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highladyofdelulu's reviews
391 reviews
Shade of a Blood Moon by C.M. Locke, D.L. Blade
2.0
2.25 stars
Plot-wise, it is a good book. There are surprising twists that I honestly did not see coming and they are executed well enough, with a cliffhanger that elicits interest in the next book.
I liked the very strong Vampire Diaries vibe and the parallels to it, as much as I liked the way it differed from it - the similarity without copying the world was well executed and the world building was solid, in my opinion. The mysteries and secrets are fun to explore and well worked out.
The book delivers an overall vibe and feel that was intriguing, dark and mysterious - vampire-y in a way that felt enjoyable.
Andrei, the big bad Mafia vampire boss, might seem a bit placative but I actually liked him. The potential for character development is obvious enough, revelations were made at the right moments and although there still seems to be a lot we don’t know, it all comes together in one relatively coherent picture.
As for Rachel… I do usually like a troubled FMC who struggles with acknowledging her dark side, then gets confronted with it in an arch of empowerment.
However, Rachel just did not feel relatable to me – and I usually have no problem relating to any FMC, no matter how different they are from me. It’s just that her thoughts and actions and words often contradicted themselves, her emotions sometimes changed so suddenly and unpredictably, even in her own POV… it felt chaotic and inconsistent at times. By the end of the book, I still feel like there are different versions and ideas of an FMC that did not really blend together all that well.
(I want to make a note that this is not about double standards for the FMC and MMC. Andrei is a ‘simpler’ character and the way he is written works for me personally. For Rachel, more complexity seems to have been intended but in my opinion, that did not work out quite so well.)
Unfortunately, that, combined with the writing, threw me off, personally. Which is a pity, because the book started out strong and promising. However, in my opinion, the writing seemed incoherent, varying in a way that made me feel like some chapters might have profited from one more round of editing to avoid repetitiveness and clumsy sentences. There were actually paragraphs that flowed so well and were so much fun to read, and then there were those that had me stumble and struggle.
Overall, unfortunately, I personally am a little underwhelmed. I can see how people love the book for the plot, the male character(s) and the spice, while entirely unfazed by what I stumbled over – it just wasn’t for me as I am someone who needs the whole picture.
---
I received an ARC of this copy in exchange for an honest review
Plot-wise, it is a good book. There are surprising twists that I honestly did not see coming and they are executed well enough, with a cliffhanger that elicits interest in the next book.
I liked the very strong Vampire Diaries vibe and the parallels to it, as much as I liked the way it differed from it - the similarity without copying the world was well executed and the world building was solid, in my opinion. The mysteries and secrets are fun to explore and well worked out.
The book delivers an overall vibe and feel that was intriguing, dark and mysterious - vampire-y in a way that felt enjoyable.
Andrei, the big bad Mafia vampire boss, might seem a bit placative but I actually liked him. The potential for character development is obvious enough, revelations were made at the right moments and although there still seems to be a lot we don’t know, it all comes together in one relatively coherent picture.
As for Rachel… I do usually like a troubled FMC who struggles with acknowledging her dark side, then gets confronted with it in an arch of empowerment.
However, Rachel just did not feel relatable to me – and I usually have no problem relating to any FMC, no matter how different they are from me. It’s just that her thoughts and actions and words often contradicted themselves, her emotions sometimes changed so suddenly and unpredictably, even in her own POV… it felt chaotic and inconsistent at times. By the end of the book, I still feel like there are different versions and ideas of an FMC that did not really blend together all that well.
(I want to make a note that this is not about double standards for the FMC and MMC. Andrei is a ‘simpler’ character and the way he is written works for me personally. For Rachel, more complexity seems to have been intended but in my opinion, that did not work out quite so well.)
Unfortunately, that, combined with the writing, threw me off, personally. Which is a pity, because the book started out strong and promising. However, in my opinion, the writing seemed incoherent, varying in a way that made me feel like some chapters might have profited from one more round of editing to avoid repetitiveness and clumsy sentences. There were actually paragraphs that flowed so well and were so much fun to read, and then there were those that had me stumble and struggle.
