Scan barcode
ohmydemigod's reviews
779 reviews
Gleam by Raven Kennedy
I thought Auren had reached her peak in book 2, but oh how I was wrong! It's amazing to me how it takes hindsight to fully understand each book's purpose, moreso than most books. As I read on, I feel I gain a greater appreciation for the former ones. Given this, I'm going to go ahead and change my rating for book 1 to 3 stars (rather than the 2 I originally gave it).
Watching Auren break free of the binds (both physical and mental) that held her is the absolute highlight of this series, even more than the romance, which I also adored. Auren is someone I've pitied, admired, and eventually taken a massive amount of pride in. She found her new identity and home in this book, and I know book 4 is only going to further accentuate this.
Now, what I know most people are curious about with these books: THE ROMANCE. Yes, of course there's romance. However, be aware that this is a slow-burn. While Auren meets her love interest in book 2, it takes time for her to be in a good place to explore her feelings. In my opinion, everything happened perfectly in time; actions/words did not feel rushed nor needlessly drawn out. It was perfect, given Auren's journey. And first and foremost, this series is about her.
The love interest is someone to swoon over, and I knew he would be from the moment he was introduced! The romance aspect will not disappoint if you are a fan of slow-burn, of small actions of care culminating to something greater, of stolen looks with a thousand unspoken words exchanged between them.
This series was fantastic to binge, but it's one that best read carefully, because truthfully, the writing is stunning. I have dozens of highlighted favorite quotes, and I know they'll be reeling in my head for days to come!
This book will give you the retribution we all were screaming for in book 1, and so much more. This series has quickly stolen my heart because at it's bare bones, it's about breaking the bonds of abuse and choosing yourself. I absolutely cannot wait for the final book, and I will not shut up about this series for a long while!
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
5.0
“... another tear falls with its rhythm as he strokes my hair, because it’s not love I’m listening to. It’s just possessive control. It’s so loud, I can’t believe I didn’t hear it before.”
I thought Auren had reached her peak in book 2, but oh how I was wrong! It's amazing to me how it takes hindsight to fully understand each book's purpose, moreso than most books. As I read on, I feel I gain a greater appreciation for the former ones. Given this, I'm going to go ahead and change my rating for book 1 to 3 stars (rather than the 2 I originally gave it).
Watching Auren break free of the binds (both physical and mental) that held her is the absolute highlight of this series, even more than the romance, which I also adored. Auren is someone I've pitied, admired, and eventually taken a massive amount of pride in. She found her new identity and home in this book, and I know book 4 is only going to further accentuate this.
Now, what I know most people are curious about with these books: THE ROMANCE. Yes, of course there's romance. However, be aware that this is a slow-burn. While Auren meets her love interest in book 2, it takes time for her to be in a good place to explore her feelings. In my opinion, everything happened perfectly in time; actions/words did not feel rushed nor needlessly drawn out. It was perfect, given Auren's journey. And first and foremost, this series is about her.
The love interest is someone to swoon over, and I knew he would be from the moment he was introduced! The romance aspect will not disappoint if you are a fan of slow-burn, of small actions of care culminating to something greater, of stolen looks with a thousand unspoken words exchanged between them.
This series was fantastic to binge, but it's one that best read carefully, because truthfully, the writing is stunning. I have dozens of highlighted favorite quotes, and I know they'll be reeling in my head for days to come!
This book will give you the retribution we all were screaming for in book 1, and so much more. This series has quickly stolen my heart because at it's bare bones, it's about breaking the bonds of abuse and choosing yourself. I absolutely cannot wait for the final book, and I will not shut up about this series for a long while!
To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne
This was a light, enjoyable read about finding a new path when life sweeps your feet out from under you. This story was pretty slow-paced, with a slow burn romance. Sebastian and Gracie’s interactions often put a smile on my face, and it had a very sweet HEA!
In contrast to the things I enjoyed, I felt the book was very predictable as a whole. I wish the romance came to fruition a bit sooner in the book, rather than the very last chapter. To me, it seems like this book was simply missing something to make me feel.
