stellyshadows's reviews
404 reviews

Dark Notes by Pam Godwin

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this, very spice and dark and lots of triggering things but the character development was good and I really felt for the FMC and I thought it was unique since it had to do with mostly piano music which I absolutely love. 

Please Hate Me by Erin Mersey

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Please Hate Me: Unholy book 1
Pub date: Oct 13, 2025
Contemporary Romance, why choose, Poly relationship MMFFM
-cult, emotional damage, accidental pregnancy, lots of spice. 

This is my first poly relationship romance I’ve read really with this much people involved. This was a bit long for a romance book but the character depth is great and we get some backstory on the characters too. I enjoyed this overall and was hoping for Seb to get more on Cameron, and I wanted more baby content but beside that. If you love why choose kinky romance with accidental pregnancy and age gap with second chance then you’ll love this! :) it was so fun! 

A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

3.75

Don’t get me wrong this was good but I didn’t get the hype that everyone was having about this book saying it was heartbreaking and stuff especially at the end. Pretty basic romance but not HEA and I get the whole metaphor used here with the whiskey and being an “addict” but by the end it started to get annoying but it still was good! Just not the best.  

Vice & Virtue: Part One: A Prohibition Era Mafia Romance by Wren Gray

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Vice + Virtue: Part 1 

Pub date: March 15th

Format: kindle from BookSirens

I really enjoyed this. I loved how Eion is so protective over Evie. It’s very touch her and ☠️ it’s slow burn mafia romance. I like the characters and family dynamic in this more than others. Evie lost her aunt and uncle, her uncle because of his acts within the mafia he was apart of and the Irish Devil known as Eion has been protective of Evie for years. She is ballerina who loves to dance and for years she’s been assaulted by a dirty cop named Tommy. I hated him. This ends of a cliffhanger so part two is needed but I recommend this if you enjoy anything mafia. 

Secrets and Lies(Season Sisters Book 1) by Emerson Reign

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

Right from the beginning I was sucked in. This gets really crazy and there are a lot of heavy things within this story so look up the triggers before reading but if you love dark stuff, you’ll love this. It’s a why choose romance and touch her and ☠️ vibes as well as obsession and the 3 brothers are vigilante. So entertaining but I was hoping for a bit more about FMC’s past. 

SIN: Bone Deep by Everleigh Miles

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Format: Kindle arc

Dark paranormal spicy romance

The writing was great and pretty quick read. It’s very paranormal which isn’t my fave but it was fun and the characters Elenyx was fun and I love how mysterious Ender has been. lol(reminds me of enderman from Minecraft😂) I like the magic and witchyness of the world and it feels new adult to me as well. If you love steamy witchy/paranormal romance I definitely know you’ll love this! Ender is definitely shadow daddy. I didn’t like Malachar at all.. I didn’t like him with Nyx, I preferred Nyx and Ender. I also did enjoy the story including the spicy scenes but the writing for that could have been a bit more normal cause every time the word “arse” was used in those scenes it just took me out of it. Overall pretty good though. 

Search and Destroy by JT Sawyer, JT Sawyer

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really loved this. The characters were fun to get to know and all the ops going on it kept me entertained through the whole book. If you’re a fan of military fiction or books that deal with heavy military with some action then I really recommend! I’m a sucker for a good military book. 

Games of Sin (Bloodlines, #1). by Aria R. Blue

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was so enjoyable! I love mafia romances and this was pretty enjoyable. Very spicy at the halfway all the way to the ending so if you love spice this would be great for you. I loved the main characters Camilla and Roman. This is hate to love/enemies to lovers and it’s two different mafia families. I recommend, it was a fun time. 

Castle by Kashmira Kamat

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was great! Very psychological and I enjoyed this from beginning to end. Our main character Millie is a caretaker for a rich man who lost his memory during an accident and throughout Millie and Castle get closer and they have a romance. This book is filled with drama and revenge and lots of secrets! especially at the ending. I recommend to people who love messy romances and family drama and lies. 

Amidst the Darkness by Laura Rise

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

 This was kinda boring. Tori is just very one dimensional and the plot was just kinda basic, the only thing I liked about this was that it has to do with natural disasters and stuff like that, I had better hopes for this but very basic and meh.