Scarlett Rue
I liked this book. I really did. But... something felt off the entire time I was reading it and I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first.
I think I figured it out.
It's not just “too much exposition.” It's that in the first half every scene feels like it has to be run through Maggie's internal “books I've read” filter before we're allowed to just... experience it. Instead of letting something happen and letting me react to it, I get Maggie going “this is like X, this is like Y, this means Z...” over and over.
After a while it starts to feel less like I'm reading a story and more like I'm listening to someone summarize one.
And that messes with the pacing hard.
Because on top of that, anything that should actually be difficult? Isn't. Or if it is, it only lasts for a short while and then it's handled and we move on to the next checkpoint. There were so many moments where I was like “okay, this is going to be a problem...” and then nope. Solved. Done. Moving on.
“Super easy, barely an inconvenience” is honestly the best way I can describe it.
Maggie especially. She goes from literally homeless on the streets to high nobility in what feels like a couple of weeks. And yeah, bad things happen to her, there are darker scenes, but none of it really sticks in a way that creates ongoing tension. It just kind of... happens, gets processed, and we move on.
All the roadblocks get lifted. Plans work out. Things that should be stressful... aren't. You keep expecting consequences, and they just don't show up. A lot of that comes from both Maggie's undying nature and her full knowledge of the books this world is based on. Things that should require effort or trial and error just... don't.
An easy example: Maggie needs the help of an MC, so she uses her knowledge of the books to get herself intentionally sold to a trafficker he's been tracking for months. She knows exactly how to get chosen, knows there's a hidden passage from prior knowledge, gets inside, lets him in, and the whole place is cleared out in hours.
And then she just... takes over the house.
No fallout. No one asking questions. No consequences. This is a trafficker who's been operating for years, and overnight it's just done and replaced, and nobody in the world seems to care or even notice in a meaningful way. I kept waiting for that to come back around and it never did.
That pattern repeats everywhere.
When she's about to be interrogated by a police captain, she's immediately saved. When she needs to find a serial killer, it takes a couple of pages. Any situation that should have moving parts, friction, or risk just resolves cleanly. Everyone is where they need to be. Nothing really goes wrong.
So I never felt worried. Or tense. Or like anything could truly go wrong.
Which sucks, because the setup is good. The world is interesting. I wanted more weight in those scenes. More resistance. More time spent letting things actually land instead of just checking the box and moving forward.
All that said, I still enjoyed it. It's an easy read and I don't regret picking it up. I recomend it to anyone who would enjoy a fantasy read with some romance sprinkled in - but please PLEASE do not judge Ilona Andrews other books by this one. This one is different than the others.
But if this is your first Ilona Andrews book, I'd honestly point you toward Kate Daniels, Innkeeper, or Hidden Legacy first. Those hit a lot harder in terms of pacing and tension.
And yeah... I hate writing this because I am a full member of the BDH, but it is what it is.
Ok, so as a kid I loved this series and every year from 1985 to 1993 I would by the yearly collection of all the comics that came out that year. I would spend many Saturday afternoons just reading these books (along with Fox Trot by Bill Amend).
I am in a major book slump and was poking around on Libby and discovered that the author continued the series much longer than when I left off - and had put the books into large collections.
I noticed that Libby carries these collections - and now I am reading them.
I don't care that this is a Sunday Comics series - this is a family saga series that takes place over decades and allows the characters to grow up and age. I am the same age as one of the children in the series (Michael), and had the same milestones in my life as were shown in his.
This series isn't “comic” it's very real, and touching, along with humorous - of course it's funny, but it deals with issues that have NEVER been in the Sunday comics, they deal with real life.
Anyhow, I am including them in my Goodreads library because I keep track of books in my Calibre library - and because I am re-reading them - I figured they belong here. I only hope I don't get a ton of recomendations on future comic books because it's just these ones I like.
I kept seeing this book recommended, so I finally picked it up.
It was a solid read, but not as romantic or emotionally resonant as I'd hoped. The constant abuse and derision aimed at the heroine by nearly everyone around her wore me down. I especially couldn't stand her sister—and the fact that the heroine, despite being smart and world-wise, stayed blind to her sister's manipulations was frustrating.
This wasn't a “fun” read for me. The character conflicts dragged me down more than they pulled me in, and I never quite bought how the antagonist managed to completely take over the human group and get away with everything he did.