Overall, unfortunately, I personally am a little underwhelmed. I can see how people love the book for the plot, the male character(s) and the spice, while entirely unfazed by what I stumbled over – it just wasn’t for me as I am someone who needs the whole picture.
---
I received an ARC of this copy in exchange for an honest review
Where's Molly by H.D. Carlton
5.0
4.5 stars
My song for Where’s Molly: Heal by Tom Odell
„At one point in our lives, we don’t know our soulmates at all. But that doesn’t make them any less of one.”
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered spoilers
———
Though I loved Where’s Molly and finished it in one read, it wass not what I expected it to be. Because while it is a dark romance, emphasis on romance, Where’s Molly is, above all, about Molly. About how hard it is to see your own worth and accept to be worshipped when your entire life your soul has never been worth enough to be loved or protected.
“If anyone deserved to be the one to escape, it would’ve been her. (…) Turns out I wasn’t important enough to deserve it.”
Healing is a journey and while Molly has done so much of it, has survived the worst and learned to claim the parts of herself that had been taken and abused, she still believes she does not deserve to survive. Until Cage makes her.
”You’ve been alone nearly your entire life and don’t know what it feels like to have someone take care of you. Fine, we can work through that. (…) But what I will not do is allow you to run from me.”
The level of trauma Molly has accepted, dealt with and healed from is barely imaginable, yet H.D. Carlton made it so.
And once again I am glad that she doesn’t require her FMCs to get back to ‘normal’ in order to heal, rather acknowledging that the survival of the trauma will forever be a part of them. One they claim as their own (and what even would ‘normal’ mean to someone like Molly?).
“I will chase away all your nightmares until they grow wary of returning. They will fear me, my little ghost. But you never will.”
Cage is the deliciously dark morally grey MMC I expected him to be. His possessiveness and obsession are crucial to guiding Molly towards understanding her worth, as is seeing her through his perspecitve.
He didn’t feel as multifaceted as other MMCs (which might simply be due to the book being rather short) but again: He doesn’t need to be.
He helps Molly see she’s worthy of being loved - by him and herself - and for that alone I love him.
“Don’t be fooled, little ghost, I will own you even after you’ve disappeared. You may vanish, but your soul will always be mine.”
Morally speaking, Molly might also be the darkest of all H.D. Carlton’s FMCs – and for good reason.
In that regard, it made sense to me that Cage seems less contrasted, less predominant than the MMCs in her other books. He doesn’t take away from Molly’s story because she never needed him to heal or survive.
She did that all by herself.
’Because staring into her eyes is the only thing I needed, to convince myself she’s everything I’ll ever want for as long as oxygen invades my lungs.’
At first, I personally felt like the book could have been longer, talking about her trauma recovery in more length and detail, but seeing how it’s a journey we already took with Addie, it makes sense that she didn’t do it again in this one.
’If my body was a kingdom, he’d be waging a celestial war against me where I’d easily crumble beneath his forces.’
As always, the writing is immaculate, the spice on another level and I will always appreciate H.D. Carlton for how truly dark her books are, how well-crafted with these intricate psychological layers and deeply honest characters – something I’ve not quite found in other dark romance books yet.
My song for Where’s Molly: Heal by Tom Odell
„At one point in our lives, we don’t know our soulmates at all. But that doesn’t make them any less of one.”
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered spoilers
———
Though I loved Where’s Molly and finished it in one read, it wass not what I expected it to be. Because while it is a dark romance, emphasis on romance, Where’s Molly is, above all, about Molly. About how hard it is to see your own worth and accept to be worshipped when your entire life your soul has never been worth enough to be loved or protected.
“If anyone deserved to be the one to escape, it would’ve been her. (…) Turns out I wasn’t important enough to deserve it.”
Healing is a journey and while Molly has done so much of it, has survived the worst and learned to claim the parts of herself that had been taken and abused, she still believes she does not deserve to survive. Until Cage makes her.
”You’ve been alone nearly your entire life and don’t know what it feels like to have someone take care of you. Fine, we can work through that. (…) But what I will not do is allow you to run from me.”
