Katherine

Midnight Ruin was quite the thigh clenching steamy dark romance story set in the world of Olympus. I started reading it last night when I was going to bed, and got 50% of the way through before I realized what happened. This morning, I picked up my coffee and my kindle and sat on the couch until I finished.

I LOVED this book. It was quick, steamy, dark, erotic, descriptive, interesting, and awesome.

The progression of Eurydice’s self reflection and confidence throughout the book as we went on was awesome. She became more confident, more in tune with what she wanted, and as a result, she gained not 1 but 2 partners – which I loved.

I’m sorry but Charon is the dreamiest steamboat ever. Can he take me to Hades club and teach me all the things?

One thing I really loved was the description of multiple gender fluid characters. The way they were written was fantastic, and exactly how it should be written in a book. They were described physically so you could envision them, and the gender neutral language was used really well. I have read several books this year where neutral language was used and it fell flat because I could not envision them, but Midnight Ruin did it perfectly well.

I also loved the polyamorous relationship Eurydice, Charon, and Orpheus gain with each other. It is sexy and sweet and I wanted the book to be longer so we could have more of them together.

The struggles Orpheus shared with Eurydice when he painted her were really raw and powerful. While Eurydice definitely struggled healing the past 9 months, Orpheus did as well. He has no self confidence and feels the need to pay penance – it is almost as if he is trying to make his life miserable and suffer, but not realizing that he has been suffering this whole time and needs to allow himself to heal.

This was a great book and a great addition to the Dark Olympus series! Overall, Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert was steamy and erotic and had me clenching my thighs and holding my breath during multiple scenes. I can’t wait for more!

*this book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Angel and the Devil was a silly and basic angel + devil romance comedy story. It was alright, but when the 'romance' doesn't have any detail past "he pulled out his manhood and they spent a while in raucous behavior" it definitely becomes more comedy. Not the best, but not the worst. I don’t think romance comedy is my style so take this review with a grain of salt. I didn’t mind it and it was a really easy read so if you need to bolster your end of year reading goal and enjoy romance comedy, you might give it a try.

*this story was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. all thoughts are my own.*

Shadows of the Dark Realm was an enjoyable YA fantasy novel about an unlikely group of heroes bound together by their quest across the realms. All wanting to wish on the darkstone for different reasons , united by the common goal of retrieving it from the dragon realm and the elder dragon Darka Mors.

The good:

• A lot of the characters were great! I enjoyed how different they all were and how it led to a ton of banter and disagreements about basically everything. It helped the reader get to know them each better throughout the book.
• I liked the addition of characters as we went on in the story, they blended into the group and the story really well. Each character was added with purpose and reason, and they added to the plot each in their own way. It never felt like someone was added for fluff, each person had a role to play.
• Celeste. I put this in the ‘good’ category because I hated her with a passion and I wanted to rate the book 1 star just because I hated how whiny and annoying she was, and then I hated her for being a wretch the rest of the book. Clearly that means it was a well written character.
• I liked the different realms and different types of power – it was interesting to see how they interacted during fights and during the voyage.
• I liked the story overall! It was interesting and full of great twists, dangers, adventures, and more.

The meh:

• I struggled to get to know the characters at the beginning – it felt like their moods changed on a whim, and their emotions/mannerisms were not consistent. It got better as we went along, but I think a little more character development or backstory at the beginning would have been helpful.
• I personally didn’t like the replacing cuss words with random words; I know lots of books do it, but the characters spoke well enough that it didn’t make a ton of sense to me. I would have preferred ass, damn, shit, fuck, etc.
• It could have used another round of grammar/copy edits.
• I felt like the ending was a bit quickly wrapped up, and I felt a little underwhelmed. I do think the story leaned heavily on the journey versus the ending, which I really enjoyed, but it did wrap up choppy and quickly.

Overall, Shadows of the Dark Realm by Tyler Edwards was an enjoyable read! I liked it, it kept me intrigued and interested, and I am glad I read it.