This was an enjoyable, sweet, and soft read nonetheless!
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
“Why in God’s name would you want to piece together your future?” May asks, sounding aghast. “Half the fun’s in not knowing.”
This was a light, enjoyable read about finding a new path when life sweeps your feet out from under you. This story was pretty slow-paced, with a slow burn romance. Sebastian and Gracie’s interactions often put a smile on my face, and it had a very sweet HEA!
In contrast to the things I enjoyed, I felt the book was very predictable as a whole. I wish the romance came to fruition a bit sooner in the book, rather than the very last chapter. To me, it seems like this book was simply missing something to make me feel.
This was an enjoyable, sweet, and soft read nonetheless!
Gild by Raven Kennedy
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
2.0
I was very unsure how to rate this... it was a captivating read, but far too gruesome and violent for my taste. I felt sick for half of this book. I’ve been told the next two books are much better, so I’m solely reading on for that hope. Let’s see if I can move past the trauma 🤠
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence
Glint by Raven Kennedy
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WOW! After the trauma book 1 caused me, I had low expectations for this one. Really low. And this book absolutely blew me away.
All five of these stars go right to Auren's character growth. Book 1 was dark and twisted because she was a groomed woman who was complacent in her captivity. We watched her get played like a puppet, abused to no end. In contrast, this book was pure light.
Auren finally gained the strength she needed to stand up and fight back. She learned what friendship meant, not to fear kindness from others, and most of all, she found out she was worth more than being someone else's property. She learned all this in a place she was taught to fear. With that confounding fact, everything else she believed true begins to unravel, culminating in the plot-twist ending.
I adored Auren's journey in this book: the friends she makes, the starting tendrils of love she feels, the strength she gains by being around those who genuinely care for her. This book was such a 180 from the previous, but I know it was all for the purpose of creating such a contrast. Now that I've read both, I can see that, and it makes me respect book 1 more (but I still never want to relive that trauma).
I am running to book 3 and I already know I'm going to feel absolutely lost waiting for book 4 to come out!
All five of these stars go right to Auren's character growth. Book 1 was dark and twisted because she was a groomed woman who was complacent in her captivity. We watched her get played like a puppet, abused to no end. In contrast, this book was pure light.
Auren finally gained the strength she needed to stand up and fight back. She learned what friendship meant, not to fear kindness from others, and most of all, she found out she was worth more than being someone else's property. She learned all this in a place she was taught to fear. With that confounding fact, everything else she believed true begins to unravel, culminating in the plot-twist ending.
I adored Auren's journey in this book: the friends she makes, the starting tendrils of love she feels, the strength she gains by being around those who genuinely care for her. This book was such a 180 from the previous, but I know it was all for the purpose of creating such a contrast. Now that I've read both, I can see that, and it makes me respect book 1 more (but I still never want to relive that trauma).
I am running to book 3 and I already know I'm going to feel absolutely lost waiting for book 4 to come out!
The Bastard's Betrayal by Katee Robert
Thank you to Katee Robert for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ star
✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Mafia princess Rose Romanov is kidnapped on the day of her wedding by her former lover-turned-betrayer, Dante Verducci, and must navigate the complexities of her own emotions for him as he is determined to make her his once again.
💭 Overall Thoughts: I'm a huge Katee Robert fan, so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, this felt like a pretty standard mafia romance to me, with hardly any heart-pounding or high-stakes moments to keep me excited once the initial kidnapping premise was over. Beyond that half of the book, things fell a bit flat for me. I almost wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if their "backstory"-- falling in love when they both were pretending to be civilians-- was detailed out and not skipped over like it was. Something simply felt missing here!
What I Liked:
👍 The romance: I'll never get sick of men imping over powerful women. As they should! Dante is a massive softie for Rose, even when she's threatening to hurt him (and has proven in the past via gunshot that she will). His composure in the face of her violence was very entertaining.
👍 Story premise: I loved the angle of a former-lover who betrays the other with a fake identity. The reading experience of while watching Rose and Dante fall in love with the other again was massively fun.
