Review: Bad Girl Reputation by Elle Kennedy

October 4, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

BAD GIRL REPUTATION
Series: Avalon Bay #2
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult Romance
Author: Elle Kennedy
Release Date: October 4, 2022

When former bad girl Genevieve West returns home for her mother’s funeral, she’s prepared to keep her distance from her ex-boyfriend, Evan Hartley. Their history is rife with turbulence. And passion. A heck of a lot of passion… which she’s trying desperately to forget.

But it’s impossible not to run into Evan in the small coastal town where they once ran wild. And the moment she sees her gorgeous ex again, it’s clear to Gen that Evan is still as unruly, sexy, and irresistible as ever. This time around, however, she’s resolved to walk a new path. No more partying. No more foolish mistakes. Her plan is to temporarily remain in town to help her father run his business, but the second he finds somebody else, she’s out of there.

Evan has other ideas. He knows they can be good together, but he just has to convince Genevieve of that, even if it means turning over a new leaf himself. But can a bad reputation ever truly be shed? Do second chances really work? Genevieve and Evan are about to find out.

Bestselling author Elle Kennedy returns to Avalon Bay in this sexy second chance story about two exes who can’t stay away from each other, Bad Girl Reputation.

AMAZON  | PAPERBACK 

…a year gone, and I’d finally trained myself to stop thinking about her every time this thing or that reminded me of another time when. So of course, just when I’ve almost got her out of my system, she’s back. A fresh, unfiltered shot straight into my bloodstream when I was damn near clean. Now all I taste are her lips. I feel her nails down my back every night while I’m lying in bed. I wake up hearing her voice. It’s infuriating.

Know what I love more than a second chance romance? A second chance romance written by Elle Kennedy. *dreamy sigh*

I have been eagerly anticipating the story of the other Hartley brother ever since I greedily devoured Good Girl Complex. As much as I loved Carter, I couldn’t wait to get to the heart of the more reckless twin, and boy did he deliver.

Ever since Evan was old enough to notice girls, the only one he noticed was Genevieve. And growing up, these two were like fire and gasoline. Their toxic back and forth only fueled by the undeniable chemistry between them and their reckless behavior. So much so that everyone knew their reputation in high school. Evan, the heartbreakingly handsome bad boy, and Gen, the stunning bad girl who caused havoc together until the day Gen suddenly left town without so much as a goodbye. Now she’s back for her mother’s funeral, and Evan is like a moth to a flame.

But Gen is no longer the reckless bad girl who left the small town. She’s grown up, she’s changed, or at least she’s working on it. But tough to prove yourself in a town that remembers you at your worst and an ex that you can’t seem to stay away from.

We don’t get enough bad girls in romance, and Gen is one FMC I could really get behind. I love a good redemption arc, and this is a girl that hit a low and now working on bringing herself up and staying away from her triggers, like her reckless ex. But chemistry like theirs is impossible to ignore.

I can’t place my finger on exactly why, but I didn’t quite devour this one as quickly as I did book one. And while I really enjoyed it, it still took me 4 days to finish. There was nothing specific either, I just didn’t get as enraptured in this story as I did the previous one. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely! Did I adore Gen and Evan together? Without a doubt. Do I recommend this for fans of steamy second chance with a bad boy and reformed bad girl? YES. I really loved Evan’s growth in this story as much as I did Gen’s. And while I can’t say it was my favorite, it was still a super satisfying fun read and I can’t wait for more in this series

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Review: Misfit by Elle Kennedy

July 26, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

MISFIT
Series: Prep #1
Genre: New Adult Romance
Author: Elle Kennedy
Release Date: July 26, 2022

Welcome to Sandover Prep, where the delinquents roam…and you can’t trust a soul.

Finding out your mom is marrying some rich dude you’ve never met is enough to make any eighteen-year-old guy’s head spin. But for RJ SHAW, it only gets worse: he’s being sent to Sandover Prep for senior year. If there’s one place a misfit hacker like RJ doesn’t belong, it’s an ivy-covered all-boys boarding school for rich delinquents.

RJ knows his stay at Sandover will be temporary. Which means there’s no point making friends or trying to fit in. But the plan to remain antisocial goes awry when he meets a gorgeous girl in the woods on campus. SLOANE TRESSCOTT is pure temptation, with a sharp tongue and an ice princess attitude RJ’s determined to crack. Except there’s a catch. Sloane is the one girl he is forbidden from touching.

The headmaster’s daughter.

Good thing RJ doesn’t believe in rules. Sure, Sloane insists she’s swearing off guys this year, but their connection is impossible to deny. He wants her bad, and he’s going to win her over if it kills him.

Unless her ex-boyfriend kills him first.

