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| B0D6LVVSG2
| 4.21
| 1,467
| unknown
| Aug 13, 2024
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: age gap, mafia, dark, hurt/comfort, BFFs dad, forced proximity, touch him and die Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 5/5 Kinks: exhibitionis **spoiler alert** Tropes: age gap, mafia, dark, hurt/comfort, BFFs dad, forced proximity, touch him and die Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 5/5 Kinks: exhibitionism, cock warming, somnophilia, dubcon, bondage, toys Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: torture, hate crime / serious assault for being gay, murder, MMC is a mafia man who does bad things, drug and gun trafficking, unsafe sex Anthony is a mafia boss probably in his 40s, given he has twin sons that are about 20 years old. His sons are Angel and Diablo, who we've met in other Cora books. Tatum is 21 and BFFs with Angel. He's only known Angel for 6 months. Tatum is gay and a twink, and he's had a thing for Anthony since he met him, he enjoys taunting and flirting with him. Anthony identifies as straight, never been with a guy. But Tatum gets to him, stirs something in him, makes him feel protective and possessive. Tatum flirts with a bartender at a biker bar, and a gang of homophobes attack him for it. Tatum calls Angel and Anthony for help and tries to hide in the bathroom, but the men burst in and managed to beat him very very badly before help could arrive. Anthony takes Tatum home with him and gives him medical Care as he recovers. And then Tatum has to stay because Anthony's gang is being threatened by another rival gang and he's in danger because of his association with them. Tatum pushes all of Anthony's buttons while in these close quarters with him. He flirts with Anthony's men and triggers his jealousy. Anthony insists on being the one to apply salves to Tatum, which leads to sexual touches. Anthony puts up a good fight trying to stay in control of his own urges and just indulge Tatum, but that becomes a shaky line. Their relationship escalates and intensifies. This was such a fun Cora romp. These guys were so intense and had crazy chemistry. There was the usual humor, unhinged ridiculousness, and possessive intense lust and you can expect in a Cora book. It was a wild ride of fun with a lot of bloodthirstiness. At the end it got intense with some serious plot with Tatum being abducted and the stuff with the rival game. It was a satisfying story! Tatum was a wild ride of a character. And Anthony was so possessive and obsessive about Tatum. Fyi, there was a lot of deliberate exhibitionism, where they had sex in front of men. Because they were horny but also as a power move to claim Tatum in front of some guys that were flirting with him. Might not be everybody's cup of tea. But they were very clear about not being up for sharing! There was a little crossover with Lark Taylor's characters, Sebastian and Matty made an appearance! I have to say, I am slightly worried about Angel. Angel is an innocent pure soul and he got married off at in an arranged marriage where it looks like he's at risk of losing some of his light. I hope in his book that gets made right and Angel isn't done dirty, he deserves only good things! Some notable moments: That was a swift turn of events! "“Shut up and take what I’m giving you,” he says lowly, his free arm coming around my chest to hold me against him, and I shake my head before nodding. Of course. Of course I’ll take it. Is he dumb? I’ll do anything he says at this point. “You have two minutes to come.”" I love Tatum's energy. It's giving too stupid to live, but I am here for it. I love his chaos! "“Listen, it wasn’t the smartest, especially considering he had a jar of eyeballs with him, but listen… You show me a secret door and a secret passageway, and I’m going in. I’m telling you, I’ll die in there, but I’m going in.”" "“Tatum,” he says, his voice a threat. “If anyone ever touches you again, I will cut them apart and bury them where no one can find them. Do you understand?” I nod and then let out a croak. “Yes.” “This is your only warning.” I nod again and wet my lips. “But you’re not gay.” “I’m not. But you’re mine. Mine. Now go the fuck to sleep.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Aug 14, 2024
Aug 13, 2024
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Aug 18, 2024
Aug 13, 2024
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Aug 10, 2024
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| B09RSDNN8Y
| 4.11
| 399
| unknown
| May 14, 2022
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 29, 2024
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not set
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Jul 29, 2024
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| B0CTHSHRD9
| 4.25
| 1,775
| Jul 15, 2024
| Jul 19, 2024
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, Golden retriever/black cat, actor/actor Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pai **spoiler alert** Tropes: fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, Golden retriever/black cat, actor/actor Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: banter, touch starved / cuddling I loved this book! This was right up my alley. Chase and Amos are in college studying acting, they both want to be actors. They haven't really interacted a lot but they've been in each other's periphery as they participate in drama classes and such together. I think they're both in their last year? Chase is a golden retriever carefree fuckboy who doesn't do relationships and everyone on campus knows that, he's bi. Amos is a gay grumpy black cat, friendless because he's antisocial but hot and mysterious. The college is doing a reality TV 90210/Friends story that follows three couples and two friends. It's supposed to be method acting, with their characters being as close to who they are as people as possible. They get paired together as an established relationship, a gay couple who has been together for over a year, so they have to be very comfortable with each other. Chase is very cuddly and inserts himself directly into Amos's space. They develop an intense comfort with each other, they so easily slip into sharing physical space and having deep talks. They constantly get lost in their own little world and are oblivious to people around them watching them, trying to talk to them, or filming. They had beautiful bickering and bantering. Amos is a grump and Chase just goes to work at battering down any distance between them and worming his way closer and closer to Amos. And Amos bickers back, but secretly he loves every moment. I'd call this relatively slow burn, they don't even talk about doing anything until the 56% mark, first real kiss at 59%. This was a beautiful story, I really loved the humor and the feelings they had. It was hilarious how oblivious the guys were to their surroundings and everyone shipped them and were fascinated by them. Some notable moments: The snuggling in this book was top tier!! "I went over and tapped his knee, then sat down right in between his legs leaning back against him. I was beginning to think this could be my new favorite spot. “Are you okay there?” “I am now.” I sighed as I made myself comfortable, which included taking his hand and draping his arm over my chest. “I’m just going to assume that if you need less people time that does not include me. I’ll be quiet, I just don’t want you to be alone.”" Words cannot describe how much I love this dynamic. I love a clingy grabby touch starved for their person, cuddle monster! And the grump begrudgingly putting up with it but secretly loving it. "Deirdre came over for the iPad. “Well, you two look very relaxed.” I made a point of trying to remove Chase’s arm from my waist and failing. “He’s like those dryer sheets,” I said. “You know the staticky ones that stick to everything. He’s like that.” “He’s called me worse,” Chase mumbled, seemingly undeterred. “Staticky dryer sheet is a compliment coming from him.” I sighed. “It’s not too late for a partner change, right?”" Their bickering is adorable "“You are insufferable. Has anyone ever told you that?” “You do. A lot,” he said, pouting because I was kind of squishing his cheeks. “But you’re really fucking cute. And you drive me so crazy I could scream.” “In a good way?” “No.” He made a squishy sad face. “Oh.”" "“Oooh, I know. You could do me.” “I thought you said—” “That was past-me. Now-me wants it, and future-me agrees.” “Chase,” he murmured. “Just a little orgasm. It doesn’t have to be a big orgasm. Just a little one.” He looked up to the sky and sighed." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 25, 2024
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Jul 26, 2024
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Jul 25, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 4.50
| 1,474
| Aug 06, 2024
| Aug 06, 2024
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: age gap, workplace romance, grumpy/sunshine, secret relationship, werewolf/fae Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: med **spoiler alert** Tropes: age gap, workplace romance, grumpy/sunshine, secret relationship, werewolf/fae Feels: 4.5/5 Steam*: 3.5/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: pining, unequal feelings in the beginning 4.5 Stars Larkin is 23 and a Fae. He is a horny virgin who works as an assistant with a lot of attractive paranormal wrestlers, and he flirts up a storm with them. He wants to spread his wings and have lots of sex, but he's also nervous and afraid because of his inexperience. Seb is 35 and a werewolf, he is the bodyguard of Larkin's boss. They interact a lot. Seb is quiet and has a reputation of being a bit grumpy. Larkin decides that Seb is safe, and he asks him to be his sexual tutor and teach him the ropes. Unbeknownst to Larkin, Seb has actually had a crush on Larkin ever since they met and wants him badly. Seb agrees to this, fully expecting it's going to get his heart pulverized to have Larkin for a short time only for Larkin to turn around and use everything he teaches him to hook up with other people. At first, I was totally cringing and expecting this to end horribly because Larkin was not in a position life experience wise to commit to a relationship, so I saw this ending horribly for Seb but also I was thinking that it wouldn't be fair to Larkin either for him to have to clip his wings and not experience things in his life, and just dive into a relationship with Seb. Luckily, as they spent more time together they fit each other very well and Larkin realized he didn't actually want what he thought he wanted and they were kind of perfect together. I thought this was a really enjoyable story. Larkin and Seb were such sweethearts and they were adorable together. They were hot for each other but they also just really enjoyed spending time together. They spent a lot of time talking, they were content in each other's presence and they brought each other peace. They were comfortable in silence together and they snuggled and just enjoyed each other. I am so weak when platonic snuggling is added to the mix! I love that in a book. They were precious and they fit so well into each other's lives. They were well fleshed out characters. There was great tension between them. In the first book, there was a ton of really unsexy gross out toilet humor. And that made book one really disappoint me from a romance perspective. The same events were referenced in this book, but they were told with a lot more restraint and it was toned down. So I appreciated that, it helped my enjoyment. I had a minor gripe with the book. One random thing that I don't love about this book is how Seb chose what their lessons would be. There were multiple times where Larkin asked for something in particular, for something different (usually anal) and Seb just said no, he planned/wanted to do something else. I didn't like that because it was one-sided that it was Seb who controlled what they did. And also I didn't like that their hookups in the first 70% were never impulsive and organic, they never got swept away in desire and deviated from the planned activity. But I still found the couple so precious that I'm reading at 4.5 Stars. Some notable moments: I love their snuggling! "Despite realising that we’d been gone a pretty long time and there was a risk of someone catching us, I melted onto Seb’s big chest and sighed into his neck, my hot forehead resting on the bed and my wings opening and closing languidly behind me. I didn’t want to move. I was pretty sure my legs wouldn’t support me if I tried to stand up right now anyway. Besides, Seb’s arms had wrapped around my middle and he was hugging me tightly to him, so it was, like, my noble duty or something to stay right where I was. If he wanted me to move, he wouldn’t be doing that, right? “Mmm.” I sank deeper into him, rubbing my nose against his sweat-damp neck and subtly breathing in his scent. He always smelled so good. Warm and comforting. Like a favourite blanket." "“We’re gonna be so tired at work tomorrow.” “Yeah,” I croaked. I’d already decided to skip the gym in the morning. No way in hell was I going to wake up early and kick Larkin out just so I could go lift weights, when instead, I could have this for a little bit longer." Poor Holt. He really tried, Larkin is just dense "Holt closed his eyes and let out a slow breath, then gulped down his rum. “I tried.” “Tried what?” I asked uncertainly." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 09, 2024
