Finally diving into Rina Kent’s MM romance God of fury, narrated by Shane East and Teddy Hamilton, plus Mackenzie Cartwright and Zara Hampton-Brown.
Currently listening: God of fury by Rina Kent
REVIEW: Regards, Mia by Jill Brashear (ALC)
Blurb
A criminal on the loose puts Mia’s life at stake, but the last man she wants to save her is her one-night stand.
A viper in the courtroom, District Attorney, Mia James is not accustomed to being overruled, but when a villain from her past is about to uproot her life, she’s forced to accept the bodyguard her boss hires. The last thing she expects is for her protector to be tall, dark, and tatted Jay, the man she cruelly rejected.
After the way Mia treated him, Jay isn’t thrilled to take the job. He needs the money to keep his charity project alive, but keeping Mossy Oak’s biggest Ice Queen safe may cost Jay his sanity.
When sparks fly between the unlikely pair, boundaries blur between duty and desire. But Jay’s past might be too much for them to overcome, and the threat to Mia’s life jeopardizes more than their fledgling romance.
Review
(audiobook) It seriously wasn’t half bad, for the most part due to the narrators. But there were key elements in the story that were pretty good too.
Mia and Jay’s first meeting was cute and fun and sexy. With a little twist that we learn about way later in the book. They’re both like the embodiment of each other’s personal fantasies, and everything they shouldn’t want at the same time. They’re from different upbringings and opposite sides of the tracks. To fit with her family–at least in her mind–Mia needs a boring white collar guy, which Jay is anything but. And as a respected bodyguard, Jay should stay away from Mia when she becomes his client. Yet he can’t. Plus life keeps putting them in the same spaces. The battle between their hearts and desires, and their brains, got me.
There’s a small suspense element that becomes more important in the final act. The threat to Mia’s life is named and known, yet it stays in the shadows most of the time, with tiny thrilling scenes to keep the reader interested in that plot line. It’s also the reason why Jay is hired to keep her safe. And it brings intense few final chapters. The succession of events in that plot line could have been thought out better, as some part seem to come out of nowhere.
While Jay and Mia’s scenes together had everything a romance fan could want–banter, innuendo, sexual tension, revelations, and sometimes intimacy–their interactions with other characters were great too. I loved how protective Jay gets with Georges, half mentor, half big brother; Mia’s scenes with her boss were enlightening about their professional relationship, and helped her define her career goals in the end; they both have an interesting circle of friends, with some mutual too; and finally, Mia’s family offers positive and negative outlooks on her life, and fun moments with Jay. This is a character driven story with good characters for sure.
The narration was excellent. Both narrators brought the characters to life, and their voices work really well together. There’s some continuity between the point of views, which isn’t always a given. They make Jay and Mia’s story shine.
Quickie
- Series: Blue Ridge book club #4 (can be read as a standalone)
- Hashtags: #small town romance #romantic suspense #opposites attract #fake relationship #bodyguard
- Triggers: emotional abuse, mention of rape, violence, mention of deaths
- Main couple: Mia James & Jay Sanchez
- Hotness: 3/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + a really good chemistry between Jay and Mia
- – Mia’s rejection at first didn’t look good on her
Stalker mode
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COVER REVEAL: CRAVING CHAOS by Jill Ramsower
COVER REVEAL!!! Craving chaos by Jill Ramsower releases June 12!!!
BLURB
𝙍𝙚𝙣𝙯𝙤
Stranded in the frozen Canadian wilderness with Shae-fucking-Byrne.
I’m not sure which part is worse.
It’s her fault we’re here, after all.
I should want to strangle her.
Instead, my fantasies have warped from murderous to something infinitely more dangerous.
More seductive.
I don’t want to kill Shae Byrne.
I want to possess her—to own every piece of her.
As the new boss of the Moretti family, I shouldn’t even look her direction.
Anything between us would be an impossibility back home.
But out here in the arctic north, there are no rules.
𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙚
Arrogant men like Renzo Donati are the reason I usually date women.
And yet, of all the people in the world I could be trapped with,
Fate has bound me to Renzo.
We need one another to survive.
That should be the extent of it.
But when his hard body wraps around mine at night to stave off the cold,
Survival is the last thing on my mind.
ADD TO GOODREADS:
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jill is a Texan, born and raised. She manages the hectic social calendars for her three active children and occasionally spends an evening with her dashing husband. Aside from being an author and a mom, she’s a travel junkie and loves to read when she is not lost in her own stories.
