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tessshelf's reviews
64 reviews
Don't Stop by Lauren Biel
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
🔪 We’re a match made in hell, and even the devil is blushing at what we’ve done 🔪
🔪 This was so weird and yet I struggled to put down, not dissimilar to Dalton struggling to leave Rayna alone. Dalton meets Rayna as she’s hitchhiking back to her sober house and then forever. I loved that both of them could sense a darkness within each other, the way they just called out to the ‘weird’within eah other. They were both safe with each other, showing off whatever their ‘weird’was (blood/taxidermy/etc). This was so unhinged from the first page and I just found myself laughing at each relationship milestone that Rayna and Dalton encountered, but that might be a reflection of me and my current dark-romance reader era. This novella is DARK! Not for those who only want spice ... you also need to accept the dead body play and gore that Lauren has included 🔪
🔪 This was so weird and yet I struggled to put down, not dissimilar to Dalton struggling to leave Rayna alone. Dalton meets Rayna as she’s hitchhiking back to her sober house and then forever. I loved that both of them could sense a darkness within each other, the way they just called out to the ‘weird’within eah other. They were both safe with each other, showing off whatever their ‘weird’was (blood/taxidermy/etc). This was so unhinged from the first page and I just found myself laughing at each relationship milestone that Rayna and Dalton encountered, but that might be a reflection of me and my current dark-romance reader era. This novella is DARK! Not for those who only want spice ... you also need to accept the dead body play and gore that Lauren has included 🔪
Devious Vow by Jagger Cole
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
"I don't belong to anyone."
"Well that's not true at all, is it?"
Because she does belong to someone. ME.
🌃 Eloise and Alastair have been kept apart by the universe for the past 10 years. Perfect for each other but are they spend so much time butting heads that I questioned if the tense was going to be satisfied. It was. There's just something visceral about these two and their enemies to lovers journey. The way that Alastair held on to the betrayal and heartache that Eloise caused was just so gripping that I think I was so invested in Eloise's backstory. I mean there had to be a reason that she hurt him so bad. We did get a roster of characters that was not hard to keep track of and that was really awesome to build the mafia world around Alastair and Eloise. One character who felt like she didn't really fit was Eloise's sister Camille. I found it really hard to work out how her sabotage and motivations fit in the story. She did some really awful things to Eloise and ruined her budding romance with Alastair back in college but other than self-centred short sightedness, we didn’t really get to understand how she inserted herself into this mess and how Massimo was able to use her to blackmail Eloise. How did Massimo and Camille make sense? <-- My only question for this book. The tension between Eloise and Alastair lead to some fantastic spice when they did surrender themselves to their desire for each other 🌃
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Jagger Cole for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
"Well that's not true at all, is it?"
Because she does belong to someone. ME.
🌃 Eloise and Alastair have been kept apart by the universe for the past 10 years. Perfect for each other but are they spend so much time butting heads that I questioned if the tense was going to be satisfied. It was. There's just something visceral about these two and their enemies to lovers journey. The way that Alastair held on to the betrayal and heartache that Eloise caused was just so gripping that I think I was so invested in Eloise's backstory. I mean there had to be a reason that she hurt him so bad. We did get a roster of characters that was not hard to keep track of and that was really awesome to build the mafia world around Alastair and Eloise. One character who felt like she didn't really fit was Eloise's sister Camille. I found it really hard to work out how her sabotage and motivations fit in the story. She did some really awful things to Eloise and ruined her budding romance with Alastair back in college but other than self-centred short sightedness, we didn’t really get to understand how she inserted herself into this mess and how Massimo was able to use her to blackmail Eloise. How did Massimo and Camille make sense? <-- My only question for this book. The tension between Eloise and Alastair lead to some fantastic spice when they did surrender themselves to their desire for each other 🌃
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Jagger Cole for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Love Sick: A Valentine's Day Charity Anthology by K. Elle Morrison
Did not finish book. Stopped at 64%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 64%.
This anthology was super cute and had such awesome potential. I don’t know if it was my reading mood or if it was the anthology stories itself but I did DNF this at 64% as I was just struggling to engage or continue reading this book. I think I struggled with the authors writing changing so frequently, as well as how short some of the stories were
The stories I did read ranged from slightly confusing to delightful. I really enjoyed the stories that tended to be more sports romance or dark romance themed. There are some great tropes here, including mafia, age gap, MM, brothers best friend, why choose, hockey/sports romance, shapeshifters. There is an absolute overload of smut in each story and it is FANTASTIC. I have definitely found some new authors I am very excited to read 🌹
**Thank-you to all the amazing authors in this anthology and Wicked Reads Services for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
The stories I did read ranged from slightly confusing to delightful. I really enjoyed the stories that tended to be more sports romance or dark romance themed. There are some great tropes here, including mafia, age gap, MM, brothers best friend, why choose, hockey/sports romance, shapeshifters. There is an absolute overload of smut in each story and it is FANTASTIC. I have definitely found some new authors I am very excited to read 🌹
**Thank-you to all the amazing authors in this anthology and Wicked Reads Services for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Face Off by Teagan Hunter
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
🐶 I’m certain there is no way there’s another person out there as good at kissing as Lawson is because he doesn’t just kiss me -he claims me, marks me as his and his alone 🐶
🐶 This book was nice. It was easy to read and keep flowing nicely. Rory, our FMC, started out strong, grumpy-black-cat-hates-everyone type of character and that was so refreshing to read. I loved that our MMC Lawson was the sunshine and Rory was the grump. But then she softened, soooo quickly which made me a little disappointed because I’d hoped that she would stand her ground when it came to Lawson and not cave in immediately to his flirtation but she eventually did around. This was okay, and I did enjoy most of it. The tension was palpable for the entire book and it was deeply satisfying when they finally hooked up at about 60%. I enjoyed the writing style, and the plot was easy to follow. I was never bored reading the story, and I flipped through the pages so quickly 🐶
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Teagan Hunter for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
🐶 This book was nice. It was easy to read and keep flowing nicely. Rory, our FMC, started out strong, grumpy-black-cat-hates-everyone type of character and that was so refreshing to read. I loved that our MMC Lawson was the sunshine and Rory was the grump. But then she softened, soooo quickly which made me a little disappointed because I’d hoped that she would stand her ground when it came to Lawson and not cave in immediately to his flirtation but she eventually did around. This was okay, and I did enjoy most of it. The tension was palpable for the entire book and it was deeply satisfying when they finally hooked up at about 60%. I enjoyed the writing style, and the plot was easy to follow. I was never bored reading the story, and I flipped through the pages so quickly 🐶
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Teagan Hunter for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Toxic Love by Jagger Cole
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
🌹 “I am going to push you past every single boundary you have until you’re mine.”
“I already am.” 🌹
🌹 Tempest Black was so badass but impulsive it was irritating but I was absolutely captivated to see how this swapped-arranged marriage turned out. Dante Sartorre was just as beguiling as his wife was, big bad mafia-adjacent, international man of mystery and sex, and maybe good-bad guy. Spending time humanising the shady dealings of the New York mafia scene, worrying how Tempest and Dante were going as they ended up living together, visiting Dante at his business Club Venom, and chasing down the Apex Club, this book took us on a quite the journey through their “marriage”. Dante and Tempest are both such strong characters - they’re both stubborn, they have the cutest and charmingly funny moments, and they have such crazy chemistry in this book. Starting as anger and distrust, fueled by the secrets from Dante’s past that have to do with Tempests’ family made the inevitable hook up, sexy fun times and big feelings (love) so so satisfying. Seeing how we were going to get a HEA with Tempest coming to the end of her life, had me aggressively attached to this book. She had her crusade to find the killer’s of her best friend Nina keeping her burning while Dante spent too much time on his crusade for his sister’s killers. I may or may not have been screaming at my kindle for Tempest and Dante to communicate effectively so they could team up and take the mafia-adjacent world by storm and F**K UP SOME BAD GUYS TOGETHER! Dante and Tempest’s dynamics is top notch and I adore so so much everything about them! 🌹
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Jagger Cole for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
“I already am.” 🌹
🌹 Tempest Black was so badass but impulsive it was irritating but I was absolutely captivated to see how this swapped-arranged marriage turned out. Dante Sartorre was just as beguiling as his wife was, big bad mafia-adjacent, international man of mystery and sex, and maybe good-bad guy. Spending time humanising the shady dealings of the New York mafia scene, worrying how Tempest and Dante were going as they ended up living together, visiting Dante at his business Club Venom, and chasing down the Apex Club, this book took us on a quite the journey through their “marriage”. Dante and Tempest are both such strong characters - they’re both stubborn, they have the cutest and charmingly funny moments, and they have such crazy chemistry in this book. Starting as anger and distrust, fueled by the secrets from Dante’s past that have to do with Tempests’ family made the inevitable hook up, sexy fun times and big feelings (love) so so satisfying. Seeing how we were going to get a HEA with Tempest coming to the end of her life, had me aggressively attached to this book. She had her crusade to find the killer’s of her best friend Nina keeping her burning while Dante spent too much time on his crusade for his sister’s killers. I may or may not have been screaming at my kindle for Tempest and Dante to communicate effectively so they could team up and take the mafia-adjacent world by storm and F**K UP SOME BAD GUYS TOGETHER! Dante and Tempest’s dynamics is top notch and I adore so so much everything about them! 🌹
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Jagger Cole for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Sweet Captivity: Dual POV by Julia Sykes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
We have 2 main characters who are caught in a terrible world and they end up isolated together which forced their bonding and ultimate co-dependency. Our FMC Samantha definitely knows her strength is as a hacker, fighting crimes behind a computer screen. Andres the MMC is stuck in his brothers crime ring, simply by being born into the empire. I definitely got Beauty and the Beast vibes, in that Andres was scared and keeping Sam locked in his apartment and Sam ended up seeing through Andres’ scary exterior to the person he was beneath. I liked seeing the struggle that Andres had internally about keeping Samantha and his role in the drug/human trafficking ring. He just wanted some thing for himself and he just wanted someone to be part of his life for who he is as a person. Sam may have been the worst FBI field agent I have ever read about. Which commanding officer cleared her training for being out in the field and WHY did her colleagues not know what she was investigating? Terrible friends she has and is (stalking her crush/friend and his naughty online activities and proclivities). This was very spicy and had frequent spicy scenes to break up the plot and avoided explanations of what was occurring. I was a little disappointed that Andres used BDSM for "training” Samantha to be subservient but a really important part of BDSM is consent and clear boundaries. I am curious about the next one book and who we get to see.
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Julia Sykes for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Heathens by Alta Hensley
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
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
I could almost taste her fear. It was like a drug that fueled me, making me stronger and faster ... Her fear tasted like honey. It was delicious 🥵
Storee and Locke’s story was addictive and I was as obsessed with them as they were with each other! This book and their love was dark, haunting, passionate. Because Locke was the best friend of Storee's deceased father he felt responsible for her and sought to protect her even though she definitely did not need his protection. Storee was strong, fiercely independent and stubborn; this obviously clashed with Locke's protection. Combine these two with Heathen's Hollow's annual Hunt - where men chase women throughout the island on the weekend for some primal play - and we get a delightfully dark romance. This was everything I wanted this book to be ... we have a stalker, we have an age gap, we have a forbidden romance, we have questionable business practices (sminky smex club), and we have primal play, what else do we want from a dark romance?! The descriptions throughout this book were so graphic and vivid that it felt like I was not only a voyeur for this book but a part of this book too. I only wish Storee and Locke confirmed their relationship forever after their fight by joining the Hunt a final time.
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Alta Hensley for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Storee and Locke’s story was addictive and I was as obsessed with them as they were with each other! This book and their love was dark, haunting, passionate. Because Locke was the best friend of Storee's deceased father he felt responsible for her and sought to protect her even though she definitely did not need his protection. Storee was strong, fiercely independent and stubborn; this obviously clashed with Locke's protection. Combine these two with Heathen's Hollow's annual Hunt - where men chase women throughout the island on the weekend for some primal play - and we get a delightfully dark romance. This was everything I wanted this book to be ... we have a stalker, we have an age gap, we have a forbidden romance, we have questionable business practices (sminky smex club), and we have primal play, what else do we want from a dark romance?! The descriptions throughout this book were so graphic and vivid that it felt like I was not only a voyeur for this book but a part of this book too. I only wish Storee and Locke confirmed their relationship forever after their fight by joining the Hunt a final time.
**Thank-you to Valentine PR and Alta Hensley for an Advanced Reader Copy to read and review
Invisibly Grace by Avery McDougall
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
🩻 Pretend I'm not going to be in a wheelchair in five years and fill it out like I'm Grace Turing: Real Girl 🩻
🩻 What a different book 😍 I loved this unique story, that was incredibly relatable and had me sobbing, as I identified with Grace’s pain 🤣 I really enjoyed Grace with her sass, whit and fantastically bizarre facts ‼️ Grace is such an important character for those who live with chronic illness and disability and very educational to those those who have minimal experience with the topic, and I couldn’t think of another book that showed chronic illness and how we suffer with it 💯 Daniel, her best friend, was the most amazing support for Grace and he saw Grace not as ‘Sick-Girl’ but for her who she is 😁 This wasn’t some sort of disability-inspiration porn either 🤩 I was enraptured as we got to know Grace and her life, her friendships, her family dynamic, her hobbies, it doesn't solely surround her illness which was amazing to be a part of as the reader 🥰
** Thank-you to Avery for sending a physical copy of this book for an honest review 🥰
🩻 What a different book 😍 I loved this unique story, that was incredibly relatable and had me sobbing, as I identified with Grace’s pain 🤣 I really enjoyed Grace with her sass, whit and fantastically bizarre facts ‼️ Grace is such an important character for those who live with chronic illness and disability and very educational to those those who have minimal experience with the topic, and I couldn’t think of another book that showed chronic illness and how we suffer with it 💯 Daniel, her best friend, was the most amazing support for Grace and he saw Grace not as ‘Sick-Girl’ but for her who she is 😁 This wasn’t some sort of disability-inspiration porn either 🤩 I was enraptured as we got to know Grace and her life, her friendships, her family dynamic, her hobbies, it doesn't solely surround her illness which was amazing to be a part of as the reader 🥰
** Thank-you to Avery for sending a physical copy of this book for an honest review 🥰
That One Night by Emily Rath
🥵 WOW!! SHORT, SHARP AND DOWN TO THE VERY SEXY POINT 😉 Rachel is having a bad time, and Jake comes in to help her evade a gross douchey Chad-type; and boy how I wish someone would sweep me off my feet like Jake when I have a bad day 😏 WOW the chemistry between Rachel and Jake kept me captivated for ever single word in this 20k novella 🥵 the spicy scenes in this book were so hot the heat just jumped off the page 🌶️🌶️ I was really sad when Rachel left Jake in the morning but also what a great tee-up for PUCKING AROUND 🫣
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Right now, all signs point to you down to my room and fuck your brains out
🥵 WOW!! SHORT, SHARP AND DOWN TO THE VERY SEXY POINT 😉 Rachel is having a bad time, and Jake comes in to help her evade a gross douchey Chad-type; and boy how I wish someone would sweep me off my feet like Jake when I have a bad day 😏 WOW the chemistry between Rachel and Jake kept me captivated for ever single word in this 20k novella 🥵 the spicy scenes in this book were so hot the heat just jumped off the page 🌶️🌶️ I was really sad when Rachel left Jake in the morning but also what a great tee-up for PUCKING AROUND 🫣
Pucking Around by Emily Rath
🏒 WOW!! I was so excited for this to drop onto my kindle and Emily did not disappoint 😏 we got all the feelings, all the drama and all the spicy action that we deserve 🥵 Jake was so cute, and loving, and excited about the whole journey 😆 and as he got closer to Caleb it only made him more confident with himself and the team 🥰 Caleb was the sexy daddy dom the group needed to help them feel each other 😉 Ilmari the Finnish goalie god was just *chefs kiss* PERFECTION 😘 His surly outside, the way he cares for the people around him (his team, his Rakas, the boys), his protective instincts, his refractory period 😏 he has been added to the top of the bookish boyfriend list 😉 ahh to be dr Rachel Price, death by too much dick 😌
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I can hardly draw a breath as I let my men love me, tearing me open as they drive themselves deeper into every part of me - my heart, my psyche, my soul
🏒 WOW!! I was so excited for this to drop onto my kindle and Emily did not disappoint 😏 we got all the feelings, all the drama and all the spicy action that we deserve 🥵 Jake was so cute, and loving, and excited about the whole journey 😆 and as he got closer to Caleb it only made him more confident with himself and the team 🥰 Caleb was the sexy daddy dom the group needed to help them feel each other 😉 Ilmari the Finnish goalie god was just *chefs kiss* PERFECTION 😘 His surly outside, the way he cares for the people around him (his team, his Rakas, the boys), his protective instincts, his refractory period 😏 he has been added to the top of the bookish boyfriend list 😉 ahh to be dr Rachel Price, death by too much dick 😌
Thank-you to emily and her team for sending an eARC copy of this book and a physical copy for my shelves for an honest review 🥰