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Aug 10, 2024
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Jul 18, 2024
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| B0D5R53NFK
| 4.47
| 2,223
| Jul 09, 2024
| Jul 09, 2024
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: woke up married, fake relationship, forced proximity, small town, cowboy, rich/poor Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: **spoiler alert** Tropes: woke up married, fake relationship, forced proximity, small town, cowboy, rich/poor Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: dead dad, mom left, tons of responsibility, estranged parents, shooting 3.75 stars This book is about Waylon and Silas. Silas is gay and a secret billionaire, hiding his money so he doesn't get taken advantage of, he's a corporate fixer consultant, who lives in New York. Way is 28 and he is a man who's taking on a lot of responsibility for his age. His dad died when he was in college and his mom left then, leaving him with finishing raising his 12-year-old sister, helping his other sister, and keeping the family ranch which is huge and having financial difficulties afloat. He left college to come back home and take on all that. And then his town of Majestic was defrauded of millions of dollars by its mayor, and Waylon took on being the mayor and trying to keep the whole town afloat financially. He's been doing a damn good job and there's been huge progress. Especially because he's attracted a company called AdventureSmash and he's in negotiations to have them use the town of Majestic as one of their destinations, which will drive huge revenue on an ongoing basis to their town. Way proposes to former high school sweetheart and sometime hook up Eden, who thinks she's pregnant by some other guy. When she realizes she's not pregnant, she turns down him. Way gets drunk that night in Vegas and meets Silas at the bar. They talk and drink and dance into the night and end up getting married that night. This is a shock to Way because he's never been with a guy and his attraction to Silas is his bisexual awakening. They intend to get a quick divorce, but when people in Way's Town accidentally find out about the marriage, he doesn't want to disappoint people and lose face, so he gets Silas to agree to pretend the marriage is real and a love match for a few months and then they'll divorce. During this time Silas lives with him and they really get to know each other and build a rapport. And they had sex to the mix. And feelings come about. It took me a while to warm up to this book. It was kind of boring earlier on. But it was a warm hearted story once it got its legs under it. Way and Silas were both nice men that cared a lot about the people around them and they fit really well together as a couple. They were both with the other person needed. Way needed someone to help him in a way that was a partnership. Silas needed a good man who didn't want him for his money, and he needed the challenge that Way and Majestic presented, because he's a fixer. This was a pleasant low angst story. A random vent... At 51% into this book, Silas is thinking to himself about how he doesn't really have feelings for Waylon, but he's not in love with him. And that's realistic, if you look at the timeline of their relationship I think they had only been together for like two and a half weeks at this point so completely fair. But this triggered frustration in me because I have seen this in other books. I feel like I need to vent about authors in general doing this, where they have their character say that they genuinely don't have strong feelings or care about their love interest. And I don't mean in a "I'm trying to hurt my love interest feelings way" or an "I'm in denial way", I mean the character genuinely is analyzing their feelings and coming to the conclusion that it's not that deep. I think that it's really stupid for authors to do that and it wrecks my enjoyment of the love story that's developing. Every reader has their own moments as they're reading a story where they start seeing that this couple has feelings for each other and they start having those kicking their feet moments shipping the couple. When the author says a comment like this, you kind of get slapped with reality that the romance isn't there yet, and it kills the perceived romance that the reader was seeing, it wrecks the romantic momentum that has been building up. I also have expectations for a relationship to be at a certain point by particular percentages of a book. These genuine denials of feelings existing makes me think that the book hasn't developed the relationship enough. And it just kills the perception of romance, because the motivation of the character for what they've done so far isn't romantic, it isn't love. I feel like authors need to avoid this particular type of factual, cold and honest self-assessment of a lack of feelings and just let the reader read into what they are observing. Some notable moments: Cackle. So relatable. "“He looks upset,” she said, setting a canvas bag on the wooden planks before throwing herself down on the bench next to the front door. “Just found out about the Wi-Fi situation,” I said with a grin." This is a nice warm moment of comfort. "Instead of continuing the fight, I stepped forward and tucked my face into the side of his neck. I was so damned tired, and he looked steady and strong, like he could handle my irrational anger and all of my imperfections and hold the weight of the world off my shoulders for a little while. “Sorry,” I murmured against his warm, salty skin." "“Silas Concannon, you could vomit and step in horse shit at the same time, and I’d still want you in my pants.” “That… isn’t the come-on you might think it is.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 04, 2024
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Aug 09, 2024
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Jul 12, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B08BJ6LX3D
| 4.04
| 1,430
| Jun 26, 2020
| Jun 26, 2020
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: dragon/human, forced proximity Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/conte **spoiler alert** Tropes: dragon/human, forced proximity Feels: 5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: cheating (not between MCs), sleeping with the wrong people and pissing everybody off, curse, near death experience 4.5 Stars This is a paranormal romance set in like, medieval times. Deven is 26, a lowly commoner, working for his aunt and uncle. He is a self-proclaimed Tomcat who will sleep with anyone, man or woman, single or taken. He pissed off the entire town bye sleeping with somebody or another's spouse or sibling or child (over the age of consent). A dragon has moved into the city and someone on the Town Council needs a dragon scale from the Dragon because it's rumored to have healing properties. Deven is voluntold to be an the offering to the Dragon, a not so virgin sacrifice, but really intended to seduce the Dragon and convince him to part with a scale. He reluctantly moves into the dragon's Castle. The dragon's name is Fiora. He's an unusually short and human form dragon and he's very self-conscious and sensitive about his height and appearance. He hides from people. 5 years ago, he was cursed by a witch. He accidentally slept with the husband of the witch and she took it out on him. She cursed him that if he sleeps with someone he doesn't love they will die and if he sleeps with someone he does love he will die. So he's been living a reluctantly celibate life and trying to find a cure for the curse. This is a very different book from the first book in the series. Fiora has none of the confidence that Corin did, and because of the curse it is slow burn with spice only from around 66% on. As I was reading, at first I thought I wasn't going to like this book because they had only interacted superficially, barely exchanged any words by the 37% mark. And while I am fine with a slow burn, characters need to at minimum be interacting with each other! LOL. But they had such meaningful interactions from 37% onwards, that I have to give the author creative license and just consider that part of the slow burn element. Also, both of them had bad attitudes towards cheating which just isn't attractive to me. But these guys were accidentally perfect for each other and their love was so heartwarming it had me crying at intervals. Also, both Deven and Fiora have an intense love of books and there were some beautiful moments about treasuring books and stories. That just really appealed to the reader in me. There were so many beautiful and subtle moments. There was complex plot and suspense and nuances of character and emotion. With humor thrown. I would reread this book for sure! Some notable moments: Andrei was a great character. He was masterful about conveying threats and settle to use with a respectful veneer. And he was so protective of Fiora! "Deven stared after him for a moment. “Does he have a problem with old books?” he asked, and turned to look at Fiora, his eyebrows raised. “Is there some reason he said that like he was threatening to kill me?” “It’s not Andrei you need to worry about,” Fiora muttered. Rabbit. Ugh, he hated rabbit. “Check your meals carefully before you eat them for the next few days. If you get fed at all.” “Oh, fuck,” Deven said, his face falling. “Andrei’s really going to tell her?” “Count on it. We may both need to forage for our own food for a while.”" "Deven’s careful storage of his tatty old books touched Fiora down to the most draconic part of his soul. His vision blurred, and he dashed away a few drops from below his eyes. These books had been collected with love. They had been hoarded, in fact." Omg, Fiora's growly possessiveness over the rose that Deven gave him was adorable. He treasured it! "“I’m sorry,” he said roughly. “I’ll — give it to Fred to stick in a vase in the hall —” “No!” Fiora cried, darting out his hand and gripping Deven’s wrist with surprising strength as Deven tried to withdraw the offered rose. “No, it’s mine, it’s for me!” His eyes glittered silvery-gold in the faint moonlight as he gazed up at Deven. And then, in a truly draconic growl, he said, “It’s mine.”" I f****** sobbed at Fiora wanting to die in his garden and then Deven showed up and Fiora smiled just thinking of him. "“It’s me. It’s Deven.” “Deven,” Fiora murmured, his lips twisting into a pitiful little smile. His eyes fluttered open. Their gold was dimmed, almost silvery-gray in the moonlight. They widened in shock. “Deven? Oh no, don’t look at me,” he moaned, and turned his face away." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 15, 2024
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Jul 16, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B08VRW1S44
| 3.76
| 2,818
| Mar 29, 2021
| Mar 29, 2021
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it was ok