The ruling king of Sandover will stop at nothing to get rid of his competition. Luckily, RJ’s unwittingly made some friends—his new stepbrother FENN, a pretty boy with a self-destructive streak; LAWSON, self-proclaimed agent of chaos; and SILAS, the All-American Good Guy who can’t actually be as nice as he seems.

If RJ wants to survive prep school and win Sloane’s heart, he’ll need to adapt—and fast.

AMAZON

What,” I say innocently, “you’re not confident about your dick game? Pity”
RJ’s gaze transforms from hot to molten. “Sweetheart, my dick is always the most confident motherfucker in the room.”

Having read and obsessed over Paper Princess, when I tell you I may have peed a little in excitement when Elle Kennedy announced this new series may be an understatement. There’s just something about rich kid drama that takes me back to my obsession roots of Cruel Intentions, Gossip Girl, and 90210. This book was like a mashup of all of them and I was HOOKED.

It’s been a long time since I read a book that hooked me so thoroughly within the first few pages. But not only did this book hook me, it kept me glued to the pages until the very end.

Now usually I’m not a fan of the multiple POVs in romance books. And most books I’ve read that had this lost the romance along the way. The multiple character POVs got confusing and watered down the plot. This was definitely not the case here. If anything, the additional character POVs enriched and added to the plot to make it all the more delicious. Particularly the hedonistic Lawson with his evil intentions. God, I can’t wait until his book. But I digress.

While it sounds cliche, outcast loner meets the headmaster’s daughter, forbidden romance thing. This book was anything but. RJ and Sloane were such charismatic personalities that I couldn’t get enough. I love reading about females in NA romance that own who they are and they’re also not shy virgins. I seriously loved how confident Sloane is with her sexuality and appeal to men. She knows she’s attractive and she makes RJ work for it. And god did I love how he chased her.

RJ’s flighty mother marries a rich guy and suddenly he’s immersed in an entirely different world of prep school, private schools, and a new step brother. A loner by his own admission, RJ doesn’t like to form ties because he knows it won’t last. After all, the guy has switched schools 5 times in the last 3 years due to his mother’s moving around. He’s a rebel without a cause and I fell head over heels for him immediately.

We get introduce to the cast of enigmatic characters like his step brother Fenn, his friends Lawson and Silas. As well as Sloane and her sister Casey. Did I also get intrigued by Sloane’s douchey ex, Duke? Yes, yes I did. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Misfit was a finger licking mix of drama and romance and man was I here for all of it. If this book is any indication we’re in for a heck of a ride with this series, and I can’t wait for more. We get Fenn’s story next and after the jaw dropper of an ending to hook his book, I’m absolutely dying for it. This is a full standalone romance with what shows to be a continuing story arc that will go into the next book. I’m totally and completely hooked!

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Review: Falls Boys by Penelope Douglas

March 21, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

FALLS BOYS
Series: Hellbent #1
Genre: New Adult Romance
Author: Penelope Douglas
Release Date: March 21, 2022

The HELLBENT Series—a spin-off to the Fall Away series—is coming!

“The kids are growing up—different from their parents but the same in so many ways…”

ARO
Hawken Trent. So polite. So sweet. Such an upstanding young man.
A virgin, too, I hear. He never gets naughty with a girl. Probably because Jesus told him not to. And now here he is, trying to be the hero by protecting another girl from me.

He calls me a bully. Irrational. Unreasonable. A criminal. He can call me anything he wants, I’ve heard worse.

And he can try to stand between me and my money, but he’s never had to fight for food. That rich, clean, school boy doesn’t have what it takes.

HAWKE
I surprised her. You should’ve seen her face.

Just because I don’t have a record, honey, doesn’t mean I’m clean. It just means I’m better at not getting caught.

That is until I realize I might’ve actually gone too far this time.

She’s there. I’m there. The scene of the crime.

It’s dark. The police show up.

We have no choice. We run. Down High Street, into Quinn’s bake shop, and I pull her through the entrance to the old speakeasy that everyone forgot was here decades ago.

The door locks, the cops circle the building, never knowing we’re right here, and I’m hidden in plain sight, indefinitely, with someone’s who’s awful.

Mean. Rough. Dirty.

A thief. A delinquent.

Until one night, lost in all of these rooms together, I don’t see any of those things anymore.

She’s smart. Daring. Soft.

Hot…

Everything’s changing. It’s this place. It does something to people.

We have a silly urban legend in Shelburne Falls about mirrors. They’re a gateway.

Don’t lean back into them.

But we came through front first.

I don’t care what the county records say. This was never a speakeasy.

It’s Carnival Tower.

*FALLS BOYS is a standalone New Adult romance suitable for readers 18+. Reading the Falls Away series first is helpful but not necessary.

