests are heaving as we struggle to catch our breath. Harry rests his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, hisWhen we finally break apart, our chests are heaving as we struggle to catch our breath. Harry rests his forehead against mine, his eyes closed, his fingers still tangled in my hair. He finally withdraws. He opens his eyes and his blue gaze pierces mine. “It appears you are still a necessity,” he says.
I totally loved this! Toby and Harry are divine. The Unlikely Pair is such a feel-good read and I highly commend a read of the first book in the Unlikely Dilemmas series by the wonderful Jax Calder - The Unlikely Heir - too.
What To Expect:
❥ rivals to friends to lovers ❥ politicians ❥ opposites attract ❥ forced proximity ❥ first times ❥ LOL moments ❥ HEA
"Seconds ticked by . . . The kiss went on . . . Zee’s tail flicked. Victor rocked with the motion of their embrace. Erm. Maybe they should ge"Seconds ticked by . . . The kiss went on . . . Zee’s tail flicked. Victor rocked with the motion of their embrace. Erm. Maybe they should get a room? I shouldn’t watch, but also couldn’t look away. Zee and Victor, tongue-wrestling, hand-grabbing. There was even some hip action going on. Mercy, they were spicy hot."
Ariana Nash continues the craziness in book 5 of her SOS Hotel series. Adam's troubles continue in SOS Hotel: No Rest for the Wicked and in this instalment, we have gremlins. Gremlins and murdery pixies. Oh and did I mention the MMM action is going up a notch. Or three......
To be continued in book - SOS Hotel: Luxury to Die for- and I can't wait for more not-quite-so-human Adam Vex and his boys!
"Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trus"Something about him drew me like a moth to a flame, which was only a problem because most of the time, he looked at me as if he couldn’t ever trust me, as if he didn’t even like me, when all I saw in him was safety. A place to lay down my head and rest, knowing that he’d have my back while I slept."
Kiss a Villain is book 1 in the No Mercy duet by debut author Mia Darling, and what a totally fabulous debut this was! I was sucked in from the very first chapter and inhaled the entire book over one (sleepless!) night. I totally adored our gorgeously innocent despite the horror, pining mafia prince Yarik, but my heart is still with that beautifully broken lonely Bratva boy, Kirill. So much angst!
"Luca glares at me for a moment longer, before his expression softens and his lips tilt up in a soft smile. And as I hold his gaze, I can’t help bu"Luca glares at me for a moment longer, before his expression softens and his lips tilt up in a soft smile. And as I hold his gaze, I can’t help but smile as well, and send him a silent thank you. As irritating as he can be, he’s also the only one that can really get me out of my head, and help me find my way home."
Choke Hold is the second and final book in the No Holds Barred duology by Eve Holmes and my love affair with Ty and Luca continues! Whilst I didn't lose myself in this one quite like I did with Hooks In, it was still a fabulous ending to their story.
Adam's troubles continue. Turns out the hotel definitely has a gremlin problem, Zodiac is becoming more and more irresistable, Gideon Cain is unrelenting and Reynard has a damn wife!
This is still just MM as far as the romance goes, with Adam falling for BOTH his business partners in book one, but you just know this is going to end up as MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
Adam's troubles continue. Turns out the hotel definitely has a gremlin problem, Zodiac is becoming more and more irresistable, Gideon Cain is unrelenting and Reynard has a damn wife!
This is still just MM as far as the romance goes, with Adam falling for BOTH his business partners in book one, but you just know this is going to end up as MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"He was wrong. Wrong about everything. But mostly, wrong about me. He couldn’t enthrall me. It wasn’t possible. Because I wasn’t human, and never h"He was wrong. Wrong about everything. But mostly, wrong about me. He couldn’t enthrall me. It wasn’t possible. Because I wasn’t human, and never had been. And he could never know."
I am absolutely loving these shorter, funnier yet still spicy, character and story-driven books, from the fabulous Ariana Nash (no offence to Adam Vex!) SOS Hotel: For a Supernaturally Safe Stay! is book one of (at least!) three books in her latest PNR urban fantasy series, SOS Hotel.
Adam Vex is the human (or is he?!) hotelier narrator of the books. He runs a sanctuary for supernatural Lost Ones, the SOS Hotel, with the help of his business partners, the gorgeous lust demon Zodiac and the sophisticated billionaire vampire Lord Reynard, who may or may not be up to something untoward.
Throw in an AI bartender called Tom Collins who's intent on poisoning half the guests, a vicious demon called Sebastien who has a secret hold over Zodiac, a murder (or two) on the hotel's opening night, an interfering detective and a psychotic real-estate mogul called Gideon Cain who wants to see Adam exposed in all the ways, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm!