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: secret identity, undercover FBI agent Feels: 1.5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/ **spoiler alert** Tropes: secret identity, undercover FBI agent Feels: 1.5/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: n/a Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: minor recreational drug use, attempted kidnapping, violence, third act break up This book is about Alec and Gabe. Alec is 31 and he's an undercover FBI agent investigating drug trafficking via yoga mats. He's a grump. He's the king of resting b**** face. I love a grumpy character but this book didn't really work for me. Gabe is 27 and he's a rich trust fund kid even though he's well into his twenties. He's never had to work. He's been a bit of a party boy, done some recreational drugs, hooked up with people he shouldn't have. He's a chemistry nerd and he has his Masters in chemistry and he was doing his PhD up until a year ago when he got kicked out of the PHD program because his boyfriend at the time was a bad influence and he wasn't taking school seriously. He wants to get back into the PHD program but he's kind of wasting his life right now. They run into each other at a bookstore while Alec is killing time and Gabe spies on him a little because he has a crush on him. Gabe catches Alec's attention, and Alec thinks that he's a suspect for a while. So he starts spending time with him. And then he realizes that while Gabe is not a suspect himself he is connected to his family's business which is a suspected shipping distributor of the drugs that are being trafficked. So Alec keeps spending time with Gabe as part of the investigation. The relationship turns sexual even though Alec was trying to keep it professional, he didn't want to get involved while he was working on the case because he knew Gabe would feel betrayed by it. But he also can't resist Gabe. It comes out that Alec is investigating and that blows up their relationship. I have to say this book did not hit for me. I've read 14 Eliott Grayson books during July and August. I've really been on a bender with this author and I've really enjoyed the books that I've been reading. But this one did not work for me. I feel like there wasn't a deep or genuine connection between Alec and Gabe because for the majority of the book neither of them are themselves when they're interacting. Alec is pretending because he's investigating. And Gabe is not being himself because he's trying not to scare Alec away. I also don't like that Alec is using Gabe. It's a horrible power dynamic. On page 164, Alec's sister tells him that he's in love with Gabe. These guys have been dating superficially for about 2 weeks and almost everything between them is lies. I don't believe that Alec is in love with Gabe. They only had a little bit of time together and they were never really being their authentic selves. Alec was pretending and held himself back a lot of the time because he was secretly undercover. And Gabe was not really being himself because he was censoring himself and trying to be what he thought Alec wanted, which is what some people do in the early stages of a relationship, they're not acting like themselves. I'm not impressed with the relationship development. There wasn't enough genuine development where they were both themselves. They don't make a believable couple. The only time where you see them actually being themselves is once they get back together after the third act break up, but that's after the love confession and it's basically just them being a couple for a couple months in the epilogue. Too little too late! Some notable moments: "“Look, I’m sorry. I’m shit at this. Dates. Seriously, this is one of my better ones, believe it or not.” I sputtered into the malbec, narrowly avoiding getting some up my nose. “What? Are you—you can’t be—” I burst into laughter, putting the glass down so I didn’t spill it all over my lap. “Sorry,” I wheezed." "“Get off me, you big lump.” “That’s Special Agent Lump to you,” he groused" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 20, 2024
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Aug 20, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 3.94
| 1,289
| Jan 05, 2023
| Jan 05, 2023
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: werewolf/vampire, size difference, paranormal Feels: 2.5/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: knotting, blood drinking Angst: low HEA: yes Pairi **spoiler alert** Tropes: werewolf/vampire, size difference, paranormal Feels: 2.5/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: knotting, blood drinking Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: cheating (not between MCs), violence and murder 3.5 stars, Novella standards apply Angelo is a vampire enforcer for Fenwick. He's small but powerful guy, 120 lb with boots on. He's at least a hundred years old. He ran away from his cheating and abusive mate 11 years ago, but his mate is a powerful thousand-year-old vampire. Jack is a werewolf. He's mated too, to another werewolf named brent. Brent betrayed him in a pretty horrible way, he f***** Jack's twin brother Jake, put Jake in a magical coma, stole a priceless magical artifact from Jack and ran away with his co-conspirator Sam who's also his lover. Jack is chasing Brent down to get the artifact back, break the bond he has with him, and figure out what he did to his twin brother Jake so that he can help Jake. Jack ends up asking Angelo for help because Brent has run to Fenwick's territory and Jack needs Fenwick's permission to do s***. In the course of them working together, there were attracted to each other and start to develop feelings. This was a decent enough novella. It crammed in a lot of plot and character development. I liked seeing Nate, Arik, and their mates again. I didn't love the plot of everybody cheating on their mates, just a little ugly. Jack and Angelo's feelings kind of developed too fast but it is a novella. Things resolved pretty conveniently and a little too fast at the end as well. Some notable moments: "Gods, I hoped he had more skill with magic than with customer service. If Nate was the charismatic face of the business, Arik had to be something special." "“Yeah, you think? It was an impulse thing. We’ve only been mated for eight months.” None of my business, none of my fucking business… “How long had you known each other before you mated?” Jack looked away, suddenly seeming fascinated by the carpet. “Three days,” he mumbled." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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ebook
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| B0B3HDHN6P
| 4.02
| 2,264
| Jun 07, 2022
| Jun 07, 2022
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it was amazing
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: buying a temporary fake mate, paranormal Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potentia **spoiler alert** Tropes: buying a temporary fake mate, paranormal Feels: 4/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: seizure disorder, abusive/discriminatory/unsupportive family. 4.5 stars Brook is 28. He is a werewolf in a rich family but he is not an alpha and his family has put him down over the years over that. Is also suffering from a disorder that is genetic and causes vision problems, seizures and other things. He's very involved in the family business and he's successful with it. His father is going to need to retire soon and Brook it's the best candidate to take over as CEO and he wants it bad. In order to do that though, he feels like he needs to mate with an alpha to be taken seriously. He wants to pick someone though, someone he can negotiate with, make a deal with, control. Rather than being forced to go with someone his family chooses who has ambitions that he cannot control. He finds Dimitri, an alpha in need of money and allies, who is pissed off a bunch of packs. He propositions him. Dimitri identifies as straight but he's willing to mate with Brook (once will be enough right?!) and then pretend in front of Brook's family and colleagues if it'll give him enough money to settle his debts. Brook is a top and doesn't want to submit so they have some push pull. But once turns into twice and twice turns into more. And the steam and connection between them is stronger than anything they've experienced. And they actually make really good life partners too, Dimitri calms Brook down, takes care of him at home, supports him in front of his family and work colleagues. They make each other better people. This was really good. The dynamic between Brook and Dimitri was full of tension and steam (omg the steam!), but also it was a really natural relationship and a positive one. Good story, good conflict. Some notable moments: Even when they are just talking, Dimitri can't keep any distance between them. "“He’s not going to respect you, even though you deserve it.” Dimitri shifted his head, breathing hot against my earlobe, his arms tightening around me. “But I do, okay? And he might back off if I don’t back down.” Another brush of his lips, another shiver, and my abdomen felt molten." Whelp. The smut in this book... "He filled me up in one hard, brutal thrust, punching the last of the air out of my lungs. He’d gone easy on me before, I realized. And that was my last coherent thought. Dimitri pounded me into jelly, cock surging so deep into me with every snap of his hips that I couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but take it." "I watched wide-eyed and frozen in shock as Dimitri stalked into the bathroom, glowing golden-gray eyes fixed on me as he started to tear off his clothes. He’d changed out of his suit at some point while I slept, and his T-shirt and jeans were on the floor in five seconds flat. And then he opened the shower door and stepped in with me, crowding me against the wall." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B09WBVM855
| 3.97
| 1,766
| Mar 22, 2022
| Mar 22, 2022
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: fake mating, amnesia, hurt/comfort, paranormal, instalove Feels: 2.5/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: knotting, dubcon, kind of somnophil **spoiler alert** Tropes: fake mating, amnesia, hurt/comfort, paranormal, instalove Feels: 2.5/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: knotting, dubcon, kind of somnophilia Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: kidnapping, medical experimentation, torture, drugging, (attempted?) sexual assault, domestic violence This book is about 25-year-old Ash and a little bit older Drew who is a werewolf. Ash was abducted 14 months ago and medically experimented on and tortured. The torture and experiments did s*** to him, he can't feel pain, he can't taste anything, can't feel sexual attraction or pleasure. Drew was also abducted but it was only a matter of weeks or short months for him. One of the other patients/victims, Calder, stages an escape and kills everybody and freeze the victims. Drew and Ash head off together, because something instinctive in Drew has claimed Ash as belonging to him. Ash has amnesia. Drew was struggling with enhanced Alpha instincts that make him want to mate ash. Drew wants to take care of Ash and help him with everything he's struggling with. Drew was also being pressured to take a mate, so to explain Ash's presence and help Drew avoid an arranged mating that he does not want, Drew and Ash pretend to be mated. It gets a little too real for Drew, f****** with his instincts. So Ash volunteers to be his sex toy and outlet for his urges. Even though Ash himself can't feel sexual attraction or pleasure so it's kind of dubcon and one-sided. Drew wants to be a better person and not take him up on the offer, but he can't resist. They bang until it gets so bad that Ash's body can't take it. And they decide to seek out a . And they decide to seek out a shaman or Warlock for help. Enter Nate and Arik from the previous books! I really like how this author writes interesting characters and tons of humor. They just had me cackling at times. Some perfect moments! There were some moments in this book that were five stars. The emotion and heat between the characters, their connection was good. There were just two things that really took my enjoyment down a peg with this book. - First, Ash was basically a crying damsel in distress wringing a handkerchief full of his tears, swooning and bursting into tears at every other moment. He was over the top helpless and emotional and it got on my nerves. I couldn't help but find him annoying. - Secondly, I felt like the author f***** up the end of the book. It was almost like they got lazy or hit their word count goal and just wrapped the book up too fast. All of a sudden we were at the start of an epilogue, but we were still in knee deep in resolving the conflict, so it seems ridiculous to call that an epilogue. We needed an actual Flash forward epilogue or we needed more time in the book to wrap up some of the plot arcs. Like, did Ash ever get his memory back, and what does their life look