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94 reviews
King of Greed by Ana Huang
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
✨ Book Review ✨
King of Greed by Ana Huang (352 pages)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
As a book that we all (romance readers) have seen on our timeline, I can finally say that it was worth the hype. I'll get right to the part a lot of us were anxious about, the groveling. My take is that if we were to have more groveling, the book would have to have more pages. Therefore, the groveling was great. Instead of the typical, "we stay away from each other" type of groveling, Ana went another route. She did a mix of things, and I personally loved it. I was just so invested in their story. At any second I had some sort of free time, I was reading this book. Ana Huang's writing style is absolutely perfect in my eyes and I'm having a great time!
- Moving on to the other tropes, I think that the marriage in crisis was well done. I guess the author wanted to include that specific aspect (I won't say what). Many people are saying that its inclusion makes the marriage NOT in crisis anymore and I get it. I, however, think that it's inclusion was what the author had in mind for her book and that's where I leave it. It was well done anyways so I have no complaints.
- Great angst honestly but I low-key wanted Dominic to cry more.
- As a second chance romance, confessions are necessary in my opinion. Ana gives us some really heartwrenching and wholesome ones.
- Lastly, the ending fell a bit flat for me I'm not sure why. Maybe I wanted something grandiose but epilogue got that resolved. Overall, I loved it.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️:
There would have been a disconnect in my opinion if this book got 1 extra page smuttier that what it is. We get a bit of "exes with benefits" type of moments and I liked it. The turmoil was well-written in my opinion, like you could clearly understand why Alessandra resorted to that. Anyways, it was sexy. We get a shower scene and if I live for any smutty scene, it's a shower one.
I feel like I said too much so that's it for this review!
P.S. Disregard all and any negative reviews. I know, I'm a biased reader 🤭 but like seriously just read it for yourself 💛
King of Greed by Ana Huang (352 pages)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
As a book that we all (romance readers) have seen on our timeline, I can finally say that it was worth the hype. I'll get right to the part a lot of us were anxious about, the groveling. My take is that if we were to have more groveling, the book would have to have more pages. Therefore, the groveling was great. Instead of the typical, "we stay away from each other" type of groveling, Ana went another route. She did a mix of things, and I personally loved it. I was just so invested in their story. At any second I had some sort of free time, I was reading this book. Ana Huang's writing style is absolutely perfect in my eyes and I'm having a great time!
- Moving on to the other tropes, I think that the marriage in crisis was well done. I guess the author wanted to include that specific aspect (I won't say what). Many people are saying that its inclusion makes the marriage NOT in crisis anymore and I get it. I, however, think that it's inclusion was what the author had in mind for her book and that's where I leave it. It was well done anyways so I have no complaints.
- Great angst honestly but I low-key wanted Dominic to cry more.
- As a second chance romance, confessions are necessary in my opinion. Ana gives us some really heartwrenching and wholesome ones.
- Lastly, the ending fell a bit flat for me I'm not sure why. Maybe I wanted something grandiose but epilogue got that resolved. Overall, I loved it.
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️:
There would have been a disconnect in my opinion if this book got 1 extra page smuttier that what it is. We get a bit of "exes with benefits" type of moments and I liked it. The turmoil was well-written in my opinion, like you could clearly understand why Alessandra resorted to that. Anyways, it was sexy. We get a shower scene and if I live for any smutty scene, it's a shower one.
I feel like I said too much so that's it for this review!
P.S. Disregard all and any negative reviews. I know, I'm a biased reader 🤭 but like seriously just read it for yourself 💛
A Man's World by Grace Newman
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
10/10 Pacing
We had a well written set up. The book remains interesting throughout the entire book.
8/10 Story Arc
There is a lot of behind the scenes F1 and on page racing content in this book. As a newbie to F1 (not a car enthusiast), I really was not really interested, so I scrolled passed most of these moments. It's well-written I'm sure, I personally was just not into it. All I wanted was Luca and Georgia.
8/10 Characters
We meet a few characters that I just could not get myself to be interested in, especially at the beginning. But at some point their presence is toned down a bit, and we get more of the MCs and that's all I wanted.
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
The tropes came in neatly throughout the entire book. Nothing was out of place regarding the tropes. The slowburn was well done!
