Review: The Good Girl by Nikki Sloane

September 4, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

THE GOOD GIRL
Genre: Erotic Romance
Series: Nashville Neighborhood #5
Author: Nikki Sloane
Release Date: August 29, 2023

What are you supposed to do when your best friend’s little sister—a classic good girl—asks you to help her go bad?

You should say no.

You shouldn’t pretend to date her so she can piss off her parents.

You definitely shouldn’t agree to take her virginity and show her all the experiences she’s been missing out on.

And you really shouldn’t keep it a secret from her brother, the one who’s your best friend and business partner.

But I don’t always make the best choices. In fact, I can be kind of a dick sometimes.

And I know if I don’t do it, someone else will . . . and I can’t have that. If anything, it means I get to be the good guy for once.

I just wasn’t prepared for how gifted this good girl would be at going bad.

AMAZON | iBOOKS | NOOK | KOBO | GOOGLE PLAY

 

I was a good girl, but sometimes, especially when I thought about him, all I wanted to be was bad.

*clapping in giddy reader*

Oh but how I’ve been waiting for Preston’s book. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever. But you know what they say about good things coming for those who wait? See what I did there? Ha! But I digress. Where was I? Ah, yes. I was in the process of telling you that this was easily my favorite book in the series to day! I fell so hard for Preston and Sydney.

Just so we’re clear,” my voice was low, “I’m the one who says when the lessons happen. I’m the teacher, and you? You’re going to be my perfect little student, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
A devious smile peeled back my lips. “Good girl.”

We met Preston first as the ex boyfriend of Cassidy and son of her new lovah, Dr Lowe in The Doctor. Yes, it’s as deliciously dirty as it sounds. Preston was the ex who I loved to hate in that book. He was immature, selfish, but with just the hint of something redeemable that you couldn’t help but grab onto. He continued to make a guest appearance in the rest of the series and you can see his character arc grow.

Sydney is the younger sister of Colin from The Frat Boy. Yes, the frat boy turned porn star. That one. So of course his sister is the good girl to her brother’s irreverent bad boy vibes. She’s the girl that tried like h*ll to please her ridiculously strict parents and ultimately gave up. SO what’s a good girl to do when she finally gets pushed too far? Find someone to teach her to be oh so bad of course. And who better than her brother’s best friend and the man her brother threatened to stay away from her? Yes, that’s also as deliciously dirty as that sounds.

Sydney and Preston agree to a secret arrangement. She will use him to teach her to be bad, and he promises her three very dirty lessons. No feelings, no dating, no complications, and most importantly no one can know.

I enjoyed this story so much that I binged on it in one sitting. I loved Preston’s character growth and redemption arc throughout this series. But man, he really shines in this book. He’s grown up and matured and he’s not the same immature boy we met in The Doctor. Sydney may be a good girl, but she’s not ingenue. This is s girl who can hold her own and isn’t afraid to go after what she wants. I loved her and her quiet perseverance. I also loved the way she had Preston tied in knots. He was a goner before he even knew he was a goner.

The story was easily my favorite in the series and oh so satisfying. And that ending? Perfection. Do yourself a favor and read the series in order to really get the most out of this one. Trust me.

USA Today bestselling author Nikki Sloane landed in graphic design after her careers as a waitress, a screenwriter, and a ballroom dance instructor fell through. For eight years she worked for a design firm in that extremely tall, black, and tiered building in Chicago that went through an unfortunate name change during her time there.

Now she lives in Kentucky, is married and has two sons. She is a three-time Romance Writers of America RITA© Finalist, a Passionate Plume winner, a two-time HOLT Medallion finalist, and couldn’t be any happier that people enjoy reading her sexy words.