like when they go back to Drew's home? Because they didn't resolve the plot of Drew's family objecting to their mating, they basically ran away from the chaos and didn't go back. So anyway with those two things in mind, the book was like 3.25 stars. Which is unfortunate because if those two things hadn't been a problem I could have really really loved this book. It was instalove on Drew's side btw. Some notable moments: This is one of the funniest things to have up here in an alpha romance. "I read the description I’d found on one of the many websites that had popped up, my eyes widening and widening. Because, what, the evolutionary biology powers-that-be had sat down and said, “You know what? Alpha cock just isn’t big enough. Let’s make it get even bigger once it’s in there. Huge! And also, since alphas don’t already have enough advantages in size and strength and everything, the knot’ll keep their mates from getting away. In case they’re still conscious. LOL!”" Whoops! "“You seemed okay this morning.” I didn’t move my hand, and he tensed under my fingers. “I mean, sort of? Right?” Drew made a funny sound, his throat working, and looked away. “Seeing you deep-throat your own fingers and then tell me you didn’t have a gag reflex kind of undid whatever progress I’d made trying to get myself under control, Ash.”" "“Don’t answer the door like that!” I managed, and Drew stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Why not?” “Because they’re helping us, remember? You don’t need to maul anyone. Or flash them.” I shook my head, trying to clear out some of the cobwebs, and pushed myself up to sitting. The room swayed around me. “Who’s there? And don’t come in right now!” “Don’t worry, wasn’t going to, we could all hear you, and believe me, I don’t need a visual to go with the soundtrack,” came through the door. Nate. And…hell. We could all hear you. Once you’d hit peak embarrassment, it had to get better, right? “Glad the lube worked out for you!” Nate called out cheerfully." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 08, 2024
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Jul 09, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B096KVMKPJ
| 4.16
| 2,541
| Jun 02, 2021
| Jun 02, 2021
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: forced proximity, hurt/comfort, paranormal Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/p **spoiler alert** Tropes: forced proximity, hurt/comfort, paranormal Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 4/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: kidnapping (not between MC's), torture, medical experimentation, violence, gore Calder is in his mid to late 30s. When he was 12 years old he rescued 2-year-old Bobcat shifter Arik who had been abandoned. He raised him until Arik's early teens and it was a struggle. He made a lot of sacrifices and he had to do a lot of dark s***. Then he had to leave to protect Arik. 15 years went by between him leaving and the present. For the last 6 years called her was held captive and subjected to medical experimentation. There's a group that's doing very unethical s*** to try to harness shifter powers and suppress the powers of certain shifters. He was tortured in horrible ways. And kept solitary. Jared is 27. He got involved with Jonathan Hawthorne and his evil plots. Jonathan in part used magical influence to control him but also Jared's greed and selfishness put him in that position where he was an easy target for jonathan. Jared was a villain for a while and he did something pretty unforgivable, he seduced Nate Hawthorne as part of the plots of his father, even though he knew that his cousin and best friend Ian was obsessed with Nate. That's a pretty big betrayal. After Nate broke up with Jared when Jared was 24, Jonathan didn't have the same use for Jared and decided to instead use him in the medical use him in the medical experimentation that he was involved in. Jared spent the last 2 years being tortured horrifically just like Calder. Jared and called her meet when they're captors decide to throw Jared in with Calder basically as food, because they've made Calder also some kind of cross between a shifter and a vampire. They're only together in captivity for a few days and Calder is convinced he's going to kill Jared at some point soon. Jared starts getting ideas and seeing possibilities and puts forth an idea that they try to escape by mating and allowing Calder to access Jared's magic so he would be strong enough to break free. It works. And now they're mated and free and Jared's trying to get his old life back with Calder along for the ride. But there's a threat hanging over there head that they're going to break the bond because it wasn't intended to be a permanent relationship. But they are pulled together and feelings developed quickly because of the mate bond and because of the unique situation they were in the real nature of the other person when they were at their worst in captivity and they're also very physically attracted. I had a lot of positive feelings about this book. I felt more sympathy for Jared than I thought I would. To me, it was so unforgivable when I read Nate and Ian's book and heard that Jared betrayed Ian by seducing Nate even knowing about Ian's feelings and even with Ian being his cousin and best friend. But he was kind of under the magical influence of Jonathan Hawthorne. Jared had suffered a lot and he was still trying to fight for his life, he wanted his family back, and even when he thought he was going to die he was brave about it as long as it meant something. He was a very vulnerable character. I liked that Calder was this wild strong beast but he was always so gentle with Jared. When Jared expressed fear about being treated inhumanely or roughly f***ed when they made the deal to mate, Calder heard and promised him that he'd never hurt again after this and he kept his word to the best of his ability. Jared kept trying to get Calder to break his promise and be rough with him, to f*** him roughly, but Calder always worshiped his body and made love to him. And Jared despite his protests just sucked up that affection and reciprocated, clinging to Calder. The steam was strong in this book. And I thought their sex was romantic in a way because it was very affectionate and there was a lot of cherishing and worship there. But also it was funny how they would proposition each other. At times Calder would just loom and calmly grab lube and approach Jared and just his looming would convey what was coming. And Calder would just drop these bombs on Jared about how he was going to rail him six ways to Sunday and proceeded to do so. And Jared fought his instincts so hard but just submitted so sweetly. I didn't like some of the coincidences in this book. Like it was quite a coincidence that Arik and Calder had that history and met up again because Arik is mated to one of Jared's cousins. And at the end of the book Calder comes into money in a really convenient way. Some notable moments: "“You might as well turn around,” he rumbled, his voice deep and echoey in the shower stall. “What? I—what?” “Turn around,” he repeated implacably. “I don’t know how many times you like to shower in a day, but I’m going to fuck you again, here or back in bed. If you don’t want to end up in here a third time, you might as well turn around and spread your legs.”" "“He didn’t want to take it.” I stroked Calder’s chest, running my fingers through his hair and savoring his warmth. “He didn’t want to hurt me.” Arik snorted. “Fucking idiot.” I looked up at him, taking in the wrinkled-nosed disgust on his face—and I laughed. It felt so goddamn good. “Yeah. But he passed out, so he didn’t have any choice.” “Good,” Arik said firmly." "Being mated was fucking awesome. Although Matt and Arik, whose room was the closest occupied one to ours, had started hinting strongly that we ought to move into one of the smaller buildings on the pack lands, one that didn’t have any close neighbors. Well, Matt had hinted. Arik had poured a cup of coffee while glaring at me, and then said as he stomped out of the room, “Move the fuck out of the house, Jared. If I have to hear you begging for my big brother’s knot in the middle of the night one more time, I’ll fucking bite you. And not in the fun way.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jul 08, 2024
|
Jul 08, 2024
|
Jul 08, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B0937JJZ8S
| 4.03
| 2,600
| Apr 29, 2021
| Apr 29, 2021
|
liked it
|
**spoiler alert** Tropes: friends to lovers, forced proximity, hurt/comfort, paranormal Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: knotting, primal play, toys, bonda **spoiler alert** Tropes: friends to lovers, forced proximity, hurt/comfort, paranormal Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: knotting, primal play, toys, bondage Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: unethical medical research even by the MC, violence Colin and Newton are 30. They've been best friends since they were 13 years old. Newt is a researcher and professor at a college. Newt is the son of a werewolf and a human and he's the only human amongst his siblings. He's resented at his whole life that he does not have shifter powers, that he's not like everybody else, that his family has tried to protect him cuz he's the weak little human. Colin has taken over as leader of his pack and hasn't had time in the last year or so because of pack business taking up so much of his time, so their friendship has looked a little different. An unethical medical company approaches Newt to try to head hunt him to do his research on shifters for them because they want to harness the powers of shifters. They threaten his family. Newt calls Colin for help and Colin comes running to be there for him. Newt ends up asking Colin to participate in a research study with him to try to appease the medical company that's threatening him to make progress in his research. The experiment involves trying to stimulate and trigger dormant shifter genes to present in times of stress and high emotion. Newt comes up with the idea of Colin chasing him and mating him. They start a f****** but is it just for science or is there more to it? And is this going to completely wreck their friendship? In a way this was an okay book. There was a lot of plot. There was good characterization and there was a solid friendship base to their relationship that made the eventual development of feelings make sense. And there was some good steam in the mix. But overall I would say this book didn't work for me. There was some things that made me uncomfortable and I felt like the romance development was pretty nonexistent for the most part. Things I didn't like: - I have a bit of knowledge of psychology and research methodology. And I also have a sensitivity for unethical psychological treatment/experiments and power balances. And this book is exactly the type of story to make me uncomfortable with what is happening. I know it's a book and you're supposed to ignore reality, but when it's dubious science and it involves ethics and power balances I'm just so sensitive to that. I thought that Newton's research was completely faulty methodology and that it would not be repeatable because the circumstances were so specific particularly because of the personal relationship between him and Colin that was pre-existing. I thought even the idea of him doing the research that he was doing was dangerous and put people at risk of being abused. His research could lead to humans and shifters being caused harm. If someone like the unethical medical company got a hold of his research, it could result in people being raped because no one would volunteer to be used and mated. The plan at the end to sneak bad research into the hands of the company was also extremely unethical and could have resulted in harm to people, and should have had a paper trail leading back to Newton and should have really involved Newton in the scandal and affected his career. And what they were doing was unhealthy even for Colin and for Newton, it disrespected feelings. - I think it was a mistake for this book to be told in single POV. It was told in Newt's POV and Newt was a very cold, factual, scientific narrator who did not have sexual or romantic feelings for Colin until far too late in the book. The first moment that Newton was aware of Colin in a sexual way was that the 41% but Newton didn't even experience sexual attraction to Colin until their first time at the 53% mark when they were in the midst of