*this story was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. all thoughts are my own.*

I really loved this one! I have loved all the Vicious Wonders books, and finally made my way to wonderland.

The demented, dark, horrifying, and gory games Alice must play to survive this place, mixed together with the growing desire she has for these quite mad and ruthless men lead us into a sexy but dark story that will make you think differently about Alice in Wonderland. It was messed up 100% but honestly watching Alice come into her own, be defiant, strong, quick witted and unapologetic about taking what she wants was liberating!

She was a great FMC, and I enjoyed traveling through wonderland with her.

p.s. You can leave me at the mirror house anytime!!

I'm giving this a 3.5/5 because overall I really enjoyed it. It was a 4ish hour read, quick, spicy, dark and twisted, and kept me interested through the book.

I enjoyed the portrayal of our classic crew: Crowe (aka the scarecrow), the undead zombie-like man who enjoys cruelty for the sake of it; Talos (aka the tin man), our silent but deadly, but also sort of caring man whose bones were replaced with metal; Leon (aka the lion), our sexy alpha male lion shifter who can't shift back into his lion form; and Tobias (aka Toto), our former emotional support dog turned alpha dog shifter, plus sexy and loyal protector.

Dorothy was okay in this portrayal, I didn't love her but I didn't dislike her either. As the book went on I realized she was just the ultimate submissive person and I understood her character a bit more, but I didn't really enjoy the Kansas> Hollywood actress attempt>back to Kansas trope she had. It was interesting and totally fit into the plot really well, but It wasn't for me.

The spice was great! 5 stars for the spice, and another 5 stars for the reverse harem trope. I loved how all of this turned out, and I loved how the author used all the camping and walking to the different places as an avenue for not only getting to know our characters better, but also to invoke lots of spice with each of the men.

The mate mark? Hell yes. The mind talking post-spice encounter? Hell yes. The exhibitionism for Crowe? Hell to the yes.

I LOVED the portrayal of the 4 witches and their different versions of cruelty. I thought it was really well written and thought out, and the author did a great job balancing the darkness and cruelty with not going too far. The things they did were HORRIBLE and they were so sick and twisted, but I loved it. 5 stars for the witches!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! I think I would have rated it higher if I liked Dorothy more since she was the main character, but everyone and everything else was great. If you are looking for dark twisted retellings with dark/ dom/sub spice, this series is for you.

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

I sense him watching me.

No one will save me from my fate. my step brother torments me, my step mother is cruel and hates me, and I am the only person in this god-forsaken town who won’t be able to go to the masquerade. Won’t anyone please help me? Literally anyone, I am not picky.

He will, but do I want him to? He talks like the sensuous dark devil, but if he will give me one wish I will give him anything. I just want a dress and to go to the masquerade ball to forget who I am. Only, I wasn’t prepared for what that might entail.

WOW. simply wow. I never knew fairy tales could be so steamy and riveting, but here we are with an amazing, dark, steamy retelling of Cinderella and I am completely converted.

This was such a good Cinderella retelling for so many reasons. Reverse Harem angle, step-sibling gender role reversal, stepmother being ‘evil’ in a way that exemplifies ‘cruel’ in its innermost meaning, the ‘fairy god mother’ twist that was so delightfully perfect and dark, the prince overall – it was simply chef’s kiss.

I will say that if you are looking for more plot with sprinkling of spice, this is not the novel – it is more spice than plot, although I felt it worked perfectly with the story as-is.

Elise’s inner trauma, self hatred and self confidence issues, and her journey to discover that it is OK to embrace your darker, spicier desires was so good and honestly relatable. You are not always going to have happiness thrust upon you (no pun intended), you sometimes have to work hard and endure and take it for yourself. You have to stop denying your deepest spicy desires and embrace them – it will only hold you back from true happiness/pleasure if you try to pretend you are someone other than who you are.