Connect with Nikki

Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub | Goodreads | Joining her mailing list

Leave a Comment · Filed Under: All Reviews, Contemporary Romance, Erotic Rom · Tagged With: ,

Review: Soul of a Witch by Harley Laroux

August 31, 2023 by ·

SOUL OF A WITCH
Series: Soul Trilogy #3
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Harley Laroux
Release Date: August 31, 2023

Everly

I am the servant of a merciless God. I am the daughter of Its preacher. All my life, my power has been controlled by others. They raised me to be meek and stifled my magic.

But no more.

A brutal murder led me to discover a mysterious house full of magic – and the ancient, powerful demon within. He says my power can change the world, that I can kill the evil creature I once worshipped.

But at what cost?

Callum

For two thousand years, I’ve been alone. Slaughtering fallen Gods as I searched for the witch that haunted my dreams, begging for my help.

Now that I’ve found her, I will protect her with my life. But when the fate of Earth, Heaven, and Hell hangs in the balance, not even her soul is safe from destruction.

If a choice must be made, I’ll let the world burn if it means having her as my own.

Soul of a Witch is book 3 in the Souls Trilogy . Each book within the Souls Trilogy is interconnected, following a different couple through a similar timeline in the fictional world of Abelaum.

Content Note
This book contains sexual scenes, kink/fetish content, horror elements, and drug use. Please see the book preview for complete CW.

AMAZON 

I was told not to play with dangerous things, but my mother is dead, and my father is wicked.
So I think I’ll play how I please.”

Talk about an ending with a bang. I’ve been sitting on pins and needles for this conclusion. Harley has been edging us maddeningly with the few snippets of Callum in the previous two books. But nothing prepared me for the full force of this demon!

That’s right, darling,” he whispered. “Last night I crawled for you, and tonight, I’ll crawl for you again. I’d drag myself through broken glass on my hands and knees if that’s what you wanted. No matter the pain. Regardless of the degradation. The harder it is to please you, the more I’ll try to succeed.”

First things first, this is not a standalone. You need to read this series in order for the full story arc, otherwise you will be lost. Each book is a new couple, but the story arc continues through the trilogy. This brings the epic conclusion.

Everly has been the mysterious secondary character that didn’t fit in her devious family. And while she comes off shy and almost meek, you can clearly see signs that still waters run deep with her. And boy do they! When she meets the archdemon Callum, he brings out her strength and wickedness. Nothing is more satisfying then seeing the most feared demon bow to his queen and let her command him. Well, I guess it’s almost as satisfying as when he switches into his dominant mode. But I digress.

This brought the much anticipated conclusion and I loved that it wasn’t a big bad demon to save the day but a witch and her demon, with some help of course. I devoured this in a sitting and the spice was extra spicy. I’m not usually a fan of pegging in my romance, but it really worked here. Callum is obsessed beyond reason with his witch and I was so here for it. If you’re looking for an epic, spicy paranormal romance with demons, witches, and gods, look no further! Deliciously satisfying.

· Filed Under: All Reviews, PNR · Tagged With: ,

Review: Fragments by Nyla K

August 19, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

FRAGMENTS
Series: Alabaster Penitentiary #4
Genre: Dark, Erotic MM Romance
Author: Nyla K
Release Date: August 15, 2023

Survival is all that matters in here.
Still, it gets tricky when evil lurks around every corner, wanting to play.
To the arsonist, everything is a game.
Warren Xavier isAlabaster Pen’s resident manipulative liar. The former pretty boy prince of Manhattan’s elite is now locked away with the rest of us. Nothing but time to sit and stew… Scheme and obsess. And I’m the unlucky soul he’s made the object of his cunning affections.
On the outside, I would never entertain the kinds of things Ren wants from me… Unfortunately, being trapped for so long in such a hellish place can wear down even the strongest of minds.
I’d be a fool to fall into his mess of lustful deviance again. After all, I’ve been burned before.
But that silver tongue is wrapped right around my heart. The next time his flames engulf me… I might let them.

