romancingthereader's Reviews (1.65k)

funny lighthearted 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: No

 Not to be creepy, but I feel like Morgan Elizabeth and I would be best friends. I just vibe with her writing that much.

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Never Been Worse by Morgan Elizabeth

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: The Evergreen Park character series. Book 3.  

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book ARC on Kindle. ๐Ÿ†“๏ธ on KU 

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Rockstar romance

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Marriage of convenience, he falls first, golden retriever/black cat.   

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: After a rough breakup, Harper's reputation is in shambles. Wes, her friend who also happens to be a rockstar who needs help deflecting attention from a bandmate, asks her to marry him so they can both benefit from the positive press.

๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: Listen, I've got to be honest. I am always going to be a fan of a man who is down bad for YEARS, just waiting for his chance on the sidelines. And Wes was that guy.

Never Been Worse had all of my favorite things in it, and was also relatively chill on the drama. I loved how they got married spontaneously. I loved how Wes held his ground, and there was no gray area - he told her he wanted her and that was that. He let Harper come to him, and when the fireworks started they never stopped.

Just being completely honest, I am kind of over the whole revenge thing at this point. The Seasons for Revenge series did it really well, and I felt a little eye roll seeing it pop up here too. I say that knowing it only knocked it down a half point for me -  I literally cracked up the entire time, regardless because the characters were all hysterical and the relationship dynamics from the first two books were *chef's kiss* on display. And if you haven't read that previous series, you wouldn't notice this at all. I just could have done without that aspect of the book in general.

Overall, I see that signature pink cover, and I am ready to ride for Morgan Elizabeth every time... and this book was no different.

 ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 4.5/5 โญโญโญโญ

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 3/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ

๐‘ฐ ๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’†๐’Š๐’—๐’†๐’… ๐’‚๐’ ๐‘จ๐‘น๐‘ช ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’†๐’™๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’‚๐’ ๐’‰๐’๐’๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’—๐’Š๐’†๐’˜. 
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This one was good, but not great like I hoped.

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Crash Landing by Annie McQuaid

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Standalone

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book ARC courtesy of Netgalley.

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Contemporary romance

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Survival, second chance, enemies-to-lovers.

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Piper and Wyatt's plane crashes in route to their best friend's wedding, leaving them stranded on an island to work out issues from their past.

 ๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: I might have pumped this one up in my head a little bit. The cover was gorgeous. I loved the concept. I haven't read a lot of plane crash/wilderness survival books so I thought this would be a bit different. 

It gave me exactly what it said it would, though, and nothing more. The depth of the pair's issues were high-school level, and it didn't feel like enough. I didn't love the FMC, especially her choice to switch professions at the end of the book. It just felt like it all wasn't developed enough - the characters, the story, etc. There were some bright spots, and emotions that showed through, for sure, it just wasn't something that moved me.

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 3/5 โญโญโญ

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 2/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ

๐‘ฐ ๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’†๐’Š๐’—๐’†๐’… ๐’‚๐’ ๐‘จ๐‘น๐‘ช ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’†๐’™๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’‚๐’ ๐’‰๐’๐’๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’—๐’Š๐’†๐’˜. 
dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Sav R. Miller got me to read this book with a two-sentence Threads post. This is what it said: โ€œMy Rapunzel remix with a bisexual science-loving mafia princess and the bisexual mafia boss who will do literally anything to win his wife back--starting with murder and ending with begging--releases this Tuesday.โ€

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Stolen Vows by Sav R. Miller

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Black Rose Auction character series.
Book 4.

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book on Kindle. ๐Ÿ†“ on KU.

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Mafia romance

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Opposites attract, second chance, heโ€™s loved her all along, women in STEM.

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Stella is forced to marry Leo when her father canโ€™t pay his debts. But she escapes - and seven years later heโ€™s ready to get her back.

๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: You guys know Iโ€™m picky about mafia romances. My qualms begin and usually end with the FMCs. But when I tell you this girlie goes to collegeโ€ฆ it made me so happy.

Yes youโ€™re still dealing with a virgin FMC, but Sav R. Miller works the story so well it doesnโ€™t matter. And if you love seeing a powerful man just fall to his knees for his woman, Leo is your guy.

This is the second Iโ€™ve read of the Black Rose Auction series - by accident really - and Iโ€™ve really enjoyed both so far.

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 4/5 โญโญโญโญ

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 3.5/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ
dark emotional mysterious 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: Complicated

Blake Black continues to have me in an absolute chokehold.