✨ Book Review ✨
🏁A Man's World by Grace Newman (469 pages)🏁
This was supposed to be an ARC but something happened and I'm now reviewing it 2 weeks after release 🥲
Regardless, I'm still following my ARC review "rubric" because why not 😉
⭐⭐⭐⭐:
I now know that F1 romances might not be for me (I scrolled past most of not all of them). I just could not get myself to be interested in car or racing talk. This is the sole reason why it took me this long to finish this book (6 days). Everything else is well-written, so I definitely recommend this book. We just had a lot of fillers/extra characters/F1 conversations that were not for me. Besides that, this was a great read!
🌶️🌶️🌶️:
It gets hot for sure. TV-MA is the rating I would give it if we're referring to American TV show standards. I like how the author included these scenes. They weren't repetitive, they weren't plot placeholders and they weren't dull. There was praise so I was happy that!
Grace is a talented indie author so please show your support 💙
Tropes Include:
🏎️ F1 Romance
🏁 Fake Dating
🏎️ Opposites Attract
🏁 Hate to Love
🏎️ Forced Proximity
🏁 Brother's Teammate
We had a well written set up. The book remains interesting throughout the entire book.
8/10 Story Arc
There is a lot of behind the scenes F1 and on page racing content in this book. As a newbie to F1 (not a car enthusiast), I really was not really interested, so I scrolled passed most of these moments. It's well-written I'm sure, I personally was just not into it. All I wanted was Luca and Georgia.
8/10 Characters
We meet a few characters that I just could not get myself to be interested in, especially at the beginning. But at some point their presence is toned down a bit, and we get more of the MCs and that's all I wanted.
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
The tropes came in neatly throughout the entire book. Nothing was out of place regarding the tropes. The slowburn was well done!
✨ Book Review ✨
🏁A Man's World by Grace Newman (469 pages)🏁
This was supposed to be an ARC but something happened and I'm now reviewing it 2 weeks after release 🥲
Regardless, I'm still following my ARC review "rubric" because why not 😉
⭐⭐⭐⭐:
I now know that F1 romances might not be for me (I scrolled past most of not all of them). I just could not get myself to be interested in car or racing talk. This is the sole reason why it took me this long to finish this book (6 days). Everything else is well-written, so I definitely recommend this book. We just had a lot of fillers/extra characters/F1 conversations that were not for me. Besides that, this was a great read!
🌶️🌶️🌶️:
It gets hot for sure. TV-MA is the rating I would give it if we're referring to American TV show standards. I like how the author included these scenes. They weren't repetitive, they weren't plot placeholders and they weren't dull. There was praise so I was happy that!
Grace is a talented indie author so please show your support 💙
Tropes Include:
🏎️ F1 Romance
🏁 Fake Dating
🏎️ Opposites Attract
🏁 Hate to Love
🏎️ Forced Proximity
🏁 Brother's Teammate
Savage Bosses by M'Renee Allen
fast-paced
5.0
Desire Me by Tiya Rayne
10/10 Pacing
This is something close to a prequel I am guessing. Not a slowburn but it did not drag either. I was invested and things did not take long to develop and get interesting.
10/10 Story Arc
Great plot twist! I knew something was brewing but I never thought it would get that serious. I loved it! I need book 1 of this series and it'll be released next year.
10/10 Characters
If you are not familiar with the alphahole type of male leads and this is your first go at it...well it's about to get real. Nico, the MMC, might as well be a mafia man. Tiffany is so relatable. She's so kindhearted and you quickly find yourself rooting for her. The characters overall are all written in a way that makes you feel like they're real.
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
Wonderful inclusion of all the tropes mentioned in teasers and reveals.
✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
I had a good time reading this book. Nico is very much unhinged. The stuff that man does in order to have what and who he wants is just insane. This could have been a dark romance in my opinion. Book 1 of this series is coming up in 2024. This is a prequel but a necessary prequel. You cannot skip it because there are some keys events that happen and it includes a cliffhanger. So Desire Me cannot be skipped 🖤
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️:
The dirty talk is why this gets a 4 from me. I hope that book 1 has more talk and action to make it a 5😋
Obey Me by Reana Malori
10/10 Pacing
Things move really fast in this one. The MMC over-the-top possessive so it doesn't take long for the plot to develop.
