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496 reviews
Killer Reign by Harlow King, Eva Chance
Dess's family is not the perfect picture of a crime fighting group but a bunch of individuals who believe kidnapping, torturing and killing the children of low level criminals is the way to stop the influx of crime in the world. They actually believe that the children are sacrifices they have to make for the greater good and that Dess should join them or be excommunicated from the family by way of death. Clearly they underestimated her. When Dess kills her family in cold blood she finds out that it had all gone according to someone else's plan. Someone has been using her as their tool for her entire life and she is just now realizing that she played right into their hands. They wanted revenge on her family so they kidnapped her, trained her to be a killing machine, and let her loose to take back the pound of flesh her family had cost them. Even if they manipulated her for revenge, Dess may have been able to move past it if the dirty dealings of this person didn't come to light which made them on the same plain as her evil family. Now Dess has a new enemy to bring down and this one is going to be the most complicated of all.
This book was definitely a means of wrapping up all the loose ends of Dess's life and the mysteries that surrounded it. The men were still there, fighting by her side but they seemed to really take a backseat to everything else. There were no more realizations of feelings other than Dess finally catching up with the rest of the class so it was just an flat experience where the romance was concerned. Of course they found time to be together sexually even while chronically on the run but other than that... it was mainly about Dess finally reclaiming her life for herself. Don't get me wrong, it was a good ending, but I wish that the romance would not have plateaued in book three.
I found Dess's brother to be the most annoying brat I have ever had the misfortune of reading about. Granted, I know he was going through a lot losing his entire family and being kidnapped by his sister who murdered them, but... he had to know what they were doing was wrong on some level so why did he fight so long to remain in denial? It's a good thing Dess has a heart because I was kind of waiting for her to just cut her losses and off him as well.
I think that with the drawbacks of the romance becoming a bit stagnant and the brother being annoying as hell, it was still a middle-of-the-road book that I am glad I read. The series overall was a good one and I would recommend it to anyone who likes romantic suspense with a bit more heat but that doesn't skimp on the actual storyline to do so.
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3.0
Dess's family is not the perfect picture of a crime fighting group but a bunch of individuals who believe kidnapping, torturing and killing the children of low level criminals is the way to stop the influx of crime in the world. They actually believe that the children are sacrifices they have to make for the greater good and that Dess should join them or be excommunicated from the family by way of death. Clearly they underestimated her. When Dess kills her family in cold blood she finds out that it had all gone according to someone else's plan. Someone has been using her as their tool for her entire life and she is just now realizing that she played right into their hands. They wanted revenge on her family so they kidnapped her, trained her to be a killing machine, and let her loose to take back the pound of flesh her family had cost them. Even if they manipulated her for revenge, Dess may have been able to move past it if the dirty dealings of this person didn't come to light which made them on the same plain as her evil family. Now Dess has a new enemy to bring down and this one is going to be the most complicated of all.
This book was definitely a means of wrapping up all the loose ends of Dess's life and the mysteries that surrounded it. The men were still there, fighting by her side but they seemed to really take a backseat to everything else. There were no more realizations of feelings other than Dess finally catching up with the rest of the class so it was just an flat experience where the romance was concerned. Of course they found time to be together sexually even while chronically on the run but other than that... it was mainly about Dess finally reclaiming her life for herself. Don't get me wrong, it was a good ending, but I wish that the romance would not have plateaued in book three.
I found Dess's brother to be the most annoying brat I have ever had the misfortune of reading about. Granted, I know he was going through a lot losing his entire family and being kidnapped by his sister who murdered them, but... he had to know what they were doing was wrong on some level so why did he fight so long to remain in denial? It's a good thing Dess has a heart because I was kind of waiting for her to just cut her losses and off him as well.
I think that with the drawbacks of the romance becoming a bit stagnant and the brother being annoying as hell, it was still a middle-of-the-road book that I am glad I read. The series overall was a good one and I would recommend it to anyone who likes romantic suspense with a bit more heat but that doesn't skimp on the actual storyline to do so.
Echoes of Silence by Indie Black
Wren is sold by her parents in a human trafficking auction house and purchased by four men who feel as if they have mafia connections. They seem to want to rescue her as much as they want to keep her for themselves. Wren has been savaged and mistreated since she was sixteen years of age so she is extremely untrusting of any other person.
I didn’t get very far into the book before I realized that this was a MMMFM dynamic book which means the female protagonist is entering into an already established dynamic with the men. While that sort of situation is usually commonplace in reverse harems, it is not my cup of tea. I prefer dynamics where the men are all straight and hopelessly devoted to the female and only the female. Don’t get me wrong, if I am reading a romance that is strictly M/M I am all for it. I guess with bisexual characters it feels a bit more… “cheaty” since there are other relationships within the core relationship between the female and her male partners. Reverse Harem > Polyamorous essentially. With a TBR in 2024 of over 200 books I need to be picky with my reading selections and while this book could be stellar to someone who may not have my same preferences, it wasn’t for me. I might revisit it down the line if my viewpoints change a bit more.