👍 Characters: While I was neutral about most of the characters, I adored the Romanov sisters. Surprisingly enough, I have enough interest to figure out what is going on with Lorelei and the others to keep reading on with this series!
What I Didn’t Like:
👎 Overall plot: As I mentioned, nothing beyond the kidnapping plot line (which was about half the book) held my interest. It felt very standard and uneventful. Things were solved to simply and easily, in my opinion.
👎 The romance: You're probably seeing this bullet and wondering why I also have it listed under things I love. Well, I have some split feelings on the romance. I think it was fantastic up until the kidnapping trope ended, and then became very bland for the rest of the book. They didn't give me butterflies and everything felt very predictable.
💞 Read this if you liked: Twisted Pride by Cora Reilly, Saint by A. Zavarelli
⚠️ Content Warnings: violence, blood
adventurous
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you to Katee Robert for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ star
His gaze flicked to the gun in her hands. "You really think you're going to shoot me? You were coming around my cock twenty-four hours ago."
Fury nearly made her black out. "I faked it."
She pulled the trigger.
✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Mafia princess Rose Romanov is kidnapped on the day of her wedding by her former lover-turned-betrayer, Dante Verducci, and must navigate the complexities of her own emotions for him as he is determined to make her his once again.
💭 Overall Thoughts: I'm a huge Katee Robert fan, so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, this felt like a pretty standard mafia romance to me, with hardly any heart-pounding or high-stakes moments to keep me excited once the initial kidnapping premise was over. Beyond that half of the book, things fell a bit flat for me. I almost wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if their "backstory"-- falling in love when they both were pretending to be civilians-- was detailed out and not skipped over like it was. Something simply felt missing here!
What I Liked:
👍 The romance: I'll never get sick of men imping over powerful women. As they should! Dante is a massive softie for Rose, even when she's threatening to hurt him (and has proven in the past via gunshot that she will). His composure in the face of her violence was very entertaining.
👍 Story premise: I loved the angle of a former-lover who betrays the other with a fake identity. The reading experience of while watching Rose and Dante fall in love with the other again was massively fun.
👍 Characters: While I was neutral about most of the characters, I adored the Romanov sisters. Surprisingly enough, I have enough interest to figure out what is going on with Lorelei and the others to keep reading on with this series!
What I Didn’t Like:
👎 Overall plot: As I mentioned, nothing beyond the kidnapping plot line (which was about half the book) held my interest. It felt very standard and uneventful. Things were solved to simply and easily, in my opinion.
👎 The romance: You're probably seeing this bullet and wondering why I also have it listed under things I love. Well, I have some split feelings on the romance. I think it was fantastic up until the kidnapping trope ended, and then became very bland for the rest of the book. They didn't give me butterflies and everything felt very predictable.
💞 Read this if you liked: Twisted Pride by Cora Reilly, Saint by A. Zavarelli
⚠️ Content Warnings: violence, blood
Twisted Games by Ana Huang
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Bodyguard/princess romance, forbidden love, age-gap... this book checked off so many boxes! ✅
This story follows Bridget, the close friend of Ava from Twisted Love and Princess of Eldorra, as her laidback life suddenly takes an abrupt turn for the serious and political.
I enjoyed the political drama their relationship brought on, and I loved to see Rhys and Bridget fighting for one another. Above all else, the smut was fantastic. Rhys is a dirty talking hero by definition and I am here for it!
While I loved the tropes this book served, I couldn’t quite connect with the heart of this story. It took 40% in to get to their first kiss yet still the tension felt non-existent to me. I suppose I would have liked this story more if their romantic relationship was more lighthearted to begin, rather than it only culminating when Bridget’s whole life was about to change. I suppose in this regard, things felt forced to me.
I also can’t get it out of my head thatNikolai abdicated without talking to Bridget first. He’s prepared for this his whole life and she hasn’t! If he doesn’t feel ready or even want the position of king, why would he expect his little sister to feel differently? It just felt very ridiculous to me, and non-brotherly. At the very least, he should have tried harder to get the marriage law repealed before giving up. Hell, if he didn’t think to resorting to blackmail to get what he wanted like Bridget did, maybe he wouldn’t have made a good king after all. .