Prison life can be fun when you hold the handcuff keys in your sullied hands.
My skills give me power over guards, prisoners… Pretty much everyone. I control these men without lifting a finger. Maybe bending at the waist…
But not him. Not the one I truly want.
Lex “Luthor” Deon is too perfect to be rotting in this dungeon. He’s a hacker, a genius; a shimmering diamond lodged in a dreary black pit of decay. Sweet, loyal… inexperienced.
In short, he’s way too good for me.
But I’m too stubborn and volatile to ever let him go.
I won’t allow fragments of the past ruin us. When it all comes crumbling down, Lex will have to make a choice… Risk everything, or play it safe.
Whether he likes it or not, he wants to believe me…
But sometimes even I can’t tell when I’m lying.


**Fragments is a dark MM romance set in the world of Alabaster Penitentiary. While it follows a new couple with their own HEA, it is recommended to read the rest of the series first to avoid spoilers and get the full effect of the Isle. May contain sensitive subject matter. Heed foreword and proceed with caution.**

AMAZON 

When people see you as bad, they stop expecting you to be good.

Oh how I have waited for this book. And what a book. This was one which beech. And I mean THICK. Like 700+ pages thick.

We’re already in Hell. Whether it’s wrong or not, I will keep Lex Luthor Deon here so he can burn with me forever.

As a reminder, do not read this series out of order. The timelines in each book overlap and run parallel to the previous books, unearthing revelations and plot twists that will leave your head reeling. And that’s precisely what this book did. It left me reeling. My favorite in this series remains Dash, Distorted, and boy did this one deliver some mind exploding revelations about his story. Things that left me scratching my head in his book suddenly made sense in this one. Not all of them. But a good chunk for sure.

I have to appreciate the level of plotting that Nyla has put into this series. These are not just inter connected standalones, they’re so much more. She drops a hint in one book, only to hit you over the head with a revelation about it in the next one. No small part of the story is untouched. Everything is there for a reason.

Now this one is a book that I have a feeling most people will either love…or not. I don’t see much in between. Ren is a complex character full of self loathing and obsession for the one man that he can’t have. We get a hint at his proxy kink in the previous books, but you really experience his whorish ways in this one. But you also get to understand him. To somehow fall in love with every broken piece of him too.

Lexington is impossible not to love. The poor, sweet soul who happens to be a virgin, rotting away in a prison for something he didn’t even fully understand. But as all things in Alabaster Pen, not all is at it seems. And everything you think you know, you quickly find that you didn’t have a clue.

Is this what you want, Ren?” I hiss, so close to him, the tips of our noses are almost touching. “A fucking reaction, you goddamn attention whore?? Well, here it is!”

Ren and Lex’s journey is not an easy one and at times had me wanting to chuck my kindle at a wall for these two to just get their sh*t together. Their push and pull is borderline toxic. Heck, actually it’s pretty dang toxic. The story is told in fragments (see what I did there?). You get snapshots of both Lex and Ren’s past before they land in Alabaster and also the time they spent there that brought them to the point of hate/love they have today. Admittedly, I’m not sure how a book can feel too long but yet I don’t think any page was wasted at the same time? Like I’m genuinely confused. I feel like it took me forever to read it. But when I think back, I can’t think of any page that can be removed without taking away from the story.

The ending while delivering a HEA for Ren and Lex, still leaves you with more questions than answers. So obviously I’m now ravenous for Kang’s book next.

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Review: Bad Intentions by Mila Kane

August 16, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

BAD INTENTIONS
Series: Hellions of Hade Harbor Book 1
Author: Mila Kane
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: August 16, 2023

When trouble follows you home…

Lily
His name was Cayden, and he was a golden boy, an instant hit with everyone I knew.
But the mask chipped and cracked in front of me, and I saw underneath.
If I hadn’t, maybe everything would have been different.
Maybe he would have let me go.
I guess I’ll never know.
I saw him, and I can never change that.
Most importantly…. he saw me.
Now, the Coach says he’s staying with us for the season, in the room right next to mine…
I’m locked inside with my bully, and he’s watching my every move.