Wren is sold by her parents in a human trafficking auction house and purchased by four men who feel as if they have mafia connections. They seem to want to rescue her as much as they want to keep her for themselves. Wren has been savaged and mistreated since she was sixteen years of age so she is extremely untrusting of any other person.
I didn’t get very far into the book before I realized that this was a MMMFM dynamic book which means the female protagonist is entering into an already established dynamic with the men. While that sort of situation is usually commonplace in reverse harems, it is not my cup of tea. I prefer dynamics where the men are all straight and hopelessly devoted to the female and only the female. Don’t get me wrong, if I am reading a romance that is strictly M/M I am all for it. I guess with bisexual characters it feels a bit more… “cheaty” since there are other relationships within the core relationship between the female and her male partners. Reverse Harem > Polyamorous essentially. With a TBR in 2024 of over 200 books I need to be picky with my reading selections and while this book could be stellar to someone who may not have my same preferences, it wasn’t for me. I might revisit it down the line if my viewpoints change a bit more.
Surge by Maya Nicole
Riley already felt shame over what her father had done, but it seemed that she was going to suffer the sins of the father as far as three incredibly handsome classmates were concerned. Her father, who caused a great oil spill to occur in the ocean then promptly disappeared has left Riley to hold the bag on what he had done. And the boys who are after her for information on a man she never knew her entire life are in for disappointment. But along the way, as she tries to thwart their attempts to garner information she doesn't have by any means necessary, she starts to realize her attraction for each of them. From the brooding Jax, to the bad boy Morgan, all the way to the golden boy Blake, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to them. But could there be something more at hand here? Is there more to these strange boys and perhaps even herself?
I am no stranger to bully romances and this one was pretty mild by the genre's standards, however, I did feel bad for Riley. The abuse she was getting from circumstances were a lot worse than what the boys were doing to her to be fair. She just kept getting pelted with it. And at only seventeen she really should have never had to even consider trying to be self-reliant. But she did. Her parents were nowhere to be found and she was left to handle things on her own. She seemed to handle it well albeit with a few tears along the way.
I feel like there were a lot of points in the story where you would hold your breath because you could see something was going to happen and then it just... didn't. And I am not just talking about sex, although, yes, there was zero sex in the book, but also with drama. There was one instance that involved Riley's best friend, Aiden, that was just confusing. A blackmail attempt that seemed to go absolutely nowhere. What was even the point? Him being absent in Riley's life for that brief time didn't cause any major twists so it just felt like unnecessary filler. There were a few other instances of it that left the story a little shaky to the point of being hard to fully dive into.
I don't find a single one of the guys appealing. Even when there were occasions when they switched to the boys' perspective I still didn't understand them or their motives. It just felt rushed and the boys were not given the chance to be redeemable in my eye as far as bullies go. That is extremely important in these sorts of books. The reader needs to see hints of a heart below all the bullshit so they can commiserate with the antagonistic male leads and swoon over them. I never got that from any of them. Which really crippled my appreciation for the story overall.
This book felt like it straddled the line between YA and NA and didn't know which way to go. It would have been a perfect sell as a YA if some of the graphic language and sexual situations were downplayed more. The sex never happened so it could have been glossed over easily. I am hoping in the next book in the series I see it lean more one way or the other so I can figure out how to prepare myself while I read.
I feel that this book was shaky but I will give the series and the characters a second chance in the next installment.
2.0
Riley already felt shame over what her father had done, but it seemed that she was going to suffer the sins of the father as far as three incredibly handsome classmates were concerned. Her father, who caused a great oil spill to occur in the ocean then promptly disappeared has left Riley to hold the bag on what he had done. And the boys who are after her for information on a man she never knew her entire life are in for disappointment. But along the way, as she tries to thwart their attempts to garner information she doesn't have by any means necessary, she starts to realize her attraction for each of them. From the brooding Jax, to the bad boy Morgan, all the way to the golden boy Blake, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to them. But could there be something more at hand here? Is there more to these strange boys and perhaps even herself?
I am no stranger to bully romances and this one was pretty mild by the genre's standards, however, I did feel bad for Riley. The abuse she was getting from circumstances were a lot worse than what the boys were doing to her to be fair. She just kept getting pelted with it. And at only seventeen she really should have never had to even consider trying to be self-reliant. But she did. Her parents were nowhere to be found and she was left to handle things on her own. She seemed to handle it well albeit with a few tears along the way.
