This is just not my cup of tea at all. Basically, the FMC seems to have some kind of magic hoo-ha that brings all the boys to the yard - likeDNF @ 27%
This is just not my cup of tea at all. Basically, the FMC seems to have some kind of magic hoo-ha that brings all the boys to the yard - like, as in, that seems to be her superpower - and I'm not even marginally interested.
That plus the weird drama ... mystery guy buys you a magic bracelet (that seems to unlock your hoo-ha magic) and mentions a brief sum up of your life story while dropping an unlimited credit card on your table, along with a mysterious business card that has only a phone number, as he dashes dramatically out the door while offering you a job. He loosely implies that it is prostitution (as in, she skeptically asked if it was prostitution, and he hesitated ... and she said "you hesitated!" and he acknowledged that it is complicated).
And she is mesmerized by the whole thing enough that she's going to go with it, despite her common sense occasionally bubbling up and reminding her that she's going to be a human trafficking victim.
And in the meantime, men are inexplicably drawn to her, and her body fires with heat, and she has sex with a crappy ex.
As always, these books are really fun, with loads of interesting secondary characters as the case plays out.
I feel like this one was hurt by a couple As always, these books are really fun, with loads of interesting secondary characters as the case plays out.
I feel like this one was hurt by a couple little things, which kept me from giving it 5 stars despite the fun.
Firstly, Nick's family and the geriatric imbeciles got dialed up a bit too much for my taste in this book. Nick's mom and sister are literal human garbage, and I don't find them funny - they are entitled, bullying asswipes and I need someone to tell them to go fuck themselves because it isn't okay. It is different from the geriatric imbeciles because they are completely mean-spirited. I'm not interested in a character that treats people this way, and I'm especially not into seeing Nick and Riley cater to them, trying to win them over. No. People like this deserve a boot to their ass, and to sit in loneliness in their old age, wondering why no one wants to be around them. Frankly, Nick's mom is no different than Griffin and Bella - a rich bitch who thinks the majority of the world is beneath her, and their only purpose is to toady to her. She is the definition of what is wrong in this world.
And while usually the geriatric imbeciles amuse me, this book took it a bit too far imo, Maybe because they just moved into Nick and Riley's house as if they had every right, and then proceeded to trash it and/or idiotically keep barging into their bedroom.
Secondly, it's hard to watch them try to help Griffin and Bella. Frankly, I'd make popcorn and watch him get murdered. The human race as a whole would benefit from this dickhead being removed, and especially being out of the gene pool. Again, he is the definition of what is wrong in this world...just a celebrity version.
I get that Nick needed the money, and so that worked to make me roll with it, but he was just so unbelievably irritating that it made for some tough moments. Also, given that you know he rips people off, get paid UP FRONT. Like, that asswipe could be in the middle of a gunfight, and I would not engage until he wrote me a check. Don't want to pay up front? Okay, good luck then, you shithead.
Those quibbles aside, it was fun. Riley and Nick have a really great relationship, and it was cute seeing them on a case together. And it was gratifying to see Riley comfortable with regularly leaning into her psychic abilities - PI seems like an amazing job for her, right up her alley!
I'm glad the author is continuing with this character, because I really do like the cast. And because I need to see Weber and Jasmine finally get together, please!
And because someone better drop kick Nick's sister, and throw his mother out a window. Seriously....more
I liked this one less than the first (even though this is labeled #1, so I have no idea what's going on here, but Fantasy Lover indicated this was theI liked this one less than the first (even though this is labeled #1, so I have no idea what's going on here, but Fantasy Lover indicated this was the next book in that series), but I still thought it was fun. This one set up the Dark Hunter world - I honestly don't know what Julian had to do with all that, other than the fact that he and Kyrian are friends.
Seems like all these people have been totally screwed over by life and the gods. Not sure why these badass guys don't go god-hunting, if I'm being honest. The last book made it seem like Julian could take them.