I wish we had gotten to see Elise’s inner growth a bit more, even right at the end she still resigned her self to her fate before things went askew, and I would have liked her to put up more of a fight for herself as we progressed through the novel. However, most of the story was told by Rowan and the Prince so I do see why we didn’t get that as much.

Overall Stalking Cinderella by Leann Belle was a great book! I would 100% recommend it to those dark, spicy, erotica-fantasy-romance lovers out there. I will definitely be reading the rest of the Vicious Wonders series!

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

A Bedtime Story by L.C. Moon was SO GOOD. My first erotica novel but most most certainly not my last. It was dark and twisted and a deep look into the dark side of humanity, love, and lust.

There was a ton of tension between the 2 MC’s and it just kept building and building and building and honestly it was so good I enjoyed it almost more than the rest of the story.

Laura was extremely timid and I wasn’t sure I liked her at first, but the more we learned about her the more I liked her and understood why she was the way she was. I am a sucker for characters with trauma and mental health struggles, it is just so relatable and really draws you into the story.

Kayne was sexy and devilish and twisted and scary but also man was he a great Dom and MC. He had just the right mix of serious scary Dom and caring guy-who-is-falling-for-her. He did not want to be caring and sensitive, but Laura’s innocent nature unwittingly drew it out of him.

My favorite part of this book is that it has an unhappy ending. It was so refreshing to read a dark and twisted story, and then for there to be a dark and twisted ending. I love that Laura turned malicious, and this sounds horrible but I liked that Kayne died. I liked Kayne as a character, but I liked that his and Laura’s relationship did not end happily. It was really good and fit the novel compared to a random happy ending twist.

Overall I really liked this book! It is not for everyone, and also not for the fainthearted. I am not everyone nor am I fainthearted and I LOVED it.

If the Flesh and Fire series wasn't my favorite series of the year before, this book as solidified its place as such. I have so many things to rave about from A Fire in the Flesh, it was a fantastic read.

This is a very spoiler heavy post; you have been warned!

A Fire in the Flesh solidified Kolis as a great villain. He is horrifyingly terrible and cruel, evil, and has tunnel vision to get what he wants. However, through this book you do learn more about him, his past, his time as the primal of death, and can feel some slight empathy. Nothing that justifies anything he has done, but it gives you a little perspective and I like that. He clearly does not know how to operate as a decent human being and is confused when things don't immediately remedy with a simple apology. It is really interesting to see more into the mind of the villain.

I also loved seeing his true primal of death nature bleed out sometimes - his true form being that of a skeletal version of himself. Unlike Ash, who becomes shadows, Kolis turns into a skeleton as a manifestation of death. So interesting especially when combined with his obsession with everything in Dalos being gold and white. He is attempting to represent life and purity but instead it comes across as gaudy and fake - because it is. Sera mentions several times throughout the book his ether and while it may appear to be gold and pure, it has an underlying oily blackness to it that Kolis can't quite mask, which shows his true nature. I really enjoyed this theme throughout the book!

Additionally, learning more about Callum was a really good plot point. I'm sorry, he is Sotoria's brother?????? I did NOT see that one coming. I really enjoyed learning a little bit more about him - he is in Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire, so I feel like we need to know everything we can about him. There is definitely a larger role going on there.

Moving away from the villains, you truly feel for Sera throughout her time in Dalos dealing with Kolis. She is trying to do whatever she can to defeat Kolis, save Ash, and stop the end of the realm - which is a hell of a lot to do if you ask me.

When she finally realizes she could not go through with seducing Kolis and her love for Ash was too great to allow herself to make that sacrifice? Wow, it was so beautiful and moving.

The internal monologue throughout the book about SA (sexual assault) and how you feel was so moving and raw. I hope the author never experienced any of that but it truly was moving, she captured how it feels and what you think exactly as you would think and feel about it. Thankfully, there wasn’t any full blown descriptive rape because I think that would have been too heavy personally. I thought these situations gave you that sickening oh-my-god feeling and the desire to see Sera kick Kolis' ass.