I feel like there were a lot of points in the story where you would hold your breath because you could see something was going to happen and then it just... didn't. And I am not just talking about sex, although, yes, there was zero sex in the book, but also with drama. There was one instance that involved Riley's best friend, Aiden, that was just confusing. A blackmail attempt that seemed to go absolutely nowhere. What was even the point? Him being absent in Riley's life for that brief time didn't cause any major twists so it just felt like unnecessary filler. There were a few other instances of it that left the story a little shaky to the point of being hard to fully dive into.
I don't find a single one of the guys appealing. Even when there were occasions when they switched to the boys' perspective I still didn't understand them or their motives. It just felt rushed and the boys were not given the chance to be redeemable in my eye as far as bullies go. That is extremely important in these sorts of books. The reader needs to see hints of a heart below all the bullshit so they can commiserate with the antagonistic male leads and swoon over them. I never got that from any of them. Which really crippled my appreciation for the story overall.
This book felt like it straddled the line between YA and NA and didn't know which way to go. It would have been a perfect sell as a YA if some of the graphic language and sexual situations were downplayed more. The sex never happened so it could have been glossed over easily. I am hoping in the next book in the series I see it lean more one way or the other so I can figure out how to prepare myself while I read.
I feel that this book was shaky but I will give the series and the characters a second chance in the next installment.
Depraved by Eva Charles
Gabrielle thought she was done with JD for good. She left him in the past some fifteen years ago when he broke her heart in a million pieces and shipped her off to boarding school via his rich father's decree. She never truly got over him but she had at least attempted to move on. She was now the owner of one of the newest up and coming hotels, had a fiance, and a best friend who was expecting a baby. She was at peace with her life. That was until he entered her office and turned her world upside down. He brings with him a deal: be with him, be his willing sexual partner, and he will loan the money to her mother for life saving treatment. What is Gabrielle to do? If she keeps the man who has already crushed her once at arm's length then she could lose her mother. But if she let him back into her bed would she be able to keep him out of her heart?
I have a mixed bag of feelings about this book. In some instances it was good. The mystery of why JD pushed Gabrielle away all those years ago still hangs over the couple's heads. Why her best friend seems to have such a hard time with JD and Gabrielle associating again. And even wondering what JD's father is up to with his pharmaceutical company that seems so hush hush even from his son. But it was overshadowed a lot by some of my own beliefs and feelings on their arrangement. The arrangement seemed like coercion which felt very rape-y. That coupled with JD's demand for submission but his unwillingness to understand that there is more to the BDSM lifestyle than just kinky sex. The contracts he turned his nose up at are meant for the safety of both the Dominant and the submissive. The safe word that he almost didn't allow is another safety measure. The man is so pigheaded that he thinks he will be in such control that none of those safety measures are important. This ruined the book for me. I absolutely detest misinformation like this being presented to the general public. They already think those in the BDSM lifestyle are just a bunch of freaks but now they are meant to think that contracts and safe words are useless because the Dominant can "control himself"? Girl, bye.
I pushed through the book to see the level of misinformation that was presented but there were some good moments mixed in. I do like the character of Gabrielle. She seems like a spitfire and I love that in my female protagonists. JD was not likeable to me. He was just a flip-flopping d-bag. One minute he is whispering sweet nothings in Gabrielle's ear and the next he's tormenting her simply for going to her best friends house to visit. I will keep reading the series only because I am curious about the non-romantic aspects of the story but even those seem like an afterthought in the grand scheme of kinky sex between the protagonists.
I can't in good conscience give this book anything but a 1-star review due to the male protagonists dangerous thought process and practices. I am hoping that in the next book he'll have come to his senses a bit so I can rate the next higher. I think there is a good foundation for a story here, but just an offensive main character that sullied it.
1.0
Gabrielle thought she was done with JD for good. She left him in the past some fifteen years ago when he broke her heart in a million pieces and shipped her off to boarding school via his rich father's decree. She never truly got over him but she had at least attempted to move on. She was now the owner of one of the newest up and coming hotels, had a fiance, and a best friend who was expecting a baby. She was at peace with her life. That was until he entered her office and turned her world upside down. He brings with him a deal: be with him, be his willing sexual partner, and he will loan the money to her mother for life saving treatment. What is Gabrielle to do? If she keeps the man who has already crushed her once at arm's length then she could lose her mother. But if she let him back into her bed would she be able to keep him out of her heart?