it and it was a bodily reaction that wasn't very personal. After their first time there was attraction, they got caught up in sex for the sake of it at times instead of just for the science. It didn't really feel like it didn't really feel like Newton specifically felt something for Colin sexually until about the 75% mark. And then they had non-experimental sex for the first time at 88%. Even when they were admitting "their love for each other", I still wasn't feeling the romance. I think Colin's POV would have helped, because Newton had never been with a man before but Colin had so Colin at least was aware sexually of men and he was a more emotional character so I think you would have had more romance and connection if we had seen some feeling from Colin. I did like the friendship with Meredith. And there were some great moments of humor too. I liked Colin and Newton better as friends than as romantic partners. Some notable moments: "“You told Meredith you still had work to do. More…experiments?” “Yeah,” I breathed. “More experiments. Definitely necessary.” Colin rotated his hips very slightly, enough to shift his cock against my ass. I clenched involuntarily. Fuck, I’d almost forgotten it was there. I’d gotten used to it. “How about now?” My brain whited out for a second, and I had to blink rapidly to come back online. “Now?” “Yeah.” He nudged me with his cock again. “Right fucking now.”" "He caught me around the waist and knocked me back into the wall, his other hand behind my head. The impact still jolted me, and I heard his knuckles crack into the wall hard enough a human hand would’ve broken. He pinned me with his weight, body pressed to mine from knees to chest, and hesitated for a second, staring into my eyes, his wild with emotion and dilated pitch-black behind the gold. Colin slammed his mouth down over mine. My brain shorted out" I love this level of friendship, instantly ready to help dispose of dead bodies. "“In a minute. Look in my car first, okay?” Colin quirked an eyebrow at me. “How many dead bodies? And are the cops after you?”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jul 05, 2024
|
Jul 08, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B08SW9GCVX
| 3.99
| 2,166
| Jan 01, 2021
| Jan 12, 2021
|
liked it
|
**spoiler alert** Tropes: hurt/comfort, instalove, paranormal, prostitute/vampire Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: blood kink Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing **spoiler alert** Tropes: hurt/comfort, instalove, paranormal, prostitute/vampire Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: blood kink Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: prostitution, abuse, violence, Gore, murder, implied sexual assault, poverty Laurie is 22 years old, a human, and living in squalor. He's working as a prostitute because his sister is also poor and has two children to provide for and he's trying to help. Victor is about 200 years old and he's a vampire and works as an enforcer. He's always tried to separate his sex life from his feeding. He comes across Laurie on the street one night and catches a whiff of him and he falls in love basically with the scent of his blood. He watches over Laurie in secret. He feeds from him once and then he wants more but it's not just bloodlust. He wants an excuse to throw money at him to try to help him. They come to an arrangement to meet once a week for a feeding, but Laurie wants to keep working as a prostitute and he doesn't want Victor to interfere. Victor won't give in to his lust and turn the relationship sexual though, he's holding on to that line at least. Victor secretly follows Laurie as he works on the streets and he ends up having to rescue Laurie from supernatural creatures on two separate occasions where they're trying to abduct him. I have complicated feelings about this book. It's a novella and on one hand I was very impressed with the amount of plot and characterization that the author was able to squeeze in to a book of this length. And I also liked how unselfish Victor was and how he wasn't toxic and jealous. I don't like to judge novellas very harshly because I think that it's hard to do a novella well. But there were a bunch of things that made the romance not to my personal taste but also objectively not so good of a LOVE story. I have to rate it according to my enjoyment and how well I thought the love story was told. If I was just judging this book based on plot and not how successful it was as a romance, I would give it five stars for the plot that it managed to squeeze into a novella. Things I didn't like: - Laurie was actively having sex with his customers up until the 78% mark. He doesn't enjoy his job, and he's living in squalor and at risk the entire time. And Victor is watching all of this and while he's not a toxic or jealous character, it kills him and hurts his heart and drives him crazy to watch Laurie, but he also wants to protect him so he keeps guard. This is a heartbreaking premise. It's hard for a story like this which is so sad to be romantic. - I didn't feel like Laurie loved Victor for himself until after the 90% mark. The big moment at 88% where they decide to be in a relationship, was so one-sided. I don't feel like Laurie really knows Victor. I don't feel like this is love on his side yet. There's definitely gratitude, he's really thankful for the rescue and the safety but it's not very personal. Victor is pouring his heart out and giving everything and Laurie is just grasping with gratitude onto a hot guy that can solve all his problems and is kind to him. - It was insta love on Victor's side. Laurie's blood made him fall for Laurie. And I just am not a huge fan of insta love. A notable moment: "“I’m a killer. I’m not ashamed of it and I don’t usually care that much. But that doesn’t mean…” I still hadn’t answered his question. We both knew it, even though he’d misquoted me. “There’s you and there’s everyone else,” I finally said. “That’s all there is to it. You can say anything you want to me. You won’t make me angry. There’s no other shoe. I don’t know what else to tell you.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B08QDJRHBX
| 4.02
| 1,769
| Dec 10, 2020
| Dec 10, 2020
|
really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: established relationship, holiday novella Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 1.5/5 Kinks: knotting, sex in risky places, brat, spanking, bonda **spoiler alert** Tropes: established relationship, holiday novella Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 1.5/5 Kinks: knotting, sex in risky places, brat, spanking, bondage Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: zombies, gore This is a brief continuation of the stories of Ian and Nate and Matthew and Arik. We check in with both couples at Christmas time. A mishap with magic leads to a heck of a lot of zombies coming out of the ground and as they're getting ready for Christmas dinner they are in a Gore fest of rekilling the corpses and disposing of the bodies. And then the parents in law show up! This was a funny short little romp. I really do like the humor. You'll only really appreciate this if you read their original stories. Some notable moments: "“Arik, what the fuck did you do?” “Why are you assuming this is my fault?” I snarled, as self-righteously as I could manage under the circumstances. Ian waved a hand at me, encompassing everything about me, it looked like. I sighed. Yeah, okay. That was probably fair." "And now here we were, standing in a scattered pile of zombie bits, rakes in our hands, sweaty and dirty and literally cleaning up the scene of the crime. And our mother-in-law and father-in-law, Janet and John Armitage, were merrily zipping down the driveway, expecting a wholesome holiday reunion." "And knowing Ian and Matthew were dealing with the body-part snowblowing while we sat warm and cozy in the kitchen dealing with nice clean edible food added a little delicious je ne sais quoi to the whole affair. Maybe I was kind of a petty bitch. But they all loved me anyway." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B08GP2LFJ5
| 3.99
| 3,822
| Aug 25, 2020
| Aug 25, 2020
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, paranormal, forced proximity Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 3.75/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Tri **spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, paranormal, forced proximity Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 3.75/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: past rape, violence, murder, slightly blurry consent because of magic Arik is 27, he is a shaman and a felid shifter. He has been on his own since his early teens. He's been used and abused his whole life. People have wanted to control his magic. Alphas have raped him and forced mating bonds on him to control him. He's managed to escape them and break bonds. But no matter where he runs, someone always comes across him and tries to use him. His latest round of bad luck is that he's being used by Jonathan Hawthorne and the Kimball pack of werewolf shifters. He's had to use his magic for their purposes. And as part of their plan against the Armitage pack, Arik put a love spell on Matthew Armitage the alpha of his pack. So that Matthew will do what he wants and be able to be influenced for the Kimball's purposes, but Arik was also smart in choosing to use the love spell because it means Matthew is bound to protect Arik and be more loyal to him than to the bad guys. Matthew's family have realized what's happening though and in a clash against the Kimball pack, they captured Arik. They don't know that Arik is a bit of an unwilling weapon, they think he's more part of the plan and they don't trust him as they shouldn't. They keep him prisoner for a while while they figure out what to do about the love spell and what to do with Arik going forward. During this time Matthew and Arik spend a lot of time together and attraction simmers and confusing feelings start to happen, what's the bond and what's real. I enjoyed this book. This author's writing appeals to me because they infuse a lot of humor into it and a good possessive obsessive love dynamic. I've decided to dive right into this series. Be prepared for my reviews to be temporarily taken over by books by this author as I tear through her back list! LOL. Arik had been through a lot in his life, and I loved that he was still so strong independent and resilient. He wasn't weak or meek or in need of being rescued. He was the one doing a lot of the rescuing. And he wasn't a pushover, he was fully prepared to leave and look out for himself. Matthew had his good moments too, though he wasn't perfect. I liked that he had a hard time realizing when the spell started or when the spell ended because he was still feeling consistently a lot for Arik. I kind of wish we had seen the moment when they met and when Arik put the spell on him. FYI this was a single POV story told in Arik's POV. A scene that bothered me and one of the reasons why this wasn't a five-star read for me was the below. I didn't like that Matthew was judging Arik for things he'd done in his life, you don't get to judge a victim who has been abused as much as Arik, for what he does to get by! Matthew knew what he had been through, no excuses. "“Don’t push me,” he growled, leaning in until his lips were a breath away from mine. “I’m sorry you didn’t have anywhere to go but the Kimballs. I’m sorry you — none of what Taft did to you was your fault, even remotely. But Nate never did half the shit you did, even when he didn’t have any good choices to make. The only person he hurt was himself.”" Some notable moments: The desperation here in this scene, the love and hate. "“Matthew?” “Yeah?” His voice was thick, like his fangs were showing. “Are you going to break the door down?” A long pause. “Jury’s still out on that,” he said ruefully, and I laughed a little despite myself. “Look. I hate you. You got my pack members killed. And I’m fucking crazy in love with you. I hate myself. I want to tear the door off its hinges and fuck you through the wall, rip you to pieces and then tuck you in bed and hold you all night while I tell you how beautiful you are.”" "“When you had that spell on me, I couldn’t think about anything but you. I craved you. I would’ve done anything to protect you, and to win you. And I’ve felt that way ever since. If I’m being honest…I think I started to feel that way before the spell, too. I’m not quite sure when you put it on me, for one thing. Seems like a change I should’ve noticed.”" "“I left the ball in your court. Did you really want me following you around like an idiot all day every day, begging you to let me knot you and bite you and keep you forever?” Well…yes? Fuck. I couldn’t admit that." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B08635QL8L