That said, the worldbuilding was excellent. I really enjoyed the sociological depth of the alien culture, and the reveal at the end about the origin of their religion was easily the best part.
Also, the fact that I found myself kind of liking the raiders probably says a lot about how much dark romance I read.
In the not so distant future there will be an asteroid that is headed for Earth. While the planet has about 20 years to get itself together, there is no avoiding the impact or the fact that it will destroy everyone and everything.
So the world came together and made ships, sending people to “Earth - The Sequel” as it's known. Meanwhile scientists and volunteers all over the earth attempt to get samples to fill the two “Arks” the last of the humans on the Earth will stay behind catalgoging everything possible down to the last minute before they too have to get out to space. No one alive now will ever see the new Earth, but their kids will.
This book is about a young woman who is one of those volunteer scientists desperately cataloging every possible plant (the Fauna Ark). It was said that it was better to have 100 individual cataloged items than 300 duplicates. So, instead of just chucking everything into a ship and getting the heck out, they stay behind. Only people who have no living family or have no mental illness can volunteer. In case the asteroid that is on its way comes early. no one is leaving anyone behind.
This is a rather quiet book about a woman who is thinking about the life she is preserving and the life she has lived and the freind she makes while doing this cataloging.
A good first start to a little anthology series from Kindle Unlimited about various sci-fi, speculative fiction - maybe “Black Mirror” type things.
These are less than 100 pages long, and it's easier to just read them one after another than to pick and choose if you have the time.
I don't know if it's just me, but I keep forgetting that the characters in this book/series aren't living in the real world. This is just how layered and real that they are written, you really forget that they aren't real humans living in the world. Of course we have the usual humor, banter and joy that comes from reading anything with the cast of this series, but it had substance to it.
This is highly erotic, we get three main sexual scenes
Soren/Nora, Nora/Nico, Soren/Kingsley
What happened after Nora answered the door to Nico's home when Kingsley knocked at the end of “The King”?
Although there are different emotional landmines being addressed, there are two main issues at hand.
Nora and Nico's relationship and how it is affecting Soren and Kingsley and Soren's own emotional baggage that has up to now never been mentioned or addressed.
What is talked about, what happens in this novella, only gives a new perspective and insight to what seemed to be minor actions and turns of phrase in the books following “The King”.
Finally, Thank You to Ms. Reisz, who found the perfect time and way to make her readers know that the time for Soren to consider himself “straight but for the one exception” has past and is over. She didn't make a big deal out of it, but she made sure that we knew that SHE knew that it needed to be addressed, and so did it.
I want to also aknowlege and thank her for our White Elepant gift this year.
I thought The Unseen II wrapped things up — that last “Twilight Zone” twist felt like the ending. But when The Unseen III popped up in my Continue the Series recs, I jumped on it.
If you haven't read The Unseen and The Unseen II, stop now. This is a single-arc trilogy — no skipping around. You need the first two for this one to land.
Five years have passed, and Allison is... well, she's Allison. You can change your universe, but you can't outrun who you really are. What starts as a clean slate turns into a slow-motion crash — career destroyed, relationships burned, the bottle always within reach. Meanwhile, the other Allison — Allie — sits on death row, still paying the price for crimes she didn't commit.
Bryan Smith didn't feel like leaving it like that so, he does what any good writer does, he spares Allie from the death chamber and gives her the ability to reclaim her life back. Her heart is still strong, her morals and convictions put her in the right. Allison has made a mess of her life, and Allie wants it back, but first she needs to get back to her own universe, and find Allison before it's too late to save either of them.
I don't need to warn readers that this is like the others where expectations will be subverted...
The last few paragraphs of the book that is delivered on the red carpet before the premiere is a chef's kiss and provides hope for more to come.
Very “A Serbian Film”. I thought I was prepared, but I wasn't. This was almost a DNF, but I did some skimming, and here is the thing. No payoff. Open ending. Not cool. I could have done without the scenes towards the end. Just like “A Serbian Film” remember that scene where the director was telling Milos about the new film genre he was into? Something to do with “newborns”?
Yeah. That's here in full details. This was the first time I literally had to avert my eyes and scan past because it was just wrong. Not gross, but it hit me viscerally how wrong certain statements, and descriptions were.
Of course, reading this might just send you to Amazon and grabbing the book to check it out yourself.
I saw this book on a Youtube “Most Scary or Disturbing Books”, and figured that it would be interesting to check out. It's not as bad as I thought, and actually quite interesting in a twisted way.