I have a mixed bag of feelings about this book. In some instances it was good. The mystery of why JD pushed Gabrielle away all those years ago still hangs over the couple's heads. Why her best friend seems to have such a hard time with JD and Gabrielle associating again. And even wondering what JD's father is up to with his pharmaceutical company that seems so hush hush even from his son. But it was overshadowed a lot by some of my own beliefs and feelings on their arrangement. The arrangement seemed like coercion which felt very rape-y. That coupled with JD's demand for submission but his unwillingness to understand that there is more to the BDSM lifestyle than just kinky sex. The contracts he turned his nose up at are meant for the safety of both the Dominant and the submissive. The safe word that he almost didn't allow is another safety measure. The man is so pigheaded that he thinks he will be in such control that none of those safety measures are important. This ruined the book for me. I absolutely detest misinformation like this being presented to the general public. They already think those in the BDSM lifestyle are just a bunch of freaks but now they are meant to think that contracts and safe words are useless because the Dominant can "control himself"? Girl, bye.
I pushed through the book to see the level of misinformation that was presented but there were some good moments mixed in. I do like the character of Gabrielle. She seems like a spitfire and I love that in my female protagonists. JD was not likeable to me. He was just a flip-flopping d-bag. One minute he is whispering sweet nothings in Gabrielle's ear and the next he's tormenting her simply for going to her best friends house to visit. I will keep reading the series only because I am curious about the non-romantic aspects of the story but even those seem like an afterthought in the grand scheme of kinky sex between the protagonists.
I can't in good conscience give this book anything but a 1-star review due to the male protagonists dangerous thought process and practices. I am hoping that in the next book he'll have come to his senses a bit so I can rate the next higher. I think there is a good foundation for a story here, but just an offensive main character that sullied it.
Captured by Lauren Biel
Alexzander has been raised to be a monster. All he knows is what he has been taught by a monster of a father. The only source of light and love in his life was his mother who was also a captive of his father. It was only after that light was snuffed out that Alexzander allowed himself to lean into the teachings of his father and join his brother in their mission of destruction. All he knows is how to use women for his own means and then discard of them when he is finished with them. While he doesn't take as much sadistic pleasure in it as his brother, he also doesn't rage against it. Things start to change once he takes Ophelia, a waitress at his local diner, as his own. Suddenly he feels a possessiveness that he had never felt before. He doesn't want to share her with his brother. He wants her all to himself. And in doing so he has to protect her from finding herself in his brother's clutches. But somewhere along the way he starts to question everything he had been taught and wondering whether what he was feeling for Ophelia would be enough to make the monster within him repent.
This book is one the darkest and most fucked up reads I have ever delved into. It laughs in the face of trigger warnings without being over the top. Most books in this sort of genre try to push the gauntlet and make things as awful as humanly possible so that it feels forced and disingenuous. Lauren seemed to tiptoe across that tightrope with expert skill. The things that happened were truly horrendous and there were a few scenes were I was openly gagging but it was written with such skill that I just couldn't put it down.
Alexzander was the ideal male protagonist that you absolutely hate to like. You question your own sanity just by rooting for the main characters in this book. Alexzander was handed a raw deal. He was raised in a home that was just a den of survival. He adapted to survive even though he knew what was happening was wrong. However, anytime he pushed back he was slapped down and tortured until he was compliant again. He was not so much different from the women his brother and him took captive. Perhaps psychologically speaking that was why he did what he did. It was a way of punishing himself for going along with it all? It is that kind of questioning that makes Alexzander such a conundrum of a character.
Ophelia was fairly generic. There wasn't anything truly special about her other than the fact that she had also been conditioned to withstand hardcore sexual abuse from her home life. I felt bad for her and really didn't know what was worse: what she withstood all her life up until being captured or what came after? I think Alexzander was such a deep well to dive into that Ophelia got a little overshadowed.
This book is not for the faint at heart. You need to go into it with an empty stomach and a preparedness to see some grade-A fucked up shit. But MAN was it a great read. I will never look at mayonnaise the same though.
4.0
Alexzander has been raised to be a monster. All he knows is what he has been taught by a monster of a father. The only source of light and love in his life was his mother who was also a captive of his father. It was only after that light was snuffed out that Alexzander allowed himself to lean into the teachings of his father and join his brother in their mission of destruction. All he knows is how to use women for his own means and then discard of them when he is finished with them. While he doesn't take as much sadistic pleasure in it as his brother, he also doesn't rage against it. Things start to change once he takes Ophelia, a waitress at his local diner, as his own. Suddenly he feels a possessiveness that he had never felt before. He doesn't want to share her with his brother. He wants her all to himself. And in doing so he has to protect her from finding herself in his brother's clutches. But somewhere along the way he starts to question everything he had been taught and wondering whether what he was feeling for Ophelia would be enough to make the monster within him repent.