The level of trauma Molly has accepted, dealt with and healed from is barely imaginable, yet H.D. Carlton made it so.
And once again I am glad that she doesn’t require her FMCs to get back to ‘normal’ in order to heal, rather acknowledging that the survival of the trauma will forever be a part of them. One they claim as their own (and what even would ‘normal’ mean to someone like Molly?).
“I will chase away all your nightmares until they grow wary of returning. They will fear me, my little ghost. But you never will.”
Cage is the deliciously dark morally grey MMC I expected him to be. His possessiveness and obsession are crucial to guiding Molly towards understanding her worth, as is seeing her through his perspecitve.
He didn’t feel as multifaceted as other MMCs (which might simply be due to the book being rather short) but again: He doesn’t need to be.
He helps Molly see she’s worthy of being loved - by him and herself - and for that alone I love him.
“Don’t be fooled, little ghost, I will own you even after you’ve disappeared. You may vanish, but your soul will always be mine.”
Morally speaking, Molly might also be the darkest of all H.D. Carlton’s FMCs – and for good reason.
In that regard, it made sense to me that Cage seems less contrasted, less predominant than the MMCs in her other books. He doesn’t take away from Molly’s story because she never needed him to heal or survive.
She did that all by herself.
’Because staring into her eyes is the only thing I needed, to convince myself she’s everything I’ll ever want for as long as oxygen invades my lungs.’
At first, I personally felt like the book could have been longer, talking about her trauma recovery in more length and detail, but seeing how it’s a journey we already took with Addie, it makes sense that she didn’t do it again in this one.
’If my body was a kingdom, he’d be waging a celestial war against me where I’d easily crumble beneath his forces.’
As always, the writing is immaculate, the spice on another level and I will always appreciate H.D. Carlton for how truly dark her books are, how well-crafted with these intricate psychological layers and deeply honest characters – something I’ve not quite found in other dark romance books yet.
Hunt Me Darling by Maree Rose
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
DNF
This is the only book ever wanted to give zero stars to
This is the only book ever wanted to give zero stars to
Hideaway by Penelope Douglas
3.0
2.5⭐️
Aaah I wanted to like it, I really did.
It got better for me in the last 1/3 but I had to switch to audiobook to go through with it.
The writing was good, I just didn’t care for Kai and his story with Banks. If it weren’t for Damon, I might’ve given up.
Aaah I wanted to like it, I really did.
It got better for me in the last 1/3 but I had to switch to audiobook to go through with it.
The writing was good, I just didn’t care for Kai and his story with Banks. If it weren’t for Damon, I might’ve given up.
Rake by Nicole Parker
3.0
3.5 -
I’m tempted to give more
Another fun smutty short read with surprisingly good writing. This one is actually rather cute and way less smutty than it could have been
I’m tempted to give more
Another fun smutty short read with surprisingly good writing. This one is actually rather cute and way less smutty than it could have been
Hitched by Lauren Biel
4.0
4.25 stars
My song for Hitched: Can You Love Me by Croixx_
’I have no idea what will happen to us. But Lex is opening me up to a world I never knew existed. One where the risk of losing my freedom is the most freedom I’ve ever felt.'
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered spoilers
First of all, I’m a sucker for a good ride-or-die story – and Lauren Biel delivered just that.
Lex is the perfect example of a touch-her-and-die MMC and not only does he have the past to validate this trope, he also proves it again and again during the book. I liked the way he fought his own inner conflict over and over again as much as I liked the FMC challenging him - and him her.
Maybe she’s precisely where she needs to be: a place where her demons can play freely with mine. Under the watchful eye of the wolf, the rabbit will live another day.
The balance between the main characters, in my opinion works so flawlessly because, albeit a completely different character, Selena fights a very similar internal battle.
Within their quickly evolving relationship, the two main characters complement each other inside the confines of their reality. What could be considered character growth was probably more of a perfectly executed merging. And while they increasingly converge, they never actively change each other.
’If I keep my grip on her throat just a few seconds longer, the conflict inside me will die with her.
I personally love Lauren Biel’s writing and plan on diving right into the next book. It’s easy to follow, pulls me right in and the spice scenes are *chef’s kiss*.