With Jill’s books, you can count on confident heroines, plenty of steamy tension, and deliciously assertive leading men. There are no guarantees in life, but with her books, you know everything will work out in the end. However, a perfect ending would not be nearly as satisfying without a seemingly insurmountable challenge. Jill loves to add plenty of adversity in her stories, creating unforgettably dynamic characters and sneaky plot twists you will never see coming.
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Blog post 03/31/24: march tally
Books: 9 (5 audiobooks)
New authors: 2 (better than last month, at least)
Fave subgenre: guess I was all over the place this month
Total for 2024: 28 books (15 audiobooks including one re-listen), 3 new authors
What to expect next month: I’ve already listened to 2 of the 6 books I signed up for. But 3 of the rest are coming soon… and on the same day. Wish me luck? It’ll be mostly fave authors this month. I should be able to dive into my TBR list.
I also have a reader event next week, and another not-romance-related event the week after. But I got some days off, I’ll read more. And hopefully write more reviews!
REVIEW: Hateful prince by Meg Anne and K Loraine (ALC)
Summary
I would scorch the earth for the woman I love.
Being a dragon had always been my legacy. But not one I wanted anything to do with. After losing control the first time I shifted, I’d been exiled off to Blackwood, left to rot in the shame of my crimes.
I was meant to be a hero. A protector. The defender of my fae homeland. Instead I became the scary story they told their children at night.
Believing I belonged in this prison, I never considered a future beyond my punishment. Not until I met my mate. Dahlia is a gift I didn’t think I deserved and now I want more with her. We all do.
Her beastly Viking
Her mad pirate
Her vengeful god
And me, her imprisoned dragon
As tensions mount at Blackwood, it’s more obvious than ever we have to do everything we can to keep her safe. But the wheels of fate are turning and I’m not sure there’s anything we can do to stop what’s already been set into motion.
Not without having to become the very thing I most feared.
The Ripper’s come to Blackwood in search of new victims, but if he dares to lay a finger on my mate, he’ll find out what happens to those stupid enough to touch a dragon’s most valued treasure.
Review
(audiobook) Character development, plot advancement, relationship evolution… A lot is going on in this book, and that’s great.
Though Tor has made peace with his berserker form already, and Cain has recovered his memory, they’re still coming to terms with their identity and their powers. It’s now Kai’s turn to accept the monster in him. And he’s magnificent once he lets the dragon out. The authors sure gave it their all. Caspian too is discovering things about himself. It’s a whole process for all of them, and it was interesting to see how they deal with it.
It’s connected to their relationship with Dahlia. As a catalyst of some sort, she’s helping them reach their full potential. But she’s learning new skills too. Book after book, it becomes clear she’s way more than a famous romance author, or even the survivor of a cult. Between her blooming powers and her very special love story with four males, she’s at the center of the plot–though Kai almost steals the spotlight.
Another character finally comes into light: the mysterious serial killer haunting the asylum. At the very end of the book, all is revealed, and then some. I won’t even give a hint at the truth though, it’s better appreciated as a surprise.
And if six important characters wasn’t enough, you get lots of scenes with the other residents, and a number of cameos thrown in. That may be the only problem I had with this book. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed seeing all those characters again. But as they’re mostly voiced by the same narrators, it became hard to follow, even with their distinct voices. It was a bit crowded, to be honest. And besides a couple of characters necessary to advance the plot, they felt like fan service and nothing more.
As it’s become a–well appreciated–habit in those series, the multiple lovers are a source of both a lot of sexy and a lot of humor. Their interactions make for delightful conversations. As the story progresses, they also learn to work together, in and out of bed.
Despite the part where they all voiced too many characters, the narration was once again excellent. They always get the characters’ nuances–intensity here, playfulness there, some vulnerability when needed. Now to wait for the apocalypse in the final book.
Quickie
- Series: The Mate Games: Death #3 (linked to the other Mate Games series, ends on a cliffhanger)
- Hashtags: #paranormal romance #reverse harem #fairytales #asylum #serial killer #ghosts #virgin #amnesia
- Triggers: violence and multiple deaths, mention of past cult activities, gruesome horrific scenes
- Main “couple”: Dahlia Moore & (Tor Nordson/Caspian Hook/Malakai Nash/Cain Alexander)
- Hotness: 5/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + a lot is happening here, A LOT
- – all those cameos make this book crowded
Stalker mode
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REVIEW: The rebel by Marni Mann
Summary
One bed.
Two stranded strangers.
Three wildly passionate nights.
A thousand secrets between them.
After getting trapped in a blizzard, my private jet grounded, with no hotel room available within miles, I met a woman at the bar.
Rowan.
A knockout blessed with killer curves, gorgeous emerald eyes, and a mouth that should be illegal. She triggered all the primal and possessive emotions I’d never known I had.