This book is one the darkest and most fucked up reads I have ever delved into. It laughs in the face of trigger warnings without being over the top. Most books in this sort of genre try to push the gauntlet and make things as awful as humanly possible so that it feels forced and disingenuous. Lauren seemed to tiptoe across that tightrope with expert skill. The things that happened were truly horrendous and there were a few scenes were I was openly gagging but it was written with such skill that I just couldn't put it down.
Alexzander was the ideal male protagonist that you absolutely hate to like. You question your own sanity just by rooting for the main characters in this book. Alexzander was handed a raw deal. He was raised in a home that was just a den of survival. He adapted to survive even though he knew what was happening was wrong. However, anytime he pushed back he was slapped down and tortured until he was compliant again. He was not so much different from the women his brother and him took captive. Perhaps psychologically speaking that was why he did what he did. It was a way of punishing himself for going along with it all? It is that kind of questioning that makes Alexzander such a conundrum of a character.
Ophelia was fairly generic. There wasn't anything truly special about her other than the fact that she had also been conditioned to withstand hardcore sexual abuse from her home life. I felt bad for her and really didn't know what was worse: what she withstood all her life up until being captured or what came after? I think Alexzander was such a deep well to dive into that Ophelia got a little overshadowed.
This book is not for the faint at heart. You need to go into it with an empty stomach and a preparedness to see some grade-A fucked up shit. But MAN was it a great read. I will never look at mayonnaise the same though.
The Predator by RuNyx
Morana needs to get her codes back from the one man who was sworn to be her enemy. The codes getting out could mean ruin for both families. But it seems that the codes Morana's boyfriend had sold to Tristan Caine had not made it to the man in question and were missing. Now two enemies must come together to try to track down the codes before things get bad for them. Along the way Morana starts to do some digging into their family history and the fall of their family's Alliance twenty years prior. What she finds will call into question the man she is meant to hate and what had occurred one fateful night to cause them to be linked completely. Add to that the fact that the both of them can't seem to shake their attractions for each other even as they are determined to be the death of each other in the end.
I loved that Morana was such a tough-as-nails chick who was unwilling to give the man who made other grown men shake an ounce of fear. She would bump chests with him with a huff and a puff and not let him walk all over her for nothing. She was like that with everyone. I loved the attitude. In the mob lifestyle women are meant to be loyal and quiet. Morana once threatened her father with sending all his dirty dealing on to the FBI if he didn't stop trying to control her. That is just the type of girl she is. And I am here for it.
Tristan was a bit hard to get a read on. Even after completing the book I am still a little curious about him. I kind of wish the book had have given a bit more insight into his mind than just Morana's. But I like that I can't really get a feel for him yet. He's still very closed off which leaves a lot of room for growth and for him to start opening up as the series goes along. I am anxious to see what a fully unguarded Tristan will even look like. Better yet, a Tristan that gives a full belly laugh? He doesn't seem the type. I'd love to see it though.
I think the plot was unlike any I have read before which is saying something since I read a lot. The mystery I still can't seem to form a theory on. What is with the missing little girls? How do they connect to the families? Why was Morana returned and Tristan's sister not? Who stole the codes? Who is feeding information to people to move the mystery along? I have no idea! I am anxious to find out though.
I think this book was absolutely stellar. The writing was a dream, the plot was enthralling, the characters were loveable even when they were being a weinie like Tristan is sometimes. I couldn't find a single flaw in anything I read. I was captivated from one page to the next.
5.0
Morana needs to get her codes back from the one man who was sworn to be her enemy. The codes getting out could mean ruin for both families. But it seems that the codes Morana's boyfriend had sold to Tristan Caine had not made it to the man in question and were missing. Now two enemies must come together to try to track down the codes before things get bad for them. Along the way Morana starts to do some digging into their family history and the fall of their family's Alliance twenty years prior. What she finds will call into question the man she is meant to hate and what had occurred one fateful night to cause them to be linked completely. Add to that the fact that the both of them can't seem to shake their attractions for each other even as they are determined to be the death of each other in the end.
I loved that Morana was such a tough-as-nails chick who was unwilling to give the man who made other grown men shake an ounce of fear. She would bump chests with him with a huff and a puff and not let him walk all over her for nothing. She was like that with everyone. I loved the attitude. In the mob lifestyle women are meant to be loyal and quiet. Morana once threatened her father with sending all his dirty dealing on to the FBI if he didn't stop trying to control her. That is just the type of girl she is. And I am here for it.
Tristan was a bit hard to get a read on. Even after completing the book I am still a little curious about him. I kind of wish the book had have given a bit more insight into his mind than just Morana's. But I like that I can't really get a feel for him yet. He's still very closed off which leaves a lot of room for growth and for him to start opening up as the series goes along. I am anxious to see what a fully unguarded Tristan will even look like. Better yet, a Tristan that gives a full belly laugh? He doesn't seem the type. I'd love to see it though.