This is a MM PNR, with Adam falling for both his business partners in book one. But you just know this is going to end up MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"He was wrong. Wrong about everything. But mostly, wrong about me. He couldn’t enthrall me. It wasn’t possible. Because I wasn’t human, and never had been. And he could never know."
I am absolutely loving these shorter, funnier yet still spicy, character and story-driven books, from the fabulous Ariana Nash (no offence to Adam Vex!) SOS Hotel: For a Supernaturally Safe Stay! is book one of (at least!) three books in her latest PNR urban fantasy series, SOS Hotel.
Adam Vex is the human (or is he?!) hotelier narrator of the books. He runs a sanctuary for supernatural Lost Ones, the SOS Hotel, with the help of his business partners, the gorgeous lust demon Zodiac and the sophisticated billionaire vampire Lord Reynard, who may or may not be up to something untoward.
Throw in an AI bartender called Tom Collins who's intent on poisoning half the guests, a vicious demon called Sebastien who has a secret hold over Zodiac, a murder (or two) on the hotel's opening night, an interfering detective and a psychotic real-estate mogul called Gideon Cain who wants to see Adam exposed in all the ways, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm!
This is a MM PNR, with Adam falling for both his business partners in book one. But you just know this is going to end up MMM once the demon and the vampire sort out their differences - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"How did one person feel like all the atoms in the universe conspired to make stardust? Stardust entirely designed to make me happy. One person sho"How did one person feel like all the atoms in the universe conspired to make stardust? Stardust entirely designed to make me happy. One person shouldn’t feel this fucking good."
If you've read J.R. Gray's totally fabulous Pretty Broken series, you'll know that they write a a mighty fine MM rockstar romance, full of all the angst and all the steam. Goodbye Note is another brilliant venture into the rockstar romance world, with the same great style and writing, but with two new bands and some fresh, front man fodder.
This is Varian and Arik's love story spanning two decades, so bring your tissues because it gets tough along the way.
"It was the first time I met Caspien Deveraux, and I loathed him with a passion I didn’t know I was capable of. And though I didn’t know it then, I"It was the first time I met Caspien Deveraux, and I loathed him with a passion I didn’t know I was capable of. And though I didn’t know it then, I’d soon come to love him with the very same ferocity."
You know sometimes you read a book and you know it's going to stay with you long after you finish the last page? Well Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining is THAT book. I'm also making an early call that Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining is going to be my favourite book of the year. Everything about it is completely and utterly divine and I have used way more of the author's own words than usual in my reviews to try and capture its essence.
Jude and Caspien are beyond precious, beyond broken. I totally adore Jude and his ability to love unconditionally, but there's something about Caspien's hardness and fragility and ruthlessness and vulnerability, that makes him one of my favourite MCs ever - he is an absolute paradox, so conflicted and complex and fractured. Bravo Scarlett Drake!
"It came from nowhere, but I felt it everywhere. The need to kiss him. I imagined the soft, wet pink inside of his mouth, the taste of his lips, the shape of his tongue. It was an onslaught of want. Loud and hot and violent."
Don't get me wrong - this book literally broke my heart. Scarlett Drake has the most exquisite command of the English language and she writes with a sublime poetry and cadence that just sucks you in, until you're almost drowning in the emotion of the story. I'm fairly sure I only just managed to keep my head above water through some of the most excrutiating moments. But hang in there, it's totally and completely worth it.
"My emotions were not as easy to define then. I knew them only as loud, chaotic things which burned a path straight through me without clarity or warning."
Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining is a coming of age love story, but it's not for the faint-hearted; be prepared for dark themes, dark behaviour and broken hearts covering a ten year period. It's brutal at times and Scarlett Drake is the queen of twisting the knife.
"If I counted all the little ways he broke my heart, totalled them up, and set them on a scale, I doubt they would even come close to that first, deep break. The one that felt like a crack tearing through stone and earth, through things that had existed since the beginning of a life, to alter it irrevocably."
That said, every twist along the way leads us to the hard won and so well-deserved epilogue. Honestly, if you only read one book this year, you need to make it Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining.
"I’d love him in spite of everything he was and everything I knew he could be. No matter what he did, no matter how much he hurt me, in this I would be constant. As long as Caspien Deveraux breathed, I would love him.
If you read one book this year, make it this one. ❤️...more
"His body crashes against mine, and then his hands are in my hair and his lips are on mine. He pins me in place, kissing me like he might crumple i"His body crashes against mine, and then his hands are in my hair and his lips are on mine. He pins me in place, kissing me like he might crumple into a million pieces of nothing if he doesn’t. The chill from the past few days gets chased away by Zahn’s fire, and I don’t know what’s happening right now, but I pull him against me and kiss him back with just as much fervor. My breathing picks up, becoming erratic and wild, making my head pound."
Dare to be Different is book 5 of a proposed series of 7 and is an MM best friends to lovers romance. It was my first foray into the Dare Brothers series and thank goodness for Nordika Night's fabulous recap of the previous four books at the start, so I knew exactly what I was getting into!
