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bookitallaway's reviews
416 reviews
Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
5.0
So fair warning, this is intense. This book is VERY dark and it is very important that you read the trigger warnings associated with this book. That being said, wow, what a roller coaster ride.
This is the type of book you read when you want to suspend reality and truly explore darker fantasies. We meet our main female character who lives alone in a big house left to her by a deceased family member. She's this smart book author, beautiful and kind of a spit fire. We meet our main male character, dark, broody and handsome, pretty early on and he stalks our MFC....like it's his job and his life depends on it. All the red flags are flying as she interacts with our man Zade, but as any good MFC does, she ignores them all. She's hot and cold for him and he's only hot for her. They have MANY moments of dubious consent, sub/dom action, explicit intimate scenes. However, the chemistry between the two characters is out of this world and I have to give it to the author because there are some books I've read that the chemistry just feels forced. That is NOT the case with these characters. I'm surprised the book didn't burst into flames at some point from the spark between the characters or my own body temperature reading this book. Our characters try to find their rhythm through trial and error, threats, chase(yes there are chase scenes and they are *chefs kiss*), and random body parts delivered at doors (seriously, told you to buckle up!). This does leave on a cliffhanger just FYI. This book is just sinfully delicious.
If you enjoy darker fantasies this is the book for you. This is NOT a feel good romance book, this is gritty, harsh and beautiful all at the same time. And I must say once again, seriously.....read the trigger warnings.
This is the type of book you read when you want to suspend reality and truly explore darker fantasies. We meet our main female character who lives alone in a big house left to her by a deceased family member. She's this smart book author, beautiful and kind of a spit fire. We meet our main male character, dark, broody and handsome, pretty early on and he stalks our MFC....like it's his job and his life depends on it. All the red flags are flying as she interacts with our man Zade, but as any good MFC does, she ignores them all. She's hot and cold for him and he's only hot for her. They have MANY moments of dubious consent, sub/dom action, explicit intimate scenes. However, the chemistry between the two characters is out of this world and I have to give it to the author because there are some books I've read that the chemistry just feels forced. That is NOT the case with these characters. I'm surprised the book didn't burst into flames at some point from the spark between the characters or my own body temperature reading this book. Our characters try to find their rhythm through trial and error, threats, chase(yes there are chase scenes and they are *chefs kiss*), and random body parts delivered at doors (seriously, told you to buckle up!). This does leave on a cliffhanger just FYI. This book is just sinfully delicious.
If you enjoy darker fantasies this is the book for you. This is NOT a feel good romance book, this is gritty, harsh and beautiful all at the same time. And I must say once again, seriously.....read the trigger warnings.
Den of Vipers by K.A. Knight
4.0
Who doesn't love a reverse harem? Spice is excellent and explicit. It is one of my favorite books, not necessarily for the writing because there was a lot of repetitive monologue from all the characters, but for the different types of personalities she created for the MMC. Very much a 'you look at her, you die' kind of trope happening with this book. I would say it was mostly 70% sex, 30% plot which is why I gave it a 4 star. Don't get me wrong, I loved the characters and the storyline, when it was there, but the Mafia reverse harem thing is hard to really expect much more out of. You know you're not going in to this for Lord of the Rings heavy writing quality. This book is a great dark romance with intense explicit scenes and good chemistry between the characters. I'm not usually a fan of the Mafia trope but this one I was able to enjoy. I felt like it wasn't rushed but that it could have still been about 100 pages shorter if there was less repetitive monologues. It's a fun ride and if you like the Mafia tropes you'll enjoy this book.
Does It Hurt? by H.D. Carlton
5.0
It was a dark and stormy night as the angry waves crashed upon the lighthouse.........and I inhaled this book. That's definitely not how the book starts but that's the whole vibe I got while reading the book....moody, gloomy, grey, intense, violent, sexy.