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Scattered Glitter by Blake Black

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Glitter and Gleam Duet, Part 1.

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book ARC on Kindle.  ๐Ÿ†“๏ธ on KU.

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Why Choose romance

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Golden retriever, black cat, hidden identity, Vegas vibes.

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Novalee is hiding out in Vegas as a stripper, alive but not living. She meets a family of men who promise her a chance to feel alive againโ€”the only caveat being that she has to help them bring down the one person who destroyed their family.

๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: Yea, I get that that synopsis is a little vague - but it's part one of a duet, so sue me.

I really enjoyed the Soulful Seas duet when I read it last winter, so I've been keeping an eye out on my next go-round with Blake Black. And this world was intriguing to say the least. A stripper and pickpocket drowning in grief. A cast of men shadowed by trauma, with this unexplained magic. It's Oceans 11 meets Now You See Me, all under the beautiful neon lights on Vegas.

Part one was GREAT. Blake Black really set up a cast of characters you cant help but be intrigued by. I loved Sylus, the golden retriever who is so loud in love, just as much as I loved Alaric, the homebound agoraphobe who can't bring himself to leave the house. There's a lot to solve in book 2, and I am so glad it's only a month away, because I can't get enough.

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 4.5/5 โญโญโญโญ

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 3.5/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ

๐‘ฐ ๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’†๐’Š๐’—๐’†๐’… ๐’‚๐’ ๐‘จ๐‘น๐‘ช ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’†๐’™๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’‚๐’ ๐’‰๐’๐’๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’—๐’Š๐’†๐’˜. 
emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Thereโ€™s something about this paranormal universe that just makes me happy to be back.

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: A Rebel Without Claws by Juliette Cross

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Southern Charm character series.
Book 1.

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book on Kindle. ๐Ÿ†“ on KU.

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Paranormal romance

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Professional fighter, reformed bad boy, opposites attract, fated mates.

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Ronan moves to Louisiana to fight professionally, leaving a dark past behind in Texas. There he meets Celine, a young witch with a protective family, who might be his match in more ways than one.

๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: I was searching for paranormal romances once and asked my followers to recommend me some, and about 70% of them said the Stay a Spell series. I motored through them, happy as a clam, because they were such fun reads. And now we get the next generation.

Celine and Ronanโ€™s story was like a hug. Not much couple drama, great character development, a wolf who wonโ€™t stop once heโ€™s found his woman. The โ€œsecond genโ€ of it all wasnโ€™t bad either - I donโ€™t feel like you NEED to read the first series to understand the second, and there werenโ€™t too many characters to keep track of.

Iโ€™m definitely going to dig into these as they release this time, so I donโ€™t miss a second of the fun.

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 4.5/5 โญโญโญโญ

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 3/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ
dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I haven't really paid attention to this series, but I can't turn down a chance to read anything new from Sara Cate. And this was short, sweet and perfectly smutty.

๐Ÿ“• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป: Shattered Innocence by Sara Cate

๐Ÿ“™ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€: Black Rose Auction character series. Book 5.

๐Ÿ“— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜€: E-book ARC on Kindle. ๐Ÿ†“๏ธ on KU.

๐Ÿ“˜ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ: Fairytale retelling

๐Ÿ“” ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€: FFM, Cinderella vibes, novella, taboo

๐Ÿ“– ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€: Birdie has been locked away by her step mother, and now she's being sold at auction to the highest bidder. Her step-sister tries to save her by begging the powerful Alaric Stone to intervene.

๐ŸŒŸ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„: Sara Cate books always hit the spot, and this came at the perfect time when I needed something short and perfectly spicy.

I liked the vibe of this book. Darkish, fairytale retelling with these taboo vibes. Very Sara Cate-ish to have it seem like a love triangle when in fact they all are very much into each other. And we all end in one spicy little happy family. 

The pages turn quickly on this one - so I highly recommend it to help reset if you're in a book slump, or for a busy weekend where you don't have time for something too deep. You'll find yourself in love with these ladies - and well, Alaric too :) 

๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: 4/5 โญโญโญโญ

๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น: 3.5/5 ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ

๐‘ฐ ๐’“๐’†๐’„๐’†๐’Š๐’—๐’†๐’… ๐’‚๐’ ๐‘จ๐‘น๐‘ช ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’ƒ๐’๐’๐’Œ ๐’Š๐’ ๐’†๐’™๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’‚๐’ ๐’‰๐’๐’๐’†๐’”๐’• ๐’“๐’†๐’—๐’Š๐’†๐’˜.