The premise is simple. What would happen if we as as humans decided that humans were now considered fit to eat? How would society look if the “new meat” was humans? What rules for raising and selling and processing would this look like? How would society adapt and adjust their thinking to rationalize such things? How would the government step in to allow this to happen?
Well we get a pretty in depth look at what a possible life on earth would look like if a “virus” broke out and infected every animal and was deadly to humans. Of course vegetarianism would be the new way to go, but now “scientists” have determined that we NEED certain protiens and amino acids or something that we cannot get from vegetarian diets alone. So what do we do? Well the governements all got together and decided that humans would become the new “special meat”, and very quickly all those in the government and scientific fields got behind it.
Marcos is a man dealing with deep depression. His wife left him, his father's dimentia is getting worse and he is dealing with the devestating loss of a child that was very much wanted and very hard to concieve. On top of this Marcos is trying very hard to not think about his job. He is a second-in-command at a “meat processing plant”. His job is to hire and fire and promote and manage the daily operations of a processing plant that has been changed from beef to humans. We get to see the exact process from delivery from the “farm” to the packaging of eyes and heads.
You know those meat packing videos you've most likely seen that show the animals going through that process? This book does the same, but it's with humans. It also goes to the farms where they are “raised” it goes to the butcher shops where the meat is sold. It goes to the various homes of people who have special closets where they keep thier own human to be saved and portioned out a bit at a time because this is the new way to show off your money.
The story is more of a prop to basically run you through all the different aspects of life where humans have become the new and ONLY meat to eat.
The story is sad and bleak, but if you ever watched “Faces of Death” or wanted to “see” what it would be like if the humans were treated like we treat cows, sheep, etc. This is the book to do it.
I didn't realize that I had read the first two books in this series and dnf'ed this one a long time ago. Since Goodreads somehow hid my review from my list because of their new policy to basically hide all older books, I didn't know it was reviewed until I looked in my library and saw it. I noted that I skimmed the first two books and DNF'ed this one because I was up late and basically decided that I didn't feel like finishing it. So, reading it now, I can offer a decent review.
I generally enjoy the “humans as pets” trope in sci-fi alien romances. I like it when the humans are treated as actual pets or animals to study, not like dogs you sometimes have sex with. I also appreciate storylines where the humans band together or have a romance with each other—maybe something like “taken and dumped together in the same cage” or a scientific study on humans, where the aliens look at them as actual pets. Sort of a “Toy Story” scenario, where when the aliens aren't looking, the humans act like humans, think like humans, and behave accordingly. This is not that kind of book.
The humans in this book display all the outward behaviors of dogs, while the aliens act completely like people. And yet, these aliens have sex with the humans, who then just go back to being pets. The whole “dog-like” behavior just doesn't work when mixed with a sexual relationship. The main character (FMC) sleeps in a dog bed, wears a collar, and can't leave the house without a leash. She behaves like a dog—looking out windows, being affectionate after her owners are gone for a while, and showing guilt when caught doing something wrong. The aliens treat her like a pet by ruffling her hair, but also have sex with her. It's like the author made a dog-human hybrid, and it felt uncomfortable.
Beyond that, the humans aren't even native to the alien planet. They've been there for decades, but the aliens never recognize them as sentient beings because they can't speak the alien language. It felt odd that something like sign language is what eventually “proves” that the humans have agency. The idea of language being the barrier to recognizing sentience wasn't explored in a satisfying way.
Overall, this book didn't work for me as a good example of the “humans as pets” trope. If you're looking for a better take, Amanda Milo's The Pet Project series does this much better. The humans are treated as pets or guards, but there's no weird sexual element with their owners. Plus, Milo's aliens are more distinct and alien-like, and the romance stays between the humans.
The last in this series was pretty good. The series as a whole ranks last in the “Q” stories. The first trilogy “Monsters in the Dark” introduces “Q” and he makes appearances in at least two more series by this author. I know that the “Goddess Isles” and “Indebted” series has him in cameo but I never finished “Indebted”. However, this is a good read if you enjoyed the others.
Since you don't start this series by this book, you will have to go back to the first book “The Mercer Curse” and go from there. They are all on Kindle Unlimited if you have it.
This was the final book of the series, so if you were holding out until it was done (because it sucks to have cliffhangers), then you can start!
I was recommended this book by r/urbanfantasy when I was wondering which series to read next. This was really good; it was quick and had a lot of humor as well as action.