*** Read the trigger warnings for the book***
Gosh, how I do love H.D. Carlton and all her works. They are deliciously dark and spicy and this book does not fall short. We meet our MFC as she's running from something or someone and meets our MMC, a super hot oceanographer who takes her on his boat and f**ks her, as he leans her over the side of his boat, into the water where there are sharks because he freshly chummed it......gives breath play a whole new meaning. But one of the hottest scenes in the book in my opinion. After that a storm comes up, they wreck by a lighthouse which is run by some creepy old lighthouse keeper. He gives off super creepy vibes from the get go, but offers them lodging until the next passing supply ship passes through. They end up hearing ghosts and explore more of the small island and discover long forgotten secrets which ultimately put their lives in danger.
It's not quite an enemies to lover trope, but it's more like mutual dislike to lovers trope. One bed, close proximity, fight or flight, familial trauma, etc. Again, as with all of H.D. Carlton's books, READ the trigger warnings because she will trigger all of them and all at the same time. So be prepared, buckle up, and settle in for a deliciously steamy and spicy thriller.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Character Dev: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
*** Read the trigger warnings for the book***
Gosh, how I do love H.D. Carlton and all her works. They are deliciously dark and spicy and this book does not fall short. We meet our MFC as she's running from something or someone and meets our MMC, a super hot oceanographer who takes her on his boat and f**ks her, as he leans her over the side of his boat, into the water where there are sharks because he freshly chummed it......gives breath play a whole new meaning. But one of the hottest scenes in the book in my opinion. After that a storm comes up, they wreck by a lighthouse which is run by some creepy old lighthouse keeper. He gives off super creepy vibes from the get go, but offers them lodging until the next passing supply ship passes through. They end up hearing ghosts and explore more of the small island and discover long forgotten secrets which ultimately put their lives in danger.
It's not quite an enemies to lover trope, but it's more like mutual dislike to lovers trope. One bed, close proximity, fight or flight, familial trauma, etc. Again, as with all of H.D. Carlton's books, READ the trigger warnings because she will trigger all of them and all at the same time. So be prepared, buckle up, and settle in for a deliciously steamy and spicy thriller.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Character Dev: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Shallow River by H.D. Carlton
4.0
As always H.D. Carlton does not disappoint and as always READ the trigger warnings for this book and really just do it for all her books.
Overall I was very happy with this book, but the storyline just didn't do it for me as much as the others. The spice was great when it was there and the plot was well done. I found myself more frustrated throughout the whole book rather than wanting to see where it ended. It deals a lot with domestic violence and how women stay instead of leave, or when they do leave, they return after promises to change, etc. It definitely does a lot of mind games and there is a torture scene that was rough to read. I felt that the MFC dilemma dragged on longer than necessary and as such could have added to the flow of the book better. However, the side characters were really well done I thought, and they wove seamlessly with the MFC and MMC. Sometimes I find side characters are just there for fluff, but in this case I thought they added a lot more weight to the story as well as to the main characters. We follow our MFC as she goes through events that will make her choose to stay or leave and the subsequent consequences of living with whatever she chooses.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 4/5 (only because of my above mentioned frustration throughout most of the book)
Character Dev: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5
Overall I was very happy with this book, but the storyline just didn't do it for me as much as the others. The spice was great when it was there and the plot was well done. I found myself more frustrated throughout the whole book rather than wanting to see where it ended. It deals a lot with domestic violence and how women stay instead of leave, or when they do leave, they return after promises to change, etc. It definitely does a lot of mind games and there is a torture scene that was rough to read. I felt that the MFC dilemma dragged on longer than necessary and as such could have added to the flow of the book better. However, the side characters were really well done I thought, and they wove seamlessly with the MFC and MMC. Sometimes I find side characters are just there for fluff, but in this case I thought they added a lot more weight to the story as well as to the main characters. We follow our MFC as she goes through events that will make her choose to stay or leave and the subsequent consequences of living with whatever she chooses.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 4/5 (only because of my above mentioned frustration throughout most of the book)
