7sofia7's reviews
532 reviews

Chasing Trouble by Anne Stuart

She is our queen and saviour, she can do no wrong, she writes to grant us serotonin boosts. 

Her novels are formulaic but if it's not broken why fix it. Her books, and this is no exception, always make me grin and give me the fuzzy feelings.
Definitely the romance novel that I have enjoyed more in this last month. 

Is was more than an homage on hard boiled detective stories, it is very heavily hinted at in the text, this is almost a rewriting of The Big sleep 

The Favourite by Alice Coldbreath

I started reading this book while I wanted to read a pregnant/woman with infant medieval/fantasy romance (very specific, I know) and even if this book was very different it kind of scratched that hitch. (Not actually from the fmc, and it's a miniscule part of the actual book). In general his/their approach to family and blood lines was refreshing and welcomed.
I liked the fact that she had to marry to help protect her family and I really appreciated how integral court life was to both the main characters. 
On the other hand I found that how was handled the sister story was not too nice (but understandable) and I didn't love the mmc characterization, especially at the beginning. I felt sorry for his past but he's not the kind of character that I usually like, he's more scheming and less stoic than most of Coldbreath's mmcs 

The queen mourning the king's nurse was fun. And I thoroughly appreciate the role of lord Vawdrey 

A novel of court politics, scheming and falling in love, and lust with your teaser who is crazy for you. 
I expecially liked the welcoming approach of the fmc towards sex. (His fondness for her blushing was less of my taste but believable)

A pleasant book overall but nothing to write home about. 

Liars Like Us by J.T. Geissinger

The ending made me happy but the first 75% made me mad, and it was due to the characterization mostly.

This is pretty standard J T Geissinger but I did not loved it at all.
It has all of her favourite tropes, that I should have expected, so I have to deduce that my taste has changed.
Previously, even if not a fan, I could look past some of the aspects that I didn't love but here they lessened severely my enjoyment of the reading experience.

The heroine and her friend group were a chaotic, the hero was extra in a bad way: he was a demanding billionaire with serious stalker tendencies. They are not said in a explicit way in the first half but his previous and current behaviour was blatant and glaring (in mafia books I can excuse this but in a more straight up contemporary romance I struggle with it) and his abuse of power was troubling as his concept of consent (dubious consent in their fist interactions even). His behaviour would be unacceptable in real life.
The string of (man made) misfortunes that pushes the fmc over the edge were too unrealistic and exaggerated.

I suppose other women might find this show of dominant caretaking endearing. But I don’t know any of those women. As for me, the thought of a bunch of strangers packing up my apartment and personal things at the behest of Callum doesn’t feel like a romantic gesture, it just feels like an invasion of privacy.
... On the one hand, he’s incredibly generous and thoughtful. On the other, he’s incredibly controlling. And his fanatical knowledge of my habits, preferences, and whereabouts is flat-out disturbing. Irked, ...
This is what the fmc had to say and I agree, but I don't find it charming. I could have liked this behaviour if it was set in a different world, time period orif it was presented as romantic but even the narrative presented his mode of conducting himself as problematic.
I have read and enjoyed other books form this and other authors with the same problems and even worse love interest but here they truly ruined the book for me. 
This is a trend that I have noticed in the latter Geissinger's book but this also due to my shift in preferences, you might love this book.
I like alpha love interest but the dynamic didn't work for me. The author portrayed their attraction but I didn't care for either one of them and I wasn't invested in the couple.

Also: the contemporary marriage of convenience is a trope that in 2023 feels a bit dated, but is still a favourite of many, I know. The writer has stated in an interview that for  this series she is going to decide the tropes first and only then develop the characters and the plot and you can definitely see that. It was a fun but generic contemporary billionaire arranged marriage romance and especially the mmc wasn't well developed, he was the embodiment of a trope and nothing else, even at the end we knew pretty much nothing about him and his obsession with the fmc was completely unmotivated to my eyes (and what's written in the book)

Sex scenes: the protagonists had the hots for eachother but I didn't love their sexual dynamic at the beginning. He doesn't respect her space and her boundaries. 
As per usual he's domineering and into some very light bdsm/hard fucking (spankings mostly, also master-good girl).
Luckily I found the latter sex scenes to be pretty hot 
At one point I considered dnfing the book when the fmc entered his bedroom, found some rope in his closet and immediately thought that it wad for his boat. But overall she can write a hot sex scene! 
(The fact that he's a billionaire and the uses coconut oil instead of lube for anal left me puzzled. It's a fine alternative but he's a billionaire?!)

Spoiler: the baby shit sandwich was too much for me, she's so immature

The reveal is a reveal only for the fmc, we knew everything since the beginning but I always enjoy it when there is turmoil in the relationship/third act brake up. I really liked the last chapters

This might be considered a spoiler but I don't regard it as such: this book fits into her interconnected world. 