Not the typical Cooper Spade that the world had come to know.
What followed was a fiery, unforgettable, wildly explosive weekend of sizzling touches, passionate nights, and intense chemistry.
The rebel had finally fallen …
But when the storm cleared, I returned to LA and learned that the woman I’d just spent seventy-two carnal hours with was the enemy, and I’d loved every minute of it.
Excerpt
“Don’t fuck this up,” my uncle, Walter Spade, hissed from the head of the conference room table, his salt-and-pepper hair glistening from the fluorescent lights above.
As he looked at me, squinting, the lines around his eyes deepened. His hands gripped the back of his chair as he stood behind it, refusing to sit.
When Walter was disconnected from work, he was the nicest guy in the world.
When it came to anything related to Spade Hotels—the company he had founded with my father, where my brothers and I worked—he was one nasty motherfucker.
Today was certainly no exception.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I replied. “The land will be ours as soon as I see it, assuming I deem it worthy enough to add to our collection.”
“You’d better act fast,” Macon, my youngest brother, said from the seat next to mine. His dark brown beard was coming in thick, longer than I’d ever seen him grow it. Since spending all those months in Hawaii building one of our latest properties, he’d developed a more relaxed, surfer-like appearance. He’d also come home with a woman—something I never anticipated. “Since you know we’re not the only ones looking at it, right?”
The land he was referring to was supposedly a slice of paradise along the shoreline of Lake Louise—a lake within Banff National Park, nestled in the Canadian Rockies.
Until I saw it in person, I wouldn’t be able to confirm just how perfect it was.
“I bet all the big names are eyeing it,” Brady, my oldest brother, said from the other side of me. His hair was freshly spiked, like he’d just stepped out of the shower. If I had to guess, he’d probably fucked a woman in the backseat while his driver brought him to work this morning, then showered in his en suite once he arrived in his office. That man wasn’t just a player. When it came to women, he was a goddamn sinner. “If the realtor reached out to us, then she reached out to everyone. That means all our competitors will be viewing that property tomorrow.”
“I fully expect a bidding war,” Jo, my cousin, said with a smile, clasping her hands and aligning each finger before she tapped them together. Her white nail polish caught the light above, reflecting the illumination and shining like a mirror. “This is going to be fun.”
Walter’s daughter thrived on the anticipation of the fight and the win.
Even though she was a Dalton now—her wedding to Jenner, my best friend, who happened to be sitting beside her, was less than a month ago—she was full of Spade blood.
And the Spades always won.
Review
(audiobook) It’s possible I was expecting too much, so of course I was kind of a tiny bit disappointed. But it was still a good book.
My main problem was with the fact that both Rowan and Cooper claim they don’t know what love is. Until they find each other, of course. I suppose that makes for a powerful revelation when they finally admit their feelings. For me, it’s unbelievable at best. And if it’s denial, I don’t find it sexy or romantic. Mostly it’s proof of emotionally stunted characters, which Rowan and Cooper were anything but. It could also be a way for them to keep their relationship on the casual side, but it contradicts the fact that they risk a lot by being together and yet they can’t keep their hands off each other. Either you’re committed, or you’re not.
Also, a tiny ridiculous thing I didn’t like: the title. It’s great as it is, nothing wrong. Except that I never got how Cooper was a rebel. Unless it’s explained in the previous book in the series. That’s probably it.
Anyway, I loved the characters. I loved how invested they were in their businesses and in their families. How, despite a family feud, they find a way to work together–and almost against their families–for the best possible outcome. Not an easy journey, plenty of obstacles, and intense scenes and hostility, but they get there. There’s also some interesting struggles, like when Rowan is wondering whether she should go back to her previous business and leave the family company, and Cooper convinces her.
And they’re fire together. Sure, there’s a lot of attraction right from the start, and that could lead nowhere. But in the first chapters, they ignite the pages, it’s logical they couldn’t let it go.
The book isn’t exactly structured in three acts. It’s more a crescendo with a few short calmer moments before new life changing events. A bit soap-opera-ish maybe. It sure keeps the reader interested.
The narrators were well cast. Rowan’s assertiveness was reflected in the female narrator’s voice, while the male narrator did a good job with Cooper’s intensity. This audiobook was a great way to enjoy Cooper and Rowan’s love story.
Quickie
- Series: Spade Hotel #2 (can be read as a standalone)
- Hashtags: #billionaire romance #enemies to lovers #secret identity #forced proximity #surprise pregnancy
- Triggers: mention of illness
- Main couple: Rowan Cole & Cooper Spade
- Hotness: 4/5
- Romance: 3/5
- + interesting characters
- – don’t tell me you don’t know what love is…
Stalker mode
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Currently listening: Free fall by Sara Cate
Jumping from one MMF Sara Cate book to another, this time in audio format. I was curious about Nash’s story when I finished Gravity a long time ago. I finally have the time to listen to Free fall. Narrated by Aaron Shedlock, Aiden Snow, and Joy Beharie who’s new to me.