This book is at 3.5 stars because I thought the FMC Amanda was kind of a drag in the beginning, trying to ignore her magical reality and be a stick-up-her-butt bland person. Then she weirdly supposedly became super powerful, which felt a bit bullshitty to me, but whatever, it was fun.
It's so weird that I apparently read this before - it had a 4 star rating and it shows I read it in 2021 - because I don't recall it at all, and it shIt's so weird that I apparently read this before - it had a 4 star rating and it shows I read it in 2021 - because I don't recall it at all, and it showed as unread on my kindle.
Anyway!
This May 2024 read may or may not be a re-read. But 4 stars was seriously low-ball, so I bumped it to 4.5, rounding up. This is a really lovely story, that made me cry several times. Julian's backstory is just devastating, and frankly I think he needs to start killing deities.
I liked Grace too, but this book was honestly carried by Julian and his heartbreaking arc. I can definitely see myself reading this again. And, hopefully, remembering it next time....more
This book has been floating on my TBR for probably a decade, so I finally took the plunge.
It was ... eh.
I think maybe it's partially changing sensibThis book has been floating on my TBR for probably a decade, so I finally took the plunge.
It was ... eh.
I think maybe it's partially changing sensibilities, given that this book was written in the 90s, but yeesh, it was insanely melodramatic. Just completely and utterly overwrought in every possible way. And the FMC is unbelievably TSTL, which, combined with the OTT drama, just ends up being painful. Every single choice she makes is the stupidest thing I can even imagine. And the MMC is just ludicrously controlling. Is there really a woman out there who wouldn't punch this guy in the junk and then RUN the other direction? I have a hard time believing it.
I like the mythos of the Carpathians, but if they are all like this, I can't imagine reading this long-ass series. I got through most of this book due to laughter at the ridiculousness, which won't carry me very far into the whole series. Has anyone on my friends list read onward? Is it all like this?...more
I'm glad there's more to Shara's story, because while the original series did reach a satisfying conclusion, it was an "okay for now" situation, with I'm glad there's more to Shara's story, because while the original series did reach a satisfying conclusion, it was an "okay for now" situation, with a lot of scary players still on the board and a toxic vampire society that desperately needs reshaping. You could see the glimmer of how Shara would reimagine it, rooted in love, but that work has barely begun when the series ended.
This picks up right where things left off, and the first order of business is the Dauphine. I enjoyed it very much.
I will say that the ratio of smut to plot is still a bit skewed for me (my preference is like 70% plot, at minimum, and I'd be surprised if this was more than 50%). I like the story enough to live with it, though I'm skimming the blood orgies a bit of I'm being honest. I do wish she hadn't picked up yet more Blood in this book. I get it, in terms of battle forces. But can't she just pick up more sibling queens and they all go to war together? Because a harem of... what did it land at, 14 Blood now?... is just too much for any of them to be real, enfleshed characters that get decent page time. They're kind of reduced to like "oh, tentacle guy" or "I think this is the sadist guy" as they each get a token interaction with her. I just finished a re-read of the original series last week, prepping for this release, and even despite the recent refresh, I didn't remember all these guys. I also feel like the author is trying to find a line by getting progressively more extreme, because, like, a cannibal, really? Really?
Anyway, it was still fun, so 3.5 stars from me....more
I don't think I've ever read a sweet omegaverse (that's the only kind I read, not the dark non-con stuff) that had "switchIt was alright - ****3.5****
I don't think I've ever read a sweet omegaverse (that's the only kind I read, not the dark non-con stuff) that had "switch" designations. I couldn't get over how totally disorienting that would be to the person, honestly - like split personalities. But it was interesting....more
Look, there is a fine line between quirky and brainless, and this FMC is on the wrong side of it. That plus her inexplicable acceptance of anDNF @ 54%
Look, there is a fine line between quirky and brainless, and this FMC is on the wrong side of it. That plus her inexplicable acceptance of an asshole boss treating her like shit - it's okay because he's hot, apparently, and she can't stop thinking about screwing him (and whining that it has been THREE WHOLE MONTHS since she had sex - that seriously was said at least 4 times in the 54% of this book that I got through) - and I'm noping right out of here....more
I really enjoyed this last book in the Considine/Jade trilogy. I could pull up quibbles on odds and ends, but no quibbles hurt my overall fun with thiI really enjoyed this last book in the Considine/Jade trilogy. I could pull up quibbles on odds and ends, but no quibbles hurt my overall fun with this book, so I shan't bother.