AMAZON 

My name is Aro Marquez,” she says. I meet her eyes. “Aro Teresa Marquez,” she tells me. “And you may not remember me years from now, and maybe no one will think of me and no one will want to, but I was fucking here.”

Penelope Douglas starts this series off with a bang, and I am so here for it!

I fell so hard for this world back when Bully first came out. And when I read The Next Flame, I was pretty much rabid for this spin off. Funny enough, I don’t usually enjoy the next generation thing. There’s a very select few authors I’d change my tune for, and Douglas is one of them. I was salivating for this series and these characters, dying to see that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

This book really switched up the usual formula, and was so different from what I’m used to with Douglas books. Why? Well, we get the quintessential good boy meets bad girl, and the vibes were FIRE.

Hawke is Jaxon’s son Falling Away but he’s not your stereotypical 18 year old male. He’s a good guy, a guy with a plan for his future, and a virgin. It was so refreshing to read about a guy who has his own hangups with sex and not shy to open up about it.

Yeah, everyone assumes,” he fires back. “Why can a woman be picky, but a man’s sexuality is questioned if he’s not diving into every short skirt like an animal who can’t control himself?”

Aro and Hawke’s story is full of chaos. Aro hasn’t had had easy a day in her life, forced to do whatever she needs to survive and take care of her foster siblings, she’s stuck in a life she fears she’ll never escape from. Then chance and circumstance lands her into Hawke’s fancy world, and everything gets turned on its axis.

…you’ve taken over my head, and I haven’t thought about anything else since. You’ve either had me pissed off or naked, so I’ve been distracted.”

Hawke spends the majority of the story trying to save Aro from one thing after another, and I loved his savior complex. While we get just enough development for Hawke to make him endearing, at times he did feel like a secondary character to Aro, and I’m not even complaining about it. Aro was just a complex, multilayered character, and I couldn’t get enough of her. My heart hurt for everything she’s been through. She never stops fighting for every piece of goodness she can get. And I loved the way that Hawke began to thaw her hard pieces.

I want to crawl inside of you sometimes,” I whisper. “Sometimes I want you to be all that I can see and hear. So that nothing exists in the world to me but the feel of you.”

There’s so much that happens in this book, some of it without full closure or answers. So of course I’m already rabid in my need for the next book. There’s just a taste given for Dylan, and damn, I’m so desperate for her book that I can’t deal.

This was the start of what’s sure to be another addicting New Adult series from one of my absolutely favorite authors. It was a character driven story full of emotion and a splash of heat. A tale of two opposites who crash each other’s worlds and make it shine brighter.

Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Her books have been translated into fifteen languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the stand-alones, Misconduct, Punk 57, Birthday Girl, and Credence. Please look for Tryst Six Venom and Motel, as well as the Hellbent series, coming next!

She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and their daughter.

     
AUTHOR LINKS
 
Website: http://natasha-knight.com
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/natasha-knight
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kg2fRX
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natashaknightauthor
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1752075498339742
Newsletter: http://natasha-knight.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashaknightromance

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Review: A Million Kisses In Your Lifetime by Monica Murphy

March 10, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

A MILLION KISSES IN YOUR LIFETIME
Author: Monica Murphy
Genre: New Adult Romance
Release Date: March 10, 2022

Wren Beaumont is many things.

Beautiful.
Smart.
Sweet.
Innocent.

At Lancaster Prep, the girls love her. They all want to be her friend. Only I see Wren for who she really is.

A repressed little virgin who keeps her feelings locked up so tight she’s probably close to bursting. She thinks she’s above us all.

Even me.

I shouldn’t be drawn to her. She’s not my type.

Until we’re forced to work together in class and realize we might have more things in common than we originally thought. Soon enough I find myself completely obsessed. I will do anything for this girl to make her fall in love with me.

Anything.

AMAZON

Crew Lancaster is too much. Too moody and too dark and too quiet. Too handsome and magnetic and smart. I don’t like how I feel when his eyes are on me.

After devouring and absolutely loving Things I Wanted To Say, I was giddy in anticipation of more books in the Lancaster Prep world. I love Monica’s brand of angst and broody and tortured heroes. But this one caught me a bit by surprise, admittedly, because it was like nothing I expected, and not in a bad way.

Now if you’re expecting the same level of angst as Things I wanted to Say, this isn’t it. Crew Lancaster may be broody, but he’s not Whit Lancaster broody. He’s basically the broody cinnamon roll to his cousin, and I loved that in him.

Wren is the untouchable girl at Lancaster prep. Her family is almost the same level of rich as Crew, but their morals are world apart. She’s the beautiful and untouchable virgin, who can do no wrong, and barely spares Crew a look. He’s determined to get her attention, so when a class projects puts them together, he knows this is his moment.