Cade
It started with needing to make the coach’s daughter keep her pretty little mouth shut.
It ended with an obsession… mine.
I’m burning…. consumed – and she’s the reason.
Now, there is no way back.
Lily Williams isn’t like anyone think she is, underneath her straight-A student veneer.
I’m the only one to see the real her, I’m the only one to know her…
And I’m the one who is keeping her.

Meet the Ice Gods, the Hockey players who never play by the rules and own Hade Harbor and everyone in it. Bad Intentions is a standalone bully romance featuring a possessive hockey playing Ice God, and the smart, sheltered object of his obsession.

AMAZON

One day, you’re going to realize how wrong you are. You’re going to understand that I never betrayed you and that I always wanted the best for you, but by then it’ll be too late. The one person you opened up to will be gone forever.”

I have been firmly in my hockey romance era, desperately looking for something similar to S Mastery’s dark hockey romance vibes. When I saw the cover and blurb for this book, I knew instantly this would be my first Mila Kane book. I’ve been eyeing this author for some time, but this blurb finally pushed me over and I’m so happy it did because this book definitely hit the spot.

This is your bad boy from the wrong side of the track meet the good girl trope that I needed. Cayden comes with some real demons from his dark childhood and everything riding on his success in hockey. When the coach of the HHU team takes him under the wing, he knows nothing will stop him from his college hockey dreams, including the coach’s goodie two shoes daughter, Lily.

A restatement to my seriously f-ed up excpectations, I didn’t feel this was as dark as the trigger implied. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t deliciously gray. Because it was. Cade has a painfully dark past and the more you learn about him, the more you want to heal all his bad boy boobos. The trigger warning lists CNC, but I didn’t really feel that in that scene. Not to say it wasn’t deliciously steamy, because it was. There’s some primal play and definitely, hand necklaces, and some rough f-ery. But Lily most definitely enjoys every moment of it.

For all her parent pleasing, outcast/nerdy vibes, Lily is no pushover. She gives as good as she gets when it comes to Cade messing with her. And though I did want her to make him work for it more, especially at the end, the things Cade does to keep her safe made me more than ok with their easy reunion.

This is a promising beginning to a series that I’m definitely looking forward to reading more in and I will definitely be stalking Mila’s backlist. I do wish this was set in college rather than high school, but it was still super entertaining, with grayish undertones, and an intriguing cast of secondary characters.

 

I’m obsessed with cats, coffee, and anti-heroes just the right side of insane.

I write dark and dirty romance with the alpha-holes of your most filthy nightmares.

While I like my heroes obsessed and powerful, I like my heroines smart and independent. My headstrong, capable women will bring their own personal demons to their knees, and capture their hearts at the same time.

I only write SAFE stories, there is never a place for another woman in my heroes sights, once he’s caught the scent of the heroine, and there will always be, no matter how dark and twisted the story might be… a HEA guarantee xx

 

Connect with Mila

Website | https://www.milakane.com/

Amazon | https://amzn.to/44E1nt6

Facebook | www.facebook.com/MilaKanewrites

Facebook Group | https://bit.ly/3NOGG6C

Instagram | www.instagram.com/milakanebooks/

TikTok | www.tiktok.com/@milakanebooks

Pinterest | www.pinterest.co.uk/MilaKaneWrites/

 


 

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Review: Playing to Win by Monica Murphy

August 10, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

PLAYING TO WIN
Series: The Players #3
Author: Monica Murphy
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: August 10, 2023

Ready to fall for the ultimate player? Check out the latest sports romance by New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy…

Ace Townsend is the biggest player on campus.

The sexy new quarterback on the football team.

I should probably mention he’s also a complete flirt. The life of the party wherever he goes.

Someone I should avoid at all costs.

It’s difficult though, when I’m on the social media crew for the football team and we’re out on the field during practice almost every day, filming them. On the sidelines at games. Hanging out with them at bars. The more I spend time with Ace, the more I’m drawn to him. The attraction is there, but it’s more than that. I actually like him. We have a connection, and he definitely feels it too.The problem?