And I find that having read several of her books I can appreciate it but without the previous knowledge I would have found the ending/reveal lacking and unsatisfying 

King of Pride by Ana Huang

Ch 1-2
Very easily readable. Giving almost new adult vibes with her running her mouth. Also a mid 20'10s vibe. But the trope of private club waitress and costumer is a one I'm partial to (this could fill the void that the Vintage club by Danielle Lori has left opened, as I don't believe it will ever be published). On the other hand having the fmc been a writer is bothersome to me, her being a terrific pianist makes it even worse. After a decent start I'm considering dnfing.

This author is mediocre for me. She writes standard contemporary billionaire romances that are nice enough but that don't move me. She's the epitome of what popular romance books are. 

I liked the premice even if it turned out a bit different, instead of sexy man's club waitress and billionaire it was more insecure aspiring writer (I despise writers protagonists/author's self inserts) and corporate scheming. 

The evolution of the book/love story was pleasant if unremarkable. 

I would still recommend but without many expectations (as all of this author bibliography) 

Rebellion MC: Tag & Lucy's Story by Nicola Jane
Did not finish book.

I totally see why some people like this author, but those were also the reasons why I didn't like it enough: the writing was plain and the characters were too unromantic, like some urban romances. Those have a certain appeal but I tend to prefer a more idealised version of romance in my books. 

Echo by A. Zavarelli
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.

In the prologue, where the fmc meets the mmc, she's 16 and he's a man (8 years difference). I was very hesitant to keep reading. Luckily the first chapter starts with a 5 years jump. 

The writing is engaging and the plot moves quickly, even too quickly. Their second meeting is very unrealistic and it reads like a romance written in the mid 20'10s, as it was. The romance genere has changed since then but if you read romances then it will still be fun (if you haven't and if you aren't a teen I wouldn't recommend it though) I would categorize it as new adult, the fmc felt very young. Oh, she is obveausly a virgin. The mmc was written just like a huge romance archetype, and how he acted in the workplace setting was not attractive to me.

The plot, blackmail/selling themselves to an owner for six months (but it read just like a sexy dark romance, not captivity. And she had been lusting after him for years), read as immature to me because I have outgrown this trope. All to say: five years ago I would have eaten this book up but nowadays it was just cringey to me. 

DNFing it at chapter 8 

Three Words by Kitty Thomas

Erotica  
Paranormal

It didn't do it for me, but it might be that in my reading journey I have outgrown this author

The idea was dark and sexy (less disturbing than her doll house to me but similar plot but with a plot device that makes it feel less traumatic) but it was too surface level. It's a problem that I have with most reverse harem romances: the fmc goes from man to another without the possibility to form a strong bond and it just becomes a series of not detailed nor emotional sex scenes. 
In general I also find novellas unsatisfying (same reasons as stated above)
The paranormal aspect was also too surface level (I like this particular kind of creature but here it added nothing to my enjoyment) and the hints were too few for the fmc to catch on it in my opinion.
Also the three word thing was pretty meaningless

His Curvy Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells

4.0

Nice but not my favourite, it's still the first one for me.

The beginning was rough with his rejection (it's always my favourite part in the books in this series because it's like a punch in the gut, and I understood why he acted as he did, but it was still so harsh). The first scene was so hot though! and was set in the usual  backwards pack society that I very much enjoy in this series. Then it became more chill, there was some angst but on the down low: them spending time together in the forest was nice, their time with the other pact was a bit too uneventful for me.

(Her dealing with her self immage was not as powerfull to me as it might be to other readers because it's not a topic that fells close to me at the moment)

I liked the first half more than the second half.

There were several cameos or references to the other books in the series. I wasn't too keen on all of those but it is because it referenced mainly my least favourite coupple (but it was very relevant so it was still nice) and a plot line in the third book that I dislike (and that was pretty useless to be mentioned in this one)

 The book was quite short and I would have liked if the author had developed some aspects more.

My enjoyment might have been lessened also because in the past week I have been reading a few of Cate C Wells' books so I might have been fatigued/got used to it

 

for anyone who cares there's a virgin hero

 

Untamed by E.M. Moore
Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

It's a new adult romance, it's set after highschool but it is written and the characters act as if it is. 
It's not terrible but I cannot stand it, it's too juvenile for me, but others might certainly like it 

Conveniently Convicted by Ivy Asher, Raven Kennedy
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.

At the beginning I thought it could be a fun read but I pretty soon for bored. She was a bit too crazy, the relationship (even if I liked the idea of it) was bland and uninteresting, I was not fond of the creatures they were.

Not a terrible book but not one for me