This was a pretty self-contained trilogy - if you haven't read the other books in the overall Magiford series, I don't think it will hurt you, though if you haven't at least read the first trilogy (Hazel/Killian) you'll miss some of the fun in this series, because those two characters are fairly significant secondary characters here. But in terms of plot, these 3 books are self-contained, and wrap up all the questions that come up within the trilogy. I found that nice, since we still have dangling loose ends from some of the other trilogies (most notably, who is pulling the strings behind the attacks on Hazel, the Night Court, etc).
Also, note that this is a clean romance - no smut on page, just mild kissing/affection....more
Apparently I'm having a real sweet omegaverse binge right now. I don't know why, but it is the only thing holding my interest.
This one was okay. A litApparently I'm having a real sweet omegaverse binge right now. I don't know why, but it is the only thing holding my interest.
This one was okay. A little slow, and I found the FMC to be a bit blah - I didn't realize this was the chick from the earlier book who dumped Luke because he wasn't an alpha, and then immediately started hooking up with his brother as soon as he went off to the military. It's hard to feel much sympathy, frankly, and so I rolled my eyes a lot over her neediness....more
**spoiler alert** So... there's a lot about this that didn't work for me.
First, let me note that this book could have used a copyeditor. There were lo**spoiler alert** So... there's a lot about this that didn't work for me.
First, let me note that this book could have used a copyeditor. There were lots of places where a wrong word was used, or the words were transposed in a weird way that had me puzzling out what the sentence was actually supposed to be. But overall, for me, that was a small issue...but YMMV.
The bigger problem to me was the hold-out alphahole, Phoenix, and Maya's (FMC) feelings towards him. Because the whole thing was childish and ridiculous, and I hated Maya for wanting him. So here's the tea:
Phoenix had a previous relationship with an omega, and he thought she was his - he loved her, as did the other guys in his (now broken-up) pack. Turns out she was stringing them along to steal their money. She peaced out with millions embezzled, and the pack broke up over the hurt. Phoenix's takeaway from this wasn't "that was a manipulative bitch" ... no no, it was "ALL OMEGAS ARE MANIPULATIVE BITCHES" as if this 36 year old grown-ass man is a goddamn toddler. One experience with one person coloring your view of the entire sub-species ... well, there's a word for that and it isn't a nice one. Let's reframe this, shall we? Phoenix is a billionaire alpha - privileged, family that loves him, everything in the world is his for the taking. Omegas are the most vulnerable members of society - I have not read a single omegaverse story that wasn't laced with subplots of sex trafficking and abuse. Let's imagine this as a contemp romance where the poor little white rich guy meets a POC woman in school, falls in love with her, and she breaks his heart, maybe screws his best friend or something, and takes off with his bank account. What a bitch, right? Right. If poor little rich boy's takeaway was "ALL POC WOMEN ARE MANIPULATIVE BITCHES" we'd all have a real problem with that.
Especially seeing it play out in this book, where his fellow packmates meet an omega they scent match to, and he is absolutely horrible to her right from his first encounter with her. Going out of his way to say unbelievably horrible things to her. Rejecting her in the first 10 seconds of meeting her (because they are of course also scent matches), viciously, while loudly proclaiming his obsessive belief that all omegas are the epitome of evil. He wants her out of his pack house NOW, he wants her scent scrubbed from every surface of the pack house, and he wants her to never be near him again. That's both amazingly narcissistic and not possible, because she is the fated mate of everyone else in the pack. But Phoenix doesn't care. He doesn't want an omega and fuck the rest of them, their worlds should all revolve around him and what he says. Later he makes a point of picking up a ho-bag right in front of the omega, to drive home the point that he doesn't want her at-fucking-all. You guys, he was a CHILD. As hurtful as possilbe at every opportunity, though he hadn't even had a single conversation with her.