I signed a contract when I started on the social media team with a ‘no dating athletes’ clause. They’re strictly off limits. If we get caught together? It’s cause for my immediate termination. I love my new job and don’t want to risk it, but I’m falling for Ace.

Hard.

We’re all for sneaking around and keeping our growing relationship secret, but it’s starting to wear on us. Ace is determined to win me at all costs, though he doesn’t want to be the reason I lose my job, but…

Maybe the two of us being together is worth the risk.

AMAZON

I have a feeling we’d be so damn good together. Like we have the potential to burn down the world, if she’d just let me show her.

Playing to Win was this wonderful combination of sweet and spicy that I devoured in a sitting. Playing by the Rules brought us brother’s best friend trope. This one introduces us to the youngest Maguire sibling; Ruby. Ace was the backup QB in book two, but this book is his time to shine. He’s now the star QB and the campus playboy. But when these two lay eyes on each other, sparks fly.

He’s my every freaking dream come true. Too bad he’s off limits.

But Ruby just landed a job on the team’s social media and a relationship clause makes anything beyond attraction forbidden.

I absolutely loved Ruby and her ability to go after what she wants. But the star of the book was definitely Ace. Sweet and dirty Ace, who is laser focused on getting this girl and will stop at nothing. I loved how he pursued her. I love their forbidden relationship vibes. But most of all I loved them together.

It feels like an end of an era with this book but it couldn’t have ended on a more perfect couple.

 

Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance.

A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, son, their goofy dog, and three cats. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. Or reading. Or binge watching something.

 

Connect with Monica

Website | Goodreads  | Amazon | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | Twitter | Bookbub | Pinterest | Verve Romance | Tik Tok 

 


 

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Review: The Client by Stella Gray

July 13, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

THE CLIENT
Author: Stella Gray
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 13, 2023

When I won the modeling contest, I lost my freedom.

KZ Modeling owns my body.

But they’re willing to rent it out.

The first time I learn my fate and I’m auctioned off changes everything.

Because it’s also my first time.

And the gorgeous, haunted billionaire who now wants exclusive rights to me for the next six months?

He has no idea I can’t say no.

But the real shock is discovering I don’t want to.

AMAZON

This is how it’s going to work, Miss Jasinski. We will date publicly, we will fuck privately, and any feelings you develop for me you will keep to yourself. Understood?”

The second I read the blurb to The Client, I knew it would be my first Stella Gray book. And having finished it, it certainly won’t be my last.

This sounds like a darker story than it was. While it touches on some dark subject matter like trafficking, it doesn’t go too detailed and so just grazes the gray-ish. Izabela was hoping a modeling contract in the US would be the answer to everything. With an aunt and uncle in Poland who are barely making ends meet to support her sick sister, every penny she earns goes to them. But while she heard whispers of the dark side of her modeling agency, she’s never wanted to believe it. That is until she gets sold.

On the auction block, she gets sold to a man, but that’s not who she ends up with. That would be the man’s younger, devastatingly handsome billionaire son. And there’s no love lost between him and daddy dearest. I must have spent half the book wanting to cock punch the eldest McConnell. Rhys is a jaded man, but given his history with his father, I can’t say I blame him. He’s attracted to Izabella and hates how he’s drawn to her. While a virgin, luckily Izabella isn’t the typical annoying virginal heroine. She’s a touch naive but with a backbone and I found her gentle nature with a spine of steel so endearing. This is a woman who loves her family fiercely and would do anything for them.

The chemistry between her and Rhys was palpable. She’s attracted to him beyond her understanding and he’s determined to keep his heart out of it. The ending did feel a bit rushed in my opinion, but it was still super satisfying. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and need to read the rest of Gray’s backlist now.

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#DGEFave & Review: The Puck Secret by G.N. Wright

July 11, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

THE PUCK SECRET
Series: Fairfield U #1
Author: G.N. Wright
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: June 16, 2023

Hockey is my life. It’s my only goal, my only escape, and everything was going according to plan. All I had to do was focus on the game, keep my head down, then get drafted into the NHL.

Starting the year as the Captain of FU should have made that easy, but now my attention is torn between the ice and taunting my rival’s little sister, Madeline Peters.

My only real solace is the mystery girl inside my phone who refuses to tell me her name.

Then one drunken knock on the wrong door brings Madeline into my bedroom. It doesn’t matter that I hate her, that I’ve been warned to stay away from her, now that I know what she tastes like, the Mayor’s daughter is just too hard to resist.

I know I can’t afford any distractions, especially not with her brother’s warnings in my ear, but I’ve never been good at following the rules and denying what I want, and what I want is her.

But what do I do when it turns out the same girl I can’t let go of is also the temptress who’s been sending me all of her secrets?

AMAZON

 

She might not even know my name yet, but I know one day I’ll be making her scream it.

I didn’t know this when I started this book, but I am fully now in my Hockey romance era. And this book? OMG! Where has this been all my life and how is this my first GN Wright book? Y’all, obsessed doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Are you going to beg, Princess?” I tease, licking her taste from my lips as I try to restrain myself from going back for more.
“God, I fucking hate you,” she pants, her chest rising and falling in rapid movements as she tries to catch her breath.
“That’s okay,” I say with a smile. “You can still hate me and come on my face at the same time.”

There has never been any love lost between Nova Darkmore and Madeline Peters. He may not hate her as much as her father, but it’s a close third. The second place taken by her twin brother and his hockey teammate, Josh. There’s some convoluted history between these two to say the least. Nova is the boy from the wrong side of the tracks with a golden college hockey career. Madeline is the perfect little obedient daughter of a senator and snob…or so Nova thinks anyway. The tension between these two is almost as palpable as the chemistry.

A drunken night and a wrong phone number later, begins a text exchange with neither of the them knowing who the other is. And OMG this was delicious. But certainly not as delicious as the hate between them brewing into such heated lust that they can’t deny it anymore.

Madeline is put between a rock and a hard place when her father tells her she has to get engaged to a slime back of a guy or he’ll pull his financial support. The last thing she wants is to marry the sleaze ball but she feels like she has little choice if she wants to graduate and stand on her own two feet. Her attraction to her brother’s rival is quite inconvenient. Especially when another drunken mishap lands her on his door looking to even the odds with her philandering “fiancé”. Thus begins their push and pull, we can’t but we can’t stop relationship and oh my god was I here for it. Nova is what my book boyfriend dreams are made out of. A little tortured with a sprinkle of dirty talk and all of the possessiveness. Madeline was a ball of sass herself even though I wanted to judge her for caving so easily to her father…who I hated so hard. But I digress.

This was the beginning of what’s bound to be one amazing new series and I cannot wait for more. I devoured this in one sitting and if you’re on the fence with this book, trust me and just read it. You’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.

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#DGRFave & Review: The Love of My Next Life by Brit Benson

July 10, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

THE LOVE OF MY NEXT LIFE
Series: Next Life Duet #1
Author: Brit Benson
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: September 8, 2022

I calmed his demons.
He created mine.

Macon Davis.
My best friend’s brother.
My tormentor.
My least favorite person.
Pothead. Delinquent.
A careless, directionless loser.

That’s what I used to believe,
but I didn’t really know him.
And when I finally saw him,
it was the best and worst thing to ever happen to me.

We burned hot and fast.
Passion. Anger. Love. Pain.
We were reckless. Naive.
We were doomed from the start.

When I finally saw Macon Davis for who he was,
we both went down in the flames.

***
The Love of My Next Life is part one of a duet.
It is just as much a love story as it is a tale of ruin.
While the duet will end in an HEA, book one does not.

AMAZON

She’s an addiction. My worst fucking addiction.”

I was desperately looking for a deliciously angsty romance that was bound to hurt my feelings. I’ve seen this book pop up a few times on my Instagram so I thought, why not. And after binge reading this book well into the night to finish it in one sitting, I immediately kicked myself for waiting this long to read a book by this author. BECAUSE OH My GOD! This was everything I didn’t even realize I needed.

Beg for it, Lennon Capri,” he rasps. His voice is low, breathless. He’s teetering on the edge, just like me. “Be a good girl and ask me nicely for your orgasm.”

Lennon is the quintessential good girl who moves to a new town with her widower father. While she makes quick friends with Claire Davis in her new school, her brother is a whole other story. Their contentious relationship evolves into a deeply toxic one full of heated looks and barbed insults. Lennon is now 17 and yet nothing has changed with her and Macon Davis from the time she was 9, except the sulky boy grew into an even more troubled teenager. And yet there’s a string that tethers them together despite their best efforts.

Macon is the quintessential bad boy who turns to drugs to deal with his pain. Being attracted to his sister’s best friend is the last thing he needs, but neither of them realize the similarities between them until they get thrown together in the community center they both work at unbeknownst to the other.

I hate myself a little less when Lennon is around, even on days when she hates me enough for the both of us.

This book was what my toxic angsty dreams were made out of. The back and forth these two shared and the dark past that Macon can’t move on from was addictive to read. Lennon is no pushover and I love that she gave as good as she got. Admittedly, I hated Claire and couldn’t understand the friendship they had. Lennon was way too understanding with her but that did nothing to take away any of my enjoyment. If anything, it heightened it further.

If you’re looking for a deeply angsty book with a slow burn and sizzling chemistry, look no further. And if you need me, leave me alone, because I’m immediately binging on book two!!

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Review: Secret Obsession by S. Massery

June 28, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

SECRET OBESESSION
Author: S. Massery
Genre: Dark, Bully Romance
Release Date: June 28, 2023

Hockey goalies are known to be obsessive—but none more so than my ex’s brother.

I just didn’t expect to be on the receiving end of his dark possessive streak.

After a mortifying public break up with his older brother and teammate, Miles Whiteshaw declares me as his. That I’ve always been his, minus my year-long lapse in judgment.

The only problem? I’ve sworn off of two things:
Whiteshaw boys and love.

But Miles will go to any length to prove that we belong together—and I’m not sure we’ll survive the fall out if he’s wrong.

AMAZON

“The day I kneel at your feet is the day I die,” I manage to respond.
He shrugs, sitting straighter and focusing back on his easel. “We can simulate your death if you want, baby. But you’re not leaving this earth one second before me.”

Oh Miles, you psychopath, you. If you like your fictional men obsessed beyond reason and willing to do bad and depraved things to get the woman they want, look no further.

She thinks I’m going to leave her here after I take what I want from her. But I want everything.

I wasn’t sure about Willow when I finished Twisted Obsession: A Dark Hockey Romance. I mean, the girl was dating Miles’s older brother, who unbeknownst to her was only with her to win a bet. A part of me had hoped that her and Knox may end up together because I love the whole bet turned to feelings trope. But alas, Knox has not yet matured but I cannot wait to see this man fall hard. Miles was the understated secondary character who kind of flew under the radar, but boy did he take his center stage hard in his own book.

The book begins with the very public humiliation when Willow finally learned the truth about her boyfriend. She turns to a dark place after of numbing with partying and alcohol. Miles is determined to have her, even though she’s sworn off relationships and love. He knows there will be no other man for her, come hell or high water. And the man is nothing if not good to his word. He puts Willow through some hard therapy to break through her walls with all the grace of a tractor. But dang if I didn’t love his ways.

If you’ve read the rest of this series, you know it runs on the dark and gritty side. This was even more so than the previous two. Almost to the point of suspend your disbelief kind of dark, but I can’t seem to care because it was super entertaining.

Though I did get a bit tired of the back and forth between these two, I still devoured this book in a sitting. I’m obsessed with this series. See what I did there? And the set up for the next book? OH MY GAWD. NEED.