One of my favorite parts of this series and this book is the continuation of the theme of the struggle with anxiety. I am really glad that continued to be a theme in the book because it not only adds a layer of realism and depth to Sera as the main character, but it also helps readers who experience it relate. For those who don't struggle with anxiety, it helps them understand a little bit more about what it is like for people who do struggle. Obviously I don’t want Sera to have it but I like seeing it represented in media such as popular books. I think it is an extremely important theme to continue to explore in books, and personally as someone who struggles with anxiety, it is nice to see characters struggle with it and those around them lift them up.

Couple of quick things I liked and wanted to mention them briefly. The first is Attes. While we should be holding up the middle finger the whole time, we realize he seems to be a double agent. He is the silver hawk from the woods, and he helps Sera throughout this book as well. We learn a little bit about his past and while so terrible, I wish he hadn't taken Sera for Kolis in the first place. I do understand his plan and idea, but I still have mixed feelings about it. The second one is the wholesome interaction with Rhain and Sera when Rhain was captured by Kolis and Kyn. He truly didn't believe he would live after that mission and for Sera to protect him, it was so wholesome and moving. I really enjoyed the angle that he can talk to you in your mind, it made for a really interesting twist!

Lastly, I know this review/word vomit about A Fire in the Flesh is getting long, but we couldn't wrap it up without talking about Ash falling in love with Sera, recovering his kardia, and getting to tell Sera he loves her and vice versa. If that doesn't make your heart want to explode with happiness, I don't know what does. I have been rooting for this from the very beginning! While I wasn't sure how he would get his kardia back, I really loved the way it happened! The progression of Ash falling in love with Sera and realizing it was so beautiful and wholesome, I totally cried. He wanted to love her so badly but did not believe he could. When we found out he did it right when he brought her to the shadowlands?? Oh my god my heart nearly broke. Ash and Sera are my favorite couple, and Ash is my number one favorite book boyfriend.

Would I recommend this book to someone else? YES! I think A Fire in the Flesh and the Flesh and Fire series by Jennifer Armentrout as a whole is incredible and everyone interested in romantasy should read it.

I LOVED this book.

It was a quick read, but so interesting, detailed and oh so good. The tension between Misery and Lowe was incredible, the tension between the vampires, werewolves, and humans was great, and the plot was super good!

I loved Misery as our FMC, and really felt for her and everything she has gone through in her life. She didn't deserve any of it and still continued to sacrifice over and over. To feel as though you don't belong anywhere? I cannot imagine, and I loved seeing her persevere regardless. She held her own in werewolf territory, and all while continuing to try and find her sister and staying under the radar.

Lowe can take me as his mate anytime... he is sexy, smart, a good man, and a great leader. I loved him going back and forth with Misery, wanting her and wanting to trust her, trying to protect his sister and his people, all while dealing with his new role as alpha.

Then we have the spice, the spice tension, and knotting??? 10/10 spice for me. It was so good and there was so much build up, I loved it!

I loved this book so much, I did not want it to finish. I truly hope Ali Hazelwood continues to write more in this universe, because there are at least 2 other couples' stories I would love to read!

Wow. Well, if the first book started slow, this one started with G force speed. It picks up right where the first one left off, with rage and sorrow and grief leading the way.

I really liked how many different characters perspectives this book had - I think there were 5 or 6? Initially I was not sure how I would feel about it, but I ended up really liking it.

I really enjoyed reading through Dianna's pain and healing, and seeing everything Samkiel does to help. It was endearing (yes, even the killing certain betraying assholes is endearing to me and you can't change my mind).

It ends on the ultimate cliffhanger and I cannot wait until the third one comes out! If you like bad ass FMC, morally grey everyone, world building, gods, monsters, pain, despair, love, healing, stages of grief, this book is for you!