| 3.76
| 7,508
| Mar 20, 2020
| Mar 20, 2020
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, paranormal, forced proximity, forced mating Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairi **spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, paranormal, forced proximity, forced mating Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: knotting Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: cousin's ex, pining of sorts, dubcon because of magic 3.5 stars Nate and Ian grew up in each other's periphery. Nate thinks that Ian hates him because he's always stared at him and never talks to him. Nate was the son of a Warlock and a warlock himself. For years and years, Jonathan Hawthorne tied his son Nate's magic and harnessed it for himself and used Nate. Ian is the second son and second in command in the Armitage pack of werewolves. Jonathan's s*** has dragged Nate down. Nate let himself get distracted by a bathroom hookup at a bar, and he got drugged, captured and bad guys are trying to use him in a takedown of the Armitage pack. Nate manages to escape while people are in the middle of trying to do magic with him. Nate crawls beaten on to Armitage land and they pick him up. Someone needs to mate with Nate because of the magic that was started on him. There aren't many options and Ian gets cornered into the job. They somewhat reluctantly mate, knowing it's difficult to break but maybe they'll be able to break it down the line. That buys them time and now they need to decide what they're going to do with the immediate threat of the attack on the pack and what they're going to do longer term about the mating bond that they created. This author's writing appeals to me because they infuse a lot of humor into it, good steam, and a good possessive obsessive love dynamic. I've decided to dive right into this series. Be prepared for my reviews to be temporarily taken over by books by this author as I tear through her back list! LOL. It was a fun wild ride. There were two things I didn't love though. Nate was with Jared in the past, Jared was Ian's cousin and best friend and now he's dead. I'm not a huge fan of romances where an MMC dates to people from the same family, it's an ick for me. I also didn't love the plotline that Ian was secretly crushing on Nate since childhood. I didn't think it was handled well, if you're going to go there go there and use the angst, but they didn't really go there, they just left all the bread crumbs and just never really picked them up to do more than hint at it. But then on the other side, that type of plot line wouldn't have been appealing to me anyway because I hate unequal feelings and pining so I'm torn. Should I be relieved that they didn't fully go there? But I feel like they kind of did just poorly so I'm conflicted. Some notable moments: It was the 'I'll stop calling him an idiot' that did it for me. "And then I got out to the main room and found the bed neatly made with fresh sheets — or at least, different sheets. He’d changed the bed while I got in the shower. Fuck it. Ian was my alpha, and no one else was getting him. I’d stop calling him an idiot." I love grabby hands! "I woke as Ian tried to sneak out of bed. And that was not happening. He was warm. I was sleepy. No way. I rolled over, doing my best impression of a needy, grabby octopus. Would it be easier to keep him in bed if I had eight limbs and those cool little suction things? Probably, but I managed anyway, wrapping my hands around one big bicep and flinging a leg over his. Ian stilled, halfway out of the bed and halfway underneath me." "At least, frustration was what I meant to send. But when I opened myself up, everything else I was feeling went pouring through without my volition: my soul-deep need to belong somewhere, my terror that if I didn’t make myself useful I’d be cast aside, my nearly frantic desire to be more than what I’d been, to be as competent and able as Dor. Ian staggered back a step, eyes wide. “That’s what’s going on inside your head?” He sounded shell-shocked, sort of like I felt. “That’s — completely — that fucking sucks.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 04, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 04, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B0D57KY9KY
| 4.21
| 735
| unknown
| May 30, 2024
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, secret identity, f*** or die, paranormal, forced proximity Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3.75/5 Kinks: spanking, brat An **spoiler alert** Tropes: captor/captive, secret identity, f*** or die, paranormal, forced proximity Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3.75/5 Kinks: spanking, brat Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: dubcon, kidnapping 3.5 Stars, I enjoyed it quite a bit but it kind of limped to the finish line a bit. Cyril is 27. He is a rich Lord and the second son, so responsibility isn't on him. He's goofed off a lot of his life. He is a dawn mage, which means his magic is cursed and he needs to get rogered every 7 to 10 days unless he's taking a potion to suppress his magic. If he doesn't he'll be in agony and die. It's a bit of a crazy lore and it's not my favorite for reasons I get into below. Cyril develops allergy to the potion in his adulthood and he sleeps around, enjoying it for the most part. He messes with the wrong person accidentally at a masked masquerade though and pisses off his family because one of his family members is engaged to the guy. With his bad luck he manages to get kidnapped by highwayman named Enzo. Enzo tries to Ransom him back to his family for money but the family doesn't want him because they're so pissed at him. Cyril stays at Enzo's home and Enzo won't let him seduce his men, so Enzo is Cyril's only option. They get to know each other, they banter and bicker throughout the book. There are a lot of hilarious moments in this book, I love the humor in it. They also have an undeniable chemistry that draws them together. They kind of start out as hate f******. And then the cuddling enters the dynamic. There's some good mystery and plot happening. I probably would have enjoyed the book a bit more though if Enzo hadn't done some stupid stuff at the end and the conflict kind of becoming so avoidable and predictable that it annoyed me. Things I didn't like: - I really don't like the lore of the curse behind this. It really is horrible. The fact that it's all about someone else's pleasure, that only they need to get off for the sufferer to be temporarily cured is so bad. It reminds me about how women's pleasure has always been unimportant and second to men's. And it's so unsafe too and it's so against their will - I felt better about the curse and how it was used in book one because in book one, the MMC was able to use the potions to have some choice and autonomy for the majority of his adult life and he didn't have to find someone to sleep with every 7 to 10 days regardless of whether he really wanted to. For Cyril, the potion didn't work on him, he developed an allergy or something to it. At one point he was talking about how years ago he broke up with his lover and was heartbroken and didn't want to sleep with someone, and then he had to because of his allergy. It just felt unfair, icky, dubcon for Cyril even though Cyril really enjoyed sex for the most part. - Enzo was such a jerk in this moment and he had no reason to be, so it was out of nowhere and totally at odds with his actions in a couple days when he chases after cereal and doesn't want him to be f****** someone else. Andreas from book one was a much better book boyfriend. "“You have a week before your curse is going to affect you,” he said heavily. “You can seduce your escort on your arduous four-hour journey, if you must. Or anyone else you want. You’re not my captive anymore. And I don’t have any say in who fucks you. It’s not my concern.”" Maybe if we'd seen Enzo's point of view it would have been better, but this was single POV. - The conflict at the end where Enzo was caught at the castle was so dumb. This conflict was created because Enzo let Cyril go when he never should have. He didn't have a good enough reason to. They should have talked before Cyril left, and maybe he wouldn't have left at all. Some notable moments: Fair point! "“And if you don’t want to be taken for someone who’d treat a dawn mage poorly, don’t make remarks about how you think I’d use phallic vegetables in unnatural ways.” “I already said, I didn’t know you were a dawn mage!” “You shouldn’t be accusing anyone of wanting to fuck a zucchini, Enzo!”" "“You told me your ass wouldn’t even notice if I fucked you,” he said softly, but with an edge that raised all the hair on the back of my neck. I stared at the rucked-up bedding, at the flicker of the torchlight on the stone wall. My body lay hot and heavy and throbbing, at his mercy. “Do you remember that?” I let out a whimper, pathetically muffled in the blanket. Enzo pushed forward slightly, the head of his cock starting to force me open. “I think you’re going to notice,” he growled, sounding unbecomingly pleased with himself, and thrust inside." "“Fortitude,” he gasped. “You! Forti—oh, gods. Hardly…complain…I can’t…” I lay rigidly still, face burning, biting my lower lip to shreds, as he practically roared with mirth and then slowly wore himself down. Fuck. Him. I’d wait until he was asleep and I’d take all of his pillows—except for the one I’d use to smother him." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jul 03, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B0CW1C94P4
| 3.90
| 2,304
| Jun 21, 2024
| Jun 21, 2024
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: failed one night stand, miscommunication, sports, rich/poor Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: sex in a risky place once Angst: lo **spoiler alert** Tropes: failed one night stand, miscommunication, sports, rich/poor Feels: 3.5/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: sex in a risky place once Angst: low HEA: I'm calling this a HFN, read my review, I have a two paragraph long vent on this LOL Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: dead parents, neglectful/homophobic parent, money struggles 3.5 stars, rounding down though Jordan is 19, he has two dads, so he has grown up very open and very much an lgbtqia+ ally. He's questioning his own sexuality in college. He plays baseball in college and needs to wear a suit after the games. He's grown out of his suit and needs a new one, so he goes to a men's wear store and he meets Blaise. Blaise listens to Jordan vocalizing his questioning and helpfully offers to be of service in figuring out things by dropping to his knees. The experiment is a success and they both want to repeat. Lol. They start a hook up relationship and become friends along the way. And then whoops we're boyfriends. Blaise's 23 and gay, he's struggling a bit for money because he wants to apply to an unpaid internship and he literally needs to save up so he can afford to take the unpaid internship. So ridiculous that unpaid internships exist! His mom is dead and his dad wants nothing to do with him because he's gay. He has no family but he does have some close friends. He's wanting to get into costume design in movies. Coincidentally Jordan's family has connections in the job he wants. The miscommunication trope kind of has an annoying presence, hanging over their heads in the background waiting to fall. For the most part this was an enjoyable low angst read. Great use of humor. Jordan made a pretty realistic rich college kid. He was open, indecisive about his future, and he was used to having his needs met by his family and not having to struggle much. His flaws were shown and who he was was understandable. You don't always see that kind of honest humanity in college romances. The progression from hookups to friends to boyfriends was pretty natural. They enjoyed spending time with each other so they just kept doing it! And feelings came along. It was pretty funny when they realized that they accidentally fell into a relationship and are boyfriends. I liked their supportive friend group. There were a couple typos. There was also this stupid plot line where