charliauthor's reviews
501 reviews

Tempted By The Devil by Michelle Heard

fast-paced

3.0

This was fun enough. Shy virgin Catholic girl. Overbearing, scary Mafioso. I was eating this shit up. It was a little fast for my taste but the smut was decent and Angelo was very hot and thats all you need really. FMC Vittorio was sweet but maybe a little too sweet. Oh i dont want to go into an arranged marriage but my perfect life is to be a kept woman and raise a family. Okay fine, but like, wheres the tension if he eventually gives her exactly what she wants? Angelo wasnt scary for long enough, becoming a simp all too soon which is why its just middle territory. i'd try more from this author though

The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

While I really enjoyed this, I was let down by the lack of on page intimacy. I respect this is more a romance than a 'smut book' but i still wanted more than we got in this which was much the same vein as her previous book. I liked the characters and all the positive Black love which is always a bonus, I just felt that things were a little too easy throughout. While i despise a forced third act break up, to have one that have it resolved so quickly, almost feels worse lol
Im also not a fan of how much emphasis this writer puts on the FMCs knowledge about things. Like in the first book in this series, there were pages and pages about app technology that i know nothing about or care about, this one was about fitness and working out and American Football which i also know nothing about. It just felt unnecessary and slowed down the book that was already slow on the romance element anyway.
Even so, I liked all the characters but it just needed a tad more spice for me personally. 

Brutal Intentions by Lilith Vincent

funny fast-paced

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

2.5

This had some really funny bits but overall the plot and pacing was a bit weak for me to take it seriously as a Dark Romance. Im a fan of all the kinks in this book, age gap, breeding etc. but there was just an odd way to have gone about it. Despite the severity of their situation, they never really seemed to try to not be together and it was just super fast from the first page. I like this more for the humour than anything else but still not great.

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.

I just don't care about this in anyway. Every time I think I've made a dent, i check the percentage and its still like 2 seconds in. Its tiring. The writing is dry, low in action, the characters arent particularly likeable or interesting and I just simply don't care. I've tried another book from VA and was surprised I was able to get through book 1 of this but I think VA is just not the writer for me.

Taming Seraphine by Gigi Styx

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

When we actually got to it, the smut was good enough but the rest of the book/plot itself was a bit silly. At no point did this 'dangerous assassin' girl seem that dangerous or much like an assassin. She was just straight up crazy. No one eats severed penis more than once and isnt a raging psychopath. How the MMC would find her attractive after such heinous acts was just stupid.

Call Me Daddy by Jade West

dark fast-paced

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

2.25

This one was a bit of an ick, I must say lol
I couldnt really get on board with the daddy kink in this simply because it didnt come across as two consenting adults but more so predator behaviour. Much more so because they do a lot of their 'loving' in his deceased five year old step daughter's bed and he dresses and speaks to her like a child. Thats not the same as the usual daddy kink so it just wasnt great.
I did like the shitty best friend simply because she was well written and relatable, having known people like that.

Latte Darling by S.J. Tilly

lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

Now this was much better!
Was second guessing going into it because of the first one but the age gap daddy trope was insaane.
Maddie meets the father of her blind date when said blind date stands her up. What results is the smuttiest, hottest, biggest daddy that ever daddied and i just could not get enough. Where this lost points was the forced third act break up. There was just no need for it in anyway. All she had to do was talk to him. All he had to do was find out where her friend lived and go get her. It was just so stupid and dragged out that it really pissed me off.
Outside of that though, what i liked about this was that there was no weird relationship with Axel and his son Brian. It was actually really healthy and full of banter and i really liked that.
Again, not much reason for why Axel was so scared about safety or why Maddie had only ever had sex one time before. It just felt a little unfinished in many ways.
Still, it was saved by silver fox Axel who is just sooo saucy!!

Smoky Darling by S.J. Tilly

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Didn't really love this one as much as I could have. While the smut when it turned up was really good, I didnt much like the main characters. Elouise was fine enough. Other than fixating on someone for 20 years, she was sweet as a small town elementary school teacher but there was just something not very special about her. Even so, that was my issue as much as Beckett.
There was literally no real reason for her to have liked him other than her childhood crush and then him being hot when they're older.
Beckett if anything was a bit of bully. He beats up younger kids, older men and during sexy time, he was very bullyish and it wasnt always that sexy. What also annoyed me is that there was no reason given why. He was just very aggressive and posessive for no reason. No back story, no reason for his return to Darling Lake, no real look into his past relationships etc. It was just all physical and then that physical was minimal.
So yeah, overall, not the best for me.

Hans by S.J. Tilly

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This was probably my least favourite of the four but thats not to say I didnt have a good time.
The opening scenes were cute. I love the sunshine/grump trope and it was done really well. Where this wasnt my favourite is that this didnt have enough smut for me and in smut book, i need a good balance. there was a ton of plot and back story which i didnt really need.
however, when Hans finally got in dat ass - literally - it was amazing!! haha
An issue I had with this was the DDLG/Daddy kink but only because Hans is basically a mercenary against human traffickers so why he would want to sort of infantalise and have a daddy kink felt a bit odd to me!? i dunno, it wasnt the best with the context but the breeding kink daddy stuff was very fun.

As ever, i liked the bromance banter with the other alliance guys lol Nero is actually insane and it was fun to see them altogether.
also, not to tell people how to write their books but i feel like there was a missed opportunity for everyone to tell Cassandra how terrible her food was and then hans have to admit he was only eating them because he loves her lol could have been cute!

A solid series for me and i'll defo check out some more S.J. Tilly and see if it lives up to this excitement.

Dom by S.J. Tilly

dark funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was so silly in the best way! It started out super super adorable with the meet cute on the plane then just went completely left field! At first, i was really here for Dominic and what he did but as the rest of the story progressed, the red flags turned green and i was having the time of my life. The smut in these books are top notch stuff. The fact that the MCs are in their 30s and 40s is also a good change and i love that this book also got a tad darker than the previous two. Dominic really is a dangerous guy and added with the way he was slinging dick, wow, it was great! haha