Maya

💬: "There is only one way to fight, and that’s dirty. Clean, gentlemanly fighting will get you nowhere but dead, and fast. Take every cheap shot, every low blow, absolutely kick someone when they’re down, and then maybe you’ll be the one who walks away.”

Frost, Jeaniene. The Other Half of the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel (pp. 47-48). NYLA. Kindle Edition.

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: 398

🎧Audiobook Length: 13h 14min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 4.5/5

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The Other Half of the Grave written by Jeaniene Frost, is an alternate perspective book based on the first book in her Night Huntress series, Halfway to the Grave. The Other Half of the Grave was entertaining and just as exciting if not more exciting than it's original predecessor. In this book, Cat and Bones meet for the first time but everything is from Bones' perspective, and even though he makes some interesting decisions, I still like him as a character. I appreciate Cat and Bones' relationship that much more.

There are still outdated scenes in this book, but that's because the original was outdated and had poorly aged scenes. I think the outdated scenes were handled much better than they were in the original story. For example, there were less triggering details about these particular scenes this time around. That might be because it's from Bones' perspective, it might be because the author realized her mistake from the past and maybe she understood that rewriting these scenes was a way to make up for the outdated scenes from the past. I'm unsure, either way they're done better around this time.

The spicy scenes were enjoyable and the audiobook narrator made them even more interesting than they normally would be. I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.75 out of five chilies

This was an entertaining story and I enjoyed it a bit more than reading the original from Cat's point of view. There was still an okay amount of triggering content in this story but most of that stuff was glossed over in this version. I'm giving this 4.50 out of 5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.50/5 Stars

I used an audiobook credit to buy this audiobook. I was not able to locate the audiobook on hoopla, libbyapp, or everand. (as of 3/4/2024)

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, romantasy, dragons, adult

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 11h 39min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5

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IRON FLAME DRAMATIZED ADAPTATION - PART 1

TW - <spoiler>Blood, Physical abuse, Medical content, War, Death, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Cursing, Violence, Confinement, Gore, and Kidnapping</spoiler>

Iron Flame Dramatized Part 1 is the first half of the dramatized version of the novel "Iron Flame" written by Rebecca Yarros. The dramatized version of Iron Flame starts off where the dramatized version of the first book in the series, Fourth Wing, left off. It's Violet's second year of Dragon Rider College and there's a new Vice Commandant that's making her life hell, in addition to that she has to deal with the secrets that she learned at the end of Fourth Wing, including <spoiler>the supposedly mythical creature the Wyvern is real and they have been attack towns and outposts on the edge of the country. </spoiler> Will Violet be able to survive her second year and will she be able to help keep the secrets of the marked ones?

I didn't really enjoy my reading of the Fourth Wing novel but I did enjoy the dramatized adaptations. I think this time around, with Iron Flame, I'm going to continue listening to the dramatized adaptations because they seem to be more exciting than the author's writing and the original books. Part 1 of the Iron Flame adaptation was really exciting and it kept my attention for the duration of the audiobook.

There's an intimate scene in here and because I'm a 33 year old woman listening to 22 year old's get it on, I'm not very interested or invested in the scene. Like Fourth Wing Dramatized Part 2, I'm giving the spicy scene 2 chilies 2🌶️ out of five chilies.

Overall, Iron Flame Dramatized Part 1 was really exciting and entertaining. I think I'm just going to wait until part two comes out in two month, I don't want to bother reading the actual novel in this case because I personally do not like the author's writing style at all. This adaptation was great, I'm giving it 5 stars out of 5.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: "Miles is sophisticated. We do the art shows, wine tastings. When I can’t sleep, he’s a phone call away. Deacon is funny and sweet, flirty and creative. And, well, Cassidy…” “Is bending you like a pretzel!” interrupted Alisa. Her response made Nadine cackle and give her a high five. Tatum rolled her eyes. “If you must know, yes, the sex is phenomenal. He’s aggressive, commanding, but he’s also really brilliant. If something is broken, he fixes it. My gas tank is always full because he fills it. He reads NK Jemisin with me, for God’s sake.” Tatum looked at her friends who said nothing. Alisa was wide-eyed, and Nadine simply stared, rocking EJ in her arms. “What is it? What did I say?”