What’s interesting is Wren is the exact type of heroine that I tend to gravitate away from. She’s too sweet, super sheltered and naive. She’s also the super innocent virgin who’s never been kissed. But there was just something so endearing about her, that where I would get annoyed by a heroine like this in any other book, it somehow worked for her here.

Crew goes from broody to full on cinnamon roll. And again, cinnamon roll is not usually my cuppa, but it also worked for me here. I just loved these two together and watching their avoidance grow to an unlikely friendship which soon bloomed into romance. I absolutely loved them together.

My only minor quibble, is there was little to no conflict in the story, outside of what was happening with secondary characters like with Wren’s father, or the teacher, and some friends. All of these things added tension to their relationship, sure, but I wanted more. I suppose I just expected a touch of angst, or at the very least some conflict between the two considering their difference, but that wasn’t present. Though the woo is super strong with Crew. This guy can teach romance to men double his age. I loved that about him.

I also wish we got a bit more closure with some of the secondary characters like Natalie and Maggie, but perhaps that may come with later books? I’m super curious about the grumpy and broody Marcus, so fingers crossed we may get a book for him too.

All in all this was a bit lighter than I expected, but still hit the spot just right.

 

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: Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy

February 1, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

GOOD GIRL COMPLEX
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult Romance
Author: Elle Kennedy
Release Date: February 1, 2022

Full of romance, hijinks, and longing, Good Girl Complex is Elle Kennedy at her very best.

She does everything right. So what could go wrong?

Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot is a people pleaser. Her demanding parents. Her prep school friends. Her long-time boyfriend. It’s exhausting, really, always following the rules. All she wants to do is focus on growing her internet business, but first she must get a college degree at her parents’ insistence. That means moving to the beachside town of Avalon Bay, a community made up of locals and the wealthy students of Garnet College.

Twenty-year-old Mac has had plenty of practice suppressing her wilder impulses, but when she meets local bad boy Cooper Hartley, that ability is suddenly tested. Cooper is rough around the edges. Raw. Candid. A threat to her ordered existence. Their friendship soon becomes the realest thing in her life.

Despite his disdain for the trust-fund kids he sees coming and going from his town, Cooper soon realizes Mac isn’t just another rich clone and falls for her. Hard. But as Mac finally starts feeling accepted by Cooper and his friends, the secret he’s been keeping from her threatens the only place she’s ever felt at home.

AMAZON  | PAPERBACK 

I was half asleep until I met him.

Oh Elle Kennedy, how I’ve missed your writing. This book just hit all of the right spots for me, and I really do mean all of the right spots. I sincerely hope this is the start of an incredible new series because I’m seriously in love with the setting of Avalon Bay and all of the secondary characters introduced here. But I digress. Let’s chat Good Girl Complex. Because, man I loved this book.

This is your opposites attract, rich girl meets boy from the wrong side of the tracks but with a twist. Cooper and his twin brothers are guys with a definite rep in their town. Oh and icing, they’re twins. Yep. You read that right. TWINS. But I digress again. Coop is sick and tired of the rich trust fund kids that flood their college town with their entitlement and egos. So when particularly vapid one causes trouble at the bar Coop bartends end, and it results with the kid throwing his weight around and Coop getting fired, he’s pissed. He’s beyond pissed. So what’s a guy to do to get revenge? Why target the douchebag’s equally rich and gorgeous girlfriend, get her to fall for him, so he can dump her and get to rub it in the rich a-holes face of course. DUH. But you know what they say about the best laid plans…

Mac is the furthest thing from the stereotypical rich girl. She’s only in college after a gap year to appease her parents who don’t exactly support her entrepreneurial ways. It doesn’t matter that Mac is the mastermind behind a website that made her a millionaire. All her parents want is for her to marry the right man like her equally rich boyfriend, and be the good little wife. Ah stereotypes.

Coop and Mac meet and become fast friends. Mac is yearning for something more, and her life is slowly suffocating her. Coop allows her the freedom she’s been unknowingly yearning for. And the chemistry between them? DELICIOUS.

This is very much a slow burn, and as we slowly get to know each layer of these characters, we see the connection between them grow into something neither of them expected. Mac as she slowly acknowledges her attraction to Coop and grows into her own beyond the chains of her responsibilities. Coop as he realizes that what started as a bet is so much more. And this girl? Devoured every page of it.

This is the New Adult gold in a way that only Elle Kennedy can write. It was opposites attract deliciousness that I devoured from cover to cover and left desperate for more. And while I would have loved an epilogue, I simply adored this book and these characters. There’s so many secondary characters that I’m hoping get their own books in this town, including Coop’s twin. If you’re looking for an incredibly written New Adult romance, you seriously cannot miss this one.