It is on par with K.F. Breene, Diana Rowland, and some other authors. It was good. I put it at 5 stars because I don't know if I will re-read it, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility.
Our POV is a male necromancer who basically is a badass who ends up coming back home after a 15 year absence to find that his sister has been murdered and the goal of the book is to locate her murderer, and stay alive and out of the hands of those who wish him harm. The only clue he has comes from a source that Alex wants nothing to do with, but might just have to “sell his sould” in order to get some answers.
I will keep reading this series. If you like Urban Fantasy, no sex, no romance, a first person Male POV who has no problem cursing a storm, and has a morally grey compass. Ghosts, and other supernatural and magical things, then give this a read.
I got mine from the library in eBook and also in Graphic Audio.
An easy read where Mercy and Adam go to Montana and end up saving the world. None of the Montana pack are shown. They are in a completely different area. The story is told in multiple POV's from Adam to Mercy, to even Warren and Sherwood and a tiny bit from Mercy's Father Coyote. BUT only Mercy gets the first person POV. The other POV's are more of a “Meanwhile, back at the ranch...” for an incident, or “Going on elsewhere...”.
It was fun, and pretty much all the worries were handled by the end of the book, but the big-bad is still out there waiting.
I loved reading about how much Adam's wolf loves the snow. He spent a lot of time showing a wolfy grin or laughing face.
If you enjoyed the series “New Camelot” you will definitely enjoy this as it takes place in the same D.C. Universe as New Camelot and you get references to the characters from it.
Also, if you haven't read “Salt in the Wound,” you need to. It's the prequel to this series, setting up one of the dominant relationships. The more I think about it, I would honestly say to read it after reading this book. If you don't read it first, you will have the same views as Tristan in this book. However, after reading this and because you are eager for more of the story, you can go to the free prequel “Salt in the Wound” to learn what you didn't know and gain a better perspective on Mark and Isolde.
I was under the impression that this book would be all about the Tristan/Isolde part of the relationship because like anyone who hasn't read that story, I googled it and just read that bit about the journey to the wedding where Tristan and Isolde fall in love. So, I went into this book thinking that it would be about that journey. Well, color me shocked when it was really about the relationship between Mark and Tristan and Isolde is not even mentioned in the story until she is brought out as the fiancée to be escorted from Ireland to D.C. when Mark was unable to do it himself. This part the Tristan/Isolde part of the story takes up the last 15% of the book.
The story in a nutshell:
Mark Trevena - Very kinky, rich and goodlooking owner of D.C.'s premier and ultra elite kink club “Lyonesse” has need of a very personal body guard. He is also engaged to Isolde Laurence, the only daughter of a major bank owner. She isn't brought up until much later in the book.
Tristan Thomas - Recently honorably discharged war hero who just happens to be the son of the man who just married Mark Trevena's sister. A younger man who still is a virgin and has the uncomfortable “curse” of “becoming too attached” to someone who kisses him with any real emotion. He is battling his own demons having to do with what he had to do while in war. He misses the regimented life of the military and agrees to become the bodyguard to Mark.
Tristan quickly becomes infatuated with Mark, and the feelings end up being reciprocated and a D/s relationship blooms. That is this story. It fleshes out the relationship between Tristan and Mark so that we have a reason to want Mark and Tristan to be together. In fact there is no mention of an engagement or Isolde at all except in allusions that go over Tristan's head. Out of 35 chapters in this book Isolde isn't even brought in until chapter 24. HOWEVER, despite Tristan's initial determination to hate Isolde, as soon as he meets her eyes, they fall away and he ends up as lost in her as he was with Mark.
If you read the “New Camelot” or otherwise known as “American Queen” series and enjoyed it here are some character matchings to help
Mark Trevena = Maxen Ash Colchester
Tristan Thomas = Embry Moore
Isolde Laurence = Greer Galloway
The D/s dynamics are the same as well as a lot of the surface personality traits. However, that is only the beginning. It was almost like the author knew that people really enjoyed the previous series and the chemistry and dynamics of that thrupple and decided to offer a bit of the same here so that people will gravitate to it as well. While they are NOT a rehashing of the same characters the familiarity of the general relationship and characteristics will put people immediately into the story.