S. Massery is a dark romance author who loves injecting a good dose of suspense into her stories. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her dog, Alice.

Before adventuring into the world of writing, she went to college in Boston and held a wide variety of jobs–including working on a dude ranch in Wyoming (a personal highlight). She has a love affair with coffee and chocolate. When S. Massery isn’t writing, she can be found devouring books, playing outside with her dog, or trying to make people smile.

Connect with S. Massery
Website | http://smassery.com
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Review: Don’t Pretend I’m Yours by Natasha Anders

June 12, 2023 by · Leave a Comment

DON’T PRETEND I’m YOURS
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Natasha Anders
Release Date:  June 6,  2023

When Ben Templeton asks Lilah Beckett to marry him, she’s over the moon. She’s been in love with him for years and now, finally, it looks like those feelings are reciprocated. She eagerly accepts his proposal, but on her wedding day, all expectations of a happily ever after with the love of her life come crashing to her feet. Lilah discovers that her new husband does not love her; he barely even likes her. He married her for all the wrong reasons and now expects her to be satisfied with the scraps of affection and attention he throws her way.

To preserve her heart and her sanity, Lilah knows that she cannot allow this sham of a marriage to continue. But her much-loved grandfather is ecstatic about the union and to avoid disappointing him, Lilah informs Ben that she’ll play at being his wife for one year only. Ben, however, seems perfectly content to remain tethered to her in a loveless union for all eternity. He has his own reasons for marrying Lilah. Reasons he’s hiding behind a wall of secrets, half-truths, and blatant lies.

And when that wall comes tumbling down, Lilah is emotionally unprepared to deal with the further devastation and heartbreak that follow.

AMAZON 

The woman seemed have been operating under some massive misapprehension about this marriage. He wasn’t doing this for her. He barely even liked her.

This, THIS was the book I didn’t know I was waiting for from Natasha Anders. I still remember the rabid giddiness I read The Unwanted Wife back in 2012, which marked my obsession with all things Natasha Anders. While she’s a well rounded contemporary author able to bring sweet and angsty in equal measures, there’s just something about her angst ridden romance with alpha holes that just does it for me. And boy did Ben deliver on all of the things.

The story was in the vein of Unwanted Wife, but also remarkably different. I’ll explain. This is an arranged marriage trope where the heroine is going into the marriage blissfully happy believing it’s love and the hero has anterior motives which love doesn’t enter into. But that’s about where those similarities end. It’s also not your run of the mill arranged/marriage of convenience trope. It’s so much deeper.

Ben and Lilah grew up together, but where Lilah idolized and crushed on Ben, Ben resented Lilah. He found her to be a petulant, spoiled child who could do no wrong in her beloved grandfather’s eyes. While Ben is the Forster child taken in by him and idolizes his mentor to a fault. Theirs is not a marriage built on love or even like, and Ben wastes no time disillusioning Lilah of any notion of anything otherwise.

Lilah was absolute perfection. She was such a wonderfully endearing combination of strength and vulnerability. She wants love and will settle for nothing less. She doesn’t take any of Ben’s BS and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and boy did she give as good as she gets. Ben was insufferable for the first half (just like I love my heroes); cold and unfeeling. And let me tell you, there is nothing more satisfying then seeing him fall helplessly for his wife and begin to see her in a light he never did growing up. And when he finally sees beyond the impression he built in his eyes, he wants more. But at this point Lilah wants nothing more than a divorce from him. Oh the grovel! The sweet sweet grovel.

I know that right now you hate me, but I’m fucking begging you to give me another chance, mo chridhe. I swear to God, I would move heaven and earth to make you happy and make you love me again.”

I hope we get books for all of Lilah’s garden ‘hoes’. Their friendship was the sunshine needed to break up some of the more heavy elements of this book. But man did I devour this story. Only thing that could have made it better is if it was written in first person POV. But this took nothing away from the story that sucked me in from the first page and kept me glued to it until the end.

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