Blaise offered to (and actually does) buy Jordan a pair of earrings for every game he won. Blaise is struggling for money, it makes no sense that he would be buying Jordan a pair of earrings for every baseball win. And Jordan shouldn't be accepting it either because he knows Blaise is struggling. That wasn't thought out well. The author really pissed me off though on the page right after the book was over. On the last page of the story, the couple's story ends on a happy for now note. They say they're going to worry about the future when it comes and just enjoy today, they'll make big life decisions later. And I was actually applauding that, even though it meant the book technically ended on a happy for now note. Usually I like a very clear happily ever after, but I thought hey this is fresh and it's realistic because Jordan is only 19 and the whole book has been leading to a point where Jordan and Blaise are going to have to make some decisions, some right now and then some decisions in the future, because they're going to have to adjust due to their transitory life circumstances due to school and job stuff. Then I turned the page and saw that the author is promoting signing up for her newsletter to see Blaise and Jordan's future 10 years from now. Hell no. Don't deliberately choose to end a book on an HFN note and basically create a cliffhanger for your readers to drive people to your newsletter for an HEA. I respect the creative right to actually end on an HFN because of the age of the characters but don't just clickbait me. Controversial opinion, but my opinion is that those extra stories that authors promote at the end of their book should be missing scenes or optional scenes that are not critical to the happily ever after. To me, it's a particularly dirty move when you deny your reader a HEA within the book that they paid for and try to force them. Sometimes I'm interested enough to sign up for these extra stories or to hear more about the next releases of an author. But I'm deliberately not going to sign up for the newsletter and read their HEA because I think this is shitty behavior. Some notable moments: Jordan is such a boy! I love how stunned and appalled his dad is. I wish that Blaise had gotten to react to this as well, he might have cried. "“Nope. How long have you had that suit, anyway? I can’t remember when you bought it.” “Sure you do. You took me to buy it.” There’s a stunned little pause, then Uncle Luke demands, “Are you telling me that’s the same suit I got you for Homecoming your junior year?” “Yep.” When would I have bought another? And why?" I love how overwhelmed Jordan is at the idea of purchasing a new suit. "“Hi! Can I help you find anyth— Okay, I’m going to take that as a yes,” I say as both his hands latch tightly onto my forearm. “Please,” he begs. “Help me.” For a second I wonder if this is more than a shopping emergency—is he in actual danger?—but then he adds, “Why are there so many? I only need one,” and I relax." "“Oh, not now. Now I eat as many as I want, though sometimes I pay for it in the gym. But when I was a kid, he was always going on about how I couldn’t eat a whole box at a time.” A whole box? Just thinking about all that sugar makes me queasy, and we art students live on junk food. “He might have had a point. That many Pop-Tarts would probably lead to death.” I eye him. “You’re not doing that now, are you?” His gaze slides away. “That’s not important.”" *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jun 26, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B0D64R4PC1
| 4.30
| 531
| unknown
| Jun 20, 2024
|
liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: camboy, secret identity Feels: 2/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: exhibitionism Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/cont **spoiler alert** Tropes: camboy, secret identity Feels: 2/5 Steam*: 2/5 Kinks: exhibitionism Angst: low HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: past relationship trauma, social anxiety, introvert 2.5 Stars Adam is 28, bi, though he has only ever been with two women in his life and never been with a man. He works a nerdy math business job during the day, but he secretly moonlights as a camboy, recording himself getting off for others as an outlet because he's so shy. He needs his house renovated and he hires the Fixer Brothers. They ask him if the renovation could be featured on their TV show and he agrees without really understanding that it will require him to appear on camera and be a challenge given his social anxiety. Chase is 30, gay and with a reputation as a fuckboy twink. He tends to get to invested in relationships and guys always shoot him down and run so in the last few years he makes sure he doesn't give anything of himself and he just hooks up. His favorite pornstar is Adam and he's been a fan for many months. Chase is also a cameraman and an artist. Chase works as the videographer for the Fixer Brothers. He's shocked when he comes into work at Adam's house and instantly recognizes him as his favorite pornstar. Initially he keeps it secret that he recognizes him. Something starts up with them though, because Chase has a way of making Adam feel comfortable and Adam opens up to him. And soon enough Chase feels he has to come clean because it is unfair not to. Once it comes out, Chase offers to help with his recording since Adam has just been using a cell phone and Chase is a professional. That escalates into Chase participating and they start hooking up but Chase is trying to be very clear that he's not a relationship guy. This book didn't really work for me. It started off on an awkward note and then it just got really fetishized about firsts. My thoughts as I read it: - Right up until Chase starts the job at Adam's house, Chase had been having a 3 week long fling with a guy named Victor who dumps him the morning of the job starting. It felt like the author made a mistake because they were being hyperbolic. They said that Chase was getting off every day with Victor, that he was insatiable. But they also said that during this time Chase was watching Adam's videos and basically wanking himself silly multiple times a day. Is Chase really chafed? It just seems like an error, like one of those two things isn't actually true. If you're in a new casual relationship and having sex all the time, isn't it just impractical and unrealistic that you would also be wildly masturbating? If you had to indulge in one versus the other because of time restraints in living your darn life, I think you wouldn't have so much time for porn! I feel like the author included the fact that Chase had been watching during those 3 weeks just to put the focus back on Adam who would be his eventual love interest, but if they were hoping to make it seem special, that didn't really work out LOL. - When Adam and Chase first meet, they non-stop compliment each other and realize instantly that they have so much in common. It's so fake and cheesy. And the author instantly has Chase have some deep insightful thoughts about Adam to try to make it clear to the reader that Chase is not just horny for Adam. It's artificial and trying too hard. - After like 2 days of working at Adam's house, Chase kind of gives up on flirting with him and decides to go hook up at a bar. He doesn't find anyone and he ends up meeting up with Adam accidentally at the bar. It was just kind of flighty of Chase. It's really only been 2 days since he last got laid with Victor. - Page 51 - once again we're reminded of how much they have in common, they show up wearing the same shirt and they have the same nerdy movie tastes. Just trying too hard. - Page 73 - Adam starts flirting with Chase online in his persona as pornstar talking to one of his subscribers. At this point Adam doesn't know that that's Chase. And Adam kind of out of nowhere starts flirting with him and saying that he jerked off and made his last video while thinking of him. And then a couple pages later he's talking about how preoccupied he is with Chase. Either Adam is attracted to multiple people and flighty with his interest, which fine, he's single, or the author just made a mistake in trying to make conflict in the book. It just didn't fit Adam's character and it was out of nowhere. - I didn't like that Chase has a history of falling too fast for guys and saying I love you and getting too serious too quick. That kind of past isn't one of my favorite things to see in a romance novel, because it just makes me question once Chase falls for Adam if Adam was really special to him or if he was just repeating his bad habits. That's just a unromantic plot decision to me. - Adam had never been with a man before. The biggest problem with this book, which was one thing that absolutely made me ragey, was how many times they referenced Adam's firsts. Do you know how many times the word first is used to describe something in this book, usually in terms of a first in a sexual context though not always in that context? 106 times. Fuck off with using that word. When it wasn't sexual it just grated on me as a repetitive word, have some variety in the vocabulary! And when it was sexual which was the case often, it just fetishized firsts in such an icky way and tainted everything when it's constantly being mentioned, so there were all these interactions they had where they kept using that word and I was just so annoyed with that interaction. So constant moments of negativity throughout the book. - In the first half of the book, Adam is so painfully awkward. This relationship seems like it will be unequal with Adam being so inexperienced and doubting himself. It just puts them in a power dynamic that is unbalanced. Adam's more likely to get hurt. But also Adam doesn't know himself well enough to be able to commit and have a believable hea. I hate books with unequal power dynamics and unequal feelings and this book didn't get off to a good start. Though their dynamic did get more balanced as time went on. - Page 150 - Ick. Chase leaving right after he basically took Adam's gay cherry and making Adam feel s***** is kind of rude. Given Chase has been treated bad by guys before, you'd think he'd treat Adam nicer even though he is trying to keep his distance. - There was a huge break from reality moment at the end in the epilogue. Adam buys everyone on the Fixer Brothers crew a freaking star that he has named after each of them individually. I side-eyed this moment so hard and judged it. Lol. That seems really expensive and also kind of dumb to do for people that you were paying to renovate your house. This is the kind of romantic gesture you do with the love interest or something you do for someone really close to you as a friend. So in this usage it's cheesy. - Also random thought, was it just me or did these characters seem to act a lot younger than their actual age? There were some nice scenes. There were some hot moments, that I enjoyed. Not enough to really save it though. - Adam making pancakes while drunk naked with Chase filming him was hot. - I actually appreciated that Chase didn't feel comfortable filming their first time having anal and Adam instantly agreed to them doing it off camera. It was nice for them to have a moment to themselves. It was so natural and I liked that Adam didn't even demure. Some notable moments: This was a sweet little moment during one of their on camera hookups. It was nice to just be reminded of sweetness between them. "I looked down at him like he was some sort of impossible angel, his dark hair forming a swoop around his head. “Hey,” he said softly, smiling at me." "It was a photo of me from my early teenage years. I must have been close to starting high school in the photo, and my hair was bright pink. “That was the first time you dyed your hair,” Mom said. “Isn’t that adorable, Chasey?” I glanced over at Adam, feeling pure, white-hot embarrassment for the first time in a long while. “Is it too late to ask you to go to the other room?” I whispered to him, and a smile spread over his face. “Not going to happen,” he said back." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jun 30, 2024
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Jun 30, 2024
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Jun 20, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| B0CS8J2KGK
| 4.05
| 3,282
| Jun 15, 2024
| Jun 15, 2024