I will say this could be a difficult read for people who aren't seasoned readers. My reasoning for this is the different character perspectives, and also the timeline. Each chapter tells you where in time they are (2 weeks later, 1 day later, etc.) but it jumps around. So maybe it is 2 weeks later from Samkiels perspective, and then the next chapter is 6 months later from Dianna's perspective. I was able to stay on track but less seasoned readers could get confused.

Slow to start but once it gets going, whew! The banter in this book is great between the 2 main characters, and I loved the angle of them dealing with trauma and family sacrifices in different ways.

Diana is a hell of a relatable FMC for those who are older siblings and have had to make tough choices and decisions to keep their younger siblings safe and happy. Liam is relatable to anyone who suffers with PTSD, anxiety, depression, guilt, and a tendency to push others away when hurting.

I cannot deal with the ending oh my god I do not accept it and will be starting the second one as soon as I finish this review. I give it 4/5 stars only because I was about 25% of the way through the book before it really drew me in... it was too slow of a beginning burn for me. Once it picked up though, 5 stars!

This book has a lot of potential- there were a lot of plot points I was really hoping would be expanded on. It was a good read and I enjoyed it, but it felt like the book was double the length it actually was.

It seemed to drag on and was quite slow for the first half or so, but the last 20% was much better.

I liked Klara as a character, she was feisty and unhappy and willing to do something about it so she could be happy and enjoy life. She was tough, cared about her people, and wanted things to be better. She was relatable in her less than desirable relationship with her parents - tough love, not giving you the time of day, etc.

The romance in this was lacking but that was okay. I think it didn't need to be there, her character development was a good enough plot point for me. I could see what the author was trying to do with Frendell, but it just didn't do it for me.

I liked the angle of the 3 queens, that was really interesting.

The twist of Klara having white angel wings and ending up being part fae, part angel, part demon was really interesting! I am glad she was able to own it proudly in the end, and not have to hide it for fear of her father's disappointment.

I was disappointed that some of my favorite characters died for no reason, that was a bummer.

Overall, I thought it was a nice quick read, just that the author tried to shove too many things into the story all at once. There were several different angles she could have gone, all very interesting. Not to say it was bad because it wasn't! I liked it and once it finally picked up, it was interesting.

**This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review**

Narrow Mountain is a good easy read. It was enjoyable and quite short, but I think that lends itself well to the book.

For the most part I enjoyed Victoria/Emma as the MC, she was a bit weird at times but it added to her character. I think the characters and story could use a bit more refinery, some things seemed abrupt while others dragged on, and some character traits and actions seemed to contradict the characters themselves.

I really enjoyed the steampunk industrial world, and the FMC being an intelligent engineer. Very interesting! It had a few touches of romance and also fantasy to give it a magical edge which was enjoyable. Overall I think it was good, if not a bit choppy.

I do think this could benefit from another edit round, I saw a bunch of instances where it said ‘he or him’ instead of ‘she or her’ when talking about Victoria, as well as a few other grammar mistakes.

If there is going to be a second one, I would read it to see what happens next, however I assume the ending was the end. It was a bit abrupt too, I had 15 minutes left and felt like everything quickly wrapped up all at once - the drama of the ending could have stretched out in more detail a bit.

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review*

Defiance is not an option. It is simply something not taught within the walls of community 215, and punished severely when it happens. Rhea has only ever known this way of life. The council selects what your occupation is, who you wed, how many children you have, how much you need to eat, and where you live. There is no choice, only blind obedience. It’s better than living amongst the outcasts, those who live in the forest not in any community, operating as savages who hunt and kill and choose everything for themselves, and are a force to be feared.

But are they?

Rhea saves a boy when she is 10 from being outcast and is branded as disobedient via an iron brand on her neck. 8 years later she and the boy (Brooks) are ready to spend their week outside the walls to prove they can be useful contributing community residents. Things don’t go to plan; does Brooks really want to go back? Will Rhea get what she wants and become the next leader? Will Rhea open her eyes to the truth about her life and what she has been taught?