I think the plot was unlike any I have read before which is saying something since I read a lot. The mystery I still can't seem to form a theory on. What is with the missing little girls? How do they connect to the families? Why was Morana returned and Tristan's sister not? Who stole the codes? Who is feeding information to people to move the mystery along? I have no idea! I am anxious to find out though.
I think this book was absolutely stellar. The writing was a dream, the plot was enthralling, the characters were loveable even when they were being a weinie like Tristan is sometimes. I couldn't find a single flaw in anything I read. I was captivated from one page to the next.
Pack Origin by Kate King, Jessa Wilder
Bliss was happy with the status quo of her little unit. She was, what she assumed, was an Beta female who had not yet hit her growth spurt. Her four best friends were all Alpha males who she would do anything for. She thought they'd be together forever and that nothing could come between them. But when she started the transition into being an Omega everything changed. Suddenly she could smell them and their emotions easily. She was drawn to them on an instinctual level and they all had to fight their baser instincts to claim each other and forge a bond that had been growing even before she had known what she was. But could they protect her from all the other Alphas bent on claiming her or would they give her up to save her?
This was a quick little read that got me absolutely hooked. I have been trying to space out my reading of series so I am not just reading them back-to-back. I felt that would give me a little variety as well as my reviews to be a bit spaced out more. But this one... I immediately downloaded the next book and am in the process of reading it now. I have never read a book with so much heat radiating off the pages and there be absolutely no sex involved. Maybe it's the animalistic nature of it that appealed. The growling, the whimpering, the possessiveness, all really heady stuff in romance. I was hooked.
When I first started reading I felt like it started off a bit rocky. I started rolling my eyes thinking it was going to be corny beyond measure and I'd have to DNF it at 20% as is my goal usually so that I give a book a fair shake. But it got better the more I read. Especially when it switched perspectives to Bliss. I liked her as a character. But let's not forget there is always a favorite in a reverse harem for me. Ares is that. He seemed to be the Alpha among the Alphas and I wouldn't have guessed that from the first chapter of the book when it was in Rafe's perspective. But you definitely get that feel throughout the rest of the book.
I always find it interesting when these type of books have that 'heat'. You know, the one where they got to have sex right then and there or they feel they may die. Where they're practically climbing each other trying to find some relief. It is equal parts hot and awkward. It puts romance passion at a whole different level. This book was 50% that. They were constantly trying to resist each other which only became worse with her transition. But the authors managed to write it in a way where it was more hot than awkward, which I appreciated.
All in all, this is a great prequel that set up the first official book beautifully. If not for the shaky start to the book and the pause to consider whether I'd continue the book, it may have been a five star.
4.0
Bliss was happy with the status quo of her little unit. She was, what she assumed, was an Beta female who had not yet hit her growth spurt. Her four best friends were all Alpha males who she would do anything for. She thought they'd be together forever and that nothing could come between them. But when she started the transition into being an Omega everything changed. Suddenly she could smell them and their emotions easily. She was drawn to them on an instinctual level and they all had to fight their baser instincts to claim each other and forge a bond that had been growing even before she had known what she was. But could they protect her from all the other Alphas bent on claiming her or would they give her up to save her?
This was a quick little read that got me absolutely hooked. I have been trying to space out my reading of series so I am not just reading them back-to-back. I felt that would give me a little variety as well as my reviews to be a bit spaced out more. But this one... I immediately downloaded the next book and am in the process of reading it now. I have never read a book with so much heat radiating off the pages and there be absolutely no sex involved. Maybe it's the animalistic nature of it that appealed. The growling, the whimpering, the possessiveness, all really heady stuff in romance. I was hooked.
When I first started reading I felt like it started off a bit rocky. I started rolling my eyes thinking it was going to be corny beyond measure and I'd have to DNF it at 20% as is my goal usually so that I give a book a fair shake. But it got better the more I read. Especially when it switched perspectives to Bliss. I liked her as a character. But let's not forget there is always a favorite in a reverse harem for me. Ares is that. He seemed to be the Alpha among the Alphas and I wouldn't have guessed that from the first chapter of the book when it was in Rafe's perspective. But you definitely get that feel throughout the rest of the book.
I always find it interesting when these type of books have that 'heat'. You know, the one where they got to have sex right then and there or they feel they may die. Where they're practically climbing each other trying to find some relief. It is equal parts hot and awkward. It puts romance passion at a whole different level. This book was 50% that. They were constantly trying to resist each other which only became worse with her transition. But the authors managed to write it in a way where it was more hot than awkward, which I appreciated.
All in all, this is a great prequel that set up the first official book beautifully. If not for the shaky start to the book and the pause to consider whether I'd continue the book, it may have been a five star.