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Review: Kiss And Tell by Maya Hughes

January 6, 2022 by · Leave a Comment

KISS AND TELL
Series: STFU #1
Author: Maya Hughes
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 6, 2022

“Wouldn’t most guys love a no strings attached hook up?

“Maybe, but most guys don’t deserve you. I want to be one who does. And I want to be all tangled up in your strings.”

Newly arrived on campus, I knew two things. 1) No one could know my dad was the president of the university and 2) football players were bad news.My run in, the literal kind with my neighbor cranked up the heat and sparks flew.

A new college campus. A secret bound to explode in my face. And a football player neighbor who is bad news in the best of ways.

Reid Riddick was hotness personified, so of course I literally ran into with him–well, more like he plowed into me.

I didn’t know he was a football player when I started falling and now I can’t stop. A stolen kiss later and my heart races whenever he looks at me from across the quad.

But my secret would spell disaster for him.

I’m the daughter of the college president. The college president who’s been feuding with his football coach for years. Their bitter campus war leaves us teetering on the edges of a divide we can’t see a way across.

Resisting him is more than I can handle. He’s risking it all for me. His team standing. His football season. His pro future.

Throw in a campus gossip site. My out of control new friends. His way too hot roommates. College traditions. A secret campus bar and the only guy who’s ever made me feel like he can’t live without me. And I have one last secret.

Our star-crossed love is my first and I want him to be mine.

Kiss and Tell is the first book in the new St Francis University sports romance series.

AMAZON

COMING SOON IN STFU SERIES

ADD BOOK 2  – THE KISS LIST – COMING SOON

GOODREADS https://bit.ly/thekisslist

My feelings weren’t unrequited, they weren’t being driven deep down because he had his eyes set on my best friend or a spot at the vineyard or me being his new tutor to pass biology or chemistry. Working beside him was like a beautifully wrapped present that had been shoved in my Christmas stocking, but I didn’t get to open it.

Kiss and Tell launches the brand new Fulton U spin-off, and I am so here for it. Generally, I’m the sort of reader that likes her New Adult romance with plenty of drama, and manwhore/alphahole/badboy. What? As Christina Grey once said, my tastes are very…singular.
So imagine my pleasant surprise when I ended up falling for the cinnamon role that was Reid. How deliciously unexpected.

Reid has lived, breathed, and bled football since he was 14. All he wants is to hit the pros. But it has nothing to do with fame and women. The more you get to learn about him and his father, the more you fall for him. He trains hard and doesn’t let any distractions, like women deter him. Besides, his coach is dang near certifiable and kicked off one of his teammates for not breaking up with his girlfriend. Simply because the girlfriend was the daughter of someone who the coach didn’t like. So yeah, suffice it to say it’s enough to put some fear into you. So what happens when you fall for the girl of the university president and a man his coach hates with a passion? Well, definitely some complications.

Leona is a recent transfer. After some recent life events, she made the decision to leave her mom’s home in Australia to come be with her dad. She’s also not entirely keen on anyone knowing who her dad is because she doesn’t want any attention. She wants to be treated like everyone else, and so she moves in on campus.

Leona and Reid have an adorable meet cute when they bump into each other and her legos spill out of her moving box. There’s immediate sparks, but they’re both insecure for various reasons. Leona, because she’s not used to being the girl being noticed. And Reid, well because he’s told himself he can’t be distracted by a relationship.

This was definitely a slow burn, with plenty of character development. There’s a heavy undercurrent of chemistry that makes it almost painful until that first kiss. I loved how sweet Reid was with Leona. He’s not a player and he doesn’t play any mind games. When he makes a decision, that’s it. And he doesn’t bother trying to deny his feelings, which was incredibly refreshing. Leona was incredibly relatable and I absolutely loved her friendship with her roommates.

The new characters that are introduced, particularly Kennedy and Cole, immediately hooked me too. I loved getting to know this new gang of friends. Can’t wait for the next book!

 

Maya Hughes, that’s me!, can often be found sneaking in another chapter while hiding in the bathroom from her kids! 🙂 I’m a romance writer who loves taking inspiration from everyday life, namely my husband and biggest fan. Inspiration also strikes when I hear a song, meet someone new or daydream while at soccer practice.

I love writing stories that capture the possibilities of the paths less travelled and enjoy experiencing life through my characters’ eyes.

I’m the mom of three little ones, the wife to an amazing husband and also work full time. Some of my favorite things are cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, white wine, laughing until I can’t breathe, traveling with my family and Jeff Goldblum. 