Early on, I was proud of Maya because she started out with the attitude of "well, fuck this guy!" But unfortunately, she rapidly devolved into "it's okay cuz he's hot"-syndrome. This was agitated by the constant fucking refrain of "just hang in there, Maya, you'll prove to him that you're nothing like her" as if SHE has to prove something to HIM. That's when I got pissed. They OF COURSE end up together. Not because he grovels or anything. He just decides he wants her, and she spreads her legs immediately, and that's that.
It was gross.
Lastly, I want to touch on the neurodivergent elements in this book. As someone with social anxiety and a tendency to be such a hermit that you need a crowbar to get me out of my house, at first I kind of dug it. And it wasn't all bad. But I started to get irritated at about the midway mark when it felt like Maya went from being this impressive chick who got her own life together even if she is a little different from everyone else, to this weak-willed watery doormat. She cried all the time, about everything, constantly...to the point where it felt infantilizing, which pissed me off. She's a capable damn woman, who built a life all on her own, and has been taking care of herself while building an impressive career. But then on a dime, she suddenly doesn't seem capable of anything, to the point where you wonder how this woman wasn't found dead in her apartment, eaten by cats, years ago.
This is a super light, super smutty sweet omegaverse book. I really enjoyed 90% of it as just a steamy fun read.
But I found 10% of it to be really annThis is a super light, super smutty sweet omegaverse book. I really enjoyed 90% of it as just a steamy fun read.
But I found 10% of it to be really annoying. Let me clarify in spoiler tags.
(view spoiler)[Two characters in this book have a backstory of betrayal by a family member, and the author seems to want us to find these betrayals to be a non-issue. But they were not a non-issue, at least not to me.
The FMC, Everly, had previously brought a pack she'd gotten serious with back home for the holidays to meet her family. On the trip, her baby sister stole that pack. Everly struggles with her guilt over not feeling like a supportive sister since then, because it hurts her to be around her sister and the stolen pack. She used to be close to her sister and it hurts her that she doesn't feel that same closeness.
I honestly thought the arc of this book would be her developing some healthy self-respect and realizing her sister is ho-bag trash, and cutting that bitch out of her life.
That was not the arc.
In the end, sister comes to visit with her pack of awkward, betraying shitheels, and it's like it all never happened - the two sisters love each other and blah blah blah.
Conversely, we have Luke's family. Luke went away to the military and came back to find his shitheel brother with his girl, and his family just expecting him to understand and get over it. He hasn't spoken to them since then...about a decade. These fuckheads also show up in the end. Luke seems to make peace with his family. But punches his brother, who is portrayed as the biggest douchebag manwhore since Jersey Shore. But the girl is also there - manwhore brother never bonded her, but she's clung on like a ridiculous barnacle for a decade, hoping dude will get his shit together. And the betraying girl is treated like she's a victim.
All of this could have sat much easier with me if this was a world of fated mates, which is pretty common in omegaverse. Like, your one perfect scent match that you just can't stay away from. It would make the sister stealing the pack a sad twist of fate, but you could understand Everly's determination to not blame her and keep the relationship with her sister, because her sister didn't have a choice here either. Same with Luke's family - it would be okay that they expected him to understand, because fated mates are reality.
But they're not in this world. There are "scent matches" but we're told they're just people you have compatibility with, and so in matching programs, you'd be connected and meet, and see if that turns into something real. Everly, the FMC, has had several scent matches from the omega center, but they've never worked out (so she's feeling pretty unlovable). That means that basically, she brought her boyfriend(s) home for the holidays, her bitch of a sister decided they smelled hot to her, and decided she was going to have them. And they betraying douchebags decided the same. It's no different than any one of us bringing our boyfriend home to meet the family, only for our baby sister to decide he looks hot and she steals him.