Richardson, T.M.. The Oath: A WhyChoose Novel (The Secrets Series Book 1) (p. 223). TM Richardson . Kindle Edition.

📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance,

📚Page Count: 280

🎧Audiobook Length: 06h 23min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5

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TW - <spoiler>Sexual content, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment</spoiler>

The Oath: A WhyChoose Novel is a novel by T.M Richardson about a widow named Tatum who's husband has recently passed away from losing his fight with cancer. One of his dying wishes was that his wife, Tatum lean on and seek love from his three best friends. Miles, Deacon, and Cassidy along with Tatum agree to try the new arrangement after her husband's death.

These three men sound like a dream! Someone to read Octavia E. Butler and N.K Jemisin with, someone you could call at all hours if you couldn't sleep at night, and someone who's creative and funny. Wow, Tatum hit the jackpot with these three guys. They protected her against that <spoiler>nasty and pushy student!</spoiler> and they took care of her in all aspects possible!

There were two things I didn't like about this novel, <spoiler>the sexual harassment scene when the adult college student corners Tatum in her classroom and how the three men keep calling Tatum "mama".</spoiler>First, during and after the scene with the student, Tatum says <spoiler>she got "wet" during the sexual harassment, just because that happens doesn't mean you're not being sexually harassed. I don't know what the point of including that was. Tatum clearly denies the student's advances and is uninterested. Why emphasize to herself and her friends that it was a turn on to be harassed? </spoiler> Second, I HATED when the three male lovers called the main character "Mama". It was so distracting and annoying to me.

The audiobook narrator was okay, sometimes their voice was a bit off putting when they tried to read as one of the men but everything else was okay. I'm happy I finally got to enjoy this book on audio, that's my main way of consuming novels.

The spicy scenes were fantastic, and there were plenty of them and they ALL had varity!<spoiler>The group sex scene was so damn sexy! Whew, I was sweatin'!</spoiler> I'm giving the spicy scenes four point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

Overall this was spicy, romantic, delicious, and overall a great time. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 Stars

I own a copy of this audiobook, I didn't rent it from the library.

💬: "‘I’m sorry’ if Bones gets killed doing what you didn’t have time to. After all, it’s so much easier to say you care than to prove it.”

Frost, Jeaniene. First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World Book 1) (p. 30). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

📖Genres: romance, paranormal romance, paranormal, supernatural, urban fantasy

📚Page Count: 374

🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 06min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5

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TW - <spoiler>Cursing, Gore, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Drug use, Grief, Murder, Death, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content</spoiler>

First Drop of Crimson is the first book in the "Night Huntress" spin-off series, "Night Huntress World" both by Jeaniene Frost. Denise has seen so much violence, chaos, and death recently and it seems as if it's not going to stop any time soon. A demon has set his sights on Denise and he won't leave her alone until he's forced to leave her alone. In comes Spade, a centuries old vampire who has promised to protect Denise at any cost. Will Spade be able to save Denise or will all be lost once the first drop of crimson falls?

This was exciting and entertaining just like the books from the Night Huntress series, the only different is that we're following characters who are normally side characters, but in this story they're main characters now. You might need to start the "Night Huntress" series before picking up the "Night Huntress World" series because "First Drop of Crimson" starts off where one of the "Night Huntress" books end. I really enjoyed that the sexy vampire Spade was our main male character. The main female character, Denise, really needed to grow on me. She's a survivor of a horrific attack and she has PTSD, I liked the mental health representation. What I didn't like about Denise is that she had the tendency to misunderstand almost every situation and every other conversation. By the end of the book I liked Denise a lot more but I still don't think she's as compelling as the main female character of the "Night Huntress Series", Cat.