AUTHOR LINKS 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/mayahughes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayahugheswrites

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayahugheswrites

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/maya-hughes

 



 

 

#STFU #mayahughes #reidandleona #STFUseries #kissandtell #secretlovers

 

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Review: Just Like Heaven by Trilina Pucci

September 21, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

JUST LIKE HEAVEN
Series: The St. Simeon Prep Series #1
Genre: New Adult Romance
Author: Trilina Pucci
Release Date: September 20, 2021

??’? ? ????????—?? ???????????.
??’?? ????? ?? ????? ???.
If only I could’ve convinced my heart.

We were gorgeously young and desperate for one another.

His lips whispered promises of all the stars in the sky. While I dreamt of a love that would last forever.

But we’re star-crossed.
Fate had decided our course.
Leaving us to cling to each other as we crumbled to ash.

His need became possession.
My innocence turned jaded.
Our families declared war.
All that remained was hate.

But Calder was raised by wolves. The rules didn’t apply. I was his until he said otherwise—for better or for worse.

Our love story’s bathed in crimson and drenched in bullets.
Because sometimes, Romeo comes with tattoos, guns, and a taste for blood.

AMAZON

Why are you here?”
His hand comes up, fingers brushing my hair from my eyes before he answers, making the world come back into focus. “I’m here because you are.”

A modern day Romeo and Juliet retelling that will tug at every heartstring you have and leave you reeling in your feels.

Calder isn’t an empty threat—he’s a promise.

Now look, I’m not generally a reader that enjoys insta anything; particularly of the insta love variety. But somehow, Trilina Pucci has made a liar out of me in this book. Maybe it was because there was enough tension to build everything up that the somewhat insta love really flowed into the story? Maybe it was the Romeo and Juliet vibes of star crossed lovers who are doomed from their first glance. Whatever the case, it just worked for me here.

Sutton and Calder couldn’t be more different. Sutton is the good girl, daughter of a senator. Calder is the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, and son of a ruthless criminal. Their love is doomed from the start, but they’re drawn to each other like moths to a fire.

Seconds that feel like minutes tick by as Calder says nothing, eyes locked on mine, stealing all my rational thought. Because he has that same storm behind his eyes. And as strange as it sounds, it makes him beautiful, like an exquisitely broken soul at war with himself and everyone else around him.

A fated love. A chance meeting. A stolen glance. It all gets set in motion the second Sutton lays eyes on the new bad boy in town. Their fathers are mortal enemies. Sutton’s father being a ruthless and driven senator determined to eliminate crime in their town. And Calder’s father being a ruthless criminal with mafia ties who’s bringing the crime to it. Calder was born into a life of crime and knows he’ll die knowing nothing different.

The only reason I’m rating this a four is as much as it worked for me here, I still like a bit of tension between the MCs and Sutton’s fall for Calder was instant. Not that I blame her. The man oozes sexual chemistry the second he appears on the page. And I appreciate that while their connection is instant, them getting together wasn’t. There was tension, the odds stacked against them, and I lived for their stolen moments together.

The spice in this book was EVERYTHING. That confessional and holy water scene? Holy hell.

And then there was the cliff. I was prepared for a cliff, don’t get me wrong, it’s a duet after all. But I was NOT prepared for this one. It ripped my heart from my chest and left me with bated breath until the next installment.


Trilina is a former professional dancer (you may have even seen her on the MTV Music Awards) and a USA Today Bestselling author who loves cupcakes and bourbon.

When she isn’t writing steamy love stories, she can be found devouring Netflix with her husband, Anthony, and their three kiddos. Pucci’s journey into writing started impulsively. She wanted to check off a box on her bucket list, but what began as wish-fulfillment has become incredibly fulfilling. Now she can’t see her life without her characters, her readers, and this community.

She’s known for being a trope defier, writing outside of the box and creating fictional worlds her readers never want to leave.

AUTHOR LINKS

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Review: The Sainthood (The Complete Series) by Siobhan Davis

September 16, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

THE SAINTHOOD SERIES
Series: The Sainthood – Boys of Lowell High
Genre: New Adult, Reverse Harem Romance
Author: Siobhan Davis
Release Date: November 29, 2020

A complete dark romance trilogy from USA Today bestselling author Siobhan Davis. Includes Revere, a BONUS NOVELLA set twelve years after the end of Reign.

Everything changed the night my dad died.

The night I met Saint, Galen, Caz, and Theo. Those manipulative a-holes set out to ruin me after our hot night together, but they didn’t realize you can’t destroy something that’s already broken. And it only works if the victim cares.

Which I don’t.

Because I’ve been in hell for years, and nothing penetrates the steel walls I’ve erected.

Until The Sainthood decides I belong to them and cracks appear in my veneer. Their cruel games, harsh words, and rough touch awakens something inside me, and now, I’m in trouble.

They draw me deeper into their dangerous world, until I’m in the middle of all the violence and gang warfare, tangled up in all the secrets and lies, and there’s no turning back.

Because they own me.

And nothing has ever felt so right.