Character Dev: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5
The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert
4.0
I love Katee Robert's books. They are fun, sometimes silly, and always full of incredible spice. Most of these books are fast reads and they make for excellent palate cleansers. I don't necessarily like the fast paced books with the 'hate each other but then a week later love each other' trope. This book is like that in the pace but that's the only reason I didn't give 5 stars. I thought the world building for such a quick book was really well done, we even get to meet other characters that make me want to read more books that are set in or around this realm/world/situation. The spice is next level in this book and often times had me taking a moment to put the fan on or the AC down a bit to cool off! I laughed often and loved the banter between the main characters. If you go in knowing this book is fast paced, more smut than plot driven, and just want something different, you will love this book. This was my first book by Katee Robert and I have been hooked since.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
3.0
Aliens. Human Abductions. Crash landing. Strange planet. More aliens but this time they are blue. Clueless blue alien finds confused human. Spice. He rescues her. Tons of spice. She convinces him to go back for other survivors. More spice. HEA. The end( with more spice following the next 9 books)
This is a very quick smut read and excellent palate cleanser. If you're looking for mindless smut with a smidgen of interesting plot, this is for you. It's wild and bizarre at times but I actually enjoyed reading this and read all the way up through book 9, although I will only be reviewing this one as the premise pretty much stays the same just a slightly different perspective but same world/crisis/trope/etc. It won't win any awards for quality writing, but if you want super spice, this book won't steer you wrong. You may finish the book wondering what the hell you just read, but you'll be relaxed, amused a bit flushed too at the end of it all.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Character Dev: N/A
Overall: 3/5
This is a very quick smut read and excellent palate cleanser. If you're looking for mindless smut with a smidgen of interesting plot, this is for you. It's wild and bizarre at times but I actually enjoyed reading this and read all the way up through book 9, although I will only be reviewing this one as the premise pretty much stays the same just a slightly different perspective but same world/crisis/trope/etc. It won't win any awards for quality writing, but if you want super spice, this book won't steer you wrong. You may finish the book wondering what the hell you just read, but you'll be relaxed, amused a bit flushed too at the end of it all.
Spice: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Character Dev: N/A
Overall: 3/5
Blood of the Night Flower by Stacy Stover, Stacy Stover
3.0
What I loved:
-vampires
-Sylvia---super sweet MFC
-the magical plant
What I didn't love:
-too fast paced
-not enough time spent developing the characters and storyline
-little to no spice
What I want more of:
-the hollows and how they don't all come into being the same way
-more world building
-Altyr (MMC) needs to get his life together, will he be passive or aggressive...pick a lane
-just more of everything
I know there is a second book planned for release end of August of 2023 so maybe that will give me what I find lacking from this book. I wanted to love this book in its entirety but I found myself disappointed that the spice was lackluster at best and the characters have SO MUCH potential to be all the things, and they just were so disappointingly flat. I will definitely read the second book in hopes that it redeems this one. Vampires are one of my favorite themes to read because of the diversity of their portrayal in the books I've come across. I am still holding out hope that book 2 will make it happen. This book is good if you don't mind a softer vampire/romance open ended book for now.
Spice:2/5
Plot: 3/5
Character Dev: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
-vampires
-Sylvia---super sweet MFC
-the magical plant
What I didn't love:
-too fast paced
-not enough time spent developing the characters and storyline
-little to no spice
What I want more of:
-the hollows and how they don't all come into being the same way
-more world building
-Altyr (MMC) needs to get his life together, will he be passive or aggressive...pick a lane
-just more of everything
I know there is a second book planned for release end of August of 2023 so maybe that will give me what I find lacking from this book. I wanted to love this book in its entirety but I found myself disappointed that the spice was lackluster at best and the characters have SO MUCH potential to be all the things, and they just were so disappointingly flat. I will definitely read the second book in hopes that it redeems this one. Vampires are one of my favorite themes to read because of the diversity of their portrayal in the books I've come across. I am still holding out hope that book 2 will make it happen. This book is good if you don't mind a softer vampire/romance open ended book for now.
Spice:2/5
Plot: 3/5
Character Dev: 3/5
Overall: 3/5