Another thing I didn't like was the threat of sexual assault that Denise had to deal with. There's a character that gets rescued in this book by Spade and Denise and they say that they've spent decades as a prisoner/victim being assault sexually and physically. As you probably guessed, if they don't stop the evil forces in this book, Denise is being threatened with the same fate. I don't like when characters are threatened or have the threat of sexual assault looming over their heads so I'm just going to knock a star off and leave it at that.

The spicy scenes in this story were nice and sizzling hot! I thought Bones was the only vampire I was attracted to but Spade also seems like a good choice in a vampire companion. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall, First Drop of Crimson was a good story, I loved how some of the side characters from the original "Night Huntress" series are the main characters of this series, "Night Huntress World". It was entertaining and I enjoyed most of it aside from the parts that mentioned sexual assault, those simply did not have to be included. I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5 Stars

I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]

💬: "This female…there is no doubt in my mind that she was created for me, and me alone. She is my prize. Worthy of a Raku. So why is it then that I sense that something is wrong…

Stephens, Elizabeth. Taken to Voraxia: A SciFi Alien Romance (Xiveri Mates Book 1) (p. 22). Kindle Edition.

📖Genres: romance, sci-fi, sci-fi romance, aliens, fantasy romance

📚Page Count: 358

🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 28min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5

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TW - <spoiler>Blood, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abortion, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Murder, Violence, and War</spoiler>

*I read this story because it was recommended by romance author, Katee Roberts*

Taken to Voraxia by Elizabeth Stephens is the first book in the Xiveri Mates series. Miari is a survivor on the moon colony where, every three years invading aliens, the Voraxians, come "hunt" for the most beautiful women on the colony. The aliens take the women away and then they don't return for another three years. It's a pact between the moon colony rulers and the King of the Voraxians. This time the King of Voraxia, Raku, is here himself and he's set his eyes on Miari. Miari decides that she is not going to be taken by the King so she sets up an escape plan with a few of her friends. The plan does not go smoothly and Miari needs to be rescued by Raku and soon after she's taken to Voraxia to be the King's mate. Will Miari and Raku end up getting along or will Miari keep trying to escape?

(TW - mention of sexual assaults' and rape)

I really enjoyed most of this book, I was interested in the story the entire time I was listening to the audiobook. I do have an issue with WHY Miari tries so hard to get away from Raku at first. It's explained in the story that the previous hunts on the women on the moon colony <spoiler> had been horrible, brutish, kidnap fests where the women always ended up sexually assaulted and brutally raped. This doesn't happen on page, it's just explained. It's also explained later that those same women who were raped were sent back to the moon colony, probably impregnated by their alien captors. In the end they almost all were forced to have an abortion because their bodies could not withstand the pregnancy process with that alien species. </spoiler>

(TW - mention of sexual assaults' and rape)

Another issue I had was with the climax scene at the end of the book. One of the main characters friends is <spoiler>attacked with the threat of rape and then a fight and struggle is described but no rape occurs in the end, as the character is saved from the perpetrator.</spoiler> I don't understand the itching need for sci-fi romance authors to include so much sexual assault in their stories. This is the second sci-fi romance I've read (the first being Ice Planet Barbarians, and I gave that a 2 stars because <spoiler>there's an alien gang rape scene at the very beginning of the story, it's definitely described as that.)</spoiler> I'm tired of the women always being threated with being sexually assaulted!

The audiobook narrators were great! I really loved the voice actors for both Miari and Raku. I could listen to the voice actor for Raku speak all day. I believe the audiobook was actually published by the author herself. The quality is good and I enjoyed listening to the story.

The spicy scenes were really good, I really enjoyed them. The two main characters have a few miscommunication issues but once they start properly communicating, the intimate scenes are so sensual and romantic. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall, I liked this book but I did have a problem with the threat of sexual assault always looming so I'm knocking off a star for that.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 Stars

I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]