The premise of Community 215 is really interesting, a mix of dystopia, brainwashing and dictatorship used to keep the population under the thumb of the rich. I enjoyed the book but thought it was a little sparse in the text for me, there just wasn’t enough depth in the characters or the world building to leave a lasting impression.

Gael was a potential side story narrative, however he seemed to disappear about halfway through the book which was disappointing. Maybe he will come back around in the next book if this is a series - which I hope it is, because otherwise the ending was just cut off with no resolution.

This was an enjoyable read, and could be improved by more character depth, motive, and world building. Overall, I liked it and would read the second one if there was a sequel.

**This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review**

I have a lot of thoughts about this book – overall it was enjoyable and I liked it. Definitely more murder mystery vs sci-fi than I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it.

The good:

• I liked David Blunt, the sheriff and MC of the story. He was accurately depicted as how you would expect a man brought up in a small farm town in a red state. Moral compass, small town manners, stubborn, drinker, and hints of racism and misogyny without being outright horrible.
• Charlotte was an interesting twist/character, I won’t spoil anything but I really enjoyed the angle she played in the book.
• The murder mystery was enjoyable. I was captivated and intrigued, and I liked the angle of the murder being obsessed with the alien/giant.
• The dialogue between the characters was really great – each person had their own mannerisms and voice and I enjoyed that.

The meh:

• It was a little confusing reading about the town itself. Is it a big city/town now? is it still a small town with an adjoining big town? Is one side of the town dubbed ‘old town’ and secluded from the rest? I don’t know, it was very confusing.
• If it was a big town, I find it highly doubtful they would not have reorganized the structural elements of the town. 2 police is not enough, and a volunteer fire department? Even tiny towns have a fire chief.
• The twist/ who the killer was. I was a little disappointed by how this panned out. It was a good story but I felt like it was set up early on and instead of a shocking twist, it was actually who I thought it was early on. It ties in really well with everything, I just was hoping for more of a shock factor – I kinda knew who it was already.
• The lack of sci-fi elements. There was a giant dead alien and a top secret government base and we didn’t really focus on that? what? tell me more!!

Truly I did enjoy this read, it was good! I just felt like things either weren’t wrapped up (the dogs barking/dementia thing??) OR there is going to be a sequel. Personally I would definitely read a sequel if it dove deeper into the alien and the government facility and the things they are hiding there. That would be very interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Godfall by Van Jensen was an intriguing look into a small town community whose world was impacted in more ways than one. I would recommend it to those who enjoy a murder mystery and who also like small town problems.

*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review*

“Across Both Sides of the Mirror" is a wonderful novel exploring the dichotomy of life experienced by all of us – the reality we live in and the potential life in the realm of our dreams through the use of the enchanted mirror Nova purchases at the beginning of the book. The author did a great job exploring self-improvement, self-realization, forgiveness, processing trauma, and the danger of giving up and using the pleasures of life (the mirror in this instance) as a means for avoidance and escape.

We follow Nova as she navigates life with her lackluster job, lonely home life, and hefty dose of unhappiness and lack of satisfaction with her current state. After purchasing a new mirror from the local thrift store, things get a little weird. The mirror is a portal to an alternate reality where you become the person you most desire to be.

“You must remember that life on that side of the mirror is not real. The mirror can be a useful tool to show you the way to become who you have wanted to be”

I really enjoyed the back and forth between reality and the magical realm of the mirror, it was interesting to read how each different world panned out in the same situations. I really identified with Nova’s internal struggles and lackluster feelings about her current state of life. Her introspection and character development by the end was great to follow throughout the novel, and I also really enjoyed the dialogue, both internal and external between the characters. There was a rawness and vulnerability to it that captured the conversations we have throughout everyday life when things aren’t always going as we want them to.