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Tropes: jock/jock, secret relationship, instalove, hurt/comfort Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: Docking, food sex, dom/sub, daddy/boy, **spoiler alert** Tropes: jock/jock, secret relationship, instalove, hurt/comfort Feels: 3/5 Steam*: 3/5 Kinks: Docking, food sex, dom/sub, daddy/boy, degradation, edging, kink of being used as a cum dumpster Angst: medium HEA: yes Pairing: MM Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: death of parent, neglectful parent, domestic violence (not between MC's), minor alcoholic/addict character, erectile dysfunction, a scene of extremely dumb unsafe sex, mental health issues I should say before I start this review, I don't think this book was a good fit for me. Which is kind of silly because I'm a sucker for neediness and comfort, but the way it was done here just did not work for me, there were a lot of things that seemed like dumb decisions plot wise and the unequal dynamic just was unhealthy to me. Nick is 22 and he's an out bi or pan football player in college. His parents regularly Foster children. Joey is 25 and gay and a closeted hockey player. He is captain of his team and a late student. They don't explicitly say why, but it seems likely that he didn't feel he could leave home until his younger siblings had? Joey's father died when he was young and his mother retreated as a parent, focused on paying off medical bills. His mother would berate Joey for not looking after his siblings better, faulting him for every time the siblings acted up or out or they had a problem in their household. Joey had a huge sense of responsibility and was mentally and emotionally a mess. They meet at the beginning in a gay bar. They are instantly attracted to each other. They hook up and it's kinky from the beginning, Nick has a way of reading what Joey needs and giving it to him. So it is a good hook up, their sexualities are compatible, they want a repeat. They don't make plans to see each other again, which is kind of dumb on Nick's part because Nick really wants a repeat. But they meet again because they are both athletes though for different teams at college. When they meet again, Nick offers himself up on a plate for Joey, willing to have him on any terms and be whatever he needs. Which I have to say, makes sense a little bit early on in their relationship, but he does this all the way to the end of the book, and it's an incredibly unequal dynamic between the two of them. It's unhealthy long-term. At some point Joey needs to stand on his own but also be equal partner and meet mixed needs in a give and take way, not just taking. About their first time having sex... Joey had sex with somebody else that same night. He showed up to the bar after having had unprotected sex with somebody else which wasn't fulfilling to him, he's full of cum dripping out of him but he didn't get off so he wants to find another hookup. Nick finds this out by going to finger him and finding him loose and dripping cum. This icked me out so hard I almost dnf'd, but other reviewers said there was a real special dynamic of sweetness between Nick and Joey so I stuck it out. Being the second person in one night is an ick for me. But I'm not here to yuck anyone's yum or kink shame things that aren't my thing. What I will do is side eye wildly irresponsible unsafe sex though! Especially, because Joey had unprotected sex and his new partner is touching his old partner's cum with no forewarning beforehand, AND Nick and Joey do not use a condom. I don't care that they're both on Prep, you shouldn't be having sex without condoms with multiple strangers in one night. It's not safe. You can't trust strangers and prep does not protect against everything! This was especially stupid because a few pages later, Nick lectures a teammate about unprotected sex and is handing out condoms. You can have condoms on the ready to give to your friends / teammates but not use them yourself? Unsafe sex is dumb you know that yet you just had it multiple times yourself, and with a guy that had already had sex with someone else that night without protection?! A guy who from his inner thoughts we learn has a fetish of being used as a c** dumpster and has had many nights where he has multiple partners and gets off on being used? This is a wildly unsafe situation. Setting that aside, because it only happened the one time, they weren't with anyone else after they hooked up, so at least they limit their dumb sexual decisions to between the two of them. But the author loses points with me for characters being dumb and wildly irresponsible unsafe sex being glorified. I am a sucker for a relationship where the characters are glomped onto each other emotionally and touch starved / soaking up affection. I should on paper have like this relationship more than I actually did, because these characters do have that dynamic. And there were some moments where their emotional need for each other made me happy. There were times where they just I needed a hug from their person or they just really needed to talk to their person in order to be soothed. However I feel like their dynamic wasn't what I would have wanted because it was very unbalanced and it never got to a healthy and stable point. And while there''s a lot of talk about their cuddling, I didn't get to really enjoy it and "see it" happening, it felt more like I was being told rather than shown, and I didn't really feel the cuddles deeply the way that other book couples have made me feel. Whenever they are together, they end up having sex. We do see them talking a lot and Nick is always being a calming presence for Joey, being emotional support for him. I wanted to like them more than I actually did like them. I didn't find this book very realistic. And their relationship felt really rushed at the end. They've been in an uncertain place in their relationship the whole book, they weren't stable and secure in their relationship. And they weren't in a healthy place or a reciprocal place. Nick still considers Joey to be a flight risk in their relationship at the 96% point. At that same point, he is making mental plans to adopt a set of 3-year-old twins who came from a bad home situation, and wanting to adopt them with Joey. It's kind of crazy that Nick wants to be a parent of 3-year-old twins when he himself is 22 years old. But add to that that he isn't in a confident point in his relationship with Joey, and Joey is not in a good mental state and has been a parental figure ever since his dad died, and Joey has been struggling with the pressure of being responsible for other people ever since then and clearly you shouldn't be adding more responsibility to someone who's never had a breath of freedom before. This plot doesn't fit with what would be healthy for this couple or fair to those kids. Being a parent right now seems like the last thing that Joey needs. So this just felt like a dumb plot decision on the author's part. Some notable moments: "“Put some pants on, I don’t want Neal to see what’s mine.” He says it so casually, like it’s obvious, that I smile. I’m his. He’s mine. I pull up my underwear and grab him, pulling him between my thighs while I sit on his bed. “You want me to be yours?” My voice only wobbles a little at the question." "She saw us in the parking lot. I can feel how wide my eyes are but I can’t do anything about it. I’m going to vomit. It’s a good thing we’re moving because I can never look at this woman in the face again. “I mean, really, a parking lot?” Nick starts to cackle. It’s not long before he’s doubled over, leaning on his knees, wheezing from laughing so hard, while I’m having an existential crisis." *FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink. **Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 17, 2024
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Jun 19, 2024
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Jun 15, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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Jane aka Coughy019
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| 4.21
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it was amazing
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Aug 18, 2024
Aug 13, 2024
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Aug 10, 2024
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| 4.11
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not set
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Jul 29, 2024
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| 4.25
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it was amazing
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Jul 26, 2024
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Jul 25, 2024
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| 4.50
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it was amazing
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Aug 10, 2024
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Jul 18, 2024
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| 4.47
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really liked it
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Aug 09, 2024
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Jul 12, 2024
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| 4.04
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it was amazing
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Jul 16, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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| 3.76
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it was ok
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Aug 20, 2024
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Jul 10, 2024
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| 3.94
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really liked it
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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| 4.02
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it was amazing
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Jul 10, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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| 3.97
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liked it
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Jul 09, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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| 4.16
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really liked it
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Jul 08, 2024
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Jul 08, 2024
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| 4.03
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liked it
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Jul 08, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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| 3.99
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liked it
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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| 4.02
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really liked it
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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| 3.99
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really liked it
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 05, 2024
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| 3.76
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really liked it
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Jul 05, 2024
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Jul 04, 2024
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| 4.21
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really liked it
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Jul 03, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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| 3.90
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liked it
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jun 26, 2024
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| 4.30
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liked it
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Jun 30, 2024
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Jun 20, 2024
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| 4.05
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liked it
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Jun 19, 2024
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Jun 15, 2024
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