Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Mantras & Minotaurs by Ashley Bennett

13 reviews

fr4n_m's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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thereadinghammock's review

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I struggled to connect with Pam & Al. Not sure if it's because their place in life is so far from where I'm at currently, or if I was coming off a strong book hangover. It was still the same sweet and swoon-worthy love story you can expect from the Muscles & Monsters series! I loved the positive affirmations and mantras at the beginning of each chapter.

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brindolyn's review

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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jerseygirl_reads's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I love this series so much with all my heart. I love the characters. I love smut and little plot when I'm in the mood for it and Angie's books are perfect for it. I think this is my favorite of all the 3 current books. I loved having an older couple find love. It was so heart warming and very very spicy 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

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shaykay's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

4.5

First, I love the older couple getting a second chance at love! So Pam and Alistair are both older characters in their 40s and 50s. They have adult children; Pam's actually the mom of Reese and Tegan! Chai, Alistair's daughter, actually shows up here and there. I really hope she gets a book, or we at least find out what is going on with her because she has some illness, and that's why Alistair was even in our adorable town and got to meet the fantastic Pam! I just couldn't get enough of Pam and Alistair. They were adorable, and I really need more books in this series! 

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trayslays's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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cluckieduck's review

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Ok, this whole series provides the perfect blend of soft & sweet with hot & steamy!

Love the representation of two 50+ MCs finding insta-love. Pam & Alistair are such a lovely couple (possibly my favourite duo of the series thus far) and I really enjoyed the little tidbits showing their ages, including annoyance at low-light restaurants, menopausal symptoms, and pillows under the knees during sexy time 😉

Keep ‘em coming AB - I can’t wait for Fallon’s book next!

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ana_withlovexox's review

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3.75

tropes: monster romance, padre soltero, madre soltera, y relación a distancia.

Es una pequeña historia de Pam, una mujer en sus cincuenta intentando vivir un poco más. Después de concentrarse tanto en sus hijos y estar en una relación que no le sumaba nada a su vida, siente que es hora de resetearse y dejarse llevar.

Me pareció una historia linda, tranquila, no hay nada fuerte que pasa. Son solo dos personas que al fin logran encontrar el amor y la estabilidad que merecían. Fue relajante, es rápido de leer y te sacra una que otra sonrisa porque Al es un verdadero hombre y Pam merece ser feliz y ser tratada como una reina.

Obviamente hay spice y es bueno, el romance es creíble aún cuando no se conocen por tanto tiempo, y hay un buen mensaje en el libro. Al final no importa que edad tientas siempre hay tiempo para encontrar amor y encontrarte a ti mismo. 

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katetravelsinbooks's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

5.0


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greystory's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is easily my favorite of the series now.

This is. SO. Cute. 🥺 So frickin cute I had to keep taking little breaks to desugarize myself. Oh but don't let that fool you - there's spice, too, and it just. kept. getting. better. The spice came out swinging and each subsequent spice scene was hotter than the last one. How is that even possible?

Pam and Alistair move SO FAST. But it didn't bother me?? They literally matched, barely spoke to each other, and immediately planned a date in person. It kinda cracks me up because that generation were the ones to over-dramatize the dangers of the internet in 90s through early 2000s but these days they'll do stuff like this.

I think it might not have bothered me because, despite moving fast, and clearly catching feelings quickly, they're clearly still both new to the dating thing and so genuinely cute and shy and unsure of themselves at first. It was fast but it still FELT new and exciting and like there was more to come in the relationship, not at all like they'd fast-tracked to the ending. I think maybe that's often my issue when something happens too quickly - it feels like there isn't any real relationship development AFTER the initial hookup - and that is 100% not the case here.

Similarly, the two are both so perfect but it didn't bug me or feel too unrealistic. I mean, sure, yes, Alistair is a ridiculously perfect book boyfriend but he was also down to Earth in other ways and had his own regrets and workaholic life. Pam was too adorable for words and I wanted to alternatively be her, befriend her, adopt her as a mom, and a smidgen maybe possibly date her a little bit. But her life wasn't perfect either, as evidenced by her own regrets and shitty marriage. I think the feeling of them being so perfect wasn't just that they were perfect on their own but that they matched up so well with each other.

From here on out, I'm gonna be dropping spoilers so be aware.

MORE PAM BLUBBERING:
"I firmly believed that if you wanted something, you should ask for it." - Pam, after asking to suck minotaur dick on a first date

gods, I am so happy for you, Pam!! GET IT GIRL
What a whirlwind of emotion because I was so excited and happy FOR HER and felt like I was cheering her on. I was never relating to Pam in terms of seeing myself in her place, I was rapidly becoming a fan. A Pam supporter. Catch me outside with a banner reading "54 YEAR OLD PAM ROLLINS CAN FUCKING GET IT" and blowing a damn vuvuzela. 

Pam was so good. I loved her. Between the reading and the knitting matching sweaters for her hairless cat and herself (my god, I wish my cats would let me do that) and her super supportive moming to Tegan and Reece, she was great. So great.

MORE ALISTAIR RUMBLING:
This man. THIS MAN. Part of this first date was GOING TO A BOOKSTORE AND BUYING HER WHATEVER BOOKS SHE WANTED. And it was a MASSIVE STACK, too!
 Then. THEN. He agrees to try reading Ice Planet Barbarians! Because Pam said she liked it! And HE DOES. He follows through and reads it. Then reads the next one. Then he ends up joining a spicy romance book club, gets more book recommendations, TAKES FUCKING NOTES THAT HE USES DURING SEX WITH PAM, and picks out a spicy romance book to listen to WITH PAM. And that's only SOME Of the great shit he does. Like really?? To say nothing of him being a great dad or just all around decent guy.

Shoutout to my girl Nancy the librarian on this great summary that coincidentally supports both long distance relationships and online dating.
Nancy waved me off. “Distance is relative. You can be in the same room as your partner and feel like you’re worlds apart. It’s the connection that matters.”

Some miscellaneous questions:
How did these two not know of each other's existence prior to matching on the dating app?
If Pam is afraid of flying and she's retired, why not drive there?
If Pam is retired and Alistair is taking time off of work anyway, why couldn't he fly? Yeah, I know he does, but if he's flying out anyway, why isn't he the one to stay with Pam instead of the other way around?
Why is it about making Pam go to Colorado at all? Excuse for the mountain cabin stuff, probably, lol

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