I waited a while to read this and honestly only did because I am in a book slump and anything that Seirra Simone writes is without a doubt going to break that slump. I had hoped to wait until more of the trilogy was out because the books take a long time between them, and only because “Honey Cut” is coming out in less than a month, I figured I could chance it.
Definitely this is a great beginning, and like I said if you enjoyed the authors previous books, you will enjoy this one.
This was a great book. It takes place some 10+ years after the final battle in Archangel's War.
It doesn't leave you with cliffhangers, questions or unresolved feelings. It pretty much wraps up everything, but I don't get the feeling that it is the last of the series. However, if it wanted to be the last book in the series it could be.
Now all that there is to see is new storylines. There will be a need for new Archangels, the ones that are still healing from the great war are still healing and not up, they need to rise. There is a lot of room for new things to happen. Also, since it takes place about 10 years after the “Great War” those who were still young have grown enough to be worthy of more time and storylines.
Elana's sister Eve has graduated from the Guild Acadamy so we could see her fighting
Sara's daughter Maggie has grown into a superb weapons' maker like her father Deacon
Vivek has his own little storyline here as well and I would LOVE to see a book following the possible romance building in it.
Yes. The old storylines, hurts, concerns everything. All cleared up.
Get your tissues.
The final book in this series focuses on the two males in the series James, and Stefan. Basically it starts before the epilogue in the previous book (without giving it away) and tells the side of James while he reflects on his life and the events that are in the previous books. In the previous books of this series they always were told in the first person POV of the heroine, Bianca. This book opens with James discussing the 4 times his life has been transformed - the third being the time he met Bianca. So he reminisces his POV of their meeting and other important scenes from the other books that we had only seen from Bianca's POV. Additionally, Stephan is given his own voice and he goes into how he an Bianca met and became inseparable. Also, we see his and Javier's relationship grow
Once we “catch up” to current events (about 100 pages) the book moves towards and past the epilogue of the previous book and settles down into a couple of arc's that include James' problem with a bodyguard that has taken a liking to Bianca, and a problem secretary that James has to deal with
There isn't any real drama or tensions in this book but it does follow the couple into their twilight years, but not really. Only said that James loves his wife and that their relationship grew and strengthened over the years, and decades.
If you have read the previous books in this series you need to finish it with this one.
Yeah, I thought this was going to be good, and it is but it's filled with a lot of almost “slow motion” action. I hope this makes sense. A lot of scenes where internal angst and monologues take place within the moments between what should be action but is in fact a bunch of last minute cock blocking and saved by the bells.
You would have to read it. The story and premise are great, and although it's a “Monsters in the Dark” spinoff, I still also expect to see some other characters (Goddess Isles) to show up in either reference or presence.
If you like the “Monsters in the Dark” series, then you will have to read this book, but just be aware that there is a lot of inner angst and a whole lot of “Fuck! Just do it already!” I might be a bit jaded though. Plus the naivete of the heroine gets old fast.
It's the first in a series and ends in a cliffhanger so you should know that. I doesn't land in a spot where you can take a breath before the next book, it literally ends with the MMC about to do something and then it cuts to black.
The remaining books are set to release at the end of June so not too long of a wait, something to look forward to if your current series are all ended.
Read it, enjoy it, but don't expect it to be one of your favorites.
Roe V. Wade is NOT a political book. It is Matt Shaw's idea of a possible future based on current trends. When Roe V. Wade was overturned in 2022 the idea that life begins at conception or near conception as well as the push to block contraceptives is paving the way towards a future that may look like the one depicted in this book. The cost of living has soared, and jobs are scarce.
Civil rights have fallen by the wayside as more and more of the things we count as permanent and irrevocable have been cut down. Segregation, Gay Rights, Women's Rights, all of these things are gone. The only thing that has any rights are the unborn children, but their rights come at the cost of the women who bear them.
It doesn't specify the year or exact location, but it's assumed to be in the US and a possible near-ish future.
Roe V. Wade opens on a scene showing Cate Hart, she is heavily sedated and living “her best life” (I say with irony), she is bound to a bed in an institutional room with other women, all sedated and bound to beds carefully monitored to make sure that the unborn children that they have been gestating are “kept healthy”. All their bodily needs taken care of through tubes, they are constantly sedated and for the most part have nothing to do but wait until they are taken to the delivery room.
In this future, women showing any little sign of hesitancy or found “breaking the rules” are drug kicking and screaming to this institution that the outside world knows as a “birthing center” where hesitant mothers are taken and “pampered” until the day they give birth. No one asks what happens to the mothers and children afterwords, but it's not given thought. However, because this place which is subsidized by the government and makes it's employees sign NDA's no one ever talks.