I am now heading back to read the first four books in order (they are MF, MF, MF and MFM respectively) and then (because why wouldn't I?!) I'll re-read Dare to be Different, which is Zahn and Remy's story.
Dare to be Different is absolutely hilarious! Between the bestie banter, family snark and Mama Dare's feisty one liners and porch advice, I was sucked in from page one.
"First time l've had a load of cum all over my abs. Didn't hate it." "Oh, good," Mom says sarcastically. "We're having glazed cake for dessert. Fits the theme."
And of course Zahn and Remy are just totally delicious!
I still can't put together the right words to review The Sunshine Court by the queen Nora Sakavic, so I will let her words speak for themselves....
(viI still can't put together the right words to review The Sunshine Court by the queen Nora Sakavic, so I will let her words speak for themselves....
(view spoiler)["Jean Moreau came back to himself in pieces, dragging himself together as he had a thousand mornings before."
"He hasn’t played a clean game in years," Kevin admitted, "but he knows how to follow orders. If you tell him to submit, he will." "Literally the most awkward way you could’ve worded it," Jeremy said.
"On his fingertips he counted to two: A cool evening breeze. Rainbows."
"Jean noticed how Andrew and Neil moved like they were caught in each other’s gravity, in each other’s space more than they were out of it, cigarette smoke and matching armbands and lingering looks when one fell out of orbit for too long."
"Nathaniel was his broken promise; Neil’s life was none of his business."
"Later Jean would understand why Wymack was so worried about him, but later was too late to do anything about it."
"It didn’t matter that Jeremy Knox was annoyingly easy to look at; Jean knew better than to look at another man too long. He’d learned that lesson the hard way and would not survive a revisit."
"There was no point denying it when they’d known each other this long. Jean was exactly the kind of guy Jeremy was prone to trip himself up over: raven-haired, gray-eyed, and tall without being gangly."
"We only had so much space to work with around here," Jeremy said with a helpless shrug. "It’s not about size, anyway." "Defensive," Jean said, tugging his glove straps with his teeth. Jeremy straightened in indignation. "I don’t have anything to be defensive about." Jean lost his grip and bit his lip, and Jeremy hurried on before either of them could think too much about that double entendre."
"Jean favored him with a pitying look. "You are the captain of the sunshine court. In no universe could you be anyone’s villain."
"A cool evening breeze. Rainbows. Open roads. Teammates.....Friends, he thought again, and this time it almost felt real." (hide spoiler)]
SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS SERIES AND THESE BROKEN BOYS.
I don't know if I can survive the wait for book 5.
"A tiny, strained moan gurgled up my throat, and all Zee’s words came flying back to me about how Reynard had hangups, but once he got over them, h"A tiny, strained moan gurgled up my throat, and all Zee’s words came flying back to me about how Reynard had hangups, but once he got over them, he’d take me. I wanted that. Wanted him. Wanted to lick him all over, then have him tell me what to do and how to do it."
Ariana Nash continues the craziness in book 3 of her SOS Hotel series. Adam's troubles continue in SOS Hotel: Sleep With Us. Firstly, there's the body in the flower beds (don't ask). Zee's being so badly treated by his ex-boss Sebastien that Adam (who's 100% completely and totally human of course) may well self-combust and completely flatten Razorsedge, whilst Reynard's remaining pale and stoic and unsufferably irresistable, so much so that even Zee is tempted, oh and the Demon General Copernicus is putting something unthinkable in his pies.
And don't get me started on the hilariously murdery AI bartender Tom Collins, who most definitely isn't functioning as he should.
SOS Hotel: Sleep With Us is still MM on the romance front and whilst Adam has fallen for both his paranormal business partners, he's currently just scratching that itch with Zee. But you can feel the MMM looming once the vamp and demon sort out their issues - and who doesn't adore an enemies to lovers show-down?!
"Everything about him is a red flag. Everything. He’s needy, desperate, pushy, and toxic. He’s a contradiction to himself, and he sees some sort of"Everything about him is a red flag. Everything. He’s needy, desperate, pushy, and toxic. He’s a contradiction to himself, and he sees some sort of forlorn fortune telling, already dooming us before this thing starts. He’s snarky and cruel because he’s honest and blunt about it, and he’s everything that pisses me off in a person. Entitled. Negative. Grumpy as fuck. A pessimist and a loner. An overthinker who can cause a fight with every word that comes out of my mouth. But he makes me feel so fucking alive."
I am in love with Reid and Atticus. I knew this would happen, even though I am (generally) a lover of the darker romance books. But this is Nordika Night and IMHO she never misses the mark with her characters and their stories. Red Flags & Tuesdays is another total winner for me!
Julia (bookish.jka)
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