10/10 Story Arc
Great story. It was relatively short but great regardless. Nothing really fell flat.
10/10 Characters
Nyla is literally so relatable. Her inner monologues are so down-to-Earth. King, the MMC, is so possessive and just a jerk to her. His reasoning somewhat made sense so I won't complain much... Assuming that is exactly what the author wanted for King's character to be, no holding back, it was well done!
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
The author included all the tropes that were mentioned in teasers and posts.
✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
King is so arrogant. Again, alphahole galore in this book and he's so unapologetic about it! Sometimes I was like Nyla, babe, stand up but that's how the author wrote her character. If that's not for you, totally understandable but I, I was having a blast 🤭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️:
They were hot. I kinda wanted more chemistry but it was great regardless.
The Savage Bosses books has 15+ books. They're mostly office romance and some other tropes. These 2 are office romances and a few more tropes. I really enjoyed both of these books. More importantly, glad to have received the ARCs and now I have more authors to keep up with. Trust me, give these a go, you won't regret it! Release date is October 17th!
Tropes included in both books:
💼 Friends to lovers
💼 Hate to love
💼 Billionaire romance
💼 Mafia romance.
💼 Office romance
10/10 Pacing
This is something close to a prequel I am guessing. Not a slowburn but it did not drag either. I was invested and things did not take long to develop and get interesting.
10/10 Story Arc
Great plot twist! I knew something was brewing but I never thought it would get that serious. I loved it! I need book 1 of this series and it'll be released next year.
10/10 Characters
If you are not familiar with the alphahole type of male leads and this is your first go at it...well it's about to get real. Nico, the MMC, might as well be a mafia man. Tiffany is so relatable. She's so kindhearted and you quickly find yourself rooting for her. The characters overall are all written in a way that makes you feel like they're real.
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
Wonderful inclusion of all the tropes mentioned in teasers and reveals.
✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
I had a good time reading this book. Nico is very much unhinged. The stuff that man does in order to have what and who he wants is just insane. This could have been a dark romance in my opinion. Book 1 of this series is coming up in 2024. This is a prequel but a necessary prequel. You cannot skip it because there are some keys events that happen and it includes a cliffhanger. So Desire Me cannot be skipped 🖤
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️:
The dirty talk is why this gets a 4 from me. I hope that book 1 has more talk and action to make it a 5😋
Obey Me by Reana Malori
10/10 Pacing
Things move really fast in this one. The MMC over-the-top possessive so it doesn't take long for the plot to develop.
10/10 Story Arc
Great story. It was relatively short but great regardless. Nothing really fell flat.
10/10 Characters
Nyla is literally so relatable. Her inner monologues are so down-to-Earth. King, the MMC, is so possessive and just a jerk to her. His reasoning somewhat made sense so I won't complain much... Assuming that is exactly what the author wanted for King's character to be, no holding back, it was well done!
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
The author included all the tropes that were mentioned in teasers and posts.
✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
King is so arrogant. Again, alphahole galore in this book and he's so unapologetic about it! Sometimes I was like Nyla, babe, stand up but that's how the author wrote her character. If that's not for you, totally understandable but I, I was having a blast 🤭
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️:
They were hot. I kinda wanted more chemistry but it was great regardless.
The Savage Bosses books has 15+ books. They're mostly office romance and some other tropes. These 2 are office romances and a few more tropes. I really enjoyed both of these books. More importantly, glad to have received the ARCs and now I have more authors to keep up with. Trust me, give these a go, you won't regret it! Release date is October 17th!
Tropes included in both books:
💼 Friends to lovers
💼 Hate to love
💼 Billionaire romance
💼 Mafia romance.
💼 Office romance
Torn by Keelan Storm
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
10/10 Pacing
A slowburn that is so worth the wait! It was perfect in my opinion because things were never stagnant. Nothing was rushed but it did not drag either. Everything happened when they should have and the plot itself felt complete.
10/10 Story Arc
We do not read about just 1 connection as in just the main lead characters. Our side characters are also fully written out, with a full story. And there are so many twists and challenges that nothing falls flat.
10/10 Characters
The author gave the side characters enough of a full story. And none of it took away from the main characters' story at all. The character traits for everyone is so distinct. We have some real flawed characters and I loved it.