This book looks upon the life of Cate and her husband Jack, who have just discovered that even after Jack's vasectomy, Cate became pregnant. They find out on Christmas and it wasn't a present either of them wanted. Cate's previous pregnancy was a very hard one and she was told she shouldn't have any more children. Work is very hard and the cost of living has soared out of control. However, because of the laws Cate and Jack must put a brave face on and make sure everyone believes that this is a wanted child. We follow the path that brought Cate to the “Birthing Center” where we first see her.
Then there is Claud who is a brand new worker at this institute which has many different rooms and wings, his job is to simply push the various gurneys with women from one area to another. It's the first week of his new job, of which he was grateful to get because jobs are very scarce in the future. Claud is finding out quickly that there are things he sees at his new job that don't sit well with him, but because he has signed an NDA and is grateful for the work, he sucks it up. He comes home to his young wife Lauren, whom he met in high school and married out of college.
Claud and Lauren hope to earn enough to buy a home and raise a family. Each day Claud becomes more and more distant as he has to choke more and more of his unease and disgust about his word down. When Lauren finds out that she is pregnant she is happy and hopeful, while Claud is secretly horrified because of the things he has seen but cannot speak of while at work.
This book scared the fuck out of me. It paints a future that I want no part of and can still see happening if things go the way they are. It isn't about pro-life, or pro-choice, it's about how far will we allow the rights of women be stripped away for the rights of an unborn child. How many other rights will be stripped away from other groups once the US gets used to the loss of reproductive rights, what rights of privacy will we become accustomed to losing?
Matt Shaw is a great horror writer, his books are thought provoking and gruesome. He often writes from multiple non-connected character's POV and has had many unique storylines. I highly recommend his work if you are interested in horror and aren't too squeamish.
However, this particular book is his take on how the future is looking. It isn't pretty.
Ok, so you know I like me some dark romance, I love dubcon and girls who like it rough and the MEN who give it to them that way. This book has tags that intrigued me. Not going to list them here because I don't want to hunt around to find them, but the tags drew me in. It's not often that RACK (Risk Aware Consensual Kink) rules are in New Adult so I thought I would give this a try.
However, let me start this review with the following: I am an older adult woman, so most likely not in the demographic of the intended audience. Although, I have read and do enjoy many New Adult and Dark Romances. Look over my shelves and you will see. I still think like I'm in my mid-twenties (as any older person would attest to). However, I have the experience in reading and life to be unable to put aside my logic and suspend belief when pushed too far.
It sat on my Kindle for ages. I started it and got a couple of pages in when I realized that I didn't really get a feel for it. I'm going to save the blurb because the blurb in the book details is correct. However, when it say's "A lot can change after high school" what it didn't say was that these people are still with the "high school mentality". The book doesn't specify their ages but it does say "it's been a couple of years since high school", so 21? Anyhow this made a big difference in how I perceived the main characters.That was the first thing that threw me. I felt like these characters felt like they were playing "dress up" and nothing about the actions and activities portrayed felt like they could actually happen.Sure, 21 year olds can be able to do kink, but the type of kink and the level depicted here just didn't match up. Plus it felt “messy”, not structured. I don't know if this sounds right, but it really felt wrong. It just came off as kids trying to imitate adults. Like when kids smoke their parents cigarettes and think they look cool.Another aspect that I didn't get was how our "heroine" who is well-known for being particularly image concious, does this about face at a huge Halloween party among all the kids she knows and decides to just say "fuck it" and let her horny vagina lead the way into doing degredating activities (she is learning she has a humiliation fetish) with the guy she spent her high school years calling a loser. All this because he had some kind of post-graduation popularity, bad-boy glow-up, and she has some memories about a kiss she had with him back in the day because of a dare. Also, she is learning as she's playing beer pong/dare that she has a humiliation fetish. A brand new discovery – at the age of 21 (I'm guessing) she is learning that she's getting wet because she is being dared to kiss a boot. This is something she is JUST NOW at that moment learning. She spends a lot of time worrying about how people are going to see how wet she is because of this. Actually, this was another aspect of the book that bugged me. Jessica spends way too much time thinking about how wet she is because of these humiliating activities. She is worried she will be dripping down her leg, how she is embarassed to sit on the carpet for fear she will get it wet (like