Once again, she excels in creating an entire world within a small space of setting. By expertly building a functional and enticing plot almost entirely atop the evolving dynamic between the main characters without relying on external plot drivers.
I’m destined for hell but her pussy is heaven, and I’ll be saved as long as I’m inside her.”
Although I loved the story and support a HEA and I can appreciate the difficulty of making this work in a realistic way, it’s not quite five stars for me personally because I wouldn’t have minded just one more conflict or close call. But that’s just my perception and I enjoyed the book either way.
Ready or not, rabbit, here I come!”
Overall, it was a well written and executed story that focused on the MMC chasing the FMC rather than them being chased by authorities and I’m all here for that. I’m also very happy that Lauren Biel blessed us with three more standalones within the ride-or-die genre and will probably dive right into the next one.
My song for Hitched: Can You Love Me by Croixx_
’I have no idea what will happen to us. But Lex is opening me up to a world I never knew existed. One where the risk of losing my freedom is the most freedom I’ve ever felt.'
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered spoilers
First of all, I’m a sucker for a good ride-or-die story – and Lauren Biel delivered just that.
Lex is the perfect example of a touch-her-and-die MMC and not only does he have the past to validate this trope, he also proves it again and again during the book. I liked the way he fought his own inner conflict over and over again as much as I liked the FMC challenging him - and him her.
Maybe she’s precisely where she needs to be: a place where her demons can play freely with mine. Under the watchful eye of the wolf, the rabbit will live another day.
The balance between the main characters, in my opinion works so flawlessly because, albeit a completely different character, Selena fights a very similar internal battle.
Within their quickly evolving relationship, the two main characters complement each other inside the confines of their reality. What could be considered character growth was probably more of a perfectly executed merging. And while they increasingly converge, they never actively change each other.
’If I keep my grip on her throat just a few seconds longer, the conflict inside me will die with her.
I personally love Lauren Biel’s writing and plan on diving right into the next book. It’s easy to follow, pulls me right in and the spice scenes are *chef’s kiss*.
Once again, she excels in creating an entire world within a small space of setting. By expertly building a functional and enticing plot almost entirely atop the evolving dynamic between the main characters without relying on external plot drivers.
I’m destined for hell but her pussy is heaven, and I’ll be saved as long as I’m inside her.”
Although I loved the story and support a HEA and I can appreciate the difficulty of making this work in a realistic way, it’s not quite five stars for me personally because I wouldn’t have minded just one more conflict or close call. But that’s just my perception and I enjoyed the book either way.
Ready or not, rabbit, here I come!”
Overall, it was a well written and executed story that focused on the MMC chasing the FMC rather than them being chased by authorities and I’m all here for that. I’m also very happy that Lauren Biel blessed us with three more standalones within the ride-or-die genre and will probably dive right into the next one.
Driving My Obsession by Lauren Biel
4.0
3.75
I love their story and the way it unfolds. Overall it’s not my favorite Lauren Biel work, simply because it didn’t feel quite as smooth as the others in terms of emotional developments. And that’s the only reason I’m rating it a little lower.
Ambrose is deliciously fucked up and I enjoyed the push and pull so much, the way this was dragged out. The story and character development were still amazing as always
And I always love Lauren’s choice of nicknames but tragedy might just be one of my faves.
I also highly recommend the audio book for this one. The male voice is from another kind of heaven. Or hell.
I love their story and the way it unfolds. Overall it’s not my favorite Lauren Biel work, simply because it didn’t feel quite as smooth as the others in terms of emotional developments. And that’s the only reason I’m rating it a little lower.
Ambrose is deliciously fucked up and I enjoyed the push and pull so much, the way this was dragged out. The story and character development were still amazing as always
And I always love Lauren’s choice of nicknames but tragedy might just be one of my faves.
I also highly recommend the audio book for this one. The male voice is from another kind of heaven. Or hell.
Wanted by Lauren Biel, Lauren Biel
4.0
My song for Wanted: I‘m a Wanted Man by Royal Deluxe
‘I couldn't stop the desire to do it. It wasn't the devil on my shoulder. No. It was the devil inside me.