Meadow by April Skye
The hunt is on for the culprit behind Devon's death. It seems it went deeper than an gang related shooting. Allison and her husband were targeted that night and Huxley just got in the way unlike what they originally thought. Now Allison is having to figure out who might have an axe to grind against her beautiful golden retriever of a husband. She comes up empty but she couldn't shake the man she had helped kill's words: the mission was only partially complete. Will she be able to figure out who could possibly hate her budding family so much that they would hire a gang member to kill them?
Add in that Allison is starting to confront her feelings for the men in her life. All of them. She can't choose just one to fall for, she needs them all. She wants them all. And with the guidance of her dream meetings with her deceased husband she starts to confront the fact that the attraction is there and all of them are feeling the same. But is it too soon? What would their lives look like once she had her baby? Would she be able to keep living with them even after the birth of her daughter? And would she be able to share her heart with anyone but the man who died only months before?
I have no idea what April Skye's writing process is but I highly encourage her to keep it up. I have never dipped into a series and not had the second book in the serious drop a bit in my eyes. Usually there is just something in the writing, the characters, or the mystery that just becomes dull so I have to succumb to the inevitable four-star curse that good books usually fall under (they're not amazing but still great reads). But this author has a gift of keeping that romance thick and heady while also injecting some mystery and intrigue that you may see a bit of which coming but you never fully get the entire picture until you get to the last page of the book. It's truly astounding.
I will say that I loved Allison taking tiny steps with each of the men to let herself heal and feel again for the men surrounding her. But her interactions with David and Matthew are my personal favorites. I love that David is a bit closed off with everyone except Allison. With her he opens himself up and actually lets himself feel things. Matthew is the same. He is too overcome with PTSD and rage to function most days but Allison grounds him. The way they will press their foreheads together and just breathe each other in so he can steady himself, good lord, chef's kiss perfection. That is not to discount Huxley or Lachlan, but I love me some damaged kings.
Even though Allison is a bit of a crier I don't find it as annoying as I have in other books when I had a weepy woman. Maybe it is because I can understand the grieving process that she is going through after losing my grandfather in September 2023. I watch her consumed with her grief and my heart breaks for her. Even when she is weepy just for the sake of being weepy. I just want to flick all the dudes in the forehead and hug her myself. The love she has for her husband is palpable and I have no idea how the author captured the grieving process so adequately and can only hope it's not from personal experience she draws her inspiration from.
I think this series will go down as one of my favorites of all time and I will need to purchase physical copies so I may lend out to friends and family. April Skye you dastardly devil, you've locked me in as a permanent fan of your writing. Keep them coming!
5.0
The hunt is on for the culprit behind Devon's death. It seems it went deeper than an gang related shooting. Allison and her husband were targeted that night and Huxley just got in the way unlike what they originally thought. Now Allison is having to figure out who might have an axe to grind against her beautiful golden retriever of a husband. She comes up empty but she couldn't shake the man she had helped kill's words: the mission was only partially complete. Will she be able to figure out who could possibly hate her budding family so much that they would hire a gang member to kill them?
Add in that Allison is starting to confront her feelings for the men in her life. All of them. She can't choose just one to fall for, she needs them all. She wants them all. And with the guidance of her dream meetings with her deceased husband she starts to confront the fact that the attraction is there and all of them are feeling the same. But is it too soon? What would their lives look like once she had her baby? Would she be able to keep living with them even after the birth of her daughter? And would she be able to share her heart with anyone but the man who died only months before?
I have no idea what April Skye's writing process is but I highly encourage her to keep it up. I have never dipped into a series and not had the second book in the serious drop a bit in my eyes. Usually there is just something in the writing, the characters, or the mystery that just becomes dull so I have to succumb to the inevitable four-star curse that good books usually fall under (they're not amazing but still great reads). But this author has a gift of keeping that romance thick and heady while also injecting some mystery and intrigue that you may see a bit of which coming but you never fully get the entire picture until you get to the last page of the book. It's truly astounding.
I will say that I loved Allison taking tiny steps with each of the men to let herself heal and feel again for the men surrounding her. But her interactions with David and Matthew are my personal favorites. I love that David is a bit closed off with everyone except Allison. With her he opens himself up and actually lets himself feel things. Matthew is the same. He is too overcome with PTSD and rage to function most days but Allison grounds him. The way they will press their foreheads together and just breathe each other in so he can steady himself, good lord, chef's kiss perfection. That is not to discount Huxley or Lachlan, but I love me some damaged kings.