anyone is going to see this), she worries people are going to see a wet spot on her panties (that everyone can see because she's wearing a thong under a barely there skirt and she's being forced to her hands and knees). She worries that people will see her being wet after she has to take her panties off, she worries that they will see her being wet as she is crawling to the kitchen to get her “Master” a beer. She worries that she will get the leg of her “Master's” pants wet when he has her sit on his lap....yeah. Someone is going a bit overboard with the wet pu$$y descriptions.Manson is our “hero” and he spends the book saying “Oh Jess, poor little girl, poor Angel, you need to be punished”, “I'm going to punish you, don't worry”. “Oh Jess, you can't help being naughty can't you.” Again, he comes off as someone playing “dress up”. I don't know why, when other books I have read that actually HAVE high school kids feels more realistic than this. Maybe it's the whole “instasubmissive/instadom feel”Nothing about Mason seemed like he was a "Dom", nothing about what he did felt right. Nothing about Jess was sexy, nothing about how she reacted or how she behaved felt right. And when I say “felt right” I don't mean crossing the lines, but they didn't come off as believable characters.I am thinking that this author just wanted to push boundaries and show BDSM in a much darker light than many readers are used to, so she could put the “warnings” and tags that would get more readers just for shock value, but it didn't work because her actors didn't sell their parts. They were too young, they were too inexperienced. I don't care if Manson had skills or knew how to handle a knife or how to spank Jess, he just wasn't experienced he just felt wrong. No one at this age is going to understand the nuances of kink that they were trying to achieve. Jess is NOT going to just now discover she has a humiliation fetish and go with being forced into very uncomfortable situations. Then when I have to read her begging to be effed by this guy, begging multiple times if he would just eff her, it was too much. I was so turned off. All throughout this book she's begging to be effed by the guy who is treating her like crap and she is so turned on she's worried about leaving wet stains on the carpet shes sitting on.Between worrying about how wet she is, wanting to be effed, and always fighting against being told what to do all the while her mind is saying “I don't like this, I don't have to be doing this...Or DO I?, “This is humiliating, I would hate people to see me doing this...OR wouldn't I?” It's all about her initially rejecting the commands, but internally learning how much she actually wants to do them.Again, tonight is the first time she learns she is into this, and tonight is the night she shucks off her entire life of being one way and just going with the guy she called a loser throughout high school all at a Halloween party at the wealthiest house in the neighborhood among all the people she spent her life trying to maintain a perfect appearance.I skimmed through all the sex which says a lot about how I was feeling towards these characters. I wasn't interested in seeing them do the deed. I skimmed through so much that I can't even say how many different people were in the room. Although, I do know that the guys who came to the party dressed as psycho clowns who scared the crap out of Jess because she has a clown phobia ended up tagging her with Manson. Whether or not they did the full deed or just oral I don't know because I totally skimmed it. I do believe that these are the guys who will make up her "harem" in the future books. I couldn't be bothered by it.It was funny that I would read a line of dialogue, skim a page or two and realize that the next line I focused on what the next line of dialogue. Not only did I skim, I straight up didn't even look at anything, I was just fast forwarding to a line that let me know they weren't screwing. I might have stopped for a few sentences but really, I missed it. Which tells you something. The majority of the readers of this book are not going to be into humiliation kink and because it's such an emotionally charged kink, it isn't going to be easy to write in a way that comes off as sexy to them. Because it is a prequel and an "introduction" to our future characters, it isn't meant to be long or involved. But, it IS supposed to make the reader want to follow up on these characters in the future books. In that it failed for me. I'm bummed. I don't know why this didn't work when I really liked the "HAVOC Boy" series by C.M. Stunich (although there were a lot of eyerolls in that). That series featured high schoolers doing very adult things. It could all be an "It's not you, it's me" thing.
Books I would recommend if this is your thing:
“Dirty Bad Wrong” by Jade West - her first book and a great jumping off point for her other books which all deal with a different kink mixed with complicated relationships. A great combination of a New Adult Romance with all angsty feels and snarky fun, but with the addition of some hardcore kink.
“Six” by James Crow or Mr. James Crow – I believe he is a friend to Jade West or was brought into writing by her. He is into more degradation and less “sexy” kink. Six was his first book. He's not for everyone but he's got talent and is able to force your perception into that of the characters. “Dare” (By James Crow) was one of the most twisted and disorienting reads I have come across.