REVIEW: The home wrecker by Sara Cate (ARC)
Summary
I’ve been faithful long enough.
I never claimed to be a good man, but I’ve always done what was expected of me.
Find a nice girl. Get married. Have children.
That was my duty as a good Christian man.
And everything was going as planned when I met Briar.
Beautiful. Charismatic. Sexy.
But marriage is hard, and after seven years, I feel like I’m failing.
Then, a figure from my past enters the picture.
Dean Sheridan is cocky and charming. When this twenty-six-year-old needs a place to stay, I should turn him away—especially after I notice the spark between him and my wife. But I don’t.
When I pressure him about his relationship with Briar, he does the last thing I expect.
He dares me.
He thinks he can take what’s mine.
And if it’s a challenge he wants, it’s a challenge he’ll get.
What started as a game becomes so much more.
Between them. Between us.
This isn’t how normal couples behave.
The games we’re playing are dangerous.
And the roles we’re playing are far more.
But God help me, I can’t seem to stop.
What we’re doing is wrong, but it feels so right, and before long, I don’t recognize the good husband I used to be.
Review
Don’t get me wrong, it was good. The writing was great, many elements were nicely developped, and it played on my heart strings–and on more intimate parts too. I just didn’t fully buy the romance. Which is frustrating for a romance novel, is it not?
The characters were well written, and generally relatable. I could totally understand Briar’s conflicted feelings about having another baby, and not being able to express them even to her husband. I also felt for Caleb and the way he denied his sexuality, even to himself. And their relationship troubles–almost forced intimacy, communication problems, routine–seemed believable. I love reading about established couples overcoming their problems.
And they do here, with Dean’s help. Though I felt he was more a tool than a fully developped character. His intimacy problem only serves with showing how Caleb and Briar are special–and it resolves so fast, way before feelings are involved, that I didn’t buy it either. While his hate for Caleb is understandable, it’s quickly brushed off because there’s attraction. He loves his father and refuses to put him in a home, but once he falls in love, he basically forgets about him. The most believable thing about him, in my opinion, was the fact that he could be confident one moment, due to his professional skills, and unsure the next, mostly because of his young age and lack of experience in relationships.
The three of them together were hot–even when one of them was missing. I’m not sure the dominance bit was necessary, or that it fit Briar. She seems to have so little control over her life and the people around her that I couldn’t understand why she would want to give it over during sexy times. But it sure made for hot scenes.
And this book broached a subject rarely touched in romance: infidelity. It’s the main theme, as proven by the title–and the question of who is the home wrecker doesn’t have a clear answer. Cheating is on the page, multiple times, be it technical or literal, past and present. There’s drama and conversations around it. Maybe a bit of fetishization, be aware. It was kind of refreshing to see it at the center of a story.
Family is also an important part of the book. There’s Dean’s tiny one with his father. There’s the Goode family and their drama–Caleb’s father is still an ominous figure and his influence has long lasting effects on all his kids. Caleb’s relationships with his brothers and his mother are developped. Briar’s family isn’t better, I just regret that her relationships with her mother and her sister wasn’t as much detailed as Caleb’s. And of course you have Briar, Caleb, and Dean’s unusual family.
The book is well structured, with three point of views in two different timelines. The formatting makes it easy to follow, and the back and forth between past and present creates clever foreshadowing at times. It’s a book worth reading all in all.
Quickie
- Series: The Goode brothers #2 (can be read as a standalone)
- Hashtags: #erotica #polyamory #bisexual #age gap #sex worker
- Triggers: cheating, homophobia, violence, fertility problems
- Main couple: Briar & Caleb Goode & Dean Sheridan
- Hotness: 5/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + Dean with Abby, so cute
- – lack of communication as an issue is annoying
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Currently reading: Kiss me in this small town by Willow Winters (ARC)
I enjoy Willow Winters’s small town romances. I’m starting Kiss me in this small town. Already released.
Blog post 03/25/24
Just trying to keep my head above water: I have four reviews to write for books and audiobooks releasing today or tomorrow… As you may intuit, I won’t make it. I can just hope I’ll have some by the end of the week. Fingers crossed!
Also, I’ve received an ARC of Willow Winters’s next release, and I signed up for an ALC of When I come around by Karen Grey.
That’s it! I have a book to finish, so I’m going back to it. See you!
Vero Ticker 