I couldn’t put this book down, and read it in 2 sittings! When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about what what going to happen next, and felt extremely invested in the character development of Nova. It left me with a fresh look at my own life and gave me the opportunity to have an alternate perspective on how I navigate life. Overall, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to other readers.

**This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review**

Unfortunately 'Potent' by Tyler Wittkofsky & Kelsey Anne Lovelady fell flat and was not for me.

There was a lack of world building and character development, I didn’t feel like they were their own unique characters, rather more forgettable than memorable. I was hopeful for the Oberon and Titania retelling, but it seemed like this was more of a ‘what happened next’ type of story rather than a retelling.

The dialogue was not my favorite, it seemed almost choppy/jumpy? Moods changed, people cursed out of nowhere, and there was not a good flow to the dialogue.

Several things I think really caused me to not enjoy the read:

• While I LOVE LGBTQ+ representation, and totally love using non-standard pronouns, I felt like it was moreso added in to be added in, instead of added in a way that felt purposeful and entwined with the character. Puck didn’t have any flavor if that makes sense? I feel like it would have been better if in general for all characters, there was more character development/description/getting to know the character.
• The way Orberon’s mental health issues were portrayed. I truly love books that portray mental health struggles and help expose society to these issues, but this one personally wasn’t for me. Maybe others aligned with this type of portrayal, but it missed the mark in my opinion.
• The modern world. This is a personal thing, but I personally did not like the makeup influencer daughter angle, the references to modern actors/actresses, etc. made it seem like name dropping almost?
• The final thing I will mention is the several negative references to body size. I love representation of all body types, and would love to see more characters with larger bodies but the several mentions of “they are skinny [curse word] and need to put you down because they are threatened” was extremely cringey. If we are going to write about different body types and their struggles, I think personally I receive that better when it isn’t focused on being mean and catty. Not my vibe at all.

Overall, I feel like it had potential, but either due to the length or the writing style, it fell flat with world building, investing the readers in the characters, and portraying the semi-political issues the author was trying to portray.

**this book was gifted in exchange for an honest review**

In the Roses of Pieria by Anna Burke was a delightful academically tilted double FF romance story. The plot twists and turns in such a brilliant way that kept me guessing all through the last page, where I remained shocked and intrigued by the end and wishing for the sequel immediately.

I immensely enjoyed the double FF romance, one across history; the other forming in the present as they translate this seemingly timeless undying love. I also loved that the FMC was in her 30's - it is nice to read about a character over the age of 25!

I loved this book! It had fantasy, romance, darkness, LGBTQIAP+ themes, academia, and history all wrapped up into a riveting story about an archivist who gains access to the private historic collection of her dreams.

The story follows Clara Eden, a 30 something archivist specializing in the history of the ancient city state of Nektropolis, who accepts a mysterious dream job to work on a gorgeous estate translating and digitizing Agatha Montague's private collection of historic documents and relics. A dream come true, Clara is immersed in pieces of history never before seen by her archivist counterparts while working alongside Fidah Halloran, Agatha’s assistant. Fidah and Clara’s budding romance forms as they work to translate what seems to be a collection of ancient love letters.The catch? She can't share a single word about it anywhere, ever.

Things are not quite as they seem, and life for Clara quickly takes several surprising turns, leading to a world she never thought existed.

I really enjoyed the uniqueness to how Anna created the workings of the fantasy world. A unique perspective on fae, it was unlike anything on fae I had read before. Fungal Fairies? Heck yes!

I'm so glad Anna included the translators notes at the end of the book, I enjoyed reading through those and referring back to the letters throughout the book to gain more understanding on what was going through Clara's head. It added another level of academia, and I truly appreciated it.

Overall, this was a 5/5 read for me. I would recommend In the Roses of Pieria to anyone who enjoys academic, romantic, and sometimes dark fantasy.