I’m exactly where I should be.

But with enemies on all sides, survival becomes a deadly game with no guarantees.

And, sometimes, saints become sinners.

This box set is over 1,000 pages of binge-worthy dark romance and it is a complete story with an HEA. It contains the following titles:

• Resurrection – #44 in the entire store
• Rebellion – #21 in the entire store
• Reign – #8 in the entire store
• Revere (Bonus Novella) – 21k words in length

Due to mature content, this box set is recommended to readers aged eighteen and over. Contains enemies-to-lovers/bullying themes. May contain triggers for some readers. Please read the note at the start of the book. This version of Revere does not contain the Valentine’s Day bonus chapter contained in the individual release.

AMAZON 

Welcome to senior year, angel,” he growls, his dark eyes unleashing wave after wave of fury, an unspoken promise that he’s never letting this go. “It’s going to be your own personal version of hell.”

Well don’t I feel sheepish here. The first book in this series was recommended to me back in May of last year. I DNFd it 10% in. Don’t @ me dammit! I know, ok! And I am prepared to eat crow here. But let me splain myself. I had…reasons. I don’t remember what they were. But I swear I did. I also feel it relevant to mention that never in my entire reading history have a I ever gone back to a DNF and felt anything more than hating it even more. Like ever. Seriously. If I know a book isn’t for me, no amount of forcing myself to finish will make it better. Ever. Except in the case here. I was a judgy asshole and I own it. See not even 5% into the first book and the female MC sleeps with all of the mens. Yes, I know mens isn’t a word, just go with it. So she does the nasty with the mens, and I was like WTF. This chick is crazy. Who sleeps with 4 men at the same time after just meeting them? What’s the rest of the book like if they already bang. Where the tension? Where’s the angst?
Meanwhile Siobhan Davis be like

I don’t know what got me wanting to give this another go. It was hot Sunday eve. My loins were burning. And KU was calling. So there we were. But I digress.

Since the series was now finished, I figured what the hey. I don’t remember why I DNFd and the cover is good and I want some smutty RH, so let’s do it.
Meanwhile Siobhan Davis be like:
So there I was, two days later, sleep deprived, over caffeinated, coming off of a book high and kicking my own ass for taking this long to appreciate the amazingness that is this series.

So here’s my summary:
Resurrection (The Sainthood – Boys of Lowell High, #1)- 5 stars
Rebellion (The Sainthood – Boys of Lowell High, #2)- 5 stars
Reign (The Sainthood – Boys of Lowell High, #3)- 4 stars

The only reason I rated book 3 a bit lower is I really wish the MM element was better fleshed out. We spent so long waiting for these two to come together, and most of it was off the pages and I felt a bit gipped on it. I wanted more. I wanted more than the very few pages at the very end of the series on them. But alas, it is what it is.

As for the rest, it was pure crack. I love a sex positive heroine, and it doesn’t get better than Harlow. This is a female who knows what she wants and isn’t ashamed about it. If a man can separate feelings from sex why can’t a female. It’s ironic that was originally turned me off the series is the one thing that made me love it so much at the end.

The suspense arc kept me glued to the pages and the romance guaranteed I couldn’t set it down. If you’re looking for an addictive reverse harem romance, this is it, friend.

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Review: Cruel Prince by A. Jade

September 15, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

CRUEL PRINCE
Series: Royal Hearts Academy #1
Genre: New Adult, Bully Romance
Author: Amelia Wilde
Release Date:  August 20, 2019

Welcome to their kingdom…

I never thought I’d step foot in Royal Manor again.
But five years later, here I am…back to finish my senior year at Royal Hearts Academy.

And forced to face Jace Covington.
My first friend. First crush. First kiss.
The one I left behind.

Only—he isn’t the same boy I gave my heart to.

This new Jace is as cruel as he is gorgeous.
And he’s determined to make my life a living hell.
Along with the rest of his glorified family and crew of tyrants.

They expect me to worship the ground they walk on like everyone else, but I’d rather eat dirt.

If Jace Covington wants me gone…he’ll have to try harder.
Because I’ve never been the kind of girl to play by the rules.

WARNING: Royal Hearts Academy is a New Adult/High School series of standalones filled with drama, a touch of angst, and boys who are bad to the bone.
This series is recommended for mature readers due to graphic language and sexual content.

AMAZON 

No one in the whole wide world has the power to make me feel both love and hate simultaneously the way Jace Covington does. He’s the yin to my yang. The down to my up. The crazy to my normal. The damaged pieces to all my broken parts.

Did this spend entirely too long on my TBR? Yes.
Did I randomly pick it up last night expecting to try the first few pages? Yes
Did I binge read it in one sitting and stay up till 3 am to finish? Also yes
Actual footage of me at work today:
Do I have regrets? Not. A. One.

