careliza's reviews
175 reviews

Rush by Maya Banks

2.5

I wrote a whole thing and it deleted so here are vague bullet points instead 

• MMC heartless and cold
• FMC agrees to this CRAZY contract way too quickly 
• MMC makes an egregious error when he lets three men he clearly does not know well enough see FMC in bondage without any prior discussion between any of them. And on top of that TURNS AWAY from them long enough that they took vids without consent and assaulted her. 
• When Jace, FMC’s bro walks in on FMC in very vulnerable bondage and punches MMC, MMC just gives up. He doesn’t fight for her and instead tells her that she was getting too attached to him and it was time to end their arrangement. He says this to her in front of Jace and Ash while she is half naked. 
• Jace forgives Gabe WAY too quickly. The office scene where Gabe tells Jace he loves Mia is maybe 2 pages long. Within a page, Jace is forgiving Gabe, despite having previously raised concerns about their BDSM dynamic and its effects on Mia. 
• The sex scenes were plentiful but written in a detached way. They had no effect on me. They almost sounded clinical. We did not hear much about how things felt physically and emotionally for the characters during these scenes. Instead, we got a play by play of the acts themselves, which felt impersonal. 

Three Simple Rules by Nikki Sloane

fast-paced

3.5

Okay so I feel very mixed about this.

Was it really necessary to have her give the gross pimp guy a blowjob in the beginning? I liked that the characters ended up being normal people, because it was giving creepy vibes for a second. But the fact that he was like “I don’t want commitment. And then later that day was like “you’re my girlfriend??????” That is soooo unrealistic. My other issue is this: he video taped her without her consent during a sexual encounter. I know she ended up being okay with it, but that is a HUGE violation. The entire book has consent, so why did you have to ruin it by violating her consent in that scene? I almost DNFed right there. But I actually enjoyed the ending with the marathon and his brother and the engagement. BUT they were barely together a few months so that’s like??? Eek. Overall I did like the MMC, I just hated the violation of consent.

Voyeur by Fiona Cole

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

2.0

I wanted so badly to love this book, but I just didn’t. I have too many problems with the MMC. He’s incredibly immature for a 29 year old. The fact that he was SO angry about her working at voyeur even if she was only working at the bar is incredibly possessive in a toxic way. Not to mention that’s where he met her in the first place but now he finds it unacceptable that she works there. Their relationship in the book was filled with constant ups and downs due to the unhealthy nature of their relationship. There were also so many moral problems: not only is he 29 when she’s 19, he’s her professor, and worse than that he is a patron at voyeur where they have a strict policy about no mingling between patrons and adult actors. While the book is called “Voyeur,” their sex is quite vanilla. Cal went back to drinking every night that Oaklyn told him she had to work. I’m sorry, that is so dramatic and unacceptable. You are now pulling a 19 year old into your 29 year old life, where you have clearly not worked through any of the things you need to work through. His mental health is awful, and the two week break they took wouldn’t fix  what has been going on for over a decade.

The one thing I really appreciated was the inclusion and exploration of the impact childhood sexual assault by a family member can have. I appreciated this and I thought the way Cal and Oaklyn worked through this was sweet. 

Give Me More by Sara Cate

4.0

Loved the spice, loved the character backstories, loved the character development, loved the sex positivity. The scene in the Air bnb was 10/10, absolutely loved it. However, I kind of felt like Isabel was a little left out sometimes. I don’t like that Drake and Hunter often did things without consulting her first. Overall, it was well written, spicy, and sweet.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 72%.

You know what, no part of me wants to finish this. It’s not my vibe. Too long and I don’t like the time jumps. Plus the main character is a dick. 

Praise by Sara Cate

5.0

I’m not sure if this truly is a 5 star book for me, but I gave it 5 stars because I don’t think what I want in an actual 5 star book exists. I was skeptical since it was an age gap which I usually hate. However what I really enjoyed about this book was how out-in-the-open the FMC was with her family. I always like bdsm in my books, but I often get this yucky feeling when they keep it like some sort of dark secret. The other thing I LOVED was that they had regular lives and enjoyed things outside of their dynamic. I always get this yucky feeling if they’re always in the dynamic and nothing is ever normal or fun. I LOVED the FMC’s sister. Loved the trans representation. I loved that Emerson came to absolutely shit on her awful father. And tbh I didn’t mind that Beau ended up like changing his mind at the end and deciding to be a good person. I liked that he had her back after treating her like shit. Tbh I loved the whole damn thing so maybe this book is 5/5 for me. 

Better Hate than Never by Chloe Liese

4.0

I thought this was sweet. I loved Christopher and I liked the neurodivergent representation. Just wish there was more spice lol

The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer

4.5

Hazel and Rory are some of my faves. It was well written. I actually enjoyed the enemies to lovers trope for once. I love that he was pining for her and didn’t waver throughout the whole story. Love the body positivity and the small exploration of continuing to do what you love after you “retire” from a sport hockey (Ward) or dance (Hazel’s mom). And the SPICE. It was so vanilla but the tension was so good and the dirty talk??? A+++ Could’ve done without the extra QR code scene, but that’s okay.

Walking Red Flag by Morgan Elizabeth

4.0

I liked the ADHD representation, but I’m not going to lie, the FMC was a little annoying. I liked the MMC’s patience with her, and how he knew what he wanted the whole time. I like the FMC’s best friend and thought she was a solid character. I felt like FMC’s family was well-established in the story and I appreciated that. 

But the REAL reason it’s a 4 is the STEAM. MMC has a DIRTY MOUTH. That last scene is reaalllly good.

The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy

4.0

Ryder is my new book bf. SO SPICY. I hope we get a why choose book with Will and Beckett. I don’t like that they made Garrett be kinda mean for a second but I’m glad for the cameos of all the previous characters. And Garrett was mostly cool also.