“Wicked Ways” by Carrie Silverwood – First in a three or four book series about a woman who was caught up by men who have the ability to “mesmerize” women into doing shocking and degredating things, and he desperate need for help to escape them.
TL;DR - I didn't like this book because I felt that the characters were too young to get humiliation kink right, and that they weren't realistic in their actions. I felt it was not written authentically. I didn't find them sexy. Also the heroine got on my nerves with her abrupt 180 degree change in character and her unrealistic timing, plus the list of annoying traits and behaviors she exhibited. I felt that it was more shock than substance. Read the above authors instead.
Garret is 36 and learns his 21 year old stepsister is a Camgirl while one lonely night he gives into boredom and scrolls the sites and comes across her. He was 21 when his mother married her father and she was 10 when this happened. His and her realtionship was filled with him treating her like she's a brat and her living up to the treatment. We learn that she's secretly in love with Garret and after a spending $450 to pose as another guy on her Cam site Garret decides to see if there is any chemistry in person.
Turns out his sister is a virgin. Turns out Garrett hasn't had sex in 10 years because he's waiting for the “one” he can connect with. Garret and Mia (his stepsister) do “everything but” for a while.
Following the same pattern of the girl wanting to progress forward while the guy in fear of this or that decides to “keep it casual” while doing everything but keeping it casual. Followed by obligatory”unforgivable mistake”, followed by “let's make him jelous” followed by HEA.
Skimmed the hell out of this one. I liked it less than the previous book, which means that this will be the last in this series. I only read them in the first place because someone on Reddit Spicy Romance Books reccomended the author and series. I've read better, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some others. Very tropey, very formulaic. Interchangeable with so many other books. Not bad, but entirely forgettable. Only read it if you read the previous book “Praise” and enjoyed it enough to want more. Don't read it before reading “Praise” only because it isn't as good, and the characters in praise are featured in this book. If you enjoyed “Praise” enough, then this is a good one to continue. If you were “meh” about it, then skip this.
Charlie is a 21 year old girl who goes to her a$$hole ex-boyfriends father to get her half of the security deposit on the apartment she shared with said ex-bf. Ex-bf isn't speaking to his father and knows that the security deposit was mailed to him, tells her to go get it herself. She goes to the address her ex gave her. Charlies ex cheated on her, and put her down a lot, which will play into the praise kink that she discovers later that she has.
Emmerson works from home, is about to open up the Salacious Players Club, an exclusive sex club with a few best friends who will be featured in their own books upcoming. His kink is having a sub to praise. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but basically, he likes to talk dirty, do dirty things, and tell his sub that she's a “good girl”. He seems to be going through them pretty quickly like Goldie Locks. His friend and co-owner of the about to be opened sex club, Garrett is charged with finding new girls and sending them over to Emmerson. Emmerson has been estranged from his son by an ex-wife for two years and is trying very hard to get him to return or answer his calls/texts.
Charlie walks into Emmerson's office not knowing that she will be mistaken for yet another submissive that Emmerson hired. After mix ups and instant submissive tendencies show up Emmerson tells Charlie that he needs a Secretary and would she like the job. She says yes. Emmerson thinks that by doing this Charlie will be a bridge to bring back his son into his life. Emmerson tells everyone that Charlie is REALLY his secretary and NOT another sub-playing-secretary. Charlie is intrigued by the BDSM nature and asks Emmerson if he will teach her the ways, without it being sexual “of course”. She wants the sex, he wants the sex but is afraid of it causing problems with his son. She thinks he's out of her league but doesn't care.
Of course lines are crossed multiple times to varying degrees. Until all bets are off and Charlie and Emmerson “fall in love”. Obligatory “unforgivable act (not cheating)” by hero followed by breakup scene followed by obligatory “hands off her” scene when Charlie does the obligatory “make him jealous at his sex club” scene. Followed by obligatory “rescue from bad father” scene, followed by HEA.
I liked the dirty talk, the sex scenes were spicy. The overall story was generic and done to death, but it was a quick read to break me from the slump. This is similar to a K Webster or Madison Faye longer book, but less drama and darkness (K Webster), and more story/plot (Madison Faye). What little conflicts exist were easily handled. Low stress. I started it and read about a page before picking it up again, and read it all the way through in one sitting after doing it.
Perfect for people who need a fairly quick and easy read without a lot of drama, but still has a decent amount of spice and romance.