Another great book by Lauren Biel on my mission to read them all
‘I couldn't stop the desire to do it. It wasn't the devil on my shoulder. No. It was the devil inside me.
Another great book by Lauren Biel on my mission to read them all
Lovely Bad Things by Trisha Wolfe
5.0
My song for Lovely Bad Things: Dark Matter by Les Friction
“Want will drive you right into the maddening depths, I assure you. But you have to want with a fire, with a passion. The day you stop wanting, is the day you decide to die.”
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered as spoilers
I listened to the audiobook but was so roped in that I ended up parallel reading the ebook. If you like audiobooks, I absolutely recommend it – Kallum’s voice was a substantial factor of my being lulled in by his allure. I still hear it in my mind…
What is more, it was, in my opinion, one of the best narrated books I have ever listened to and that goes for both the male and female POV.
“You fear everything about me. The way I tempt you to lose control. The way I dare you to rattle the cage of that dark prison in your mind. But most of all, you fear the way I make you feel.”
Kallum – the bad boy of academia – is not only hot and tattooed, but, more significantly, brilliantly intelligent and dangerously eloquent, powerful in the conviction of his self and his beliefs. He does feel like the devil and I found myself wanting to get burnt by him, if only to see myself through his gaze.
I have immense respect for any author who so successfully composes and presents the mind of a villain as depraved and dangerous as Kallum. More so for an author who makes him the most alluring, intriguing not through the lense and filter of another, but through his very own POV.
“Come back to me, Halen”
Halen, while being troubled by the typical guilt and moral restraints, justifying her obsession through condemnation and anger, has a depth that is less obvious. Only hesitantly do we get a glimpse into her abyss and while her POV offers essential conflicts, it is through Kallum’s POV that Halen receives dimension.
“Falling through suffering is a descent into chaos. (…) It’s the darkest obscurity, the ultimate terror. But the ascent out of the abyss reveals itself in the most tender moments.”
The clash that derives from the difference in intrinsic and extrinsic percipience – for both characters – is ingeniously coherent and makes for an essential extra layer of dynamic and the gradual outlining of both characters. It also leaves the assumption that while we think we know what we see, the truth of this story lies in the obscure – just like with any good crime.
“His evil calls to mine.”
Dark romance, especially contemporary dark romance, needs a base, a fundament that frames the darkness in order to make it approachable – in order to make a villain truly, acceptably bad and let him get away with showing it. Without the cringe. Trisha Wolfe succeeded in that in every sense.
“Before I even saw you, I felt your pain. It called to me like a siren, my muse of heartbreak. I wanted to taste it, to feast on it, your pain is that irresistible. All I wanted was to drop to my knees and devour every last drop of you just so you could breathe… so I could fucking breathe.”
I love a good Criminal Minds vibe crime and the fact that Halen is a profiler who is actually well written enough that she can get away with it. Planting a crime solving arc at the base of a plot of anything but a crime fiction can easily feel like a means to an end – clue hunting can feel dragged out in an attempt to offer a timeline.
Lovely Bad Things, in my opinion, is a prime example of how to do it right – of to how to spin a story that is so intertwined, where all levels string together and into each other until the plot does not work without the crime and its investigation.
"She is my flame. And I am all but pleading for my muse to burn me alive.”
Making Kallum the expert that needs to be consulted is, of course, one step to do that. For me, however, the alchemy lies in the brilliance and madness, backed up by the philosophic layers and evolving relationship. In the way the lines blur until the case is not floating along but an entangled thread determines the relationship of Kallum and Halen – or is it vice versa?
“True strength is having the fraught will and calm surrender to accept our sickness, to awake every day and feel our pain, embrace our suffering, and choose to live in spite of our great losses.”
Besides being brilliantly written and backed by knowledge I can only assume to be expertly, Lovely Bad Things is a book that made me think, contemplate and understand as the characters do, challenges me and my own believes.
Not only in the way that a good dark romance – by daringly shifting the axis of morality – in my opinion, needs to. But by additionally using the mind of someone like Kallum as a prism through which we decipher philosophical principles alongside the characters.