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review*

How does it feel was... well honestly, I don't know how I feel.

I read it in a day, and while it was a quick interesting read, there were many parts I didn't like.

The FMC Callie was not my favorite. She was very much a 'pick me, i'm not like other girls' character, and was written to have no friends, be a real life barbie with blonde hair, perfect figure and short (and have it mentioned like 20 times) and doesn't cuss, but is a very intelligent scientist. Idk, I don't like the vibes of everyone loving her, like a snow white situation, it was giving special snowflake... and turned me off of her as a character. To add to this, her weird story about some professor who belittled her, then asked her out, and then she was offered his job right after? Idk, it didn't make sense. Also, she was tortured and imprisoned by the MC and then still was into him? I do not understand.

Then we have the MMC who is trying to kill her, imprisons her with a weird creature who tries to r*pe and SA her, and who gets off on her fears while hurting her. He avoids her for the whole time and then suddenly is deeply in love with her after like 1 conversation.. Idk, I didn't like that either. Sure he was hot, but no intelligent woman is going to fall for a man like that, i'm sorry. He is not a Rhys in acotar situation, he is 1000x worse.

The trial thing was similar to the acotar trial but also totally different. It was not particularly original, but it was interesting to read. I didn't love the romance portion, again, it didn't make any sense to me at all and went from 0-100 so fast I was confused.

Finally, the ending. I HATED the twist. I did not like it, and it didn't make sense for the story being from her POV. It was too much of a twist to be plausible and just information withheld from the reader. I honestly felt betrayed as the reader and I did not like it. It was weird and out of the blue and felt like a different plot line, but it didn't fit into this book.

While I am writing this review I have already read the second one and it got even worse... so that's great.

Overall, I think this just was not for me. I didn't love it. It had potential and I idea was super interesting, but it was not for me.

If you enjoy Greek mythology you will enjoy Circe!

Circe feels like an intricately written poem and character study, and it truly feels like you are reading from the perspective of a goddess versus a mortal. The way she thinks about things, how she feels and endures; it isn’t how a mortal would think and feel but rather those of being that’s more.

The writing was truly poetic and while some parts were a little slow for me, I appreciated them by the end. From a character-study perspective, the loneliness during her time alone on the island added immensely to how we as the reader see her character as a whole.

Loved the weaving together of many Greek stories and characters into one that is totally different while also keeping the integrity of each character alive.

This was a bit of a different read for me but was immensely enjoyable. Miller’s writing has that classic feel mixed with something new to intrigue the reader and keep us wondering how the story will pan out.

While the first one was hard to get through, this one was much faster paced and kept me interested throughout. I enjoyed this book and am glad I stuck it out with the series. The 4 main characters are all interesting and I still cannot tell you how it’s going to end in the third one.

Not a bad ending, although I feel like it wrapped everything up rather quickly. I think if the first book moved a bit faster in the beginning, it could have left for more action in the third.

Overall I liked this book.

While the writing is still jarring/ choppy in places (especially the spicy scenes), the plot line was really interesting.

With the introduction of chakoa and the rising feelings between clarice and Julius, things are getting interesting.

The whole way the scenes with Valentina having magnar and Eric under her spell were so f’d up but written in a really interesting way! I was horrified but dying to know what happened next.

i cannot deal with the fact that miles and warren died 😭😭 I loved them so much

This was my favorite one of the series, I really enjoyed having all 4 horsemen interact!

Lazarus was a great rival for Death/Thanatos, and I really liked how he was portrayed. The banter between the 2 of them was great, and I loved each time Death experienced something new. Even though this series has a lot of death, it felt like experiencing life through all 4 horsemen and I loved that! Would definitely recommend.

Ana might be my favorite woman/adversary for the 4 horsemen. She is snarky and all about the sex jokes, and I am living for it!

I love the vulnerability around making love versus having sex in this book, and everything Famine had to go through was agonizing in a way that I could not put the book down.