It makes her trash. And it makes the men trash. It's not forgivable, they are literal human garbage who should be dead to Everly. A reconciliation here is NOT a part of any HEA. It only means that Everly never found real self-respect, and so she's clinging to a sister who doesn't love Everly even a teeny fraction as much as Everly loves her sister.
I also deeply resent the sexism across both betrayals. Betraying bitch sister gets a pass, and betraying bitch girlfriend is a victim, but the douche brother is treated as a villain. We get joy in seeing Luke punch him in the face. But why, of two family betrayals, two significant other betrayals, is that one brother the ONLY bad guy? They should ALL get a punch in the goddamn face. (hide spoiler)]
It was a big frustration in an otherwise fun book. It also means I'm unlikely to re-read this, but to be honest, given that this was like 65% smut to 35% plot, I probably wouldn't have re-read it anyway. It was fun for what it was, though, betrayals aside....more
This was a really lovely story. I love sweet omegaverse stories, they're just comfort reads to me.
In this one, we've got an FMC recovering ****4.5****
This was a really lovely story. I love sweet omegaverse stories, they're just comfort reads to me.
In this one, we've got an FMC recovering from a creep that dumped her a year ago. The guy was abusive, but in that really insidious way that is spirit-crushing without being overt. She didn't see it. Even now, a year later, she doesn't see it. She hates that he dumped her so cold-heartedly, but she doesn't see how he crushed her over the 4 years they were together. So much so that when he flipped a switch and kicked her to the curb, she was so shattered she ran across the country, away from her family, because she couldn't face anyone. She felt like a failure as an omega, that this alpha tried and tried with her until he couldn't take how worthless she was anymore, and dropped her like trash at the curb.
Now, a year later, she's going to have to go home and face everything she left, because her baby sister is getting married and she's the maid of honor. And her ex is the best man. Utterly sick at the thought of having to face him and his perfect life and new fiancee, she hires a pack escort service to pretend they're together and happy.
Things quickly stop being pretend. I'm sure you can mostly imagine it from there. We slowly get to see the abuse, as the FMC slowly realizes it too, helped by this pack of alphas who know from their first encounter that she's their scent-match / fated mate...but can't tell her yet because she's closed herself off fiercely, hurt and scared and alone. They think if they tell her, she'd run. I think they're right.
It's a beautiful journey of healing for her character, and the guys are so great with her. They're not super distinct, if I'm being honest, but imo it was fine because it's not really about them. It's about her, and this path of understanding what she'd been through, and moving forward from there, realizing she deserves to be happy, loved.
Another thing I want to say that I loved about this book is her family. I feel like it's become super common for FMCs to come from shitty families (and this FMC had a best friend in this book - who its hinted will be the lead in the next book - that is in exactly that situation), and while that's okay, I loved this more. Her mother, father, and sister were wonderful, and dealing with a shitty complex situation - their daughter/sister was with a guy they didn't like, but she was so besotted by his charming mask that she wouldn't hear their warnings. They wanted to help her but couldn't. And then she ran and they knew she was devastated, but also that she wanted space from all of them while she was hurting. It's a lovely, complicated, layered situation for her family character arc, and I appreciated it. They love her, unwaveringly so. But they didn't know how to help her. Also, they're rich, but not snobby assholes ... and boy is that rare in these kinds of books. When they inevitably find out that the guys are escorts, (view spoiler)[they do not give one single fuck. These are the men who have made the FMC that they were desperately worried about happier than they've ever seen her. They do not care at-fucking-all what these guys did for a living. (hide spoiler)]
Really really loved it. I'll definitely re-read it....more
I thought the resolution with baby daddy was a little quick and easy, but overall I really enjoyed this duology. I'm going to have to check out more fI thought the resolution with baby daddy was a little quick and easy, but overall I really enjoyed this duology. I'm going to have to check out more from this author....more
This is a sweet, quick read that was a lovely palate-cleanser. It's pretty insta-love (there's a kind of fated mate in this world, which these two areThis is a sweet, quick read that was a lovely palate-cleanser. It's pretty insta-love (there's a kind of fated mate in this world, which these two are), but it was overall really cute....more
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