It is one of these books that were picked up blindly and ended up being exactly what I didn’t know I needed. It is also one I, personally, will talk about for a long time and I cannot wait to read the second book.
“Want will drive you right into the maddening depths, I assure you. But you have to want with a fire, with a passion. The day you stop wanting, is the day you decide to die.”
This review contains out-of-context quotes that could be considered as spoilers
I listened to the audiobook but was so roped in that I ended up parallel reading the ebook. If you like audiobooks, I absolutely recommend it – Kallum’s voice was a substantial factor of my being lulled in by his allure. I still hear it in my mind…
What is more, it was, in my opinion, one of the best narrated books I have ever listened to and that goes for both the male and female POV.
“You fear everything about me. The way I tempt you to lose control. The way I dare you to rattle the cage of that dark prison in your mind. But most of all, you fear the way I make you feel.”
Kallum – the bad boy of academia – is not only hot and tattooed, but, more significantly, brilliantly intelligent and dangerously eloquent, powerful in the conviction of his self and his beliefs. He does feel like the devil and I found myself wanting to get burnt by him, if only to see myself through his gaze.
I have immense respect for any author who so successfully composes and presents the mind of a villain as depraved and dangerous as Kallum. More so for an author who makes him the most alluring, intriguing not through the lense and filter of another, but through his very own POV.
“Come back to me, Halen”
Halen, while being troubled by the typical guilt and moral restraints, justifying her obsession through condemnation and anger, has a depth that is less obvious. Only hesitantly do we get a glimpse into her abyss and while her POV offers essential conflicts, it is through Kallum’s POV that Halen receives dimension.
“Falling through suffering is a descent into chaos. (…) It’s the darkest obscurity, the ultimate terror. But the ascent out of the abyss reveals itself in the most tender moments.”
The clash that derives from the difference in intrinsic and extrinsic percipience – for both characters – is ingeniously coherent and makes for an essential extra layer of dynamic and the gradual outlining of both characters. It also leaves the assumption that while we think we know what we see, the truth of this story lies in the obscure – just like with any good crime.
“His evil calls to mine.”
Dark romance, especially contemporary dark romance, needs a base, a fundament that frames the darkness in order to make it approachable – in order to make a villain truly, acceptably bad and let him get away with showing it. Without the cringe. Trisha Wolfe succeeded in that in every sense.
“Before I even saw you, I felt your pain. It called to me like a siren, my muse of heartbreak. I wanted to taste it, to feast on it, your pain is that irresistible. All I wanted was to drop to my knees and devour every last drop of you just so you could breathe… so I could fucking breathe.”
I love a good Criminal Minds vibe crime and the fact that Halen is a profiler who is actually well written enough that she can get away with it. Planting a crime solving arc at the base of a plot of anything but a crime fiction can easily feel like a means to an end – clue hunting can feel dragged out in an attempt to offer a timeline.
Lovely Bad Things, in my opinion, is a prime example of how to do it right – of to how to spin a story that is so intertwined, where all levels string together and into each other until the plot does not work without the crime and its investigation.
"She is my flame. And I am all but pleading for my muse to burn me alive.”
Making Kallum the expert that needs to be consulted is, of course, one step to do that. For me, however, the alchemy lies in the brilliance and madness, backed up by the philosophic layers and evolving relationship. In the way the lines blur until the case is not floating along but an entangled thread determines the relationship of Kallum and Halen – or is it vice versa?
“True strength is having the fraught will and calm surrender to accept our sickness, to awake every day and feel our pain, embrace our suffering, and choose to live in spite of our great losses.”
Besides being brilliantly written and backed by knowledge I can only assume to be expertly, Lovely Bad Things is a book that made me think, contemplate and understand as the characters do, challenges me and my own believes.
Not only in the way that a good dark romance – by daringly shifting the axis of morality – in my opinion, needs to. But by additionally using the mind of someone like Kallum as a prism through which we decipher philosophical principles alongside the characters.
It is one of these books that were picked up blindly and ended up being exactly what I didn’t know I needed. It is also one I, personally, will talk about for a long time and I cannot wait to read the second book.