lanagio's reviews
503 reviews

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.5

Did not finish book. Stopped at 71%.

DNFed @ 71%. This book isn’t the worst I’ve read, it just feels like it’s lacking in actual substance. Rylee is supposed to be a tough, tortured soul but I just didn’t feel super sympathetic towards her aside from when we find out about her survivor’s guilt from her dad’s accident.
She & Asher rather suddenly decide to play the “game” which is basically giving dares. Their chemistry is not bad, but it feels sudden. There wasn’t much build up and Rylee bounces back and forth between I hate him, I want him to love me, I want to fuck him quite a bit.
The twins have some potential; they seem fun but I couldn’t bring myself to read another 60 pages to see whether that actually panned out.

Stroke of Midnight by K Webster

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Dirty Filthy Rich Men by Laurelin Paige

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

This book was quite a disappointment for me. Let me first say, I love bully romances. Enemies-to-lovers. Mean AF MMCs. Sign me up. I have no issue with Donovan's assholeness, although the order of events btwn he & Sabrina became repetitive pretty quick.

That being said, my issue is that I cannot respect Sabrina in any way, shape or form. She is a total doormat. In bully romances, I need a strong, tough FMC and Sabrina does not fit the bill. Like, sure, Donovan is hot and great at sex, we get it. I totally get the attraction. But he is an asshole after every encounter without fail and she is shocked & devastated each and every time. And then she's all "that's it I'm so done with him." And then VERY quickly changes her tune and not bc Donovan realizes the error of his ways or something. Just bc she's a wimp & he's hot, basically. It got annoying very early on.

I kept hoping the moment would come where she would actually stand up for herself and it just did not arrive. There is more than one occasion of her trying to, like, love him to wellness or something rather than actually putting herself first and telling him to get it together or get lost. It came off as quite pathetic to me honestly.

Then at the end he ONCE AGAIN tells her, in no uncertain terms, that he does not want to be in a relationship with her bc blah blah blah he's keeping her safe bc he's crazy obsessive or whatever. Which is all well and good, I love a good obsessive MMC. But then he leaves her apartment after she tries to seduce him to admitting he loves her (leaving her shocked and heartbroken yet again) and then he also LEAVES THE COUNTRY to get away. So now, IMHO, this HAS to be the point where Sabrina goes, wow, okay Donovan, screw you man. You want to hide from your feelings so badly you'll move to France? Have fun with that, I'm all set.

Instead, she goes to Weston & is like, hey man, Donovan told me some stuff about how he thinks he's responsible for Amanda's death (<s>which I mean, he kind of is in a loose way</s>) and it involved a PI and I just NEED to look into it further (BC WHY???? It doesn't even make sense). And Weston's like, oh sure np, here's his lock code to his office, good luck out there.

Then she finds the super shocking (just kidding it's not) file on herself that shows Donovan being a top-notch obsessive MMC (I'm totally on board for that part). And sure, does it track with Donovan's character? Of course! But it just feels like the author's way of being like "See! Sabrina putting up with all that crap from Donovan and in no way showing any backbone was the right path bc he DOES love her!" Like, girl, we know he loves her. That's never been in question. I realize this review is more of a vent than anything else but I just needed to do it anyway.

I won't be reading anymore of Donovan & Sabrina. I'm on the fence of whether I'll give another book from this author a try. Probably yes, down the line, to see if her other FMCs are more likable for me.

Content Warnings

Secrets Drenched in Blood: The Complete Midnight Harbor Series by Nikki St. Crowe

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.

Honestly the plot does have potential and Bran Duval is pretty hot. And I love vampire stuff! This should be a no brainer for me. But it’s feeling pretty slow moving and I’m bored. Might come back to it later!

Gifting Me To His Best Friend by Katee Robert

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced