Sasha Fountain

4.75 stars
Spice: 4.5

This book was an interesting take on the a/b/o verse. Here Weres do not fully shift into wolves; they take on lupine aspects like larger physical bodies and reproductive organs. In this universe, Omegas are rare and highly sought after, but traditionally they are subjects and pretty much owned by Alphas. There is a rift within the Were society between older traditionalist Weres, who want to keep the status quo and bring back older, barbaric customs, and the younger generation, who wants to move into the future and create a more equitable society.

The story starts on the eve of an old barbaric custom; an omega hunt. During the hunt, Alphas hunt and forcibly claim kidnapped Omegas.

Jamie is a human who works a bar frequented by Weres, and on the night before the hunt, he is accosted by what he doesn't realize is an Alpha in the bathroom. He manages to escape the bathroom, and he runs into Asher, the local pack Alpha who captivates him, and Asher is also drawn to Jamie. Asher almost gets into an altercation with the Alpha, who accosted Jamie, and finds out that a council elder invited the Alpha and his pack into Black Creek territory to run an omega hunt. Asher is surprised and upset to learn that an omega hunt has been planned on his territory.

Jamie finishes his shift and goes to sleep in his car because he is unhoused. He feels like he is catching a cold, and he wraps himself into his sleeping bag and is trying to get some sleep when his car is broken into and is abducted. We find out that Jamie is a rare human Omega which is why the Alpha came onto him in the bathroom. We find out that he is going into heat, which he does not understand. He was abducted to add another Omega to the hunt.

When the omegas are let out to begin running for the hunt, Asher recognizes Jamie as his mate and joins the hunt. The first encounter between Asher and Jamie is definitely dubcon because Asher realizes that Jamie believed the whole situation was a dream and could not consent to the claim, so he did not claim him.

The story has dark elements, but the plot does not dwell on them, and I wish the author fleshed out the story a bit more by exploring those elements. Jamie is snarky and doesn't take shit from anyone. Asher is a very progressive Alpha who sees the value of other designations of Weres, like Betas and Omegas, in leadership.

The book was very spicy and is a good read for folks fond of fated mates, knotting, and mpreg.

Thank you to GRR for an ARC copy; this is my honest review.

Quote I Loved

"Bless the type 4 child, scalp massaged with the milk of cruelty, cranium cursed, crushed between adult knees, drenched in pink lotion."

This poetry collection had me tearing up at times. this collection was a rumination on various lived experiences that, as a Black woman, felt familiar to me. The imagery was so vivid, and I'm definitely reading more of her work.

I'm not much of a horror girlie, so when I got an ALC of this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I decided to read it for the fall in the lead-up to Halloween. It's a mix of Lovecraftian-style horror, film, and Mexican history, which is a great starter horror for people who are scaredy cats lol. Moreno-Garcia touches on a magic system that touches on Nazism, racism, and classism and proves that magic is not just for white elites. The concept that Ewers, the main villain, was a thief who stole magic practices from other practitioners is similar to the way that colonizers have appropriated facets of indigenous cultures and twisted them for their own purposes. Montserrat and Tristán's battle against the forces they awaken with Abel is intriguing and kept my attention. I am a horrible audiobook reader, so it took me over a month to finish, but that's because I get distracted easily, so I listened in small chunks until I finished.

The book is slow to start, and the first 25% is very character-driven and focused on Montserrat and Tristán, which is why it took some time to slog through that portion of the book. Once they meet Abel Urueta, the action really picks up. The complexity of the characters got me hooked, and throughout the book, they work together seamlessly. It was refreshing to have Montserrat as a heroine who knew her shit and didn't take shit from anyone. The dynamic between her and Tristán was intriguing and a little codependent on Tristán's side.

If you are looking for a refreshing horror novel that is easy for beginning horror readers, check this out. This isn't a fast, breezy, and gory read, which I appreciated, but if that's your jam, this book is not for you. I have physical copies of Mexican Gothic and Certain Dark Things, and this is leading me to push them up my TBR.

Thank you to Libro.fm for the ALC, and this is my honest review.

Thank you to Sunny Babe PR for this ARC!

I enjoyed Maeve's journey throughout this novel. She struggled with the grief of losing her mother and best friend. She found a family in an unexpected place, and they stood by her, which was beautiful. This book had me teary-eyed at the end. If you're in the mood for a good fantasy book, check this out!

After reading book 1 of the Sweet Nothings series, The Cupcake Standard, I was excited to dive into book 2. Rhonda and Greg's connection was teased slightly in the first book, and Avery's curiosity about how Rhonda and Greg were awkward around each other piqued my interest.

In Book 1, we see Rhonda as a superficial socialite who constantly overshadows her twin brother, Derek. At the beginning of Book 2, we see that Rhonda has grown and shed the trappings of her shallow life, and she's been in a rut and very reserved. She doesn't wish to return to how things were with her ex-fiancé and former friends, but she's unsure what her next steps should be. She has pined after him for years since he was her chauffeur when she was younger. We learn that she made a play for him a few years ago, and he rebuffed her, and after that, he went to work for her brother.

Greg has been pretty reserved about his life, so they do not know much about him despite being in Rhonda and Derek's life since their teenage years. At the end of Book 1, Greg returns to being Rhonda's driver, and after he drives her home from an event, she asks him about his holiday plans. He mentions his younger sister's New Year's Eve wedding and how he had yet to decide whether he was attending. Rhonda volunteers to be his plus one, secretly hoping to reconnect with him.

Throughout the novel, there are several incidents of Rhonda and Greg judging and misunderstanding each other, which kinda made me want to smack them lol. The romantic tension between them is evident from the beginning of the book. We slowly learn about Greg's insecurities and boundaries that caused him to rebuff Rhonda all those years ago.

Rhonda has kept many parts of herself secret from her friends and family, especially her claustrophobia and the harassment by her ex-fiancé. She did not want to show her weaknesses to the world, so she avoided revealing those things. Greg takes care of her after several of her panic attacks, and he encourages her to get help. Rhonda slowly learns that she has to share her burdens, and with Greg's support, she tells her friends and her brother about what's been going on with her.

We also learn that her parents are incredibly elitist because they refuse to accept that Rhonda is in a relationship with Greg. I don't want to spoil the plot, so I'll stop my recap.

I liked The Jellybean Dilemma better than The Cupcake Standard. Rhonda and Greg's connection is heartwarming. Seeing Rhonda open up about her trauma and learn why she had difficulty relating to her brother and friends helped endear her character.

Thank you to Maren Jenner for the ARC copy; this is my honest review.