I also had a headache from trying to figure out the family trees/affairs. I had an absolute heart attackwhen Rhys revealed Andreas was his brother and I thought there was incest involved. That whole “twist” made me feel sick, and I can’t comprehend how Andreas was suddenly painted as a good guy despite the plethora of negative stories we’ve been told about him as a person. He’s not a good person just because he wanted to help Bridget out once! In fact, his first introduction in this book is that hems Bridget cousin who “tried to grope her once under the table”. Yuck.
Despite the things I disliked, I do genuinely enjoy Ana Huang’s writing style and her investment into creating elaborate plots to pair with each romance. I will without a doubt be back to read Josh and Jules’ story next!
This story follows Bridget, the close friend of Ava from Twisted Love and Princess of Eldorra, as her laidback life suddenly takes an abrupt turn for the serious and political.
I enjoyed the political drama their relationship brought on, and I loved to see Rhys and Bridget fighting for one another. Above all else, the smut was fantastic. Rhys is a dirty talking hero by definition and I am here for it!
While I loved the tropes this book served, I couldn’t quite connect with the heart of this story. It took 40% in to get to their first kiss yet still the tension felt non-existent to me. I suppose I would have liked this story more if their romantic relationship was more lighthearted to begin, rather than it only culminating when Bridget’s whole life was about to change. I suppose in this regard, things felt forced to me.
I also can’t get it out of my head that
I also had a headache from trying to figure out the family trees/affairs. I had an absolute heart attack
Despite the things I disliked, I do genuinely enjoy Ana Huang’s writing style and her investment into creating elaborate plots to pair with each romance. I will without a doubt be back to read Josh and Jules’ story next!
Forever Right Now by Emma Scott
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m a sucker for a hot single daddy 🤪
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I couldn’t put this book down once I started! I loved so many aspects of this story: the character development of both Piper and Brendan, the witty one-liners delivered by Hannah, the A+ steamy scenes... the list goes on and on.
Piper is hilarious and despite her being an heiress without a drop of reality when the book starts, she manages to be relatable still. Brendan is a cynical, closed-off Captain who is oh so easy to fall in love with. The way their relationship developed was so heart-warming. I can’t quantify how many times I said “when will it be my turn?” at the sweet things Brendan does for Piper. As someone whose love language is acts of service, I was head over heels for Brendan since this is 99% how he expresses his feelings as well.
I only rated .5 shy of a perfect 5 star rating because I had hoped there would be a more profound conclusion, but it fell slightly short of that hope. Piper’s reasoning forrunning back to LA didn’t make sense to me given her insistent declaration of love and affirmation that she would stay . This probably could have been done better, in my opinion, and a more emotional and personal ending given. I loved the last few paragraphs for exactly that reason, I simply wanted more of it.
Tessa Bailey, you have a new fan with this one, and you bet I’ll be back to read Hannah’s story!
Piper is hilarious and despite her being an heiress without a drop of reality when the book starts, she manages to be relatable still. Brendan is a cynical, closed-off Captain who is oh so easy to fall in love with. The way their relationship developed was so heart-warming. I can’t quantify how many times I said “when will it be my turn?” at the sweet things Brendan does for Piper. As someone whose love language is acts of service, I was head over heels for Brendan since this is 99% how he expresses his feelings as well.
I only rated .5 shy of a perfect 5 star rating because I had hoped there would be a more profound conclusion, but it fell slightly short of that hope. Piper’s reasoning for
Tessa Bailey, you have a new fan with this one, and you bet I’ll be back to read Hannah’s story!
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
1.0
My reading experience in emojis:
🙂
🥰
😳
😯
😧
😰
🤢
🤮
I don’t remember from who on Twitter I picked this rec up from, but I regret ever reading this. I’m going to be sick.
🙂
🥰
😳
😯
😧
😰
🤢
🤮
I don’t remember from who on Twitter I picked this rec up from, but I regret ever reading this. I’m going to be sick.