Now first of all, all of my friends who have read this book and didn’t wallop me over the head with their kindle to get me to read this sooner? Friendship over! You hear me? FRIENDSHIP OVER.

If you know me then you know that bully romance is my crack of choice. The meaner the hero, the better. I want the angst so thick I can taste it. I want the feels. I want to hate to love it and love to hate it. And when you spend 80% of the book wanting to cock punch the hero, well you know you’re in for a good time.

But the heart doesn’t choose who we love by their worth. Because love isn’t a choice. It’s an illogical, all-consuming consequence that results from someone stealing a vital piece of you.

Jace and Dylan became an obsession. I love the story here of childhood friends turned bitter enemies. Dylan is back in her home town after her father’s fall from grace, of the lock up variety. She’s expecting things to change, of course, but nothing prepares her for the sheer venom directed at her by the boy who was once her everything.

Jace was cruelty personified. He’s determined to make Dylan pay for the past, though you don’t quite know what it is that happened. That is slowly unraveled by small glimpses into the past.

Now if there’s one thing I need in my bully romance, is a good reason for the hero to be the utter douchebag that he is. And boy did this have it. My heart broke for this tortured boy. There is so much emotion, pain, and heartbreak that’s packed into this story that it sucks you right into the dark depths of it. I also want a fierce heroine and Dylan definitely gave as good as she got. This is a girl that gets pushed down but comes up swinging and I loved her for it. She definitely has a weak spot for Jace, and loves him unconditionally no matter how cruel he is. Their sexual chemistry being her particular weakness. Can’t say I blame her though lol. My one quibble is I wished for a longer grovel at the end, but it was still immensely satisfying so I can’t complain much. Now on to the next book because I NEED Oakley’s book. My poor tortured boy.

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Review: Ruined Sinner by Becker Gray

September 2, 2021 by · Leave a Comment

RUINED SINNER
Series: Hellfire Club #4
Genre: New Adult Romance
Author: Becker Gray
Release Date: August 24, 2021

It’s no secret that I hate Phineas Yates, but what most people don’t know is that I have a very good reason why.

One hot summer, he broke my heart in the worst way, and I promised myself then and there that I would never fall prey to the sinner of Pembroke Prep again.

Even if it meant re-inventing myself into a girl I barely recognized.

There is a fine line between duty and desire.

I’m not just any girl, I’m a princess. When my family begs me to get engaged to save the family name, I’m trapped with no way out.

In a panic, I blurt out the ultimate lie and create myself a fake boyfriend.

Which means I need someone to foot the bill immediately.

The problem? The only person willing to help me is the one person I never want to see again: the careless, heartless, hot-as-Hellfire playboy himself.

Phineas Yates.

The even bigger problem? His help doesn’t come for free. And this sinner won’t be satisfied with anything less than my absolute ruin.

AMAZON

The way I saw it, Aurora Lincoln-Ward owed me. She owed me for the two years we’d spent apart. And I wasn’t going to let her get away with making amends with her body, oh no. She was going to pay with her heart.

Well, here I am, in my typical way of doing things backasswards, reading book 4 first. What?
In my defense, I have the first three books and have every intention of reading them. It’s just that when I saw the blurb to this one, my impatience got the best of me. And…well…I have zero impulse control, okay? God! Get off mah tits!

But I digress. New Adult is my jam. I live for a good NA romance with a good splash of enemies to lovers and hate lust. So it’s no surprise that I read this in one sitting. I enjoyed the writing style and I liked the concept of the book. Girl has crush on boy who seems to crush on her back, boy screws up so the girl spends two years hating him and making him pay. Then girl is in a bind with her family pushing an arranged marriage on her and the boy blackmails her into a fake relationship by giving her the appearance of a boyfriend she needs for her family, while asking for her time and maybe her body in return. And don’t get it twisted, the girl is quite eager to give him her body, so there’s that.

So why 3 stars? A few reasons. The conflict was just too childish for me. Now look, I realize that I’m reading about teenagers her. I get it. But that doesn’t take away from the main conflict being too childish for me. Aurora spends two years making Phin pay for his mistake. And while I get the emotion, her reaction was SO extreme to the point of changing herself. I could have dealt with all that, but then the main conflict at the end was just too much. It was not only childish but just came out of nowhere. It was my least favorite conflict to read about and this is entirely a personal preference thing, so don’t take my feelings as gospel. But I suppose for me, I wanted more character development. Aurora just felt a bit two dimension for me. It was difficult to connect with her and her reasons because of it.

Obviously I still enjoyed it, my quibbles aside. And it certainly hooked me on the series and has me wanting to read the rest. So if you’re looking for a steamy NA with some hate lust, this may do the trick quite nicely.

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