Even though Allison is a bit of a crier I don't find it as annoying as I have in other books when I had a weepy woman. Maybe it is because I can understand the grieving process that she is going through after losing my grandfather in September 2023. I watch her consumed with her grief and my heart breaks for her. Even when she is weepy just for the sake of being weepy. I just want to flick all the dudes in the forehead and hug her myself. The love she has for her husband is palpable and I have no idea how the author captured the grieving process so adequately and can only hope it's not from personal experience she draws her inspiration from.
I think this series will go down as one of my favorites of all time and I will need to purchase physical copies so I may lend out to friends and family. April Skye you dastardly devil, you've locked me in as a permanent fan of your writing. Keep them coming!
Pack Bound by Kate King, Jessa Wilder
Bliss's graduation from The Institute was fast approaching. Soon she would be promised to her forever mate and she would be able to rub it in her childhood friends' faces that she had come out on top even after their betrayal. But it seems that the auctioning off of Omegas was a more corrupt business than anyone had ever thought. So when she is promised to an Alpha that seems to want to break her in half, her true mates have no choice but to step in and steal her right out from under the man. But being back in their company is both confusing and enthralling as Bliss tries to figure out whether her love for the men of today can overshadow the betrayal she feels for the boys they once were. And what happens when her promised mate finds them and tries to steal her back? Will they fight for her this time or abandon her all over again?
At the beginning of the book the authors stated that Bliss was not a strong woman yet but that she was meant to grown into one. I didn't really see a lot of strength from her in this book. She whined and whimpered and huffed indignantly but I didn't see her command the room or show a little backbone until the very last few pages. Granted a lot of the time she was struggling to just not rip the clothes off her pack at any given time so maybe she was too distracted with that to worry about being a badass. I feel like Bliss was all over the place. She kept getting herself into sticky situations that required her to be saved. A little too much damsel in distress for my liking.
I have nothing against M/M romance on its own but in my reverse harems I tend to like all the men being solely focused on the female without any intermingling between them. Just a personal preference. So when I read the prequel and enjoyed it so much I was anxious to read the next until I got to the M/M romance trigger warning. I sighed in resignation but still plowed through it. I had hope that maybe it would be fine. Maybe it wouldn't ruin the overall story for me if it was just an occasion addition to some bedroom activities. But, no, it's an every single time bedroom activity norm. I finished the book out of sheer stubbornness and am waffling on reading the last book in the series. I would like to see where the plot goes but at the same time, the fact the romance has aspects I'm just not that into, it kinda sours the taste a bit for me. I will likely still read the next book because I want to know what happened, but I don't know if my star rating will grow with reading the next installment.
I think this book would be perfect for someone who loves omegaverses and doesn't mind M/M romance being involved within the harem. The plot is there, the connection between the characters is also present (possessive growling is top tier), but the romance itself is lukewarm for me.
3.0
Bliss's graduation from The Institute was fast approaching. Soon she would be promised to her forever mate and she would be able to rub it in her childhood friends' faces that she had come out on top even after their betrayal. But it seems that the auctioning off of Omegas was a more corrupt business than anyone had ever thought. So when she is promised to an Alpha that seems to want to break her in half, her true mates have no choice but to step in and steal her right out from under the man. But being back in their company is both confusing and enthralling as Bliss tries to figure out whether her love for the men of today can overshadow the betrayal she feels for the boys they once were. And what happens when her promised mate finds them and tries to steal her back? Will they fight for her this time or abandon her all over again?
At the beginning of the book the authors stated that Bliss was not a strong woman yet but that she was meant to grown into one. I didn't really see a lot of strength from her in this book. She whined and whimpered and huffed indignantly but I didn't see her command the room or show a little backbone until the very last few pages. Granted a lot of the time she was struggling to just not rip the clothes off her pack at any given time so maybe she was too distracted with that to worry about being a badass. I feel like Bliss was all over the place. She kept getting herself into sticky situations that required her to be saved. A little too much damsel in distress for my liking.
I have nothing against M/M romance on its own but in my reverse harems I tend to like all the men being solely focused on the female without any intermingling between them. Just a personal preference. So when I read the prequel and enjoyed it so much I was anxious to read the next until I got to the M/M romance trigger warning. I sighed in resignation but still plowed through it. I had hope that maybe it would be fine. Maybe it wouldn't ruin the overall story for me if it was just an occasion addition to some bedroom activities. But, no, it's an every single time bedroom activity norm. I finished the book out of sheer stubbornness and am waffling on reading the last book in the series. I would like to see where the plot goes but at the same time, the fact the romance has aspects I'm just not that into, it kinda sours the taste a bit for me. I will likely still read the next book because I want to know what happened, but I don't know if my star rating will grow with reading the next installment.
I think this book would be perfect for someone who loves omegaverses and doesn't mind M/M romance being involved within the harem. The plot is there, the connection between the characters is also present (possessive growling is top tier), but the romance itself is lukewarm for me.