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
As I was reading, I kept on thinking "this is exactly what I signed up for". Please be aware that this is not just a typical highschool romance with the tropes included below 💙
✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
I can't remember how far along I was into this book where I actually could not put it down. It caught me off guard at that point and I just kept on turning the page. As I've mentioned before in some other reviews, I love a book with strong characters. Their presence is valued by the author and that is shown within the pages and it's consistent. This is exactly what the author does with Torn, book 1 of the Breaker Ridge series. The characters mold the book in my opinion and then the plot moves. Please note that there is a prequel to this book. It is highly recommended that you finish that before reading book 1. On the note of plot, I loved the challenges. Whenever characters overcome something or moves on to the other side of something that was anxiety causing, I can't help but cheer them on and there's a lot of that in this book. Be ready to get frustrated, get ready to swoon and overall feel all the feels because this book is so immersive!
🌶️🌶️🌶️:
There are details but it was not recurring. Although there is sexual content, it was not heavily focused on. My guess is because the story was still being crafted, the characters have more to share first and other challenges were prioritized. I liked the wait, it felt worthwhile to me. There is chemistry and tension between the couples and I expect more of that in the upcoming books.
Overall, I recommend this book!
‼️TW‼️
Physical and emotional abuse, attempted SA, clear signs of a toxic relationship, grief over the loss of a parent, PTSD, adult and sexual content, alcohol use.
Tropes include:
💙 New Adult/High School Romance (Series goes through college years)
🖤 Angst
💙 Bad Boy/Reformed Playboy
🖤 Best Friends to Lovers
💙 Sports Romance
🖤 Love-triangle
💙 Ride or Die Friendships
🖤 Soulmates
A slowburn that is so worth the wait! It was perfect in my opinion because things were never stagnant. Nothing was rushed but it did not drag either. Everything happened when they should have and the plot itself felt complete.
10/10 Story Arc
We do not read about just 1 connection as in just the main lead characters. Our side characters are also fully written out, with a full story. And there are so many twists and challenges that nothing falls flat.
10/10 Characters
The author gave the side characters enough of a full story. And none of it took away from the main characters' story at all. The character traits for everyone is so distinct. We have some real flawed characters and I loved it.
10/10 Inclusion of the teased tropes
As I was reading, I kept on thinking "this is exactly what I signed up for". Please be aware that this is not just a typical highschool romance with the tropes included below 💙
✨ ARC Review ✨
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐:
I can't remember how far along I was into this book where I actually could not put it down. It caught me off guard at that point and I just kept on turning the page. As I've mentioned before in some other reviews, I love a book with strong characters. Their presence is valued by the author and that is shown within the pages and it's consistent. This is exactly what the author does with Torn, book 1 of the Breaker Ridge series. The characters mold the book in my opinion and then the plot moves. Please note that there is a prequel to this book. It is highly recommended that you finish that before reading book 1. On the note of plot, I loved the challenges. Whenever characters overcome something or moves on to the other side of something that was anxiety causing, I can't help but cheer them on and there's a lot of that in this book. Be ready to get frustrated, get ready to swoon and overall feel all the feels because this book is so immersive!
🌶️🌶️🌶️:
There are details but it was not recurring. Although there is sexual content, it was not heavily focused on. My guess is because the story was still being crafted, the characters have more to share first and other challenges were prioritized. I liked the wait, it felt worthwhile to me. There is chemistry and tension between the couples and I expect more of that in the upcoming books.
Overall, I recommend this book!
‼️TW‼️
Physical and emotional abuse, attempted SA, clear signs of a toxic relationship, grief over the loss of a parent, PTSD, adult and sexual content, alcohol use.
Tropes include:
💙 New Adult/High School Romance (Series goes through college years)
🖤 Angst
💙 Bad Boy/Reformed Playboy
🖤 Best Friends to Lovers
💙 Sports Romance
🖤 Love-triangle
💙 Ride or Die Friendships
🖤 Soulmates
Cruel King by Rina Kent
5.0
I think that so many authors promise angst and they don't always deliver but oh my not Rina Kent... This is all the angst I've been needing and more, so thank you for that!!!! I'm definitely reading all of her books. And you should too!